Expression of an hsp70 gene strictly inducible in somatic cells and constitutively expressed during oogenesis was investigated during embryogenesis of the amphibian Pleurodeles waltl. Results from Northern hybridization experiments and RNase protection assays provided evidence for the presence of inducible hsp70 mRNA under normal conditions at every embryonic stage. Immunoblotting of embryo proteins separated by 2D-electrophoresis provided evidence for the presence of a single polypeptide of about 74 kDa likely to be an HSP70-related protein, from unfertilized egg to tailbud stage. Immunocytological analysis showed that HSP70-related proteins were localized in the cytoplasm of all blastomeres. It also pointed out that nuclear transfer of the protein occurs in certain cells, precisely at the time of their invagination and subsequent internalization during normal Pleurodeles development. Such nuclear transfer involves involuting mesodermal cells in the blastopore region at the time of gastrulation. It also involves neurodermic cells at the time of neural tube closure. Interestingly, in exogastrulas nuclear transfer did not occur in cells which could no longer invaginate. Such behavior of HSP70-related proteins led us to suggest that they are involved in the control of nuclear activity associated with important developmental events such as cellular internalization processes. Such a role may be a direct consequence of HSP70-related protein functional properties as molecular chaperones.


Neuropathic pain is a syndrome that affects around 1% of population. This condition can be severely disabling and traditional analgesics are useless against this type of pain. Several adjuvants such as the anticonvulsive agent gabapentin have been used to treat diabetic neuropathy with several degrees of effectiveness, but it is characterized of a high incidence of dizziness, somnolence and ataxia. Previously we have found a functional synergistic interaction after co-administration of gabapentin and B vitamins by using a neuropathic pain model in the rat. In order to evaluate the efficacy of gabapentin and B vitamins in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy in humans we carried out a comparative trial. In this study are presented preliminary results from 6 patients assigned to two groups: group A (n=3) received gabapentin, and group B (n=3) received gabapentin plus B vitamins. In both groups, the dose was increased at weekly intervals, and characteristics of pain and some parameters of quality of life were assessed. Both treatments significantly reduced pain and improved quality of life in the patients. Dizziness was the main adverse event observed in both groups. Data suggest that the combination of gabapentin and B vitamins could be an alternative treatment for diabetic neuropathic patients.


Mass media portraits are key factors for a candidate running for local and regional elections, where low name recognition demands mass media coverage in order to build his "political brand." Attribute agenda-setting eff ects are more usual in these circumstances where media focus on certain candidate aspects could play a key role in the social learning of political candidates. Th is paper focuses on the role of local media in setting the "political brand" of two main candidates during 2007 regional elections in Murcia (Spain) underlining either emotional aspects for a more "human" candidate or professional aspects, trying to see the relevance of media content analysis (print and broadcasting) on public opinion, by using a survey (N = 818) conducted during the campaign.


We present a 16-year-old girl who presented with polyarthritis in association with Raynaud's phenomenon, malar rash, oral ulcers, photosensitivity and alopecia of 6 months duration. On evaluation, it emerged that she had a mixed connective tissue disorder with a mesangio-proliferative glomerulonephritis. Her Chest radiograph revealed a well defined left mid and lower zone opacity with evidence of a hilar mass on CT Thorax. Histopathological examination following CT guided biopsy of the mass revealed a hyaline vascular type of Castleman's disease. Mixed Connective Tissue Disorder with Castleman's Disease is a rare association; the patient presenting with varied and interesting manifestations. It is important to understand this association in view of management. The exact etio-pathogenesis of the autoimmune manifestations in patients with Castleman's disease is not clear. Treatment with immunosuppression can suppress both immune manifestations and result in tumour regression as well.


•We analytically study the excitation of surface Josephson plasma waves SJPWs propagating across the junctions in layered superconductors in the presence of external dc magnetic field. Both the attenuated total reflection and the modulation of the superconducting parameters methods of the SJPWs excitation are considered. We show that the reflection of the incident electromagnetic wave can be substantially decreased due to the resonance excitation of SJPWs, for certain angles and frequencies of the incident wave when changing the magnetic field. Moreover, we find physical conditions guaranteeing the total suppression of the specular reflectivity. The analytical results are supported by the numerical simulations.


Background Often we hear from our supporters that a common response to mentioning their RA is "my granny gets a bit of that". To dispel the myth that RA is a disease of the elderly, caused by a lifetime of wear and tear, we hosted the UK's first RA Awareness Week in June 2013. Our key message driving the week was "Rheumatoid Arthritis can strike at any age" emphasizing the important message that it is an autoimmune disease with no age barriers and we chose this to breakdown the common misconception of "arthritis" being an older persons disease that has minimal impact on daily life, a false representation of life for people with RA. Objectives Our objective for the week was to increase awareness of rheumatoid arthritis with the general public and our particular focus was on the onset of symptoms and their development at any age. We also wanted to highlight our support services and the work of NRAS to those living with RA. Methods We knew that to be successful and reach a wide audience; we needed our supporters and members to be heavily involved in the week. To cater for varying levels of involvement, we ensured we had opportunities suitable for all. Our report "Breaking Down Barriers: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Public Awareness" launched the week and was responsible for much of the press we received. We asked our supporters to sign the e-petition, we used social media to share our week specific video, our infographics and photos, we hosted a thunderclap (a crowd speaking platform, essentially it sends a mass tweet at a specific time to try and get the campaign trending) which reached 80,000 people, we challenged our supporters and members to hold an information stand within their community, source local press, deliver our information and put up posters, and we challenged our fundraisers to hold a Tea Party. Results The week was a tremendous success: the survey discovered only a third of the population of the UK understood the difference between RA and osteoarthritis. The report launched the Early Day Motion 286 drawing attention to the important role of early diagnosis and the British public's low levels of awareness of RA. Our volunteers ran information stands 34 in total, educating people on RA and helping to recruit new members. We had an information evening in our local area with an expert Q&A session. 16 fundraising Tea Parities were held during the week and we received excellent coverage in the media and contact to our helpline increased by 33%. We also had strong buy-in from other charities in the arena and industry. Our social reach was almost 100,000 people. Conclusions Feedback we received from our members, our service users and HCPs was very supportive and encouraging. In addition to the success we enjoyed during the week it has confirmed the need to make this an annual event. For 2014 we will host RA Awareness Week on 16th-22nd June, with our key message to raise awareness of the invisible impacts of RA. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2938


Caries is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, which is caused by the degradation of the tooth enamel surface. In earlier research the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans has been associated with the formation of caries in children. Colonization of teeth by C. albicans starts with the initial adhesion of individual yeast cells to the tooth enamel surface. In this study, we visualized the initial colonization of C. albicans yeast cells on pellicle-covered enamel by scanning electron microscopy. To quantitatively unravel the initial adhesion strength, we applied fluidic force microscopy-based single-cell force spectroscopy to examine the key adhesion parameters adhesion force, rupture length and de-adhesion work. We analyzed single saliva-treated or untreated yeast cells on tooth enamel specimens with or without salivary pellicle. Under all tested conditions, adhesion forces in the lower nanonewton range were determined. Furthermore, we have found that all adhesion parameters were enhanced on the pellicle-covered compared to the uncovered enamel. Our data suggest that initial adhesion occurs through a strong interaction between yeast cell wall-associated adhesins and the salivary pellicle. Future SCFS studies may show whether specific management of the salivary pellicle reduces the adhesion of C. albicans on teeth and thus contributes to caries prophylaxis.


Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), a new connective tissue disease was reported and named in 1989 from New Mexico, U.S.A. L-tryptophan has been suspected as the causative agent of EMS. This L-tryptophan was made in Japan, but no definite case of EMS has been reported in Japan. We report 2 patients with EMS. A 72-year-old woman and a 74-year-old woman, who had been treated with oral L-tryptophan 1 g/day for 4 and 5 months by the same doctor simultaneously. The clinical courses of the two cases were similar. A diffuse erythema and swelling appeared on the arms and spread over the whole body. The skin lesions turned into lustrous sclerosis. Eosinophilia was remarkable in the early stage. ANA, DNA anti-body and ENA antibodies were all negative. Neurological examination revealed a mild peripheral neuropathy. No sclerodactylia and no Raynaud's phenomenon in our cases are characteristic findings in EMS. The simultaneous onset of two cases using the same drug at the same time implicates the close relation of L-tryptophan ingestion to EMS.


In this paper we analyze rank assignments and promotions of a group of Federal civilian employees. with special attention to racial differences. To do so, we estimate a multinomial logit model. using pooled data from four different years, on the civilian employees of a large U.S. Army base in the southeastern United States. We derive implications of the estimated parameters concerning the effects of a number of employee characteristics on the relative likelihood of a person's being in the various ranks. To measure the effect of race on rank assignments and promotions, we use a simulation method that provides information for a polytomous discrete dependent variable that is equivalent to that given by a linear regression coefficient for a continuous dependent variable. _Our application of the multinomial logit model to pooled time series cross section data assumes that the stochastic error terms are independently distributed. across persons and ranks and over time. We test the adequacy of this assumption for analyzing three aspects of ranking and promotions: 1) the rank distribution of employees at a given time, 2) shifts over time in the aggregate rank distribution of a cohort of employees, and 3) rank-to-rank movements of individual employees over time. We find that the model performs adequately in the first two cases, but fails in the third.


Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is a common infectious disease, CT scan as a
supplementary diagnostic method to faster treatment could be use.
Purpose: To assess diagnostic value of Unenhanced Chest CT Scan for Active Pulmonary
Tuberculosis.
Method: prospective cross-sectional study performed in suspected tuberculosis patients
admitted to Bu-Ali-Sina hospital in Zahedan city during 6 years from March 2014 to
November 2020. Chest CT-Scan findings compared with culture of tuberculous or bacilli
Bacillus Koch Polymerase Chain Reaction (BK-PCR) then accuracy of chest CT-Scan
manifestations in positive and negative smear of Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) patients was
analysis.
Result: Data of 130 PTB patients with mean age 53 entered in the study. 50.8 % were man
and 49.20 % were woman. 85.4% were smear positive (35.5% +, 32.3% ++, 17.7% +++) and
14.6
% were smear negative. The certain CT-Scan manifestations had taken Centrilobular nodule
(61.5%), cavitation (45.4%) and tree in bud (49.2%). Specificity, sensitivity, positive and
negative pre value, youden index and likelihood ratio of certain CT scan findings (23.1%) for
diagnosis PTB in patients with +1 AFB smear, (P=.20) was 58.7%, 62%, 56.7%, 71%, 0.12
and 2.5. In patients with +2 AFB smear, (P=.02) were 81.3%, 47.4%, 52.9%, 77.3%, 0.28 and
2.49. In patients with +3 AFB smear, (P=.23) was 46.2%, 72.4%, 49.2 %, 75%, 1.64 and 0.18.
and in patients with negative AFB smear, (P=.57) was 25%, 86.7%, 33.3%, 81.3%, 0.11 and
1.87. Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between certain manifestations of
PTB on chest CT scan and positive culture or BK-PCR test (P =.01, likelihood ratio>1) in
suspicious PTB patients. Chest CT scan is a combination diagnostic method in patient with
unreliable laboratory findings.


The design of the mooring system is to determine the length of chain type, quality and weight of the ball, the tilt angle of the buoy and draught of the swimming area and drums as small as possible. In this paper, the optimal design scheme of mooring system is presented based on mechanical analysis. Firstly, the mechanical model of mooring system is given, and the relationship between the variables in mooring system is found through the establishment of static equilibrium equations and geometric constraints. Then the iterative algorithm is used to solve the equation: Through a given depth, gradually solve each equation, the vertical depth can be calculated in the whole system, if the depth close to the given value, the iteration stops, otherwise continue the iteration. Using the iterative algorithm to repeat this process, we can obtain the draught of the buoy, drum tilt and swimming radius under different wind speed.


Abstract The present study was conducted to assess the effect of spiritual care in patients with depression, anxiety or both in a randomized controlled design. The participants were randomized either to receive spiritual care or not and Hamilton anxiety rating scale-A (HAM-A), Hamilton depression rating scale-D (HAM-D), WHO-quality of life-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) and Functional assessment of chronic illness therapy – Spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp) were assessed before therapy and two follow-ups at 3 and 6 week. However, with regard to the spiritual care therapy group, statistically significant differences were observed in both HAM-A and HAM-D scales between the baseline and visit 2 (p < 0.001), thus significantly reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed for any of the scales during the follow-up periods for the control group of participants. When the scores were compared between the study groups, HAM-A, HAM-D and FACIT-Sp 12 scores were significantly lower in the interventional group as compared to the control group at both third and sixth weeks. This suggests a significant improvement in symptoms of anxiety and depression in the spiritual care therapy group than the control group; however, large randomized controlled trials with robust design are needed to confirm the same.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the surface roughness of Noritake® ceramic after different methods of finishing and polishing. 40 specimens of Noritake® ceramic were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=10) and subjected to different methods of finishing and polishing: Group 1 (control) - glaze; Group 2 - abrasive rubbers Astropol (Ivoclar Vivadent), felt disc and diamond paste; Group 3 - abrasive rubbers (Edenta), felt disc and diamond paste; Group 4 - Sof-Lex discs (3M ESPE), felt disc and diamond paste. Subsequently, the surface roughness was measured with rugosimeter (Mitutoyo SJ 301). The control group (G1) had the lowest surface roughness (0.68 μm) that was different statistically to the other groups (p0.05). The different methods of finishing and polishing were not able to promote a surface as smooth as the application of glaze in the ceramics tested.


Objectives Previous quantitative systematic reviews conducting subgroup analyses by race have reported that the association between diabetes and breast cancer in Asian women was inconclusive. The aim of this meta-epidemiological study (MES) was to evaluate this association from additional population-based cohort studies. Methods The potential subjects of this MES were six Asian cohort studies selected by previous systematic reviews. Additional reports were found from the selected articles using citation discovery tools. The study with the longest follow-up period was selected among prospective studies of the same cohorts. A summary relative risk (sRR) and its 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random effect models. Results Four cohort studies on Asian women were finally selected. The participants were from the women population of Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan and included a total of 1,448,254 women. The sRR (95% CI) (I-squared value) was 1.20 (0.98–1.46) (63.1%). Conclusions This MES found that the history of diabetes mellitus was not associated with the risk of breast cancer in Asian women. As breast cancer in this population develops at a younger age, additional cohort studies are necessary to conduct a subgroup analysis by menopausal status at diagnosis of breast cancer in Asian women.


Learning to rank -- producing a ranked list of items specific to a query and with respect to a set of supervisory items -- is a problem of general interest. The setting we consider is one in which no analytic description of what constitutes a good ranking is available. Instead, we have a collection of representations and supervisory information consisting of a (target item, interesting items set) pair. We demonstrate -- analytically, in simulation, and in real data examples -- that learning to rank via combining representations using an integer linear program is effective when the supervision is as light as "these few items are similar to your item of interest." While this nomination task is of general interest, for specificity we present our methodology from the perspective of vertex nomination in graphs. The methodology described herein is model agnostic.


We investigate both theoretically and experimentally the rotational dynamics of micrometric droplets of dye-doped and pure liquid crystal induced by circularly and elliptically polarized laser light. The droplets are dispersed in water and trapped in the focus of the laser beam. Since the optical torque acting on the molecular director is known to be strongly enhanced in light-absorbing dye-doped materials, the question arises whether a similar enhancement takes place also for the overall optical torque acting on the whole droplets. We searched for such enhancement by measuring and comparing the rotation speed of dye-doped droplets induced by a laser beam having a wavelength either inside or outside the dye absorption band, and also comparing it with the rotation of pure liquid crystal droplets. No enhancement was found, confirming that photoinduced dye effects are only associated with an internal exchange of angular momentum between orientational and translational degrees of freedom of matter. Our result provides also direct experimental proof of the existence of a photoinduced stress tensor in the illuminated dye-doped liquid crystal. Finally, peculiar photoinduced dynamical effects are predicted to occur in droplets in which the molecular director is not rigidly locked to the flow, but so far they could not be observed.


The present study investigated the contribution of reward sensitivity (RS) and self-control (SC) to uncontrolled eating (UE) in a non-clinical sample. The EEG of 38 food-deprived female participants was recorded (a) during resting state, (b) while attentively viewing pictures of low-calorie (LC) and high-calorie (HC) foods with matched palatability, and (c) while regulating craving responses to HC food pictures using three common strategies: reappraisal, distraction, and mindful viewing. Activity in the beta and theta frequency bands was used as a correlate of RS and SC, respectively. During the attentive viewing and the three regulation conditions subjective craving ratings were also collected. The Power of Food Scale was used as a trait UE measure. The results showed that women with higher UE may exhibit situationally increased RS, reflected in elevated beta activity during the resting state. Importantly, direct exposure to food stimuli did not further amplify the relationship between UE and beta activity. This pattern indicates that physiological hunger rather than exposure to food cues may be the primary factor in UE-related activation of RS. In the current study, SC markers were not related to UE. SC difficulties may therefore not be an equally important contributor to UE as increased RS in healthy women.


Previous work in Alaska indicates that the distribution of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) along streams is influenced by fish size. Larger fish are usually found in the upstream reaches, and the mean size gradually decreases further downstream, closer to the stream mouth. One of the hypotheses supporting this observation is that larger fish have a feeding advantage because they have first access to drifting prey. This mechanism is also believed to occur within pools. This extension note provides further evidence supporting the size gradient of Arctic grayling in streams. I use data from two rivers in northern British Columbia and one river in Alberta to show similar patterns of size distribution.


The organization, management and accessing of information in better manner in various data warehouse applications have been active areas of research for many researchers for more than last two decades. The work presented in this paper is motivated from their work and inspired to reduce complexity involved in data mining from data warehouse. A new algorithm named VS_Apriori is introduced as the extension of existing Apriori Algorithm that intelligently mines the frequent data itemset in large scale database. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the role of Apriori Algorithm, to demonstrate efficient way and to implement the Algorithm for generating frequent data itemset. Experiments are also performed to show high speedups.


Changes in the 10.6 mu m CO2 laser resonant radiation field cause gas number density changes in the irradiated volume by V-T energy exchange and gas heating. This primary pressure fluctuation ( approximately 0.5%) causes a change in the mean energy exchange per electron-molecule collision dX/X and a change in the electron mean free path lambda and hence the discharge current. The current fluctuation di/i ( approximately 1 to >10%) can be eliminated with a constant-current power supply with a sufficiently rapid response feedback circuit.


Objective—We have previously demonstrated that ischemic cardiomyopathy is associated with selective impairment of progenitor cell function in the bone marrow and in the peripheral blood, which may contribute to an unfavorable left ventricular remodeling process. Methods and Results—With this study, we intended to identify the influence of telomere length on bone marrow functionality in 50 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and previous myocardial infarction. Mean telomere length (mTL) was measured simultaneously in peripheral blood leukocytes and mononuclear bone marrow cells (BMC), using the flow-FISH method. Telomere erosion already occurred at the bone marrow level, whereby age (39 bp/yr, P=0.025) and the number of affected vessels (434 bp/vessel, P=0.029) were the only independent predictors. Lymphocytes demonstrated significant TL shortening between BMCs and peripheral blood in CAD patients (−1011±897 bp) as opposed to an increase in a young control group (+235±459 bp, P<0.001). SDF- and VEGF-specific migration of BMCs correlated with mTL of lymphocytes (r=0.42, P<0.001) and was significantly reduced in CAD patients. Finally, the telomere length difference between granulocytes and lymphocytes was the most determinant for telomere-associated bone marrow impairment (P<0.001). Conclusion—In patients with CAD, telomere shortening of BMCs is dependent on both age and the extent of CAD and correlates with bone marrow cell functionality.


An object of this study is to confirm performance characteristics of the vortex tube apparatus for substitution of the intercooler in a common-rail diesel engine. The turbo pressure, the intake air flow rate and the decrease ratio of the intercooler were measured in a experimental engine. The vortex tube apparatus was made after confirmation of the geometric phenomena in fundamental experiments. To investigate energy separation characteristics of the vortex tube, the measured turbo pressure was applied to the vortex tube inlet and the decrease ratio was compared with one of the intercooler in the cold air mass flow ratio similar to the intake air flow rate of the experimental engine. From the results, we found that the energy separation ratio is increased according to of the inlet pressure and the decrease ratio of the vortex tube apparatus is higher than one of the intercooler at low engine speed and engine load of medium and low.


This study aimed at evaluating the incidence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in thyme and thyme-based products, related dietary exposure, and cancer risk for regular and high consumption. A total of 160 samples were collected, and 32 composite samples were analyzed. AFB1 and OTA were respectively found in 84% (27/32) and 38% (12/32) of the samples. AFB1 exceeded the limits in 41% (13/32) and 25% (8/32) of the samples according to the Lebanese and European standards, respectively. OTA was unacceptable in only 6% (2/32) and 3% (1/32) of the samples according to the Lebanese and European standards, respectively. AFB1 and OTA daily exposure was shown to be 4.270 and 1.345 ng/kg bw/day, respectively. AFB1 was shown to be associated with 0.41 and 0.35 additional cancer cases per 100,000 persons per year for regular consumption, respectively; while for high consumption, an increase of 0.911 and 0.639 cancer cases per 100,000 person per year was noted, respectively. The margin of exposure (MOE) for OTA was >10,000 for the non-neoplastic effect and >200 for the neoplastic effect, representing no toxicological concerns for consumers.


This is the first nationwide study to examine the seroepidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae using blood culture isolates collected over a period of 20 years. The study found that the prevalence of serotypes remained consistent over the 20-year period, with high-prevalence serotypes associated with invasive types. ABSTRACT In this study, we selected bacteremic Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from the Taiwan Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance program. A total of 521 isolates were collected over a period of 2 decades, including 121 from 1998, 197 from 2008, and 203 from 2018. Seroepidemiology showed that the top five capsular polysaccharide types were serotypes K1, K2, K20, K54, and K62, constituting 48.5% of the total isolates, and the respective ratios at each time point have remained similar over the past 2 decades. The antibacterial susceptibility tests showed that K1, K2, K20, and K54 were susceptible to most antibiotics, while K62 was relatively resistant compared to other typeable and nontypeable strains. In addition, six virulence-associated genes, clbA, entB, iroN, rmpA, iutA, and iucA, were predominant in K1 and K2 isolates of K. pneumoniae. In conclusion, serotypes K1, K2, K20, K54, and K62 of K. pneumoniae are the most prevalent serotypes and carry more virulence determinants in bacteremia patients, which may indicate their invasiveness. If further serotype-specific vaccine development is performed, these five serotypes should be included. Since the antibiotic susceptibility profiles were stable over a long duration, empirical treatment may be predicted according to serotype if rapid diagnosis from direct clinical specimens is available, such as PCR or antigen serotyping for serotype K1 and K2. IMPORTANCE This is the first nationwide study to examine the seroepidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae using blood culture isolates collected over a period of 20 years. The study found that the prevalence of serotypes remained consistent over the 20-year period, with high-prevalence serotypes associated with invasive types. Nontypeable isolates had fewer virulence determinants than other serotypes. With the exception of serotype K62, the other high-prevalence serotypes were highly susceptible to antibiotics. If rapid diagnosis using direct clinical specimens, such as PCR or antigen serotyping, is available, empirical treatment can be predicted based on serotype, particularly for K1 and K2. The results of this seroepidemiology study could also help the development of future capsule polysaccharide vaccines.


We consider the problem of risk-sensitive motion planning in the presence of randomly moving obstacles. To this end, we adopt a model predictive control (MPC) scheme and pose the obstacle avoidance constraint in the MPC problem as a distributionally robust constraint with a KL divergence ambiguity set. This constraint is the dual representation of the Entropic Value-at-Risk (EVaR). Building upon this viewpoint, we propose an algorithm to follow waypoints and discuss its feasibility and completion in finite time. We compare the policies obtained using EVaR with those obtained using another common coherent risk measure, Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR), via numerical experiments for a 2D system. We also implement the waypoint following algorithm on a 3D quadcopter simulation.


Side-Channel Attacks (SCAs) exploit data correlation in signals leaked from devices to jeopardize confidentiality. Locating and synchronizing segments of interest in traces from Cryptographic Processes (CPs) is a key step of the attack. The most common method consists in generating a trigger signal to indicate to the attacker the start of a CP. This paper proposes a method called Virtual Triggering (VT) that removes the need for the trigger signal and automates trace segmentation. When the time between repetitions is not constant, further trace alignment techniques are required. Building on VT, we propose a simple method to learn representative segment templates from a profiling device similar to the victim, and to automatically locate and pull out these segments from other victim devices using simple pattern recognition. We evaluate VT on screaming channel attacks [1], which initially used a Frequency Component (FC) known to appear at a single time in leaked signals, as a trigger to segment traces. We demonstrate that VT not only performs equivalently to FC on a standard attack scenario, but we also show how using VT with the automatic pullout technique improves the attack efficiency and enables more realistic attack scenarios. Thanks to VT, screaming channel attacks can now: (1) succeed with only half of the segments collected compared to the FC trigger from the original attack; and (2) absorb time variations between CPs.


Background: Cabozantinib, a multiple kinase inhibitor, was recently approved for patients with previously treated unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). We investigated the real-world safety and efficacy profiles of cabozantinib. Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included 110 patients with uHCC who received cabozantinib after progression on other systemic treatments between October 2019 and May 2021. Results: The median age was 58 (range, 20–77) years, and 98 (89.1%) were male. Prior to cabozantinib, all patients were treated with other systemic therapies: sorafenib (n = 104, 94.5%) and regorafenib (n = 91, 82.7%) were the most commonly used agents. Immune checkpoint inhibitors were previously used in 93 patients (84.5%). Cabozantinib was used beyond the third-line of therapy in most patients (n = 90, 81.8%). With a median follow-up duration of 11.9 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 10.8–17.2], the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.7 months (95% CI, 3.1–4.9), and the median overall survival (OS) was 7.5 months (95% CI, 5.5–9.5). The disease control rate and overall response rate (ORR) were 66.3% and 3.6%, respectively. In the Child–Pugh A cohort (n = 88), the ORR was 4.5%, and the median PFS and OS were 4.3 months (95% CI, 3.6–5.8) and 9.0 months (95% CI, 7.5–11.7), respectively. Conclusion: Cabozantinib showed consistent efficacy outcomes with a prior phase III trial, although in this study, it was used as later-line therapy for patients who were refractory to multiple systemic treatments, including immune checkpoint inhibitors.


Voluntary nonremunerated donation stands for the framework of a solid, safe, and sustainable blood supply; for this reason, the World Health Organization has set a goal toward achieving 100% voluntary nonremunerated blood donation in 2020. However, in Lebanon like in most developing countries, the majority of blood donations still come from family/replacement donors (around 75%) followed by voluntary donors for only 15%; compensated donors yet account for 10% of blood donations. Lebanon has a decentralized and fragmented blood supply system where private health care facilities predominate over the public system; thus, numerous challenges and roadblocks-that are discussed in this article-are likely to delay the fulfillment of the WHO resolution. By properly addressing (and resolving) those caveats, it should be expected that Lebanon can forecast achieving (or at least getting close to) 100% voluntary nonremunerated blood donation within the next decade.


This paper presents a model that generates a nonmonotonic evolution of the return to education. The model highlights the role played by socioeconomic stratification in the joint determination of the supply of educated labor and the supply of physical capital. The recent theoretical literature attributes the increased education premium of the last decades to skill-biased technological progress. In contrast, our explanation is based on capital–skill complementarity and endogenous accumulation of physical and human capital in an environment characterized by credit constraints.


In the present article, Augustine's "Retractationes" are closely examined in order to discover what the author was aiming at in writing this final correction of his own works. It turns out that the "Retractationes" can, not surprisingly, be linked to his other autobiographical works, the "Soliloquia" and the "Confessions". In the "Soliloquia", Augustine examines the difference between true and false in the way he pictures himself. Next, in the "Confessions", he continues to examine his own image and he discovers the role of grace: one can only rightly picture oneself with the aid of grace. Finally, in the Retractationes he reconsiders almost all his works and corrects the possibly false image these works might give of the author. He does so in particular by pretending that even in earlier periods the notion of grace was always the prevailing one in his writings. He surely may have written against the Manicheans, he may have insisted on the importance of the free will, but in fact he was already arguing against the Pelagians. Augustine changes his image for two reasons. Frist, he wants to rectify his own image so that the true one can be handed over to posterity. This is his wish to create his own reception. Secondly, he creates a new image that is based on the discovery of an interior image. It is this discovery that will allow him to make the autobiographical image also an essential part of his theology of image. It is the discovery that a personal view on one's life may become the discovery of God's view on his life and so the autobiographical image and the interior image become, once again, the tale of two stories, of two cities so to say, which reveal us the presence of the divine in our human existence.


A new electrochemical hybridization trans-duction pathway, obtained by coupling electrochemical adsorption and long-range electron transfer through double-stranded DNA, was investigated using ultrami-croelectrode (UME). The results show that long-range electron transfer does not occurs exclusively throws well-packed and organized self-assembled DNA monolayers. This approach is used to investigate long-range electron transfer properties of both single-and double-stranded short synthetic DNA and DNA plasmids. Single mismatch electrochemical detection protocol of non-labelled short synthetic DNA, without heating or probe labelling, in a 10 minutes protocol, was in fine performed.


We propose associating language utterances to 3D visual abstractions of the scene they describe. The 3D visual abstractions are encoded as 3-dimensional visual feature maps. We infer these 3D visual scene feature maps from RGB images of the scene via view prediction: when the generated 3D scene feature map is neurally projected from a camera viewpoint, it should match the corresponding RGB image. We present generative models that condition on the dependency tree of an utterance and generate a corresponding visual 3D feature map as well as reason about its plausibility, and detector models that condition on both the dependency tree of an utterance and a related image and localize the object referents in the 3D feature map inferred from the image. Our model outperforms models of language and vision that associate language with 2D CNN activations or 2D images by a large margin in a variety of tasks, such as, classifying plausibility of utterances, detecting referential expressions, and supplying rewards for trajectory optimization of object placement policies from language instructions. We perform numerous ablations and show the improved performance of our detectors is due to its better generalization across camera viewpoints and lack of object interferences in the inferred 3D feature space, and the improved performance of our generators is due to their ability to spatially reason about objects and their configurations in 3D when mapping from language to scenes.


The studies have an important role in the piano education. During the music history, many composers have used these studies for different purposes. Today, these studies are still being used effectively in various levels of the piano education. The aim of this article is to explain how to use these studies in the piano education and how to adapt the maqams and maqams scales into the piano. In addition, the purpose is to analyze and assess three selected studies in general on account of their target behaviors to be developed.


The interception of weak frequency-hopped (FH) spread spectrum signals corrupted by broadband noise with unknown and changing power spectral density level is discussed. The doubly stochastic processes are considered to model the noise level as a random variable. The deflection is utilized to compare the performances of the conventional radiometer and the recently proposed single-cycle detector. The results confirm that, for long collect times, the single-cycle detector can outperform the radiometer for relatively small uncertainty in the noise level. Moreover, the conditions are thus established for the bit rate and the carrier frequency separation to assure a significant superiority of the single-cycle detector.<<ETX>>


On the basis of the background of the global green development wave, this paper studies the mechanism between ecological value transformation and urban-rural common prosperity as well as selects 24 data indicators in relation to ecological value transformation, i.e., green development level from 2008 to 2017, calculate the comprehensive score of China's green development level by entropy method, measures the gap between the rich and the poor between urban and rural areas by urban-rural income ratio, and using correlation analysis, she examines the relationship between green development level and the urban-rural income ratio. Moreover, through empirical analysis, there is a significant negative correlation between the level of green development and the ratio of urban to rural income, according to the findings. The improvement of the level of green development will assist narrow the income gap between urban and rural residents as well as achieve common prosperity.


CONTEXT: At the hospitals level, a large volume of resources is consumed, and efficient allocation of resources must be done based on valid and scientific evidence. As these resources are complex and vary for different categories of the population, the analysis of needs by age groups can support decision-making and the development of appropriate policies. The purpose of this analysis was to identify patterns of hospital morbidity among children 0-17 years and to provide evidence that can support the decision making process in the field of efficient allocation of resources. METHOD: Cross-sectional study performed on data on hospital activity at patient level, in the year 2019. The DRGNational 2019 database was interrogated and data on the level of hospital morbidity in children 0-17 years were extracted. Indicators were calculated, for measuring the level of hospital activity, such as: number of hospitalization episodes, proportion of hospitalizations in total hospitalizations, density of hospitalizations among children. Data were analyzed by age categories 0-1 years, 1-4 years, 5-9 years, 10-14 years and 15-17 years; data were aggregated at national level, and for certain aspects, the data were also aggregated at county level. RESULTS: The analysis of the spectrum of pathologies highlights major differences between the age groups within the category of children 0-17 years, both in terms of their frequency in the top of pathologies for each major age category and in terms of their proportion of total hospitalizations. The spectrum of pathologies among children 0-17 years old hospitalized in Romanian hospitals is dominated by respiratory and digestive diseases, parasitic diseases and ENT diseases, and for each age group there are specificities of the hospitalization model. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence from this study shows that there are large variations between pediatric hospital morbidity models identified, and these variations require in-depth analysis, on each population segment, in order to provide valid evidence to support decisions on efficient allocation of hospital resources in territorial profile. Keywords: major diagnosis categories, pediatric, Romania, morbidity Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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This study addresses the problem of guaranteed state and unknown input (UI) estimation for a class of linear parameter varying systems affected by UIs and other bounded perturbations. The context of interval observer in the cooperative framework is adopted. Thus, lower and upper bounds of the state and UI are provided. No assumption is made on the UI. The approach is based on a rank condition allowing to decouple the UI from the state estimation errors (so that the state estimation is guaranteed, regardless of the variation of the UI). The convergence of the proposed interval observer is studied by Lyapunov theory and stability conditions are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities which ease the design of the gain matrices of the observer. Finally, illustrative examples are given for discussion and comparison with respect to the existing results.


Background : Learning success of students who excel in Midwifery Study Programme Stikes Guna Bangsa Yogyakarta liked and favored students who excel is to learn individually and independently, after the teacher explains the gist of a summary of students taking the teacher and find language materials and medical / health is not understood in the previous learning, in independent study attempted to repeat every day and read the module provided teachers.
Objective is to find out how individual characteristics on student is achievement, How do environmental characteristics on student achievement, How do the characteristics of the material at the time lecturing to students who achievement .
Methods : Descriptive qualitative research methods, population study with purposive sampling.
Result : Individual Characteristics of the three students who excel from elementary school to college level obstetric always get good performance class, the Environmental Characteristics of parents and close friends and also lecturers from three students who excel always motivated and have a considerable effect on the success of learning to become high achievers, lecture material characteristics of the three students who perform is very like material Biochemistry and Midwifery Care , the materials that do not like is the material of Citizenship and Pancasila.
Conclusion : Way of learning more towards students who excel individually and independently, although there is collaboration with friends - the theme of doing the task and group presentations, Family / parent and friend influence and motivate students who excel get value and good performance, material characteristics on midwifery lectures in semester one  and semester two  can be followed, although there is material that is not favored by the three students who excel.


Concentrations of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) were measured in foodstuffs randomly acquired in seven cities of Catalonia, Spain. A total of 108 samples, belonging to 11 food groups (vegetables, tubers, fruits, cereals, pulses, fish and shellfish, meat and meat products, eggs, milk, dairy products, and oils and fats), were analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The levels of tetra-, penta-, hexa-, and hepta-CNs, those of octachloronaphthalene, and the mean sum concentration of tetra-octa-CN were determined. The highest concentration of total PCNs was found in oils and fats (447 pg/g), followed by cereals (71 pg/g), fish and shellfish (39 pg/g), and dairy products (36 pg/g). In general, tetra-CN was the predominant homologue in all food groups except for fruits and pulses, which had greater proportions of hexa-CNs. The dietary intake of total PCNs was subsequently determined. For calculations, recent data on consumption of the selected food items were used. Intake of PCNs was estimated for five population groups of Catalonia: children, adolescents, male and female adults, and seniors. When the dietary intake of total PCNs was expressed in nanogram per kilogram of body weight per day, it was age-dependent, with the highest and lowest values corresponding to children (1.65) and seniors (0.54), respectively. The largest contribution to the daily PCNs intake came from oils and fats and from cereals. The result of the current study is the first published report concerning human exposure to PCNs through the diet.


Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is one of the basic electronic components of rail and electric vehicle traction systems. They are used for switching and can perform this task very quickly. Regarding its operation, thermal modelling of IGBT modules is vital for obtaining temperature distribution for these components and thermal resistances of the entire IGBT as well. Nowadays, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a robust and advantageous tool for modelling fluid flow and heat transfer problems that can be adopted to the thermal design of such critical components to better understand the effects of the design variables on the thermal-hydraulic performance of IGBT. This study is about conjugate heat transfer in a heat sink with diode and IGBT chips as heat sources and investigates the effect of minichannel porosity on Nusselt number (Nu) and the pumping power at several inlet Reynolds number (Re). The CFD analysis have been conducted parametrically and revealed that with increasing Re, both Nu and pumping powers increased significantly, indicating that heat transfer enhancement as well as power consumption are dominated by the flowrate. It is also shown that low minichannel porosities provide higher Nu and pumping power as well. The parametric studies provided a knowledge about the thermal-hydraulic performance of the IGBT and assisted to understand the effects of the governing parameters on the target functions.


Visual tracking is a fundamental primitive in advanced sensing tasks, such as vision-guided manipulation or surveillance. We investigate the influence of window size and image tessellation on tracking performance and show that optimal performance for uniform image tesselations is obtained when image sampling time equals image processing time. The performance measures cover velocity, acceleration, and jerk by utilizing different types of feature prediction. We then show that one-dimensional windows can improve performance for specific targets. Finally we show that multi-resolution approaches (log-polar and image pyramid) greatly improve tracking performance.


The mechanisms of bile acid uptake have been studied with primary monolayer cultures of rat hepatocytes. Hepatocytes were incubated with taurocholic acid (TC), glycocholic acid (GC), cholic acid (CA), glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GCDC), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), deoxycholic acid (DOCA), lithocholic acid (LCA), or cholylglycylhistamine (CCH), a neutral bile acid derivative for 10 s to 60 min in medium containing sodium chloride, sodium chloride with 1 mM ouabain, or choline chloride. Cells were washed free of radioactive tracer, cell-associated radioactivity was quantitated, and bile acid uptake rates, kinetic parameters of uptake, and steady-state bile acid content were calculated. Two mechanisms for bile acid uptake were identified. Uptake of TC, GC, CA, and GCDC occurred predominantly via a sodium-dependent, ouabain-suppressible saturable mechanism, presumably sodium-coupled transport. Estimates of apparent Km and Vmax for these bile acids were TC, 33 micro M and 0.36 nmol . min-1 . mg prot-1; GC, 18 micro M and 0.22 nmol . min-1 . mg prot-1; CA, 13 micro M and 0.10 nmol . min-1 . mg prot; and GCDC, 6 micro M and 0.21 nmol . min-1 . mg prot, respectively. Uptake via this sodium-coupled mechanism exhibited considerable substrate selectivity. It was enhanced by increased ring hydroxylation and amino acid conjugation and decreased by further conjugation with a neutral histamine group (CGH). In contrast, uptake of CDCA, DOCA, LCA, and CGH occurred primarily via a nonsaturable sodium-independent mechanism, possibly simple diffusion. This mechanism accounted for only a small portion of uptake of TC, GC, CA, and GCDC at low bile acid concentrations. Nonsaturable bile acid uptake rates appeared to correlate with decane-buffer partition coefficients and to be related to bile acid structure.


Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics can capture the whole genome and transcriptome repertoire of microorganisms through sequencing total DNA/RNA from various environmental samples, providing both taxonomic and functional information with high resolution. The unique and complex rumen microbial ecosystem is receiving great research attention because the rumen microbiota coevolves with the host and equips ruminants with the ability to convert cellulosic plant materials to high-protein products for human consumption. To date, hundreds to thousands of microbial phylotypes have been identified in the rumen using culture-independent molecular-based approaches, and genomic information of rumen microorganisms is rapidly accumulating through the single genome sequencing. However, functional characteristics of the rumen microbiome have not been well described because there are numerous uncultivable microorganisms in the rumen. The advent of metagenomics and metatranscriptomics along with advanced bioinformatics methods can help us better understand mechanisms of the rumen fermentation, which is vital for improving nutrient utilization and animal productivity. Therefore, in this review, we summarize a general workflow to conduct rumen metagenomics and metatranscriptomics and discuss how the data can be interpreted to be useful information. Moreover, we review recent literatures studying associations between the rumen microbiome and host phenotypes (e.g., feed efficiency and methane emissions) using these approaches, aiming to provide a useful guide to include studying the rumen microbiome as one of the research objectives using these 2 approaches.


Purpose: This paper identifies emerging revenue models for personal data platform operators that facilitate the exchange of resources between an individual and a service provider for their mutual benefit. Context of this study is human-centered personal data management, which refers to individuals being able to control the use and access of their personal data for third-party services. Design: This research is conducted by analysing qualitative questionnaire data from 27 organizations from 12 different countries that are considered as forerunners in creating services in this context. Findings: Our study shows that personal data platform operators capture value with transaction-, service-, connectionand membership fees from service providers, data sources and individuals using the platform. This study also reveals two propositions as the foundation of revenue model creation in the context of human-centered personal data management, namely a no-advertising and free-for-users model. Our research findings show that monetising personal data with advertising is avoided by personal data platform operators. Research Limitations/Implications: This study calls for further research about how does providing control over personal data to individuals influence on business models of platform operators and other service providers in the market. Practical implications: For practitioners, this research offers new insights on revenue models that are being developed by the forerunners of human-centered personal data management approach in the European market. Originality/Value: Revenue models for personal data platform operators when taking a human-centered approach to personal data management. Propositions to consider when creating revenue models in this context. Please cite this paper as: Kemppainen et al. (2018), Emerging Revenue Models for Personal Data Platform Operators: When Individuals are in Control of Their Data, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 79-105


with mild to moderate arterial hypertension (AH). Material and methods . This 12-month, open, comparative randomized study included 81 ML aged 37-70, with mild to moderate AH. The main group consisted of 42 patients, the control group – of 39; mean age 52.2 ± 1.3 and 51.5 ± 1.1 years, mean AH duration 10 ± 1 and 9.6±1 years, respectively. In main group, patients received an ACE inhibitor spirapril, combined with hypothiazide (12.5-25 mg/d), and atenolol (12.5-100 mg/d), if necessary. In control group, AHT and its correction were performed by outpatient physicians. Medical history collection, phy-sical examination, anthropometry, blood pressure (BP) measurement (three times), and electrocardiograpy were performed. Results . During one-year controlled AHT, comparing to standard outpatient care, more effective decrease in systo-lic and diastolic BP was achieved. Antihypertensive effect was registered in 78.6% and 38.0% of the main and control group patients, respectively. At the end of the study, most participants from the main group ((78.6%) received combined therapy (2 or more drugs); in control group, this number was only 17.2%. Conclusion . The results of the study demonstrated high effectiveness and benefits of long-term controlled AHT, comparing to standard outpatient care.


In his article "Laughter and the Cosmopolitan Aesthetic in Lao She Jeffrey Mather discusses Lao She's naturalist portrayals of social life in China during a tumultuous period. works include the 1937 novel 骆驼祥子 which were made into films in China. international bestseller, making Lao She one of the first modern Chinese writers known in Lao She wrote Mr. Ma and Son in London during the 1920s: the novel was first installments in 1929 in the prominen London and drawing from a range of literary and popular sources, humor as a way to challenge distinctions between East and West and to present readers with the possibilities of a cosmopolitan literary aesthetic. its satirical aims and along the way empowers a nationalist at the same time an ironic laughter that disrupts the ra spontaneous and slippery in its ambivalence. > ISSN 1481-4374 <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb Purdue University Press , the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the "comparative cultural studies." ticles of scholarly books and publishes research material in its in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monog firstname.lastname@example.com> Issue 1 (March 2014) Article 6 Jeffrey Mather, 's 二马 (Mr. Ma and Son b.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol16/iss1/6>


Liguzinediol (LZDO) could mediate the positive inotropic effects through sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase-dependent mechanism without the risk of arrhythmia. However, the pharmacophore of LZDO contributed to the activities was not clear. The aim of this work was to explore the relationship between positive inotropic effect and scaffold of LZDO as well as to check whether the pharmacophore of LZDO on anti-heart failure activity was located at the pyrazine ring. A series of LZDO analogs (3a-b, 4a-b, 9-19) were designed and synthesised, and their activities were evaluated on isolated heart contractility by Langendorff perfusion. The results showed that the efficacy of LZDO was reduced when the hydroxyl, carboxyl or ester moieties at the side chain position of LZDO were induced, and the para-dihydroxy in LZDO was necessary for its activity. Thus, the pharmacophore of the positive inotropic effect might be located at the whole scaffold of LZDO, but not at the pyrazine ring. The finding may provide an important clue of the pharmacophore for the development of novel cardiotonic agents.


Preliminary results are presented about a fully self-consistent N-body simulation of a sample of four massive globular clusters in close interaction within the central region of a galaxy. The N-body representation (with N=1.5x10^6 particles in total) of both the clusters and the galaxy allows to include in a natural and self-consistent way dynamical friction and tidal interactions. The results confirm the decay and merging of globulars as a viable scenario for the formation/accretion of compact nuclear clusters. Specifically: i) the frictional orbital decay is about 2 times faster than that predicted by the generalized Chandrasekhar formula; ii) the progenitor clusters merge in less than 20 galactic core-crossing time; iii) the NC configuration keeps a quasi-stable state at least within 70 galactic core-crossing times.


Profound social changes that have occurred in recent decades in rural society have led to the abandonment of ethno veterinary practices and knowledge, traditionally used to treat and prevent animal diseases. The main objective of this ethno botanical work is to document the traditional veterinary uses of plants in the Montana Palentina region (Palencia, Spain). The data obtained has been compiled through 139 semi-structured interviews, with a total of 187 people, of whom 97% were over 60 years old. The results of the study collect a total of 61 plant species with veterinary uses, belonging to 32 botanical families, with Asteraceae being the family with the highest representation in terms of number of species (13), and also in terms of number of records of use (72). There were a total of 202 records of use, distributed in 11 use categories, with the result that the treatment of diseases of the digestive system had the highest number of recorded uses at 56 (28% of the total), followed by skin and subcutaneous cell tissue uses at 44 (22% of the total). The plant species with the highest number of records of use was Gentiana lutea (33), divided between the cure and prevention of diseases of the digestive (20) and respiratory systems (8), and infectious and parasitic diseases (5). The study may help to preserve traditional ethno veterinary knowledge in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as promote studies that consider clinical herbal medicine in animal health care.

 Key words: Ethnoveterinary, veterinary herbal medicine, traditional knowledge, Palencia, Iberian Peninsula.


Mobile hidden station and neighborhood capture problems severely affect the communication in the MAC layer of a mobile ad hoc network. IEEE 802.11 cannot prevent blocking due to neighborhood capture problem and collisions due to mobile hidden station problem. Extended reservation-Aloha (ERA) solves these two problems in a probabilistic manner along with solving widely known hidden station and exposed station problems. This paper provides a probabilistic view of ERA to neighborhood capture and mobile hidden station problems. The analysis shows that the channel accessing probability of a station facing neighborhood capture problem is more than 90 percent with 60 percent traffic.


With the construction of large-scale wind farm, most of wind farms' geographical environment is more open, vulnerable to line switch tripping caused by large-scale wind power failure. Therefore line lightning protection becomes important work of wind farm construction. In this paper, lines lightning protection is preceded through analyzing and calculating lightning induced voltage in the mathematical model to determine the optimal calculation model ,without considering the influence of environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and terrain. The relationship between each influencing factor and induced lightning over-voltage is analyzed by using MATLAB.


An advanced, high-performance, quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS technology has been developed for fast 16 Mb SRAM's. A split word-line bitcell architecture, using four levels of polysilicon and two self-aligned contacts, achieves a cell area of 8.61 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ with conventional I-line lithography and 7.32 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ with I-line plus phase-shift or with deep UV lithography. The process features PELOX isolation to provide a 1.0 /spl mu/m active pitch, MOSFET transistors designed for a 0.80 /spl mu/m gate poly pitch, a double polysilicon bipolar transistor with aggressively scaled parasitics, and a thin-film polysilicon transistor to enhance bitcell stability. A quadruple-well structure improves soft error rate (SER) and allows simultaneous optimization of MOSFET and bipolar performance. >


Abstract The influence of soybean row width and glyphosate application timing was determined on survival, biomass, and seed production of cohorts from a mixed population of Palmer amaranth and pusley species (Florida and Brazil pusley) along with soybean seed yield. The first Palmer amaranth and pusley cohort comprised plants that emerged from soybean planting through the V3 (3 wk after soybean emergence [WAE]) soybean stage (cohort 1). The second cohort comprised plants that emerged between the V3 to V6 (5 WAE) soybean stages (cohort 2), and the third cohort emerged after the V6 through the R2 soybean stage (cohort 3). Glyphosate at 840 g ae ha−1 was applied at V3; V6; V3 and V6; and V3, V6, and R2 in rows either 19 or 97 cm wide. A nontreated control was included for comparison in each row width. Sequential glyphosate applications at V3 and V6 or at V3, V6, and R2 soybean stages resulted in 1 to 3% survival of cohort 1 compared with 23 to 28% survival after a single glyphosate application. Vegetative biomass production by cohort 1 accounted for 71% of the total pusley biomass produced in the nontreated plots. Cohort 1, 2, and 3 contributed 68, 31, and 1%, respectively, of the total 37,900 seeds m−2 produced by pusley plants in nontreated plots. Delaying a glyphosate application to the V6 stage resulted in higher biomass and more than twice the seed produced from cohort 1 when compared with cohort 2. Glyphosate applied at V3 and V6 stages prevented pusley seed production from cohort 1, and an additional glyphosate application at the R2 stage prevented seed production from cohorts 2 and 3. No Palmer amaranth emergence occurred after the V6 soybean stage in either row width. A single glyphosate application at the V3 or V6 stage eliminated cohort 1 of Palmer amaranth in narrow rows. Palmer amaranth plants from cohort 1 in wide rows that survived the V3 glyphosate application produced 3.3 g m−2 biomass and 600 seeds m−2. Averaged over years and row widths, soybean yields after sequential glyphosate applications were 2,490 to 2,640 kg ha−1 compared with 1,850 to 2,020 kg ha−1 after a single glyphosate application at the V3 or V6 stage. This research confirms that sequential glyphosate applications are superior to a single application for minimizing pusley and Palmer amaranth survival, biomass, and seed production along with an improvement in soybean yields.


This article deals with the production and regional development of child care services in Sweden. The production of social services outside the home is discussed in relation to labour market needs and equal opportunities. Staffing, organisation and extension of child care services, as well as restructuring trends are dealt with. The services studied are characterised by local solutions. Reasons for local variations are discussed with special references to labour market factors, political tradition and level of urbanisation. No single factor can explain the variations. Explanations have to be found in the specific local mix of factors.


Intermediate volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) have a significant contribution to the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in the atmosphere, but are not included in the current emission inventory. In this study, IVOC emissions from vehicles are estimated for the Yangtze River Delta region (YRD) for 2017 based on two methods:the emission factor method and the IVOCs/POA scaling factor method. Uncertainties in the estimated IVOCs emissions and the impact on their potential formation are discussed. The results based on the emission factor method showed that the total vehicular IVOCs emission in the YRD in 2017 was 35800 tons, and that the formation potential of SOA was an estimated 695 tons. IVOCs emissions from trucks accounted for>70% of total IVOCs emissions in most cities in the YRD region. In terms of fuel type, IVOCs emissions from diesel vehicles were much higher than of those from gasoline vehicles. Results based on the IVOCs/POA scaling factor method showed that the emissions calculated by different combinations of IVOCs/POA ratios and POA/PM2.5 ratios that could vary significantly, with a maximum of 64.2×104 tons and a minimum of just 5.2×104 tons. The resultant SOA formation potential was 1.55×104 tons and 1032 tons for the maximum and minimum, respectively. This study shows that the results of IVOCs emissions based on different estimation methods are associated with large uncertainties, which could directly affect the simulation results of SOA in subsequent air quality models. Therefore, it is necessary to use different inventory results in air quality models and perform model evaluation of SOA in order to obtain more accurate IVOCs emission inventories of vehicles in the YRD region.


Livestock that is extensively managed can have higher diversity and abundance of insects in comparison to intensively managed livestock, although data are more equivocal within a gradient of extensively managed pastures. Additionally, biodiversity on farms is vulnerable to degradation of the surrounding landscape and changing patterns of land use. We monitored Coleoptera and Hemiptera on grass-fed cattle farms in North Carolina to determine effects of cattle and land use patterns on biodiversity. We found differences among farms in sward height, densities of several insect families and insect diversity that were related to management but not to cattle density. Sward height was more strongly related to the insect community than surrounding land cover patterns. However, both sward height and land cover patterns were related to insect diversity patterns, suggesting that maintenance of biodiversity is not solely affected by agricultural practices on farms.


We report an accurate determination of the hydrodynamic boundary condition of simple liquids flowing on smooth hydrophobic surfaces using a dynamic surface force apparatus equipped with two independent subnanometer resolution sensors. The boundary slip observed is well defined and does not depend on the scale of investigation from one to several hundreds of nanometers, nor on shear rate up to 5 x 10(3)s(-1). The slip length of 20 nm is in good agreement with theory and numerical simulations concerning smooth nonwetting surfaces. These results disagree with previous data in the literature reporting very high boundary slip on similar systems. We discuss possible origins of large slip length on smooth hydrophobic surfaces due to their contamination by hydrophobic particles.


Abstract The current in-vivo study was premeditated to uncover the protective role of ezetimibe (EZ) against advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs)-related pathologies in experimental diabetes. Our results showed that EZ markedly improved the altered biochemical markers of diabetes mellitus (DM) (FBG, HbA1c, insulin, microalbumin, and creatinine) and cardiovascular disease (in-vivo lipid/lipoprotein level and hepatic HMG-CoA reductase activity) along with diminished plasma carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) and renal fluorescent AGEs level. Gene expression study revealed that EZ significantly down-regulated the renal AGEs-receptor (RAGE), nuclear factor-κB (NFκB-2), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) mRNA expression, however, the neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) mRNA expression was up-regulated. In addition, EZ also maintained the redox status via decreasing the lipid peroxidation and protein-bound carbonyl content (CC) and increasing the activity of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-associated-paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) and renal antioxidant enzymes as well as also protected renal histopathological features. We conclude that EZ exhibits antidiabetic and reno-protective properties in diabetic rats.


Objective: A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method using photodiode array (PDA) detector with gradient elution was developed for the quantification of ascorbic acid, free phenolic acids such as gallic acid, methyl gallate, caffeic acid, syringic acid, ferulic acid, para (p)-coumaric acid, sinapic acid and flavonoids (catechin, rutin, quercetin, myricetin, apigenin and kaempferol), in four different solvent extracts like chloroform, methanol, 80% aqueous (aq.) ethanol and 1% aqueous (aq.) acetic acid of wild edible leaves of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium collected from Meghalaya state of India. Methods: The chromatographic separation was carried out on AcclaimTM120 C 18 column (5 μm particle size, 250 x 4.6 mm), Dionex Ultimate 3000 liquid chromatography and detection were carried out at three different wavelengths (272, 280 and 310 nm) using a mobile phase of acetonitrile and 1% aq. the acetic acid solution with gradient elution. Results: The experimental results showed a high concentration of ascorbic acid (16.8 mg/g of dry plant material) and gallic acid (0.952 mg/g of dry plant material) in 1% aq. acetic acid extract as compared to the 80% aq. ethanol extract of the plant. The high percentage of recovery (96-103%), low coefficient of variation (R2>0.99) and low limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) confirm the suitability of the method for simultaneous quantification of ascorbic acid and all phenolic compounds in the plant under investigation. Conclusion: The method can be applied for the simultaneous determination of phenolic acids and flavonoids in different plants and also for the isolation of several bioactive components for the use in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sector.


If one fact emerges with abundant clarity from Insulin Murders it is that coauthor Vincent Marks would make the ideal dinner party guest. As a world authority on criminal use of insulin, Marks could spin startling stories of bigamous murderers, serial killers, and bungled miscarriages of justice sufficient to last until well after the last wafer thin mint has been eaten and the port bottle emptied.

Documenting 50 years of legal cases that have implicated insulin as a murder weapon, Marks and his coauthor, medical journalist Caroline Richmond, have produced a compelling account that is at least as thrilling as any best selling crime novel, with many twists and loose ends to keep the reader guessing.

Beginning in England in 1957 with the first murder proved to have involved insulin, though technically death was caused by drowning, the book details 14 of the most controversial trials in which insulin has played a determining role. In many—including the famous conviction and later acquittal of Claus von Bulow, wrongly accused of murdering his heiress wife by insulin injection, and the case of British nurse Beverly Allitt, convicted of killing four children in her care—Marks testified as an expert witness.

Just as the book provides a galloping account of ingenious attempts by fortune hunting husbands and money grabbing wives to pull off the perfect murder, it also charts the development of the laboratory tests that in many instances have foiled their efforts—and in other cases quite possibly led to wrongful convictions or erroneous acquittals. In this parallel journey, doctors and nurses are as often the villains as the heroes, just as likely to be clinically efficient killers as they are to be the medical sleuths who unmask them.

Kenneth Barlow, the first proved insulin murderer, convicted of killing his wife by injecting her with insulin then leaving her to drown in a bath, was an unemployed nurse. It was an astute forensic pathologist who cast doubt on his wife's seemingly natural death, having discovered a tiny puddle of water in the crook of her arm, discrediting Barlow's story that he had tried to resuscitate her. Subsequent tests with insulin antibodies on tissue taken from the suspected injection sites not only clinched Barlow's conviction but for the first time destroyed the myth that insulin was the route to the perfect—undetected—murder.

Colin Bouwer, who was found guilty in 2001 of murdering his wife, probably by a succession of prescription drugs including insulin, was a professor of psychiatry at a New Zealand medical school. It was through a trail of emails he had sent to medical experts on hypoglycaemia around the world, purporting to be a forensic psychiatrist investigating a possible insulin death, that his involvement was first suspected.

But if Insulin Murders is a roller coaster ride to equal any forensic detective drama on television, it is also a cautionary tale of medical mishap, misdiagnosis, and misinterpretation. True life, unfortunately, is rarely as straightforward as fiction. So as the laboratory tests to measure insulin and its criminal misuse have become ever more sophisticated, so evidence of their potential flaws has grown.

Himself a pioneer of the immunoassay test used to measure insulin in blood—first developed in 1960 and still the lynchpin of criminal insulin investigations—Marks skilfully recounts the progress and the pitfalls. One difficulty is that tests that are both adequate and vital in diagnosing and treating patients on a hospital ward are not always foolproof in determining cause of death, proving murder, or fingering the possible culprit. Postmortem tests for insulin in brain tissue, which helped convict serial wife killer William Archerd, for example, are now discredited. Postmortem urine tests for insulin and C peptide, instrumental in jailing nurse Maria Whiston, are similarly doubted—although both these cases also featured overwhelming circumstantial evidence. But, as conflicting opinions from medical experts in various trials make clear, many results are prone to misinterpretation, inaccuracy, and mix up.

Most fascinating is the recent case of Deborah Winzar, a nurse convicted in 2000 of murdering her husband by insulin injection, on the basis of a controversial immunoassay test and despite evidence of vomiting—a circumstance unheard of in insulin induced hypoglycaemia. Courageously casting doubt on the test he himself spearheaded, and indeed on the interpretation of his own colleagues who provided the critical result, Marks suggests that Winzar was wrongfully convicted.

Tellingly, with the benefit of 50 years' research on insulin measurement, Marks concludes that none of the available tests are sufficiently accurate on their own to provide a safe conviction of murder, unless backed by mass spectrometry.

Since Marks is probably unavailable for dinner party guest turns, his and Richmond's powerful and enlightening book makes a gripping substitute.


Background Bone metabolism abnormalities observed in liver cirrhosis are refered to as hepatic osteodystrophy. Osteodystrophy consists of osteoporosis and or osteomalacia1,2. Our study investigated the prevalence of osteoporosis in fifty patients with liver cirrhosis and searched determinant factors of bone loss. Methods Fifty patients (29 females and 21 males, mean age 55 years) with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in this study. The bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated by dual energy x ray absorptiometry of the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and total hip. A detailed questionnaire was used to assess: risk factors of osteoporosis and characteristics of the cirrhotic disease (such as etiology, child-pugh stage, complications, meld score and blood samples…). Univariate analysis was used to determine correlation with low BMD. Results A low BMD was finding in 37 patients (74%), 25 females and 12 males. Osteoporosis (TScore≤-2,5) was noted in 20 (40%) and osteopenia (-2.5 < TScore ≤ -1) in 17 (34%) patients. Mean BMD was 0.980±0.17g/cm2 in lumbar spine and 0.900±0.32g/cm2 in total hip. Ten patients have sustained osteoporotic fracture. Etiology of cirrhosis was chronic viral hepatitis (48%), primary biliary cirrhosis (20%), primary sclerosing cholangitis (6%) and autoimmune hepatitis (4%). The cause was indeterminate in 10% of patients. In univariate analysis, a positive correlation with low BMD was noted with an age≥50 years (p=0.021), female sex (p=0.021), previous osteoporotic fracture (p=0.034), more than two complications of the cirrhotic disease (p=0.024), child-pugh stage B and C (p=0.006) and low albumin level (p=0.02). Conclusions The prevalence of osteoporosis in our study (40%) is concordant with literature data (20 to 56%)3,4. Determinant factors of low body mass were an age≥50, female sex, previous osteoporotic fracture, more than two complications of the cirrhotic disease, child-pugh stage B and C and low albumin level. The limits of our study were mainly the low effectif and the absence of a control group. References Long RG, Meinhard E, Skinner RK, Varghese Z, Wills MR, Sherlock S. Clinical, biochemical, and histological studies of osteomalacia, osteoporosis, and parathyroid function in chronic liver disease. Gut 1978:19(2):85-90. Long RG, Wills MR. Hepatic osteodystrophy. Br J Hosp Med. 1978; 20(3):312-21. Goral V, Simsek M, Mete N. hepatic ostéodystrophie and liver cirrhosis. World J Gastroenterol 2010; 16:1639-1643. German Lopez-Larramona, Alfredo J Lucendo, Sonia Gonzalez-Castillo, Jose M Tenias. Hepatic ostéodystrophie: An important matter for consideration in chronic liver disease. World J Hepatol 2011; 3 (12):300-307. Disclosure of Interest None declared


This study investigates the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C above pre-industrial conditions (Paris Agreement target temperatures) on the South Asian and East Asian monsoon rainfall using five atmospheric global climate models participating in the 'Half a degree Additional warming, Prognosis and Projected Impacts' (HAPPI) project. Mean and extreme precipitation is projected to increase under warming over the two monsoon regions, more strongly in the 2.0 °C warmer world. Moisture budget analysis shows that increases in evaporation and atmospheric moisture lead to the additional increases in mean precipitation with good inter-model agreement. Analysis of daily precipitation characteristics reveals that more-extreme precipitation will have larger increase in intensity and frequency responding to the half a degree additional warming, which is more clearly seen over the South Asian monsoon region, indicating non-linear scaling of precipitation extremes with temperature. Strong inter-model relationship between temperature and precipitation intensity further demonstrates that the increased moisture with warming (Clausius-Clapeyron relation) plays a critical role in the stronger intensification of more-extreme rainfall with warming. Results from CMIP5 coupled global climate models under a transient warming scenario confirm that half a degree additional warming would bring more frequent and stronger heavy precipitation events, exerting devastating impacts on the human and natural system over the Asian monsoon region.


Later developments in community-based PD have put a focus on how societal challenges and technological possibilities call for new forms of participation and civic engagement. In particular, lack of resources promotes public engagement in social innovation, and highlights questions of how innovations developed in a local community can successfully 'travel' to other settings. In this full-day workshop, we take a hands-on approach in exploring how social innovations can 'travel' between different settings through a concrete design case. A digital platform co-designed with stakeholders in a municipality in Copenhagen and in two neighbourhood groups in Vienna is brought to the workshop. Representatives from the city of Aarhus will participate as local stakeholders to engage with workshop participants in a one-day 'designathon' to explore the challenges of appropriating this social innovation to the local setting of Aarhus. Participants will leave with concrete experiences from an exploration of how a particular social innovation can 'travel'; involving real stakeholders in co-design of solutions to the challenges at hand.


We know from Landau theory that the natural language to deal with distorted structures is the one of symmetry-adapted modes. A symmetry-mode decomposition is both useful for investigating the mechanisms responsible of these phases and for pure crystallographic purposes. Some symmetry-mode components are usually dominant, introducing a parameter hierarchy or reducing in practice the crystallographic degrees of freedom. Several computer tools are now freely available allowing structure refinements directly using symmetry-mode collective coordinates. Alternatively, the superspace formalism is a very efficient method for similar purposes. By means of several examples we compare the two approaches.


Integrated with consumer devices like PVRs, a community network can serve as a content sharing architecture for high-quality TV programs in a residential area. To build up such a community network, we employ Fiber Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) as a fast network connecting a large number of PVRs at a low cost. However, an FC-AL single loop has a critical limitation in terms of the number of attached PVRs when connecting thousands of users in densely-populated communities. We therefore develop a novel multiple loop architecture capable of providing a scalable community network in an economical way without using expensive switches. To connect multiple loops in our architecture, we introduce shared disks that relay TV programs between loops. We then present all possible topologies including linear, ring, edge-added, and complete topology that can be configured with shared disks. We also analyze which topology has the best scalability by evaluating the total traffic of each topology. The analysis and experimental results show that the complete topology among all the possible topologies provides the best scalability.


Abstract This article proposes a structured approach to the creation of a formative, competencies-based model of public affairs education. With it, public affairs education would become more attuned to the demands of a public service responsive to the citizenry, pursuant to the duties of public officials. The paper examines, in particular, the challenges presented in this context by the rapid development of electronic governance. There is an important difference between incidental or improvised approaches to education for the public service and deliberate approaches built on precise strategic objectives. The proposal presented here builds on a critical premise, namely that the demands placed on public officials by electronic (or digital) government constitute a challenge of the first magnitude, one that will radically alter the relationship between the state and civil society, that is, the political and administrative functions of the state. The potential impact of emerging information and communications technologies on public affairs education and on public administration is limitless and all but unimaginable.


This paper discusses the necessity of the construction of auto parts trading platform based on buyer members from the perspective of theory and practical needs, and builds a B2B auto parts services trading platform based on buyer members on this basis, and breaks through the B2B e-commerce model that always centers on the sellers in auto parts market. At the same time, the platform provides the function of online bidding, which charges the sellers and be free of charge to the buyers, and fully meets the needs of both sides of trade in auto parts market, and has good prospects of application. (Abstract)


The deactivation of nickel hydroxide to the electrooxidation of hypophosphite on a nickel electrode was studied by means of in situ UV-Vis subtractive reflectance spectroscopy. The experimental results show that when the potential is lower than -1.0 V (SCE), the surface on nickel electrode is free of nickel hydroxide, on which hypophosphite is active. When the potential moves positively to about 0.75V, two absorbency bands around 300nm and 550nm, which were ascribed to the formation of α-nickel hydroxide, were observed, nickel is oxidized to α-nickel hydroxide. Severe deactivation of the surface occurs when the nickel surface is covered with nickel hydroxide, which separates the hypophosphite ion from nickel substrate.


Abstract As an increasing number of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been suggested to encode short bioactive peptides in cancer, the exploration of ncRNA-encoded small peptides (ncPEPs) is emerging as a fascinating field in cancer research. To assist in studies on the regulatory mechanisms of ncPEPs, we describe here a database called SPENCER (http://spencer.renlab.org). Currently, SPENCER has collected a total of 2806 mass spectrometry (MS) data points from 55 studies, covering 1007 tumor samples and 719 normal samples. Using an MS-based proteomics analysis pipeline, SPENCER identified 29 526 ncPEPs across 15 different cancer types. Specifically, 22 060 of these ncPEPs were experimentally validated in other studies. By comparing tumor and normal samples, the identified ncPEPs were divided into four expression groups: tumor-specific, upregulated in cancer, downregulated in cancer, and others. Additionally, since ncPEPs are potential targets for neoantigen-based cancer immunotherapy, SPENCER also predicted the immunogenicity of all the identified ncPEPs by assessing their MHC-I binding affinity, stability, and TCR recognition probability. As a result, 4497 ncPEPs curated in SPENCER were predicted to be immunogenic. Overall, SPENCER will be a useful resource for investigating cancer-associated ncPEPs and may boost further research in cancer.


The background of this  research is no raw material from tempe flour used in nastar. Tempe has short lifespan, so it breaks down fast (rooten). In order to prevent traders from losing, tempe can be processed into tempe flour so that its economic value increases and reduces dependence on wheat flour. Tempe flour is the result of grinding dried tempe. The tempe flour will be used as the addition in making nastar so that the langu taste will be decrease. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of substitution of tempe flour as much as 0%, 15%, 30% and 45% on the quality of shape, color, aroma, texture and taste on the nastar produced. This type of research is an experiment using a completely randomized design method. The type of data used is primary data obtained directly from 30 semi-trained panelists by filling out the organoleptic test format. Data will be analyzed by using ANAVA. If there is a significant effect, it will be followed by Duncan's test. The results showed that there was an effect of tempe flour substitution on the quality of the color and the aroma. Meanwhile, there is no real effect on the quality of  shapes, textures and flavors. The best research results are on the use of tempe flour as much as 15% (X1) on the quality of shape, color, aroma and taste of nastar .


This study proposes a model linking firm motivations for seeking ISO 14001 certification to the effectiveness of three major components of an environmental management system (EMS)--environmental policy, the assessment of environmental aspect and impacts, and management review. The relationship of these EMS components with a self-reported measure of environmental performance is also examined. From a sample of 29 ISO 14001 certified facilities in Hong Kong (of 71 total certifications at the time the data was collected), it was found that motivations to enhance firm reputation are positively related to perceptions of the effectiveness of the policy statement. Motivations for reputation enhancement and cost reduction were positively related to perceptions of EMS effectiveness in assessing environmental aspects and impacts. The effectiveness of the methodology for identifying environmental aspects and impacts was also found to be positively related to improved environmental performance.


In the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources, the superconducting linear electron accelerator ELBE, serving two free electron lasers, sources for intense coherent THz radiation, mono-energetic positrons, electrons, γ-rays, a neutron time-of-flight system as well as two synchronized ultra-short pulsed Petawatt laser systems are collocated. The characteristics of these beams make the ELBE center a unique research instrument for a variety of external users in fields ranging from material science over nuclear physics to cancer research, as well as scientists of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR).


In the High Arctic, supra‐ and proglacial springs occur at Borup Fiord Pass, Ellesmere Island. Spring waters are sulfur bearing and isotope analysis suggests springs are fed by deeply circulating glacial meltwater. However, the mechanism maintaining spring flow is unclear in these areas of thick permafrost which would hamper the discharge of deep groundwater to the surface. It has been hypothesized that fracture zones along faults focus groundwater which discharges initially underneath wet‐based parts of the ice. With thinning ice, the spring head is exposed to surface temperatures, tens of degrees lower than temperatures of pressure melting, and permafrost starts to develop. Numerical modeling of coupled heat and fluid flow suggest that focused groundwater discharge should eventually be cut off by permafrost encroaching into the feeding channel of the spring. Nevertheless, our model simulations show that these springs can remain flowing for millennia depending on the initial flow rate and ambient surface temperature. These systems might provide a terrestrial analog for the possible occurrence of Martian springs recharged by polar ice caps.


So much experience has accumulated and has been published in attestation of the high diagnostic value of the Wassermann reaction that observations which seem in any measure to diminish that value should be dealt with circumspectly. It appears to have come to this: that, providing the performance of the test be not impugned, a positive Wassermann reaction is almost universally considered as imposing the obligation to find evidence of syphilis in the tissues or in the history, or, failing in this, nevertheless confidently to assume it. But cases will occur in which one cannot get rid of a sense of perplexity. Such are the two cases I am about to record. The first is sufficiently odd, apart from the discrepancy between what the Wassermann reaction indicated and what the autopsy disclosed. In both the interpretation will choose between an error somewhere in the complicated process of the test and the


Biocrusts are multifaceted communities including mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria that are crucial for sustaining soil functions in drylands. Most studies on biocrust functions to date have focused on biocrust cover and development, largely in non‐saline soils, and we know very little about the importance of biocrust diversity for maintaining multifunctionality in saline dryland soils. We assessed the direct and indirect linkages between biocrust richness, soil texture and salinity and soil multifunctionality by measuring 13 variables characterizing soil biological, nutrient and hydrological functions across 32 plots in a salinized dryland in northeastern Iran. We assessed the species richness of biocrust patches and characterized soil functions in bare soils. Overall, biocrust species richness declined with soil clay content and soil salinity, whereas soil salinity increased with soil clay content. Structural equation modeling showed a strong positive association between biocrust species richness and all measured dryland soil functions (soil biological, nutrient, and hydrological functions), but soil hydrological function declined with soil salinity. Overall, dryland soil multifunctionality was positively associated with biocrust species richness but negatively associated with soil clay content. Biocrust species richness likely enhances soil multifunctionality via the distinct roles of species and biocrust functional groups in providing carbon and nutrient inputs, creating favourable microsites, enhancing infiltration, and facilitating soil microbial colonization in saline dryland soils. Overall, our findings highlight a key role for biocrust diversity in facilitating and maintaining soil multifunctionality in drylands affected by soil salinity.


T Kumar A Schernberg F Busato M Laurans I Fumagalli I Dumas E Deutsch C Haie-Meder C Chargari 1Brachytherapy Unit, Gustave Roussy, Cancer Campus, Villejuif, France; 2Radiotherapy Department, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; 3Radiotherapy Department, University Hospital of Grenoble, Grenoble, France; 4Departement 'Effets Biologiques des Radiations', Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Brétigny sur Orge, France; 5French Military Health Academy, Ecole du Val-de-Grâce, Paris, France Purpose: To evaluate the association between pelvic bone marrow (BM) dose volume parameters and probability of acute hematological toxicity (HT), a cohort of cervical cancer patients receiving definitive chemoradiation (CRT) was assessed. Materials and methods: Medical records of patients treated by CRT (45 Gy in 25 fractions, without dose constraints applied to the BM) were reviewed. Baseline and weekly hematological parameters were collected. BM was retrospectively delineated and divided into sub-sites: iliac crests, lower pelvis, lumbosacral region. BM volumes (V) receiving 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 Gy (V5, V10, V20, V30, V40, respectively) and mean dose (Dm) were calculated. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between HT and dose-volume histograms parameters. Results: 114 patients were included. 75.4% were treated with 3D radiation therapy and 24.6% were receiving intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Neither age, chemotherapy regimen (cisplatin vs carboplatin), number of chemotherapy cycles, performance status, body mass index, or para-aortic irradiation were associated with HT. In univariate analysis, more frequent grade 3+ leukopenia was found in the IMRT group (odds ratio [OR]: 3.5; 95% CI, 1.4–9.1; p=0.007). In multivariate analysis, grade 4 HT was associated with lower pelvis V5>95% (OR 4.1; 95% CI, 1.6–14. p=0.02), lower pelvis V20>45% (OR 3.5; 95% CI, 1.1–13.4; p=0.05), total pelvic bone V20>65%, and iliac crests Dm >31 Gy (OR 4.5; 95% CI, 1.4–14.7; p=0.02). Conclusion: The following dose constraints could be proposed to decrease acute HT risk: lower pelvis V5<95%, lower pelvis V20≤45%, total pelvic bone V20<65%, and iliac crests Dm <31 Gy.


CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that our novel proprietary scaffold can polarize macrophages to the M2 phenotype and deliver supraphysiologic levels of macrophages to wounds to significantly accelerate wound healing in the absence of adverse effects on scar size and quality. Polarizing macrophages on a scaffold in vivo minimizes time in cell culture and is a desirable method for simultaneous directed differentiation and cell delivery. With further studies, this could prove to be a novel therapeutic for wound regeneration.