Fagus sylvatica in Europe is expected to be severely affected by the ongoing climate change. In this article, seed adaptive traits, in terms of morphology and germination, of F. sylvatica populations of different postglacial lineage and intrapopulation genetic diversity were evaluated. Eight plots from two geographical provenances, Evros and Drama, were selected. Provenance shaped both morphology and germination patterns, but the effect was more pronounced on germination. Seeds from Drama were larger and heavier than those from Evros but exhibited a higher degree of dormancy and slower germination. High among-plots variability on morphology and germination was also observed, especially in Evros. This higher variability was consistent with the higher level of genetic diversity observed at genomic and chloroplast DNA markers at small or larger spatial scales from previous published studies on the same plots. Results suggested the existence of different seed adaptation strategies, mainly between provenances, as a result of possible adaptation to different environmental conditions, whereas a possible influence of a generally complex pattern of admixture between different beech subspecies and postglacial lineages could not be excluded.


The microparticle fraction of exhaled breath is of interest for developing clinical biomarkers. Exhaled particles may contain non-volatile components from all parts of the airway system, formed during normal breathing. This study aimed to evaluate a new, simple sampling device, based on impaction, for collecting microparticles from exhaled breath. Performance of the new device was compared with that of the existing SensAbues membrane filter device. The analytical work used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods. The new device collected three subsamples and these were separately analysed from eight individuals. No difference was observed between the centre position (0.91 ng/sample) and the side positions (1.01 ng/sample) using major phosphatidylcholine (PC) 16:0/16:0 as the analyte. Exhaled breath was collected from eight patients on methadone maintenance treatment. The intra-individual variability in measured methadone concentration between the three collectors was 8.7%. In another experiment using patients on methadone maintenance treatment, the sampling efficiency was compared with an established filter device. Compared to the existing device, the efficiency of the new device was 121% greater for methadone and 1450% greater for DPPC. The data from lipid analysis also indicated that a larger fraction of the collected material was from the distal parts. Finally, a study using an optical particle counter indicated that the device preferentially collects the larger particle fraction. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the usefulness of the new device for collecting non-volatile components from exhaled breath. The performance of the device was superior to the filter device in several aspects.


This paper empirically investigates the short and the long run impact of public debt on economic growth. We use annual data from both the central and the peripheral countries of the euro area (EA) for the 1961–2013 period and estimate a production function augmented with a debt stock term by applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. Our results suggest different patterns across the EA countries and tend to support the view that public debt always has a negative impact on the long-run performance of EA member states, whilst its short-run effect may be positive depending on the country.


Abstract Long-term control of leafy spurge with glyphosate requires multiple applications because the plant reproduces vegetatively from abundant underground adventitious buds, referred to as crown and root buds. Determining the molecular mechanisms involved in controlling vegetative reproduction in leafy spurge following foliar glyphosate treatment could identify limiting factors or new targets for manipulation of plant growth and development in invasive perennial species. Thus, we treated leafy spurge plants with 0 or 2.24 kg ai ha−1 glyphosate to determine its impact on selected molecular processes in crown buds derived from intact plants and plants decapitated at the soil surface 7 d after glyphosate treatment. New shoot growth from crown buds of foliar glyphosate-treated plants was significantly reduced compared with controls after growth-inducing decapitation, and had a stunted or bushy phenotype. Quantification of a selected set of transcripts involved in hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways indicated that glyphosate had the most significant impact on abundance of ENT-COPALYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHETASE 1, which is involved in a committed step for gibberellin biosynthesis, and auxin transporters including PINs, PIN-LIKES, and ABC TRANSPORTERS. Foliar glyphosate treatment also reduced the abundance of transcripts involved in cell cycle processes, which would be consistent with altered growth patterns observed in this study. Overall, these results suggest that interplay among phytohormones such as auxin, ethylene, and gibberellins affect vegetative growth patterns from crown buds of leafy spurge in response to foliar glyphosate treatment. Nomenclature: Glyphosate; leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L.


To expand capacity, many resource-constrained industrial devices encrypt and outsource their private data to public clouds, employing a searchable encryption (SE) scheme that provides efficient search service directly to encrypted data. Current tree-based SE schemes can do this and support sublinear encrypted Boolean queries. However, they all suffer from log n overhead in a search procedure. To resolve the challenge, in this paper, we propose a new tree structure called the four-branch tree (FB-tree). Our key design is to build a tree node with four branches, which helps a search reach the destination nodes with fast jumps. Based on the index tree, we setup two systems for different requirements. The first system for efficiency-first settings achieves nearly optimal search complexity and adaptive security. The second, constructed via an oblivious RAM for security-first environments, still achieves worst-case sublinear search complexity. FB-tree performance is extensively evaluated with several real datasets. The Experimental data demonstrate that the FB-tree-based systems outperform the state-of-the-art solutions in terms of efficiency and scalability when Boolean queries are issued.


We solve a class of two-dimensional screening problems in which one
dimension has the standard features, while the other dimension is impossible to exaggerate and enters the agent's utility only through the message
but not the true type. Natural applications are procurement and regulation where the producer's ability to produce quality and his costs of
producing quantity are both unknown; or selling to a budget constrained
buyer. We show that under these assumptions, the orthogonal incentive constraints are necessary and sufficient for the full set of incentive
constraints. Provided that types are affiliated and all the conditional distributions of types have monotonic inverse hazard rates, the solution is
fully separating in both dimensions.


The RadiaBeam/SLAC dechirper at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is being used as a fast kicker, by inducing transverse wakefields, to e.g. facilitate Fresh-slice, two-color laser operation. The dechirper jaws are independently adjustable at both ends, and it is difficult to avoid leaving residual (longitudinal) tilt in them during set-up. In this report we develop a model independent method of removing unknown tilt in a jaw. In addition, for a short uniform bunch passing by a single dechirper plate, we derive an explicit analytical formula for the transverse wake kick as function of average plate offset and tilt angle. We perform wake kick measurements for the different dechirper jaws of the RadiaBeam/SLAC dechirper, and find that the agreement between measurement and theory is excellent.


Performance at the B. Iden Payne Theatre, UT-Austin. Act II. Snow Globe: Special thanks to Sally Jacques. Flight (premiere): The original score for FLIGHT is arranged, assembled and performed by Tina Marsh (voice) and Bob Rodriguez (piano) with Doug Hall (synthesizers and piano) and Oliver Rajamani (percussion). Flight drone mastered by Bill Meadows from a CD compilation, Drone Zone. Special thanks to Bill Meadows, Tom Benton, Gail Milton of M-AAA, Cindy Goldberger and Jose Luis Bustamante for their extraordinaryefforts in assisting this collaboration of musical artists. Flight: [lyrics to "Be" by Neil Dimaond, from the soundtrack of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"]. Flight: Note to Hyde Memorial Donors - On behalf of the President's Council of Sharir+Bustamante Danceworks, I wish to welcome hyou to this special performance. Your overwhelming generosity has made this work possible. We come together to honor and celebrate the life of Brian Hyde, an extraordinary man who touched all of us. Allow your spirit to soar as you experience the joy of flight interpreted by Yacov Sharir and Jose Luis Bustamante in this new and exciting work commissioned in Brian's memory. -Deborah Hamilton-Lynne. Choreography: Carolyn Pavlik (Snow Globe); Yacov Sharir, Jose Luis Bustamante (Flight). Dance Company: Sharir+Bustamante Danceworks. Dancers: Carolyn Pavlik (Snow Globe); Jeffery Bullock, Jose Luis Bustamante, Jessica Chisam, Terry Hardy (Flight, Part One); Amy Burrell, Jose Luis Bustamante, Laura Cannon, David Chao, Jessica Chisam, Bryan Green, Terry Hardy, Carolyn Pavlik, Luis Manuel Narvaez (Flight, Part Two). Set: Kari Perkins (Snow Globe). Costumes: Carolyn Pavlik (Snow Globe); Amy Burrell (Flight). Sound: William Meadows (Snow Globe). Lighting: Amarante Lucero. Music: Ingram Marshall - an excerpt from Evensongs, Kitaro, Steve's Ghost, Jerry Hunt, Lattice (Snow Globe); Tina Marsh - "Transformation," VernNelson - "Skylarks," Neil Diamond - "Be," Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Bob Rodriguez - "Skylark" (Flight). Reharmonizations: Bob Rodriguez (Flight). Top Guy: John Christensen (Flight, Part One). Unitards & Cloth: Patrick Wadley (Flight, Part One).


Spiders are the most abundant venomous predators in the world. Previous research related to spider venom has mostly relied on transcriptomes and proteomes, with only a few high‐quality genomes available. This is far from consistent with the species diversity of spiders. In this study, we constructed a high‐quality chromosome‐level genome assembly of Hylyphantes graminicola, which contained 13 chromosomes, with a genome length of 931.68 Mb and scaffold N50 of 77.07 Mb. Integrating genome, transcriptome, and proteome profiling, we identified a total of 59 coding genes among nine toxin gene families. Among them, Group 7 allergen (ALL7) protein was reported in spider venom for the first time. Its coding genes had a predicted signal peptide and maintained high expression levels in the venom, suggesting that ALL7 plays an important role in venom and maybe is a type of newly discovered venom toxin in the spider. By implementing comparative genomics, we found a similar gene number of main toxin gene families in spiders and the scorpion genome with conservative evolutionary rates, indicating that these toxin genes could be an ancient (~400 million years) and a conserved "basic toolkit" for spiders and scorpions to perform primary defence functions. Obtaining high‐quality chromosome‐level genomes from spiders not only facilitates venom research and toxin resource application, but also can improve comparative genomic analysis in other important traits, like the evolution of silk or behaviour.


Most recent research of scalable inductive learning on very large dataset, decision tree construction in particular, focuses on eliminating memory constraints and reducing the number of sequential data scans. However, state-of-the-art decision tree construction algorithms still require multiple scans over the data set and use sophisticated control mechanisms and data structures. We first discuss a general inductive learning framework that scans the dataset exactly once. Then, we propose an extension based on Hoeffding's inequality that scans the dataset less than once. Our frameworks are applicable to a wide range of inductive learners.


Scaffold porosity has played a key role in bone tissue engineering aimed at effective tissue regeneration, by promoting cell attachment, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation for new bone formation. Three-dimensional plotting systems (3DPSs) have been widely used to introduce porosity to the scaffold; however, introducing certain features in the scaffold strands that improve bone tissue regeneration remains a challenge. In this work, we fabricated bone tissue scaffolds with macro- and microporous structural features using a 3DPS and non-solvent-induced phase separation method. This approach allowed both macro- and micropores to be created in the scaffold strands. The surface morphology and mechanical and degradation properties of the perforated scaffolds were characterized carefully. Human marrow stromal cells were cultured on the scaffolds and then analyzed in vitro to assess scaffold bio-function. The highly porous scaffold exhibited mechanical properties similar to those of cancellous bone. Cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation were significantly higher in porous scaffold compared to its nonporous counterpart. These results suggest that highly porous scaffolds have tremendous potential as a bone tissue regeneration platform.


This study aims to shed light on the role of knowledge management processes in workforce agility. The quantitative approach will be used for collecting data via questionnaire. The questionnaire will be designed based on the related literature. The study intends to target the human resource managers in manufacturing industry. The results are expected to reveal the importance role of knowledge acquisition or creation on knowledge application and sharing. In addition, the proactive behavior of workforces is a function of knowledge acquisition and application. Furthermore, workforce adaptive behavior is determined by knowledge processes and proactive behavior. Finally, workforces' resilience behavior depends on proactive and adaptive behavior. Managers and practitioners can benefit from this study by devoting more time and effort to activate knowledge management processes to ensure high level of workforce agility to quickly respond and capitalize on changes in the business environment. Managers also can focus their attention on knowledge creation or acquisition and application to facilitate employees' proactive behavior.


Abstract:Biomass allocation and leaf attributes are traits that discriminate between plants that exploit different light resource environments. Disturbed and high light environments provide easy access for resource-demanding, fast-growing invasive species. Comparing growth, ecophysiological and reproductive characteristics between invasives and non-invasives could help to predict a species' invasiveness and identify which habitat would be most susceptible to its invasion. In a common garden experiment we compared traits in Impatiens species that vary in their invasive status. They were the aggressive invader Impatiens glandulifera, which is invasive in mainland Europe and Ireland, I. parviflora, invasive in Central and Northern Europe but only established and not invasive in Ireland, and I. balfourii, naturalised in central and southern Europe but not reported in Ireland. We aimed to investigate their ecological requirements and to identify which traits promote invasion in this genus in a high-resource environment. Photosynthetic and allometric traits characterised the contrasting investment in light harvesting and carbon fixation of I. parviflora and I. glandulifera. The comparison of reproductive, photosynthetic and growth characteristics explained I. glandulifera's superior invasiveness when compared to I. parviflora. However, there was no evidence that the invasive performed better than the non-invasive when it was compared to I. balfourii. Other traits that were not considered in this study, such as germination characteristics and adaptability, might also be responsible for invasiveness. We conclude that I. balfourii may possess an intrinsic invasiveness that, due to differences in invasion history, may not have reached its full potential yet.


A fully two-dimensional self-consistent numerical model of the steady-state behavior of 1.3 /spl mu/m constricted-mesa InGaAsP/InP buried-heterostructure lasers is presented. Devices operating at this wavelength are very temperature sensitive and therefore the model for the first time includes coupled solutions to the thermal as well as the electrical and optical equation sets. The temperature dependence is included in the Fermi-Dirac statistics, bandgaps, mobilities, densities of states, Auger recombination coefficients, intervalence band absorption, optical gain, and thermal conductivities. The lasing mode profiles, carrier distributions, threshold currents, and temperature characteristics are analyzed and good agreement is found with experimental results, including the temperature dependence of the threshold current and the prediction of a break-point temperature. The optimum design parameters are investigated for reduced threshold currents, and the effect of optical loss in the blocking regions on lateral-mode control is analyzed. >


Multiple magmatic events are recorded in the gabbroic unit in the Fizh area of the northern Oman ophiolite. Gabbroic blocks intruded by sheeted dike complex and upper gabbros of the main crustal sequence show the oldest event. Gabbronorite sills in the gabbroic blocks are nearly coeval with the host gabbro. Wehrlitic intrusions (wehrlite I) mark the third event of magmatism. These three magmatic events occurred at the retreating (dying) ridge axis because all these rocks are intruded by dolerite dike swarm, which is generally regarded as a precursor of advancing ridge axis. The next stage of magmatism is a main phase of oceanic crust generation in this area. Wehrlite II and then gabbronorite dikes intrude the still hot main gabbro unit. All of these above rocks have similar signatures with respect to clinopyroxene compositions and covariations between plagioclase and mafic minerals, though slight differences are present in the compositional ranges and clinopyroxene compositions of each unit. After considerable cooling of the main gabbro unit, primitive basalt dikes intrude the main gabbro unit, which may correspond to the Lasail unit. Finally, the Fizh‐South complex intrudes into considerably cooled crustal sequence, being below the brittle‐plastic transition temperatures. The Fizh‐South complex, which was regarded as a common wehrlitic intrusion, is significantly different from all of the above mentioned rocks, with respect to the covariation between plagioclase and associating mafic minerals, crystallization order, and clinopyroxene compositions. The clinopyroxenes are characterized by extremely low Ti and Na contents, comparable with those of the V2 unit (Alley volcanics), suggesting that the Fizh‐South complex correlates with the plutonic facies of the V2 unit during arc stage. Layered gabbros in the Wadi Zabin area, about 10 km north of the Fizh area, may be a northern extension of the gabbro blocks of the Fizh area, because they are intruded by numerous dolerite dikes. On the other hand, basin‐like structure of the main gabbroic unit in the northern end of the Fizh area may demonstrate a fossilized magma chamber beneath the advancing ridge axis due to the ceasing of magmatic crustal accretion. On the basis of these lines of evidence, we propose that the Fizh area indicates the northward propagation tip of the ridge axis.


Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disorder characterized by increased total iron body storage. It is one of the most commonly identified genetic causes of liver cirrhosis. Here we report a 43-year-old male who was previously diagnosed with crohn's disease, found to have normal hemoglobin and hematocrit. Additional lab tests revealed high ferritin and transferrin saturation. Upon further evaluation, he was diagnosed with hereditary hemochromatosis. The presented case will shed some light on the rare coexistence of crohn's disease and hemochromatosis and some problems in diagnostics related to the presence of the two conditions in the same patient.


© 2008 The Authors. 376 Journal compilation © 2008 Diabetes UK. Diabetic Medicine , 25 , 375–380 in their mothers. Conscientiousness in the children and Agreeableness in the mothers predicted 18% of the variability in mean HbA 1c . However, the authors acknowledged that they had not assessed cognitive function or behavioural factors, which could have had an influence on the outcome of this study. In a previous study [2] we assessed the influence of child and parental mental ability on glycaemic control, and found that maternal intelligence appears to exert a significant effect, accounting for 7.6% of the variability in HbA 1c . Did the authors consider maternal intelligence as potentially having additional, significant variance on the outcome of their study? Achievement of good glycaemic control requires consistently informed decision making by both the child and parent, and it would seem intuitive that intelligence, in addition to personality factors, could affect long-term glycaemic control. It is widely acknowledged that social class, family structure and chronic life stress may all influence glycaemic control [3–5]. It is difficult, therefore, to justify the claim that personality alone is principally responsible for the variability observed, when many other co-existing factors that are difficult to study in isolation have not been addressed.


The population genetic structure of wood lemmings (Myopus schisticolor) from Scandinavia, Finland and western Siberia was examined by restriction fragment length polymorphism of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in 45 individuals from six localities. The 12 observed mtDNA haplotypes demonstrated a distinct phylogeographic pattern, suggesting that the postglacial colonization of Scandinavia by wood lemmings occurred from north‐east. However, a very low level of haplotype and nucleotide diversity and a lack of geographical structure were found within Scandinavia. The limited mtDNA diversity in the Scandinavian populations probably reflects recent divergence in situ after colonization by a limited number of founders. Allozyme data support this scenario.


Informal polling of public school speech-language pathologists indicated that special education teachers referred more children for disorders of voice than did regular classroom educators. This study evaluated the effect of academic placement (regular or special education settings) upon children's and their teachers' ratings of abuse of the voice. Analysis showed the two groups of teachers' criteria for judging abusive vocal behaviors differed while the children's ratings from each setting did not differ. The special educators appeared to perceive their students' vocal behavior as more abusive possibly due to environmental constraints, training or the social affective interactions of their students.


The use of mainstream housing assistance programs will be essential if the nation is to achieve the goals of the 2010 Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, including ending chronic homelessness by 2015 and ending homelessness for families, youth, and children by 2020. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has residential programs specifically targeted to people experiencing homelessness, but those resources are small by comparison with the 2.5 million Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) and the 1.1 million public housing units managed by public housing agencies (PHAs) across the country. This study was commissioned by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research to provide a status report on efforts by PHAs to serve homeless households with mainstream housing assistance resources. Data were collected from PHAs throughout 2012 and early 2013 using two approaches: a Webbased survey of roughly 4,000 PHAs and follow-up telephone discussions with staff at 120 PHAs.


Abstract. The ever-growing and complex structure of cities has increased the need to include advanced information and communication technologies in management processes. In parallel with this, the concept of smart cities has emerged and the creation and use of three-dimensional (3D) city models have become one of the most important components for tracking cities online. Depending on technological advances; Photogrammetric methods come to the fore in surveying because it offers convenience in terms of cost and time. Among the photogrammetric methods, mobile laser scanning and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) systems have become very popular. In this study; Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (SBIF), located in Köyceğiz Campus, was chosen as the study area and focused on integrating three-dimensional (3D) models produced by terrestrial and aerial photogrammetry under the theme of smart cities.


Abstract The article elaborates upon the production of Romania's semi-peripherality at the intersection of long-durée dependency, uneven development, Eastern enlargement, and imperial politics, while addressing the advancement of capitalism not as a purely economic endeavour, but as a process of political subjection. It discusses the particular status of Romania in contemporary global capitalism by analysing the broader context of (1) a semi-periphery country subjected to a long-durée dependency; (2) uneven development underlay by imperial politics as endemic feature of the neoliberal European Union; (3) 'Eastern enlargement' and its economic conditionalities; (4) unevenness in the EU in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. As its conclusion, the article notes that in the past three decades, each of these components had a productive (material or symbolic) function in the reproduction of Romanian's semi-peripherality as part of capitalism's advancement in the new Millennium.


The development of learning methods that so rapidly in the past few years became a quite a relief phenomenon. But it is unfortunate that it is not directly proportional to the quality of learning outcomes. Many found alumni Madrasah Aliyah even college does not understand the science of religion well. Meanwhile, if we refer to the study of Islam in the time of the Prophet in fact the reality is reversed. At that time the method of learning is still very traditional and simple, that is by using Talaqqi method but the result is very good, proven at that time has been born human-human reliable, firm, courageous, and intelligent. The purpose of this research is (1) to know the application of talaqqi method in learning aqidah akhlaq in MA Ma'arif Kepung, (2) to know the obstacle and support of talaqqi method in MA Ma'arif NU Kepung. The author uses two data collection techniques at once, namelyAkket, Observation and interview. Data analysis technique used in this research is qualitative descriptive technique with percentage by using formula: P  = x 100%. The conclusion of this research is (1) the application of talaqqi method in Learning Aqidah Akhlaq in MA Ma'arif NU Kepung is good, because the obtained percentage 84,19% .I


The authors analyze aspects of caregiving for Hispanic Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. A review of the literature on caregiving and ethnicity and data concerning caregiving for AD patients in different Hispanic groups are presented. The presence of ethnicity-related differences in caregiving for Hispanic AD patients is confirmed. These differences, however, appear to be present largely in certain areas, such as household composition, distribution of caregiving roles, help-seeking behavior, and site of caregiving. The authors consider areas that need to be addressed in future research and specific modifications to current caregiving models for the study of AD patients in the Hispanic community.


Background: Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is prime hurdle in control and eradication of Covid-19 pandemic. The rapid Procedure of development of new vaccines resulted in a lot of false information and rumors leading to decrease trust of the public in the safetyand effectiveness of the vaccine. Aim: To study the frequency and causes of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy amid population of Lahore. Methods: This cross sectional study design was done on a sample of 385 participants from lahore were included in the study. Frequency and causes were recorded on the prescribed questionnaire. Results: Frequency of hesitancy was found to be 41.7%. 12.8% had doubts related to efficacy and safety of the vaccine. 9.9% were of the view that the risks of the vaccine are greater than its benefits. 5.7% assumed that vaccines were promoted for gains of pharmaceutical companies. 4.4% were concerned about the immediate side effects of the vaccine. 2.6% responded by saying that vaccine was not recommended by health professionals. 2.3% had myths related to vaccine. And lastly, 1.63% said vaccine was not available free of cost. Conclusion: Hesitancy of covid-19 vaccine is seen more in illiterate people and the main cause of hesitancy is uncertainty related to protection and efficacy of covid-19 vaccine. Keywords: Covid-19 vaccine, hesitancy, myths, safety and efficacy, uncertainty, doubt, well being ,protection


We conducted an investigation at a poultry processing plant in New Zealand to estimate the prevalence of warts among workers and the risk of developing warts associated with specific work areas or individual work practices. We obtained information on demographic characteristics and self-reported medical and occupational histories from 88 (83%) of 106 permanent employees at the plant; almost half (39 people or 44%) had developed wart-like lesions on their arms or hands after they began working at this plant. We also conducted clinical evaluations of 28 of the 32 (88%) people with wart-like lesions at the time of the investigation; in all but one case, a diagnosis of warts was confirmed. We collected scrapings of warts from 22 (79%) people and identified human papillomavirus (HPV) type 7, which is reportedly uncommon in the general public, in 12 of these specimens. People working at the time of their interview in areas where they often handled dead, raw, unfrozen chickens were three times more likely to have developed warts (Odds ratio [OR] = 3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-8.0); for those who had ever worked in these 'high-risk' areas, this excess risk almost doubled (OR = 5.6, 95% CI: 2.1-14.7). Nine of the 12 (75%) people with HPV type 7 had worked in these areas at some time. In contrast to previous reports, we found no increased risk of having warts associated with environmental factors or the frequency of cuts and abrasions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Most research devoted to the problem of giving aid in disaster has focused on the post impact period. In such situations there is usually altruism, but people tend to help family members, other relatives and friends before strangers. This research focuses on the impact period rather than the post impact period. Data were collected, with a mailed questionnaire, after the blizzard of January 1978 in the midwest of the U.S.A. during which people were immobilized for as much as five days. Several measures of giving and receiving help were obtained. The question considered here is do the findings on helping patterns toward victims in a post impact period apply also to a situation of prolonged impact. Respondents gave and received more help from relatives and friends than from strangers. However, friends rather than relatives both gave and received more help. The usual patterns of the importance of the primary group; family, relatives and friends seem to have prevailed. One of the main problems during blizzard impact may be the difficulties of persons who are physically and socially isolated.


The present study, involving 132 narcotic addicts with multiple periods of addiction, examines trends in criminal activity and drug use over successive periods of addiction and successive periods of nonaddiction during an average 15-year addiction career. Significant decreases over successive addiction periods were found for four (of five) categories of crime: theft, violence, drug distribution, and "other" crime (primarily gambling). These results appear to be accounted for by a disproportionately high level of crime during the first addiction period. Criminal activity, most notably theft and violence, decreased over successive periods of nonaddiction, though not significantly. Although more evidence is needed, a particularly large addiction vs nonaddiction disparity in crime rates for Hispanic addicts revealing a low propensity for crime when not addicted suggests that crime reduction may be a reasonable objective in the treatment of these individuals. With regard to drug use over the addiction career, the most dramatic increases over time were found for illicit methadone and cocaine. Rates of heroin and marijuana use declined. Generally, nonnarcotic drug use, other than use of cocaine and Valium, tended to decrease progressively over time regardless of addiction status. These results, along with findings relevant to the "maturing out of addiction," are discussed.


Class actions are legal proceedings brought on behalf of numerous persons, known as group members. When a class action settles for a monetary payment to compensate the group members, the payment needs to be divided among the group members. The division and distribution takes place pursuant to a court-approved settlement distribution scheme ('SDS'). This article seeks to start the process of elucidating the operation of SDSs by explaining three main types of class action SDS. The article then draws on those SDS models and class action settlement decisions to develop guiding principles or steps for the design of an SDS.


In order to control power flows to utilize the maximum capacity of existing networks, the use of power flow controllers is significantly increasing in the context of a deregulated electric power system. For this reason, in this paper, a multiarea power system with several thyristor-controlled PSTs and/or SSSCs installed is considered. In a previous paper the authors, obtaining significant results, proposed the overlapping decomposition technique for implementing an opportune decentralised control law of an SSSC operating as a Phase Shifter. Therefore, the same technique has been properly extended to a multiarea power system with several thyristor-controlled PSTs and/or SSSCs.


This article reports the results of the international post-marketing observational program VIRTUOSO aimed at the evaluation of the efficacy of betahistine dihydrochloride at the dose of 48 mg/day for 1-2 months in patients with paroxysmal vertigo of various origins. The clinical response was rated as good, very good or excellent in 74.1% of the patients (p<0.001). Monthly vertigo attack frequency with betahistine decreased in average from 8.0 to 3.0 (p<0.001). Vertigo attack frequency further decreased during the 2-month follow-up after the end of betahistine treatment. No serious adverse effects of betahistine have been reported.


Some machine learning (ML) methods such as classification trees are useful tools to generate hypotheses about how hydrologic systems function. However, data limitations dictate that ML alone often cannot differentiate between causal and associative relationships. For example, previous ML analysis suggested that soil thickness is the key physiographic factor determining the storage-streamflow correlations in the eastern US. This conclusion is not robust, especially if data are perturbed, and there were alternative, competing explanations including soil texture and terrain slope. However, typical causal analysis based on process-based models (PBMs) is inefficient and susceptible to human bias. Here we demonstrate a more efficient and objective analysis procedure where ML is first applied to generate data-consistent hypotheses, and then a PBM is invoked to verify these hypotheses. We employed a surface-subsurface processes model and conducted perturbation experiments to implement these competing hypotheses and assess the impacts of the changes. The experimental results strongly support the soil thickness hypothesis as opposed to the terrain slope and soil texture ones, which are co-varying and coincidental factors. Thicker soil permits larger saturation excess and longer system memory that carries wet season water storage to influence dry season baseflows. We further suggest this analysis could be formulated into a data-centric Bayesian framework. This study demonstrates that PBM present indispensable value for problems that ML cannot solve alone, and is meant to encourage more synergies between ML and PBM in the future.


At first sight these three authors may seem an unlikely trio, but in the event their disparate experience and personalities proved to be complementary and the end product of their labours was a coherent and harmonious whole.


The B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LTB), a nontoxic molecule with potent biological properties, is a powerful mucosal and parenteral adjuvant that induces a strong immune response against co-administered or coupled antigens. In this paper, the effect of LTB on the humoral immune response to recombinant BCG (rBCG) vaccination was evaluated. Isogenic mice were immunized with rBCG expressing the R1 repeat region of the P97 adhesin of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae alone (rBCG/R1) or fused to LTB (rBCG/LTBR1). Anti-R1 systemic antibody levels (IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, IgM, and IgA) were measured by ELISA using recombinant R1 as antigen. With the exception of IgM, LTB doubled the anti-R1 antibody levels in rBCG vaccination. The IgG1/IgG2a mean ratio showed that both rBCG/LTBR1 and rBCG/R1 induced a mixed Th1/Th2 immune response. Interestingly, anti-R1 serum IgA was induced only by rBCG/LTBR1. These results demonstrate that LTB has an adjuvant effect on the humoral immune response to recombinant antigens expressed in BCG.


The authors report 4 cases of acute gout in the lower limb occurring soon after starting heparin therapy for venous thromboembolic disease. As none of the usual factors which induce gout were present, the possible roles of the venous thrombosis and the heparin therapy were examined. Intra-articular thermic and acid-base changes secondary to the thrombosis could have explained the site of the attacks of gout in 3 of our 4 patients; the fourth patient had normal phlebography; the relationship between the attack and the start of heparin therapy suggested that the heparin may have induced the gout, possibly by an interaction with the synovial proteoglycans leading to the precipitation of urate crystals in the joint. In the absence of references in the literature, these hypotheses need further confirmation.


This brief deals with the behavior of a dynamic latch used as a voltage comparator. A detailed analysis of the fine settling phase is reported, putting in evidence the non-idealities which lead to comparison errors. A technique to minimize such errors is suggested. An experimental chip has been fabricated and measurements are reported and discussed.


RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE
The PRESERVE trial used a 2 × 2 factorial design to compare intravenous saline solution with intravenous sodium bicarbonate solution and oral N-acetylcysteine with placebo for the prevention of 90-day major adverse kidney events and death (MAKE-D) and contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) among patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing angiography. In this ancillary study, we evaluated the predictive capacities of preangiography injury and repair proteins in urine and plasma for MAKE-D, CA-AKI, and their impact on trial design.

STUDY DESIGN
Longitudinal analysis.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
A subset of participants from the PRESERVE trial.

EXPOSURES
Injury (KIM-1, NGAL, and IL-18) and repair (MCP-1, UMOD, and YKL-40) proteins in urine and plasma 1 to 2 hours preangiography.

OUTCOMES
MAKE-D and CA-AKI.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH
We analyzed the associations of preangiography biomarkers with MAKE-D and with CA-AKI. We evaluated whether the biomarker levels could enrich the MAKE-D event rate and improve future clinical trial efficiency through an online biomarker prognostic enrichment tool available at prognosticenrichment.com.

RESULTS
We measured plasma biomarkers in 916 participants and urine biomarkers in 797 participants. After adjusting for urinary albumin-creatinine ratio and baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate, preangiography levels of 4 plasma (KIM-1, NGAL, UMOD, and YKL-40) and 3 urine (NGAL, IL-18, and YKL-40) biomarkers were associated with MAKE-D. Only plasma KIM-1 level was significantly associated with CA-AKI after adjustment. Biomarker levels provided modest discriminatory capacity for MAKE-D. Screening patients using the 50th percentile of preangiography plasma KIM-1 or YKL-40 levels would have reduced the required sample size by 30% (∼2,000 participants).

LIMITATIONS
Evaluation of prognostic enrichment does not account for changing trial costs, time needed to screen patients, or loss to follow-up. Most participants were male, limiting the generalizability of our findings.

CONCLUSIONS
Preangiography levels of injury and repair biomarkers modestly predict the development of MAKE-D and can be used to improve the efficiency of future CA-AKI trials.


Contemporary studies with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) provide a growing base of evidence for enhancing cognition through the non-invasive delivery of weak electric currents to the brain. The main effect of tDCS is to modulate cortical excitability depending on the polarity of the applied current. However, the underlying mechanism of neuromodulation is not well understood. A new generation of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) systems is described that are miniaturized, portable, and include wearable sensors. These developments provide an opportunity to couple fNIRS with tDCS, consistent with a neuroergonomics approach for joint neuroimaging and neurostimulation investigations of cognition in complex tasks and in naturalistic conditions. The effects of tDCS on complex task performance and the use of fNIRS for monitoring cognitive workload during task performance are described. Also explained is how fNIRS + tDCS can be used simultaneously for assessing spatial working memory. Mobile optical brain imaging is a promising neuroimaging tool that has the potential to complement tDCS for realistic applications in natural settings.


Lin H., Zhao J., Chen Q., Cai J., Zhou P. (2009): Eggshell crack detection based on acoustic impulse response and supervised pattern recognition. Czech J. Food Sci., 27: 393-402. A system based on acoustic resonance was developed for eggshell crack detection. It was achieved by the analysis of the measured frequency response of eggshell excited with a light mechanism. The response signal was processed by recursive least squares adaptive filter, which resulted in the signal-to-noise ratio of the acoustic impulse response reing remarkably enhanced. Five features variables were exacted from the response frequency signals. To develop a robust discrimination model, three pattern recognition algorithms (i.e. K-nearest neighbours, artificial neural network, and support vector machine) were examined comparatively in this work. Some parameters of the model were optimised by cross-validation in the building model. The experimental results showed that the performance of the support vector machine model is the best in comparison to k-nearest neighbours and artificial neural network models. The optimal support vector machine model was obtained with the identification rates of 95.1% in the calibration set, and 97.1% in the prediction set, respectively. Based on the results, it was concluded that the acoustic resonance system combined with the supervised pattern recognition has a significant potential for the cracked eggs detection.


The photophysical parameters of tryptophan molecules at a low concentration in aqueous solution are measured by the methods of nanosecond laser fluorimetry upon excitation by 266-nm laser pulses. Two-step processes (reversible and irreversible photochemical transformations) taking place in this case are described quantitatively and it is shown that they can be neglected at the exciting photon flux density F < 5×1024 cm-2 s-1 in ∼10-ns pulses.


Background and Aim Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is emerging as an effective treatment for pediatric achalasia. There are limited data on the long-term efficacy of POEM in children and adolescents with achalasia. In this study, we aim to evaluate the outcomes of POEM at ≥4 years follow-up. Method The data of consecutive children who underwent POEM (September 2013–July 2021) and completed at least 4 years follow-up were analyzed retrospectively. The primary outcome was clinical success (Eckardt ≤ 3) at ≥4 years follow-up. The secondary outcomes included the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and predictors of recurrent symptoms (Eckardt ≥2) after POEM. Results A total of 69 children underwent POEM for achalasia during the study period. Of these, 41 (59.4%) children completed ≥4 years [mean 68.5 months (range 48–94)] follow-up, and 38 were included in the final analysis. The subtypes of achalasia included type I (28.9%), type II (60.5%), and type III (2.6%). There was a history of prior treatment in 11 children (28.9%). Clinical success was recorded in 36 (94.7%) patients who successfully underwent POEM. Recurrent symptoms (Eckardt ≥ 2) were noticed in 12 (31.6%) children at ≥4 years. On multivariate analysis, there were no identifiable factors which predicted recurrent symptoms after POEM. Symptomatic GERD and erosive esophagitis were detected in 13.8% (4/29) and 57.1% (8/14) of the children, respectively. Conclusion POEM is a durable treatment modality for achalasia in the pediatric population irrespective of the sub-type of achalasia and history of prior treatment.


We tested the hypothesis that the constitutive activity of the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) serves to protect cells against numerous endogenous stresses. To accomplish this, we treated HepG2 cell lines that were individually transfected with 13 different promoter/response element (RE) chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter constructs, with a highly selective NOS2 inhibitor, 1400W [N-(3-(aminomethyl)benzyl) acetamidine)]. HepG2 cells were incubated for 6 h with 0, 1, 10, 50, 100, and 200 microM 1400W, and the activation of the promoter/RE CAT reporter constructs was simultaneously determined. The highest fold inductions occurred at 200 microM 1400W, a concentration that had no effect on overall cell viability, as determined by the MTT assay. Twelve of the 13 promoter/RE CAT reporter constructs were significantly activated by 200 microM 1400W. These results indicate the extensive protective role of constitutive NOS2 against genotoxic, oxidative, and endoplasmic reticulum stresses. The mechanism of this protection may involve the complexing of iron by nitric oxide (NO) to reduce hydroxyl radical formation, NO inhibition of electron transport and the generation of reactive oxygen species within mitochondria, NO inhibition of cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase, and cytochrome P450 enzyme activity, and the scavenging of superoxide anions by NO to form peroxynitrite.


It is evident that the current state of Large Language Models (LLMs) necessitates the incorporation of external tools. The lack of straightforward algebraic and logical reasoning is well documented and prompted researchers to develop frameworks which allow LLMs to operate via external tools. The ontological nature of tool utilization for a specific task can be well formulated with a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). The central aim of the paper is to highlight the importance of graph based approaches to LLM-tool interaction in near future. We propose an exemplary framework to guide the orchestration of exponentially increasing numbers of external tools with LLMs,where objectives and functionalities of tools are graph encoded hierarchically. Assuming that textual segments of a Chain-of-Thought (CoT) can be imagined as a tool as defined here, the graph based framework can pave new avenues in that particular direction as well.


The participation of reactants undergoing a polarity inversion along a multicomponent reaction, allows the continuation of the transformation with productive domino processes. Thus, indole aldehydes in Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé reactions lead to an initial adduct which spontaneously triggers a series of events leading to the discovery of novel reaction pathways together with a direct access to a variety of linked, fused and bridged polyheterocyclic scaffolds. Indole 3- and 4-carbaldehydes with suitable isocyanides and aminoazines afford fused adducts through oxidative Pictet-Spengler processes, whereas indole 2-carbaldehyde yields linked indolocarbazoles under mild conditions, and a bridged macrocycle at high temperature. These novel structures are potent activators of the human aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathway.


The article offers an original close reading of some of Marcucci's most famous works between the early 60s and late 70s, chosen as examples of a situated gendered specificity of the artist's poetics. Despite the self-declared distance from neo-feminist stances, Marcucci shines for originality and controversy in the themes and practices of creation in her contemporary landscape, mostly dominated by male artists. On the one hand, we observe Marcucci's artistic and cultural operation in Italy amid an economic boom but still suffered from the retrograde nature of the still deviously dominant fascist thinking, in conjunction with the bigotry of the Catholic Church, concerning women's emancipation. On the other hand, we also observe Marcucci's productive singularity in the context of her contemporary counterculture, which had not freed itself at all — although preaching it — from sexist power dynamics. The article aims to present a feminist lens (from male gaze to self-objectification) not as the absolute and only way of interpreting Marcucci's verbal-visual poems, but as useful in highlighting the specific qualities of Marcucci's research and poetics. Through the analysis of "Il Fidanzato in Fuga" (The Runaway Fiance; 1964), "Noxin" (1970), "AH!" (1972), "Aa Bb Cc" (1977), and "Culturae" (1978), an attempt will be made to offer a viable course of inquiry that does not isolate Marcucci's


Whilst the late-Holocene climate was becoming drier with an increasing number of climatic anomalies, with notably more frequent fluctuations in summer rainfall on an annual or decadal scale, many walled sites or cities emerged and became regional centres that witnessed population agglomeration and technological flowering. To feed their growing populations and their increasing demands on land, water, food, and other resources, these �cities� were drawn closer physically to riverine environments and wetlands. By diversifying and intensifying their subsistence strategies, and constructing infrastructure on a colossal scale, these late-Holocene walled towns or cities also fundamentally transformed their local landscapes. Examining key sites from the Huai river and the Yangtze Delta, this paper will compare the dynamic interactions between society, landscape, and the environment under different socio-economic conditions across different regions of late-Holocene China and investigate how these factors influenced and led to the emergence of complex societies or early states.


The author of this book, an Episcopalian clergyman presently Professor of Philosophical Theology at Seabury-Westem Theological Seminary, has received academic training in sociology, philosophy, and theology. Drawing upon all three of these areas of thought, Casserley presents an interesting and stimulating defense of traditional Christianity against the presentday assaults of "modern" and "liberal" biblical and theological interpretations. It is the author's contention that a great gap exists between the "elites"-the sophisticated theologians, and the "masses"--the majority of ministers and laymen, which in effect has deprived the latter of a clearly articulated and defined intellectual basis for their traditional Christian beliefs. This in turn has made it difficult, if not impossible, for those in the churches to proclaim their Christian faith with assurance and effectiveness. Casserley further contends that at the root of the dilemma lies a false and partial philosophy which the "liberals" have adopted and which is reflected in the theological discomes of such men as Bultmann and others of the "liberal" school. This "liberal" theology has as its chief weakness a chronic tendency "to b y to combine a naturalistic interpretation of nature" with a "religious or existentialist interpretation of the life of man." This, says the author, is dualistic. The appeal of the book is for a return to a "whole" philosophy, a philosophia p m m i s , characteristic of the thought of the great Greek and other classical philosophers. Only when naturalistic and existentialist thought converge in the philosophia peremis will truth be found, traditional Christian beliefs articulated, and the Christian faith adequately interpreted and expressed by the "elites" for the "masses." With the problem of communicating the Christian faith as his context, Casserley, with keen insight, has presented a persuasive apology for traditional Christian beliefs and has explored effectively the "chinks" in the philosophical armor of the "liberal" school of theological thought. Especially stimulating are his treatment of Bible "myth" and "miracle," both very much in the center of biblical and theological discussion today. Here is a refreshing and incisive work, much needed and most timely. S. P. Landry, Jr.


A freely moving pseudotumoral formation resembling a peeled "hard-boiled egg" was discovered in the abdominal cavity of an 82-year-old male patient during exploratory laparotomy for assessment of hepatocarcinoma in the left lobe of the liver. The formation involved a twisted epiploic fringe, which was necrotic, sclerotic, and calcified. The absence of any attachment and the avascular aspect of this pseudotumor suggest a possibly self-sustaining mechanism for the laminar sclerosis organized around the necrotic adipose tissue.


In this paper, we propose a modification to dyadic sorting scheme used for the permutation problemin convolutive blind source separation. In the frequency domain, the problem of separation of sources can be reduced to multiple instantaneous problems, which are easily solvable using independent component analysis. However, this simplified method leads to the problem of correctly aligning and scaling of the single frequency bins. These ambiguities need to be solved before the transformation to the time domain, as otherwise the separation process will fail. In this paper we combine dyadic sorting with an optimized way of calculation of correlation coefficients by using spectral summation. The improved performance will we shown on real world examples.


Friction-induced selective etching provides a new thought direction in the field of nanotechnology with high resolution, low cost, flexibility and site control. In this work, it was found that the scratched area on a silicon surface can play a role as a mask against etching in tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution, resulting in the formation of protrusive hillocks. Friction-induced selective etching was found to depend on the temperature and etching time. The hillock height initially increased with the temperature or etching time, and then the hillock disappeared due to the mask etching off. In contrast, the applied normal load for scratching on silicon had little effect on the hillock height produced by selective etching in TMAH solution. Further analysis showed that crystal distortions or crystal amorphization could act as a mask against selective etching on silicon. Through control tip traces for scratching, different patterns can be produced on the silicon surface by friction-induced selective etching in TMAH solution. These results can enrich the fundamental aspects of scanning probe microscope (SPM)-based nanolithography, and provide an alternative method to produce nanostructures for various applications.


Dr Guang-Ji Wang, Professor of Optometry, Wenzhou M e d i d College Thank you Mr Chairman, Mr President and distinguished optometric educators. I was an ophthalmologist in China and practised ophthalmology for many years. Then, I saw the great need for optometry in China. I was one of the founders of the first optometry program in the whole of China. I still hold the appointment of Professor of Optometry in Wenzhou Medical College. Last year, I made the connection between the New England College of Optometry and Wenzhou Medical College and then finally had these two colleges united as twin colleges. Chinese call this such kind of person as a bridge so we have the longest bridge in the world across the Pacific Ocean. Dr Cheung, the vice-president of Wenzhou Medical College, Dr Tsu and Dr Chee, the chairman and vice-chairman of the Department of Optometry cannot be here because in China to get a visa for Hong Kong usually requires three months to process. They only had two and one half months. So next time we will give them a year. Now I will present the paper by Dr Lsiu Chen the president of Wenzhou Medical College. The title is 'A great step has been made in optometric education in the Peoples Republic of China.' Optometric education has a long history in many developed countries but in our country, the Peoples Republic of China, it is in the initial stage. Wenzhou Medical College has set up as the first optometric education and research institution and is now dedicated to upgrading optometric education in China. We try to do the best for optometric development in our country and we are sincerely looking for the panels, friends and institutes all over the world to assist and support our optometry. In October of 1992, a delegation from New England College of Optometry in America paid a visit to Wenzhou Medical College. The New England College of Optometry president, Dr Larry Clausen, signed an agreement with Dr Lsiu Chen, the president of Wenzhou Medical College, on October 27. The Co-operative Agreement includes a visiting scholar program, joint research ventures, student exchange programs and launching of an international optometry symposium in Wenzhou. These programs are expected to assist us in developing the knowledge and techniques. Also, they will facilitate the development of optometry as a profession in our country and subsequently enhance the vision care for the large population. Furthermore, they will attract international interest in the development of China. Just as Dr Clausen has stated, the more that we can do to give direction for the practice of optometry, the better it will be for the Chinese people. The population of China, which accounts for one-quarter of the world population is more than 1.1 billion of which 300 million people have to wear glasses or contact lenses to correct their vision because of refractive errors. In the past, the eye examination and prescription were done by ophthalmologists and spectacle technicians. Many glasses and contact lenses are sold through the department stores by salesmen with little training in medical university or colleges. Almost no optometry courses can be offered. A significant proportion of China's population has had either limited or no access to primary eye or vision care. Wenzhou Medical College which is located in a coastal city with a population of about six million is about 300 miles South


The objective of the research is to analyze, at the simulation level, the effect of the M -Quadrature Amplitude Modulation ( M-QAM ) technique, in the downlink, for a converged Radio over Fiber ( RoF ) network infrastructure, implementing the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technique and the Passive Optical Network architecture, with 10 Gbps capacity ( XG-PON ). The evaluation of the effect of the M-QAM modulation technique was done through a pre-established simulation methodology and using the optsim software for the network model and tests. In the results of the research, the increase of the order of M-QAM modulation for a converged OFDM-RoF network infrastructure allows to represent more bits per symbol, however, it requires a higher transmission power. The conclusion derives in the pos-sibility of developing a robust converged OFDM-RoF network infrastructure of XG-PON type, implementing the M-QAM technique, since it efficiently uses the available bandwidth.


Abstract Background Developmental defects of enamel especially enamel hypomineralization are prevalent among children. Hypomineralized second primary molars (HSPM) present a serious clinical dilemma for the current practitioners. It represents as a potential predictive factor for molar incisal hypomineralization (MIH). The reported prevalence of HSPMs in India however still remains uncertain. Methodology A total of 649 children aged 6–10 years were randomly selected from various schools in Delhi NCR. The teeth were indexed for developmental defects of enamel using modified European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry judgment criteria given by Ghanim et al. Results A total of 83 HSPMs were observed in 33 of the 649 subjects examined, with a prevalence of 5%. Molars affected had prevalence of 62.88%, with two deciduous molars being most commonly affected. Of the defects present, creamy white opacities were most common followed by yellowish brown opacities. Posteruptive breakdowns (PEB) were more commonly associated with yellowish brown opacities. Conclusion The prevalence of HSPMs in Delhi, NCR was 5%. Creamy white opacities were the most common lesion present. How to cite this article Singh R, Srivastava B, Gupta N. Prevalence and Pattern of Hypomineralized Second Primary Molars in Children in Delhi–NCR. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(5):501–503.


Icebergs are commonly ignored in current general circulation models
despite their connections to ocean stratification, phytoplankton growth
and redistribution of freshwater in the Southern Ocean. On the way to
fully including icebergs in ocean circulation models, we present
FESOM-IB, the high resolution Finite Element Sea Ice - Ocean Model
(FESOM) enhanced by an IceBerg drift and decay module developed at AWI
Bremerhaven. By solving the momentum equations for iceberg drift, the
iceberg trajectory is computed from an evaluation of the FESOM ice/ocean
velocity fields and sea surface height at every time step. Icebergs are
assumed to be cubical-shaped and treated as Lagrangian point masses
having properties such as length, width and height. Simple diagnostic
equations for computing the melt rates of icebergs are applied and
iceberg dimensions are adjusted accordingly. Therefore the numerical
method's stability for the solution of the momentum equations has to be
independent from iceberg size. Our numerical procedure proved to be
stable across the full range of iceberg classes; small to giant icebergs
may be modelled. We present a 3-year simulation of 308 artifical
icebergs from 4 different size classes started at 77 circum-Antarctic
locations. Melt rates as well as the components of iceberg momentum
balance are quantified and the influence of iceberg size on the drift
patterns is discussed. In our simulation giant icebergs tend to stay
close to the Antarctic coast. They drift westwards in the coastal
current and may only leave it at well-defined bifurcation points in the
Weddell Sea, the Ross Sea and over the Kerguelen Plateau. In contrast,
smaller icebergs show an off-shore drift component early in their lives.
Independent of the iceberg size, the dominant iceberg velocity component
is changed into eastward as soon as icebergs reach the ACC.


Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a pleiotropic cytokine that controls an immense number of cellular responses and plays a prominent role in maintaining homeostasis of most human organs. In the intestine, the TGF-β is involved in mucosal defense, immune tolerance, inhibition of acute inflammation, promoting the wound-healing process, and suppressing tumor initiation. However, TGF-β exhibits Janus-like features under certain physiologic conditions and chronic inflammation (e.g., inflammatory bowel diseases [IBDs]). Excessive TGF-β in IBDs favors chronic inflammation, incurs pathologic remolding, and facilitates the progression of colitis-associated inflammation (CAC). Considering the increasingly crucial roles of TGF-Β in the development of IBDs, we overview its pathways and multifaceted effects at the steady-state and IBD conditions of the gut, respectively. In addition, we present potential therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring normal TGF-β signaling in IBDs.


Anthony H. Atkinson Inequality: What Can Be Done? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015Reviewed by Howard A. DoughtyApart, perhaps, from some provocative screeds from unrepentant social Darwinists, a few guileless remarks in the diaries and personal correspondence of plutocrats or the excited campaign utterances of US presidential candidate Donald Trump, few people openly advocate excessive inequality. Especially when speaking of equality under the law, equality of opportunity and equality in the sight of God, it is considered prudent to comment approvingly of the democratic impulse to encourage fairness. In addition, even when addressing the more controversial concept of equality of economic condition and acknowledging the fact of significant and sometimes increasing differences in income and accumulated assets between the rich and the poor, it is required of us that we speak disapprovingly about "inequity" or unjustified inequality and at least to comment vaguely on the importance of reducing or at least ameliorating the effects of abject poverty. So, we are familiar with business, government and opinion leaders in the mass media making pleas for assistance to the destitute, whether the homeless in otherwise prosperous modern metropolises or starving infants in the dreadful conditions of various "failed states." Expressions of compassion are socially de rigueur in polite society.However self-serving and possibly hypocritical we may be, it must be admitted that some indicators of rising prosperity have been visible in recent history and that some current initiatives to address global penury contain seeds of hope. From experiments in stimulus packages and temporary bail-outs of failed financial and industrial institutions in advanced economies to the positive success stories coming from some formerly "third-world" countries such as Singapore and Taiwan and the immense and potentially dominating positions of countries such as China and India, there are definite signs that a new, if volatile, postcolonial economic order is emerging. Although unalloyed optimism is plainly premature, the dynamics of global economics no longer seem predestined and intractable.For reasons that are unclear to me, much of the good news (at least in the form of proposals for helpful innovation) has come and is continuing to come from the United Kingdom, the world's last openly and proudly unrepentant imperial power.The most obvious source of optimism (apart from the musings of Karl Marx as they filtered out of the British Museum in the third quarter of the nineteenth century) is the work of John Maynard Keynes. His ideas for wise economic policy are generally credited with pointing the way out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. He was also the prime theorist behind the basic framework of global monetary and international exchange policies that facilitated political stability and economic growth through the instrumentality of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947). The GATT, of course, was largely superseded by the World Trade Organization in 1995 and a good deal of its commitment to generosity and common developmental goals appears to have been sapped by an overriding belief in the increasingly discredited strategy of austerity as a cure for problems of international debt and domestic economic stagnation. Still, insofar as tonic tactics for equity and prosperity have worked to promote the material interests of individuals and a selected number of nations, it is reasonable to give the eminent Mr. Keynes a good portion of the credit.Less well known to the general public, however, is Sir William Beveridge. A "legendarily cautious English scholar," according to Thomas Piketty (2015: 26), Beveridge authored the famous report in 1942 that outlined the steps that he considered necessary to eliminate privation and want from Britain. The reforms he advocated may not have been fully translated into practical policy and therefore may not have achieved his lofty goals, but he did build the theoretical foundation for the British system of social security and universal health care that became an early model for subsequent welfare innovation in many liberal democracies-at least until the post-1980 reversals both in Britain and throughout much of the late capitalist world. …


Association of chronic cholecystitis and pyelonephritis as well as associated formation of calculi are the cause of prolonged course of the disease, resistance to antibacterial therapy, frequent exacerbations. For his reason the authors recommend detailed examinations of the kidneys in patients with chronic cholecystitis for early diagnosis of their pathology and institution of adequate treatment.


Ionic conducting materials such as polymer electrolytes and ionic liquids can have a thermovoltage higher than those of electronic thermoelectric materials by several orders of magnitude, while their conductivity is much lower than those of the latter. Hence, their heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency is not high enough for practical application. The heat conversion efficiency of ionic conducting materials depends on the ionic figure of merit (ZTi). Here, we demonstrate quasi-solid state ionogels made of ionic liquids and SiO2 nanoparticles. They can have high thermovoltage and ionic conductivity. The optimal ionic ZTi value can be up to 1.47 with an ionic Seebeck coefficient of 14.8 mV K−1, ionic conductivity of 4.75 × 10−2 S cm−1, thermal conductivity of 0.21 W m−1 K−1 and ionic power factor of 1040.4 μW m−1 K−2 at room temperature. This ZTi value is almost twice the previous highest ZTi value for ionic conductors used for heat-to-electricity conversion in the literature.


The basic ideology of modernization of urban space should become a strategy for creation of a territory, providing a comfortable environment and human quality of life. Based on this postulate, a study was conducted to identify the specifics of cooperation with the virtual and real urban communities for the construction of foundations of urban policy, based on awareness of collective identity. The study was conducted on the basis of the methodology that allows the synthesis of Smart City concept and the theory of post-industrial city's development. In this study were identified the discourses about architectonic actors of the urban environment. Results of the study on the basis of real cases in Tomsk showed that today there are real urban communities, but their influence on philosophy and management's practice of space-communicative development of the city are insufficient due to lack of specific mechanisms and sites of interaction with government and business. The article also contains the main strategies of solving the problems in interaction with various Community. © 2017 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk


Western allopathic medicine has focused on illness care of the body. Energy healing is a complementary therapy focused on the mind-body-spirit connection and is especially useful for conditions for which allopathic medicine has few answers. Common in Eastern cultures, energy healing has developed as therapeutic touch and healing touch in Western nursing practice. An explanation of the scientific/theoretical basis of energy healing and case study presentations provide the framework for considering the application of this therapy to the care of women and children.


As a result of the lag in the spring rise in temperature behind the improvement in light conditions, crop growth in the spring is frequently limited by the rate at which assimilates can be used in growth rather than by the rate of production of assimilates in photosynthesis. Hence there is a loss of potential dry matter production in the spring, both in perennial crops such as grasses, and in spring sown arable crops. There is considerable genetic variation within and between crop species in ability to grow in cool conditions, and there are good prospects for achieving earlier growth of grasses and arable crops in the spring by breeding. Spring sown arable crops, such as sugar beet and potatoes, are slow to build up an adequate leaf cover and greater yields can be achieved in mild southwestern areas than in the traditional areas for these crops. Climatic conditions in lowland areas in the west are quite favourable for crop growth, and much land in these areas at present under permanent grass is potentially capable of producing high yields of arable crops. Some alternatives to the present extensive use of home grown barley and wheat for animal feed are discussed and it is shown that certain root crops produce higher yields of metabolizable energy (m.e.) and protein than cereals. Since silage is relatively rich in protein in relation to its content of m.e., luxury levels of protein have to be consumed and a re-examination of the cost of using silage for winter feed is required in the light of increased costs of nitrogenous fertilizers. On poor marginal land yields of animal protein from sheep are very low and such land would seem to be better suited for forestry, which can produce high yields of wood for relatively low inputs of soil nutrients.


Correlations between acute rejection rate, cyclosporin A(CsA) blood level and CsA dose were studied in a group of 58 patients for 1 month following liver transplant. Therapy included prednisolone, azathioprine and CsA administered by continuous IV infusion. Blood CsA levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. No patient required renal dialysis. An acute rejection episode was recorded in 24 patients (group 1) between days 4 and 28 (mean 8 days), while 34 patients (group 2) showed no signs of rejection. A significant difference was observed (p < 0.05) between blood CsA levels (mean +/- SEM over the 6 days preceding the rejection episode in group 1 patients, and the first 6 postoperative days in group 2 patients (101 +/- 7 vs 121 +/- 5 ng/ml). The mean daily dose of CsA calculated over the same time period was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in group 1 patients (46 +/- 2 vs 60 +/- 2 mg/day). In addition, over the 8 days following surgery, only 54% of patients in group 1 attained a mean blood CsA level of a least 100 ng/ml, compared to 94% in group 2.


The paper is on generic service-level management tools that enable the reconfiguration of a distributed network application whenever there are resource-level changes or failures in the underlying network sub-systems. We present a formal model-based approach for monitoring compliance and adapting the system in response. In our model, the management entity maintains policy scripts and rules to coordinate the application-level reconfigurations and adaptations in response to the changes/outages in the underlying network services. The paper presents a case study of rate-adaptive video multicast over IP-based infrastructure networks, to demonstrate the usefulness of our management model. The model offers an end-to-end framework for the development of Future Internet applications.


Orientation phenomena for 1s → 2p±1 transitions in electron-ion collisional excitations in dense plasmas are investigated using the dynamic interaction potential. Scaled transition probabilities for 1s → 2p±1 excitations are obtained using the plasma dielectric function. The semiclassical straight-line trajectory approximation is applied to the motion of the projectile electron in order to visualize the variation of the dynamic orientation parameter as a function of impact parameter and collision energy. The propensity of the m = -1 transition including the dynamic plasma screening effect is always greater than that including the static plasma screening effect. When the projectile velocity is smaller than the electron thermal velocity, the dynamic plasma screening effect becomes a static plasma screening effect. However, when the projectile velocity is greater than the electron thermal velocity, the propensity of the m = -1 transition in the dynamic model plasma is found to be stronger than that in the static model plasma.


This article at hand presents the results of an explorative empirical investigation in East German SMEs. The focus of the article is on the usage of different modes of atypical employment by these firms. Additionally, the purposes as well as the difficulties accompanying this practice are highlighted. Moreover, the results of the survey will be interpreted in different ways.


Quercetin glucuronides are the main circulating metabolites of quercetin in humans. We hypothesise that the potential availability of the aglycone within tissues depends on the substrate specificity of the deconjugating enzyme beta-glucuronidase towards circulating flavonoid glucuronides. Human tissues (small intestine, liver and neutrophils) exhibited beta-glucuronidase against quercetin glucuronides. The various quercetin glucuronides were deconjugated at similar rates, but liver cell-free extracts were the most efficient and the activity was completely inhibited by saccharo-1,4-lactone (a beta-glucuronidase inhibitor). Furthermore, pure recombinant human beta-glucuronidase hydrolysed various flavonoid glucuronides, with a 20-fold variation in catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)=1.3x10(3) M(-1) s(-1) for equol-7-O-glucuronide and 26x10(3) M(-1) s(-1) for kaempferol-3-O-glucuronide). Similar catalytic efficiencies were obtained for quercetin O-glucuronides substituted at different positions. These results show that flavonoid glucuronides can be deconjugated by microsomal beta-glucuronidase from various human cells.


We tested the hypothesis that predation rates increase near habitat edges and can cause low reproductive success in forest bird species living in a fragmented habitat. We constructed artificial yellow-faced honeyeater (Lichenostomus chrysops) nests and placed them 5 m, 20 m, 50 m and 200 m from the forest edge. We also monitored natural yellow-faced honeyeater nests at varying distances from the forest edge. Artificial nests experienced 43% predation over the 14-day exposure period, while natural yellow-faced honeyeater nests experienced 28% during the incubation period and 47% during the nestling period. No negative edge effect was detected for artificial or natural nests. In fact, natural nests experienced higher nest success closer to the forest edge. There was no increase in the number of avian predators recorded at the forest edge, even though birds were identified as the main predators at artificial nests (49%). The lack of support for both the 'ecological trap' and 'predator influx' hypotheses contributes to a growing body of evidence that suggests that not all species surviving in highly fragmented environments are negatively affected by edge effects.


As theyface the challenges of population ageing, governments in many countries are considering howto increase labour-force participation by older workers and discourage early retirement. In Kenyathe government increased the retirement age from 55 to 60 years with effect from 1st April 2009. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the extension of retirementage with special reference to Commercial Banks in Nyeri Town. The study was carriedout to address the factors influencing extension of retirement age in Kenya from fifty five yearsto sixty. The objectives of the study were to determine how extension of retirement age influencepreservation of the organizational corporate knowledge, provides a system for effective succession management, creates a flexible and responsive workforce, increases return on investmenttraining and development, reduce the rate of staff turnover and better ability to respondto older clients and their needs. The study adopted descriptive research design where the targetpopulation was the 12 commercial banks in Nyeri Town. The population in the study was the 168 employees of the participating commercial banks. Random sampling with a sample of 30% of the population was taken. The researcher solely conducted the field work during data collection,recording, sampling, editing, tabulation and analyzing it. Descriptive statistics and someinferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The study found that preservation of knowledgehad a high influence on the extension of retirement age (Mean = 1.88, SD =1.54). The return on investment was also found to have a high influence on the extension of the retirement age (Mean = 1.64, SD =1.02). The rate of staff of turnover however had a low influenceon the extension of the retirement age (Mean = 1.88, SD = 0.625). Just like staff turnoversuccession planning also had a low influence on the extension of retirement age (Mean = 1.57, SD= 1.02). Increased return on investment (56%) arose as the most influencing factor affectingthe extension of the retirement age followed by preservation of corporate knowledge (30%). The researcher concluded that hiring of professional trainers as well as training materials came at a cost. As such, the company would want a return on its investment in terms of employee performance. The study recommended that the banks should embrace traditional training methods since they are more cost effective and efficient at the same time.


The article considers the relationship between the language biography of a patient with aphasia and the process of her speech rehabilitation. The research project focuses on the problem of predicting the structure of mental lexicon in patients with aphasia via modeling it in native speakers from the same socio-professional groups without speech disorders. The process is largely based on knowledge about common characteristics of their language biography. The aim of the article is to feature the methodology used in such a type of predictive modeling, its theoretical foundations and main advantages for speech rehabilitation work. The research data include: statistics about sociological characteristics of patients collected at the local Neurorehabilitation Center from 2014 to 2018; 18 questionnaires filled in by the relatives of the patients in question; interviews with healthy Russian native speakers, whose socio-professional characteristics are similar to characteristics of one of the target groups of the patients; 12 hours of audio recordings of interviews with healthy native speakers of the Russian language, whose language biography, gender and age characteristics are similar to those of the target groups of the patients; a corpus of interview scripts processed with the Sketch Engine corpus manager; 14 patients' speech assessment sheets completed in accordance with the Wasserman scale (it is designed to determine speech disorders of patients with a local cerebrovascular accident). By using an interdisciplinary complex of methods we obtained the following results: completed a sociolinguistic portrait of people at risk of aphasia with similar language biographies; listed the most frequent words, collocations and automated verbal series (phrases and sayings) specific to people at risk of aphasia; identified the language biography features that affect mental lexicon; elaborated a complex of exercises for speech rehabilitation of patients with aphasia regarding the specificity of their language biography; validated and assessed the exercises' effectiveness in clinical practice. Our main conclusion is that the proposed method can help to design for patients with aphasia a more personalized complex of speech recovery exercises that will be adapted to their language biography


The main purpose of this study is to determine how power usage styles of administrators of faculties of education influence the organizational culture in their respective faculties in Turkey. Using the phenomenological method, a qualitative research method, researchers studied a group comprised of 20 academics from 7 different colleges of education employed during the 2011-2012 academic year. In order to select the appropriate study group, maximum variation technique was used since it is one of the purposive sampling methods. The data were gathered using semi- structured interview questions developed by the researchers themselves and were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques. In this study, it was found that while the administrators of this group mostly used legal, coercive, and reward power styles, charismatic and expertise power styles did not have a significant impact on members of their respective faculties. It was further found that administrators' usage of legal, coercive, and reward power styles bread both organizational cultures of power and bureaucracy. It was concluded that, due to the lack of charismatic and expertise power styles, cultures of success and support are unable to flourish in such faculties and that there are even difficulties in setting up a fully functional bureaucratic culture. As a result of this study, the researchers have suggested that in order to develop an organizational culture with all of its necessary components in faculties of education, administrators should be assigned through democratic selection methods, that they be trained in administrators training programs, and that a peer mentoring system should be developed in faculties of education.


Low-cost precision agricultural machinery navigation technology is one of the key technologies we need to master in precision agriculture study. This study aims at using low-cost position and attitude sensors to achieve high precision navigation and control. We have designed and developed an experiment platform for study on agricultural machinery navigation technology by adopting an electric car as the experimental vehicle. This platform consists of four parts: machinery subsystem, position and attitude measurement subsystem, navigation control subsystem and data acquisition and analysis subsystem. It supports the experimental verification of the following algorithms: position and attitude measurement and solution algorithm, multi-sensor data fusion algorithm and navigation and control algorithm. This experiment platform meets the demands of study and experiment on agricultural machinery navigation technolog


The clinical features of Parkinson's disease (PD) include tremors and rigidity. However, paresthesia has not drawn clinical attention. PD involves the whole body and begins with gastrointestinal lesions, which do not start in the midbrain substantia nigra, but from the beginning of the medulla oblongata of the glossopharyngeal nerve nuclei, to the motor nerve dorsal nucleus of the vagus nerve, to the pons and midbrain, and finally to the neocortex. The human eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body perceive the external world. (1) Visual impairment in patients with PD can be easily confused with senile eye disease. This change in retinal pigment cells has many similarities to the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra in PD. (2) Selective high-frequency hearing impairment can cause a certain degree of communication barriers, only understanding the son's bass but not the daughter's soprano, and there is a certain relationship between hearing and body postural balance. (3) Olfactory loss is one of the earliest signs of PD and an important indicator for the early screening of PD. (4) Taste disorders, including loss of taste and taste memory, can cause cognitive impairment. (5) The body's sense of touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and position abnormalities interfere with the motor symptoms of PD and seriously affect the quality of life of patients. This article discusses vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and analyses of neuroanatomy and pathology, revealing its clinical significance.


PDAM Tirta Lawu Karanganyar is a local company that handles the distribution of water in Karanganyar, Central Java. The company serves the whole society of the various groups. In the process of delivery service, it was found the existence of Manual Material Handling (MMH) in the installation of water distribution networks. There are some activities which relatively easy to do, but in time and high repetition. In the beginning of interview was found that 4 from 6 workers have back pain in the hips and waist after work, then the part of body will be mapped by Nordic Body Map as a tool to strengthen the notion of mapping. This study uses REBA as the most appropriate valuation method in proving the existence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) in the workplace. The result is there are 5 work elements as a subject of ergonomics evaluation. REBA method was proved to show some activities on high risk for the operator health of non-permanent employees (PHL)


We report an upconversion experiment using an orientation-patterned gallium arsenide (OP-GaAs) crystal to detect small mid-infrared signals on an InGaAs avalanche photodiode. A conversion efficiency up to 20% with a nonpolarized pulsed fiber pump is demonstrated. Our uncooled setup is favorably compared in terms of noise equivalent power, dynamic range, and response time to cryogenically cooled HgCdTe detectors. Its dependence on the polarization of both the pump and signal beams is also investigated.


Objective:To report an unexpected cause of carboxyhemoglobinemia associated with inhaled nitric oxide therapy in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Design:Case report. Setting:Medical critical care unit at Lausanne University Hospital. Patient:One female patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome treated with inhaled nitric oxide, who developed a simultaneous increase in blood methemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin. Conclusions:Potential pathophysiologic mechanisms linking acute respiratory distress syndrome, inhaled nitric oxide, methemoglobin, and carboxyhemoglobin are discussed. Since carboxyhemoglobin has a negative influence on oxygen-carrying capacity, this effect may potentially offset the beneficial influence (if any) of inhaled nitric oxide on arterial Po2. This observation does not support the use of inhaled nitric oxide in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome.


The development has been analysed of the primary recrystallisation texture in samples
of polycrystalline nickel rolled to various degrees of reduction. A great similarity between
the texture characteristics of copper and nickel has been found. Regularities of cube
texture development were established and compared with results of texture and microstructure
investigations obtained by other authors.


A new species, ClSO2, is produced and identified with infrared (IR) absorption spectra when an argon or krypton matrix containing Cl2 and SO2 is irradiated with laser emission at 355 nm. Lines at 1311.0, 1309.6, 1099.8, 1098.2, 497.7, and 455.8 cm-1 (or 1309.5, 1098.5, 497.0, and 454.2 cm-1) are assigned to ClSO2 isolated in solid Ar (or Kr). Assignments of IR absorption lines are based on results of 34S and 18O isotopic substitution (in solid Kr) and theoretical calculations. Theoretical calculations using density-functional theories (B3LYP and B3P86 with an aug-cc-pVTZ basis set) were performed to predict the geometry, energy, vibrational frequencies, and infrared intensities of possible isomers of ClSO2:  (pyramidal) ClSO2, cis-ClOSO, (nonplanar) ClOSO, and cis-ClSOO. Results predicted for pyramidal ClSO2 agree with observed experimental data. This is the first identification of ClSO2, which is presumably an important intermediate during photolysis of Cl2SO2 and in the reaction of Cl with SO2, especial...


The question of difference - between women and men and among women - is at the heart of feminist theory and the history of feminism. Feminists have long debated the meanings of sexual difference: is it an underlying truth of nature or the result of changing social belief? Are women the same as or different from men? Feminism and History argues that sexual difference, indeed that all forms of social differentiation, cannot be understood apart from history. It brings together the best critical articles available to analyse the ways in which differences among women and men have been produced. The articles range across many countries and time periods (from the Middle Ages to the present) and they include analyses of western and non-western experiences. There are discussions of race in the United States and in colonial contexts. A variety of theoretical approaches to the question of difference is included; but in all cases, difference is the focus of the historian's analysis. The analytic focus on difference distinguishes this book from other collections of women's history. It will be fascinating and essential reading for students and teachers of history, women's studies, gender studies, cultural studies, queer theory, and feminist theory.


Ms. G, age 28, presents to a tertiary care hospital with altered mental status. Six weeks ago she started taking phentermine, 37.5 mg/d, to lose weight. Her body mass index is 24 kg/[m.sup.2] (normal range), and she obtained the stimulant agent via the Internet. Her family reports Ms. G was very busy in the past week, staying up until 2 AM cleaning. They say she also was irritable with her 5-year-old son. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two days ago, Ms. G complained of fatigue and nausea without emesis. She went to bed early and did not awaken the next morning. Her sister found her in bed, minimally responsive to verbal stimuli, and brought her to the hospital. Patients have used phentermine as a weight-reducing agent since the FDA approved this amphetamine-like compound in 1960.(1) Phentermine's mechanism of action is thought to involve dopaminergic, noradrenergic, and serotonergic effects.(2) Stimulation of norepinephrine (NE) release is its most potent effect, followed by NE reuptake inhibition, stimulation of dopamine (DA) release, DA reuptake inhibition, stimulation of serotonin (5-HT) release, and 5-HT reuptake inhibition (weak). (3) Because phentermine could in theory cause serotonin syndrome, (4) its use is contraindicated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and not recommended with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).(5) One case report describes an interaction between fluoxetine and phentermine that appears consistent with serotonin syndrome.(6) We are aware of no case reports of serotonin syndrome caused by phentermine alone. This article reports the case of Ms. G, who presented with probable serotonin syndrome associated with phentermine use and subsequently developed a rapidonset, superimposed neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). We hypothesize that phentermine use may increase NMS risk through adverse drug events and discuss potential pathophysiologic mechanisms and treatment implications. Serotonin syndrome vs NMS Serotonin syndrome is an infrequent and potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction that presumably results from excess serotonin activity (Box 1).(7-10) NMS also is an infrequent and potentially life-threatening neurologic emergency (Box 2, page 70). (11-18) Similarities between disorders of increased serotonergic activity and disorders of low dopaminergic activity (Table 1) suggest both may result from an imbalance between the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems, which have reciprocal relationships in the CNS.(19) Table 1 Signs and symptoms of NMS vs serotonin syndrome NMS Serotonin syndrome Onset Insidious, days to weeks Acute (minutes to hours) Resolution Slow, often > 1 week Improvement or resolution Often within 24 hours. Autonomic Fever, tachycardia, Diaphoresis, shivering, diaphoresis, elevated tachycardia, or labile blood hypertension, mydriasis pressure, sialorrhea, tachypnea, incontinence Gastrointestinal Dysphagia, elevated Diarrhea, nausea, Transaminases vomiting, elevated ammonia and transaminases Neuromuscular Rigidity, bradykinesia, Clonus, myoclonus, dysarthria, dyskinesias, hyperreflexia, coarse tremor, ataxia, ataxia, opisthotonos, oculogyric incoordination, crisis, rhabdomyolysis rigidity, tremor Psychiatric Altered mental status, Altered mental stupor, somnolence, status, agitation, mutism hypomania, hyperactivity, restlessness, somnolence (less common) Other Leukocytosis, elevated Leukocytosis creatine kinase (rarely > 20K (significant), elevated cells/m[m. …


Agarose gel electrophoresis of total DNA from Italian strains of weakly beta-haemolytic human intestinal spirochaetes (w beta HIS) and porcine Serpulina pilosicoli reference strain P43/6/78 showed an extrachromosomal band having the same size and migrating at 4.3 Kb. The same results were observed after agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA obtained from the supernatant fluids of the spirochaetal cultures analysed. Swine Serpulina hyodysenteriae reference strain P18A was comparatively analysed and a 6.5 Kb extrachromosomal DNA element was found, as expected. Furthermore, S. hyodysenteriae reference strain P18A differed from all the other spirochaetes tested and had a higher number of flagella (8-12) at each cell end and was strongly beta-haemolytic. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the detection of a band of extrachromosomal DNA having the same size in w beta HIS and S. pilosicoli from swine origin.