We present a new version of QUEST ― an open source framework for machine translation quality estimation ― which brings a number of improvements: (i) it provides a Web interface and functionalities such that non-expert users, e.g. translators or lay-users of machine translations, can get quality predictions (or internal features of the framework) for translations without having to install the toolkit, obtain resources or build prediction models; (ii) it significantly improves over the previous runtime performance by keeping resources (such as language models) in memory; (iii) it provides an option for users to submit the source text only and automatically obtain translations from Bing Translator; (iv) it provides a ranking of multiple translations submitted by users for each source text according to their estimated quality. We exemplify the use of this new version through some experiments with the framework.


This study examines whether the network characteristics represented on the Internet drive or reflect other events and occurrences in the offline environment. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the web visibility network of Korea's National Assembly members and the amount of financial donations they receive from the public. The results of the linear correlation analysis indicate a positive direction, suggesting that politicians who occupy a central position in the web visibility network are more likely to receive financial donations than those occupying a peripheral position. The quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) correlation results revealed a significant correlation between politicians' web visibility network and their political finance network. This study identifies the structural relationship between Korean politicians' online and offline networks.


This key comparison 'Ca in Serum' is a follow-up to the pilot study P14. The aim of the study is to demonstrate and document the capability of national metrology institutes to measure the Ca amount content in a serum sample. The comparison was an activity of the Inorganic Analysis Working Group of CCQM and was piloted by the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM, Geel, Belgium). The following laboratories participated in this key comparison (in alphabetical order): CENAM (Mexico) CSIR-NML (South Africa) IAEA (International Organization) IRMM (European Union) KRISS (South Korea) LGC (United Kingdom) NIST (United States of America) NMi -VSL (The Netherlands) PTB (Germany) The majority of participants applied isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) using thermal ionization MS (TIMS), sector field or quadrupole inductively coupled plasma MS (ICP-MS) as the analytical technique. IAEA reported a combined result of AAS and ICP-OES for the Ca amount content in the serum. The Key Comparison Reference Value (KCRV) was agreed upon during the IAWG meeting in October 2003 at EMPA/St-Gallen as the weighted mean of the reported participants' results. Accordingly the equivalence statements were calculated. CENAM (Mexico) CSIR-NML (South Africa) IAEA (International Organization) IRMM (European Union) KRISS (South Korea) LGC (United Kingdom) NIST (United States of America) NMi -VSL (The Netherlands) PTB (Germany) Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).


A generalized nonparaxial theoretical framework based on the scalar diffraction theory is developed to describe the propagation of an optical field through a linear optical system with quasi-monochromatic spatially incoherent illumination. Software implementation of this theoretical framework on single and multiple processor platforms was developed and simulated results of the imaging process through optical aberration-corrected optics are presented for both in-focus and out-of-focus imaging, validating the first-order nonparaxial model.


In today's society, safety from flooding is no longer the sole responsibility of the central government. In recent decades, we have witnessed a governance turn in flood risk management, in which private parties as well as regional and local governmental bodies have a role to play. As a result, the question of how to distribute the responsibilities among the actors involved has become urgent. We often want distribution to be efficient and effective as well as fair. This paper presents a preliminary review of the literature on responsibility in flood risk management. The results suggests that it is important that fairness is taken into account when distributing responsibility in flood risk management. Not only does the distribution of responsibility impact how the risks and burdens themselves are distributed, allocating responsibility to individual citizens without considering the perceived fairness of the responsibility ascription may have a negative influence on the legitimacy of flood risk arrangements and lead to resistance among individual citizens to take action.


RNA molecules and in particular the nuclear SSU RNA play an important role in molecular systematics. With the advent of increasingly parameterized substitution models in systematic research, the incorporation of secondary-structure information became a realistic option compensating interdependence of character variation. As a prerequisite, consensus structures of eukaryotic SSU RNA molecules have become available through extensive comparative analyses and crystallographic studies. Despite extensive research in hexapod phylogenetics, consensus SSU RNA secondary structures focusing on hexapods have not yet been explored. In this study, we compiled a representative hexapod SSU data set of 261 sequences and inferred a specific consensus SSU secondary-structure model. Our search for conserved structural motives relied on a combined approach of thermodynamic and covariation analyses. The hexapod consensus-structure model deviates from the canonical eukaryotic model in a number of helices. Additionally, in several helices the hexapod sequences did not support a single consensus structure. We provide consensus structures of these sections of single less-inclusive taxa, thus facilitating the adaptation of the consensus hexapod model to less-inclusive phylogenetic questions. The secondary-structure catalog will foster the application of RNA structure models in phylogenetic analyses using the SSU rRNA molecule, and it will improve the realism of substitution models and the reliability of reconstructions based on rRNA sequences.


A single zone combustion model based on a chemical kinetic solver has been combined with a one-dimension thermo/gas dynamic engine simulation code to study the operating characteristics of a V6 engine In which Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) operation (also referred to as 'Controlled Auto-ignition" CAI) is enabled by a cam profile switching (CPS) system with negative valve overlap. An operational window within which HCCI combustion is possible has been identified and the limit of HCCI operating region for varied valve lift possibilities is explored. The mechanisms and potential fuel economy improvements within the HCCI envelope are studied and modelled results compared against data from similar engines. It is shown that for the best fuel economy the valve timing strategy needs to be selected very carefully, despite the engine's capability to operate at a range of valve timing combinations. The heating effect of the exhaust gases is dominant when using less than approximately 55% residual gases. For higher EGR rates, the diluting effect coupled with reducing exhaust gas temperatures makes the ignition timing retarded. It is demonstrated that for HCCI operation the selection of valve lift for the CPS system is limited between the constraints of the breathing capacity with the lower valve lift and misfires with the higher one.


The objective of the study is to establish regularities of age changes in the structural organization of the cerebellar cortex in old age as compared to young age by using necropsy material. Craniometrical, organometric, histological, immunomorphological and morphometric studies of the cerebellar cortex in 219 human corpses (108 men and 111 women) aged from 18 to 44 years and from 75 to 90 years. Comparative analysis of the parameters of Purkinje's cells in these age groups revealed a decrease in the neurons' height and width. It was found that the distance between the bodies of the neurons of ganglionic layer increases with age, which is obviously due to the progressing disorganization and apoptotic death of Purkinje's cells. An increase in the number of astrocytes immunopositive to glial fibrillary acidic protein, S-100 protein and vimentin in the granular and molecular layers of the cerebellar cortex is observed, as well as a decrease in the number of Purkinje's cells immunopositive to neuron-specific enolase and immunonegative to S-100 protein and vimentin, which can be considered as a manifestation of neurodegeneration. Immunohistochemical techniques provide a more differentiated approach to the morphological assessment of the cerebellar cortex in old persons and make it possible to get more objective and complete information about the postnatal morphogenesis.


A three-dimensional finite element full analysis of thermomechanical behaviour of a solid skirt piston is presented in this article. The thermomechanical model describes the combined action of the thermal combustion loads, the mechanical load due to combustion pressure and the inertial load due to the important change of direction of the piston in the cylinder bore. The aim is to give a good tool for piston design and allows the piston to run under thermal and mechanical stress limit. The study is applied on a Diesel typical solid skirt piston of the direct injection V-8 air cooled engine. A 3-D finite element method allows to compute the operating temperature distribution in steady-state heat under durability test running engine. The calculated temperatures are introduced as nodal values in the 3-D thermomechanical finite element method. The model was used to calculate thermal expansion, thermomechanical deformation and operating stresses due to the simultaneous action of thermal and mechanical load. The results indicate that the combined effect of the pressure and inertial loads, are very weak in front of the effect of the thermal loads. The highest temperature for solid skirt pistons are localized in the piston head and the correspondent thermal stresses are under the acceptable levels. In the skirt, the obtained temperatures are under the limited value which causes the deterioration of the lubricating oil film. These results give the principals keys in the development of the piston design (clearance, fatigue and piston material). NOMENCLATURE E Young's modulus (N/m 2 ) Fi e Inertia load onto node i for the element e (N) h Thermal convection coefficient (W/m 2 .K) k Thermal conductivity coefficient (W/m.K) L Connecting rod length (m) mi e Lumped mass at node i for the element e (kg) n Normal unit vector Ni Nodal interpolation function PG Maximum pressure of combustion gases (Pa) r Crankcase radius (m) T Temperature (K) TG Average gases temperature (K) Tr Temperature of cooling (K) Th Oil temperature (K) Tp Temperature of inner surface (K) Ts Temperature of surroundings (K) u Displacement vector with components u, v, w (m) V e Volume of the finite element (m 3 ) x, y, z Rectangular frame of reference i j x Co-ordinates of the nodal point i j of the hexahedral element (m)  Thermal expansion coefficient (m/m.K)


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the clinical characteristics and therapeutics of elderly patients with breast carcinomas.

METHODS
A total of 312 patients ( ≥ 70 years old) admitted into Breast Center of Beijing Hospital from September 1997 to September 2011 were included for this retrospective study. Their clinical characteristics, treatment options and prognostic factors were analyzed.

RESULTS
They accounted for 14.6% (312/2137) of breast cancer patients treated during the same period. The predominant complaint was palpable mass (n = 250, 80.1%). 90.4% (n = 282) of them were complicated with other diseases. The major pathologic type was invasive ductal carcinoma of non-special type (n = 248, 79.5%). The positive rate of estrogen receptor (ER) and(or) progesterone receptor (PR) was 75.3% (n = 235), and 15.7% (n = 49) cases were Cerb-B2 (+ + +) . The 5, 10-year overall survival were 75.0% and 41.8% respectively. TNM stage, vascular thrombosis, operative regimen and adjuvant therapy were prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONS
Surgical operation and endocrine therapy are the first choice remedies for elderly patients. And the major prognostic factors are TNM stage, vascular thrombosis and treatment regimens.


In this paper I try to answer the question whether the gender wage gap in the Netherlands is declining. I posed this question because on several other indicators labour market differences between men and women in the Netherlands declined or disappeared altogether. First of all the labour market participation of women has increased and women on the labour market are no longer a small minority. Second, the difference in productive characteristics between men and women is disappearing. Third, both product and labour markets have become increasingly competitive, due to changes in regulation like anti-trust laws, which should have an effect on the gender wage gap. Contrary to these expectations I did not find a declining gender wage gap. The data in Dutch Institute for Labour Studies (OSA) labour supply panel show a steady gender gap of approximately nineteen per cent. At most twenty-five to thirty per cent of the gap can be explained by productivity differences. The largest part of the gender wage gap is due to 'price' differences. Both cross-section and panel analyses give the same answer.


Connecting each house to a broadband access network represents an unprecedented opportunity to offer added-value services and broadband Internet access to residential users and expand the customer base beyond the corporate environment. Home networks, however, may be the last barrier to end-to-end multimedia service provisioning. Although a large number of houses have PCs, modems or multimedia network-enabled appliances, the majority are not equipped to support their interconnection, and most consumers are unwilling or cannot afford large-scale home rewiring. This paper reviews the available home-networking technologies and provides a comparison of the competing broadband in-home technologies. The focus is on technologies that do not require rewiring the home, either reusing the existing wiring or using wireless technology. The paper also discusses the residential gateway (RG) initiative, which provides a single point of convergence between the in-home and the access networks.


A drug prescription is considered to be a medico-legal document that should be written clearly, accurately and completely. Prescriptions are required to contain certain core elements, although format may vary from country to country and among hospital settings. Prescribers are expected to adhere to prescribing guidelines and policies to minimize errors in drug use processes. The aim of this study was to assess prescribing errors in outpatient setting of a hospital and also determine interventions carried out by pharmacists concerning these errors. The study was conducted as a prospective study with data collected over eight (8) days at four outpatient pharmacies of a hospital. Five hundred and thirty-three (533) prescriptions were assessed and more than half of these prescriptions (378; 70.9%) were found to have incomplete information and did not meet the required principles as laid out in the hospital's prescribing policy. Twenty six (26) of these incomplete prescriptions required an intervention by the pharmacy staff. The study identified necessary areas which required improvement in ensuring good prescription writing. Additionally, the study highlighted possible areas of advancement in outpatient prescribing, such as the adoption of electronic prescribing. Keywords: Prescription, prescription errors, pharmacists, intervention, prescription policy


The authors present their experience in surgical treatment of children with supravalvular aortic stenosis (SAS). A retrospective analysis was carried out on 20 patients operated in the years 1980-1999. The group included 12 boys and 8 girls aged 0.9 to 14.5 years (mean 7.8 +/- 3.4 years). The diagnosis of Williams syndrome in 6 children (30%) was based on the typical face. The mean systolic pressure gradient across the SAS was 84.3 +/- 34.5 mmHg (range from 41 to 168 mmHg). Intraoperative studies allowed to determine that 16 (80%) children had the hourglass type, 2 (10%) tubular type and 2 (10%)--fibromuscular membrane type of stenosis. Sixteen (80%) children had anomalies of the aortic valve and/or coronary arteries, and in 13 (56%) children associated heart or great vessels anomalies were noted. All the patients were operated on using cardiopulmonary bypass and hypothermia. The associated anomalies were corrected simultaneously. There were no early and late deaths. Because of restenosis one child was reoperated. In the follow up the mean systolic pressure gradient between the left ventricle and ascending aorta revealed by echocardiography in 19 (95%) children to be 8 +/- 2 mmHg (range from 0 to 28 mmHg). Eighteen children are now in NYHA class I (New York Heart Association) and develop normally. Supravalvular aortic stenosis is a rare complex anomaly, which, because of life-threatening complications and low operative risk, should be fully repaired as soon as possible.


DOES hyaluronidase enhance transepidermal penetration? An answer to this question was sought through experiments with the tuberculin patch test. It was not the primary intention of these experiments to improve the patch test; hyaluronidase is too unstable to be stored in a medium of tuberculin which contains hygroscopic glycerin. However, the answer to the question was of theoretic interest and if positive could find other practical applications. METHOD Solutions of hyaluronidase were freshly prepared by injecting 0.5 cc. of isotonic sodium chloride solution into a vial containing 150 turbidity-reducing units of lyophilized hyaluronidase.1Of this solution 0.015 cc. was placed on one (marked "H") of the two tuberculin test squares of the tuberculin patch test.2The control square of the patch test was prepared with the same amount of hyaluronidase solution in order to rule out the possibility that hyaluronidase itself causes skin reactions. On the second tuberculin


Global climate change poses one of the most pressing environmental, economic, and social problems of the 21st Century. The United States of America bears a disproportionate burden for contributing to global climate change and has the capacity - if not the will - to be a world leader in combating climate change. Local, state and civil society efforts to transform climate change policy-making in America, however, have met with persistent resistance at the federal level, spurring a new era in American environmental policy. While the federal government was once the leader in environmental policy-making, it is now - at times - the laggard. Meanwhile, sub-federal actors find increasingly inspired ways to push for more progressive climate change policies. Much has been written about sub-federal efforts to adopt climate change policies, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. From adopting local policies, to employing common law and tort-based litigation, to using existing federal environmental laws, to invoking the jurisdiction of international institutions, civil society is utilizing every possible mechanism to overcome stagnation and resistance at the national level and thereby drive a progressive climate change policy agenda from the bottom up. This Article examines new and creative uses of local, national and international law to overcome federal resistance and to force legal transformations in climate change policy-making in America.


I use a unique micro price data to estimate the pass-through from commodity prices to retail prices in several countries. The paper presents and develops a simple methodology to estimate the pass-through from the prices of different commodities into various sectors across several countries. This is the first exercise of this type. As expected, countries respond differently to the different shocks; and sectors respond differently across countries and commodities. A third of all the explained variation is driven by sectoral characteristics, which is a dimension mostly disregarded by the literature.


The recent investigations on the effect of the pancreatic enzyme trypsin, administered intravenously, may prove the opening wedge to a new line of approach toward the management of inflammatory processes. It would seem worth while, therefore, to review the background for these developments, to indicate some of the applications and results of treatment, and to emphasize the complications that have been observed clinically. Trypsin is not a new drug. In the early 1900's, William Batzner made use of this enzyme in treating soft tissue tubercular abscesses, bone and joint tuberculosis, and tuberculous lymphadenitis. He would inject the solution locally and at the same time administer it intravenously. In an article published in 1911 he reported cases of bone tuberculosis that healed without operative intervention and with regeneration of the bone.1He also reviewed the products then available and the work done up to that time by other investigators. Most


A retrospective analysis was undertaken of 31 patients with classical or proven chronic rheumatoid arthritis (CRA) who had been on a regimen of basic medication (gold salts, D-penicillamine, chloroquine, azathioprine--alone or in combination). Disease activity was checked by clinical, biochemical, immunological and radiological criteria. The laboratory results could not be altered by the basal medication and there was no relationship with the clinical and radiological findings, except for immunological results. None the less, the clinical symptoms improved under basal medication, even though the functional index got worse. The degree of joint destruction at the beginning and end of the observation period was markedly higher for seropositive than sero-negative cases, without significant differences in the rate of progression of joint destruction. Thus, definite long-term remission was achieved regarding the inflammatory changes but not the progressing joint destruction.


Onychocola canadensis is a non-dermatophyte fungus that has been reported to cause onychomycosis in elderly patients. Cutaneous infection is extremely rare. Because of its slow growth and rarity, its identification is difficult, potentially giving rise to falsely negative mycologic cultures. A 65-year-old male patient presents with an exsudative circular erythematous lesion, with 3cm, on the lateral border of his right hand. The lesion was evolving for one week, with later appearance of 2 similar lesions on the 4th finger and ipsilateral forearm. A biopsy was performed and material was sent to culture. The mycologic examination revealed the growth of Onychocola canadensis. The patient was treated with oral itraconazol for 2 months, with complete resolution.


Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem. Latent TB infection (LTBI) is a major source of active TB. New vaccines to treat LTBI are urgently demanded. In this study, the gene encoding latency-associated antigen Rv3407 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) rv3407 DNA vaccine was used to prepare and the immunogenicity and therapeutic effects were evaluated. Normal mice were immunized intramuscularly three times at two-week intervals with sterile water for injection, plasmid vector pVAX1, M. vaccae vaccine, ag85a DNA or rv3407 DNA. TB-infected mice were immunized intramuscularly three times at two-week intervals with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and rv3407 DNA. The normal mice immunized with rv3407 DNA or ag85a DNA showed higher levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in stimulated spleen lymphocyte culture supernatants, and had more Th1 cells and an elevated ratio of Th1/Th2 immune cells in whole blood, indicating that a Th1-type immune response was predominant. The levels of anti-Ag85A or anti-Rv3407 IgG antibody were significantly increased in the ag85a DNA and rv3407 DNA groups compared to the sterile water for injection, vector, and M. vaccae groups (p < .0001). Compared with the PBS group, the rv3407 DNA group had pulmonary bacterial loads that were lower by 0.56 log10 (p < .01). The mice vaccinated with rv3407 DNA developed antigen-specific cellular and humoral responses. The rv3407 DNA is a potential DNA vaccine candidate against TB.


Embolization of very vascular intracranial meningiomas prior to operation will reduce the loss of blood during the operation. The indications and the technique of preoperative embolization are discussed and 20 cases are presented.


A solution for the load balancing problem in local clusters of heterogeneous processors is proposed within the setting of delayed artificial neural networks, optimal control and linear matrix inequalities (LMI) theory. Based on a mathematical model that includes delays and processors with different processing velocities, this model is transformed into a special case of delayed cellular neural networks model. A systematic method of controller synthesis is derived, based on two coupled linear matrix inequalities - one guaranteeing global convergence and the other guaranteeing performance in the linear region of operation. Simulations and computational experiments show the efficiency of this approach, reducing load balancing time.


The low replication rate of published studies has long concerned the social science community, making understanding the replicability a critical problem. Several studies have shown that relevant research communities can make predictions about the replicability of individual studies with above-chance accuracy. Follow-up work further indicates that laypeople can also achieve above-chance accuracy in predicting replicability when experts interpret the studies into short descriptions that are more accessible for laypeople. The involvement of scarce expert resources may make these methods expensive from financial and time perspectives. In this work, we explored whether laypeople can predict the replicability of social science studies without expert intervention. We presented laypeople with raw materials truncated from published social science papers and elicited their answers to questions related to the paper. Our results suggested that laypeople were engaged in this technical task, providing reasonable and self-contained answers. The majority of them also demonstrated a good understanding of the material. However, the solicited information had limited predictive power on the actual replication outcomes. We further discuss several lessons we learned compared to the approach with expert intervention to inspire future works.


OBJECTIVE
Concerns regarding pollution of the operating room by volatile anesthetics and effects on atmospheric ozone depletion exist. Volatile agents commonly are used during cardiopulmonary bypass to provide anesthesia independent of any supposed myocardial protective effects. The authors' aim was to create and to assess the performance of a prototype filter for volatile agents to be connected to the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit to avoid the emission of volatile agents to the operating room, and also to the environment without causing damage to the membrane oxygenator.

DESIGN
Observational trial.

SETTING
University hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
Prototype filter for volatile agents.

INTERVENTIONS
The prototype filter was tested in a single ex vivo experiment. The main data measured during the test were pressure drop to detect interference with the performance of the oxygenator, back pressure to detect overpressure to the outlet gas jacket of the oxygenator, analysis of exhaled sevoflurane after the membrane oxygenator, and after the filter to detect any presence of sevoflurane.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
The prototype filter adsorbed the sevoflurane eliminated through the outlet portion of the oxygenator. During the entire test, the back pressure remained constant (4 mmHg) and pressure drop varied from 243 mmHg to 247 mmHg.

CONCLUSION
The prototype filter was considered suitable to absorb the sevoflurane, and it did not cause an overpressure to the membrane oxygenator during the test.


Based on the unsteady Reynolds equation with Reynolds boundary, two-dimensional (2D) Reynolds equation is transformed into one-dimensional (1D) by taking the assumption of parabolic pressure distribution in axial direction in oil film field. Finite difference method was employed to solve 1D Reynolds equation, and the approximate pressure distribution was obtained in oil film field. Dynamic behaviors of a flexible rotor system with fixed-tilting pad journal bearings support were analyzed while the inertia of the pads was taken into consideration in the model. Imbalance responses of a symmetrical rotor-combination journal bearings (fixed-tilting pad journal bearings) system were investigated using Poincaré map and self-adaptive Runge-Kutta method. Numerical results reveal rich and complex nonlinear phenomena, such as periodic, quasi-periodic motion, etc.


SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic betacoronavirus associated with worldwide transmission of COVID-19 disease. By the beginning of March, WHO reported about 113,820,000 confirmed cases including more than 2,527,000 deaths all over the world. However, the true extent of virus circulation or its real infection/fatality ratio is not well-estimated due to the huge portion of asymptomatic infections. In this observational study, we have estimated the prevalence of specific immunoglobulin M and G directed towards SARS-CoV-2 antigen in a cohort of 1383 adult volunteers aged over 65 years old, living in the district of Benevento, in the South of Italy. Serological screening was carried out on capillary blood in September 2020, seven months after pandemic outbreak in Italy, to evaluate virus circulation and antibody response among elderly adults, in which severe symptoms due to viral infection are more common. The overall seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 4.70% (CI 3.70%–5.95%) with no statistically significant differences between sexes. Among these, 69.69% (CI 55.61%–77.80%) tested positive to IgM, 23.08% (CI 14.51%–34.64%) to IgG and 9.23% (CI 4.30%–18.71%) was positive for both. All patients that were positive to IgM underwent molecular testing through RT-qPCR on oral-rhino pharyngeal swabs and only one specimen was positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. Instead, the presence of IgG from screened volunteers was confirmed by re-testing serum samples using both an ELISA assay validated for in vitro diagnostic use (IVD) and a recently published synthetic peptide-based ELISA assay. In conclusion, our report suggests that (1) early restrictions were successful in limiting COVID-19 diffusion in the district of Benevento; (2) rapid serological analysis is an ideal testing for both determining real seroprevalence and massive screening, whereas detection of viral RNA remains a gold standard for identification of infected patients; (3) even among people without COVID-19 related symptoms, the antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 antigens has individual features.


T his project presents some new problems facing the study process in the distant learning system (DLS), and also tries answering the central question: "Why do we need personalized e-learning curricula?". Web application was developed in order to detect changes in learning styles and measure the level of satisfaction of the students with the presented e-curriculum for C++ programming language. This research would contribute to creating those type of learning objects which will be preferred for each student with different learning style. Also, the data collected from the students can help educators in choosing type of learning activities or in the design of those activities which can suit all types of learner.


Numerous changes have recently taken place in the domain of higher education. Most of these changes have led to intense debate between forces pushing them and those resisting them. In Pakistan too, there is currently a passionate and ongoing discussion between the Higher Education Commission, which is the main instrument for these reforms, and several academics who are challenging its agenda. In this paper we argue that these changes are best understood in a global perspective, especially in relation to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which aims to end all public subsidies for education. Through various reforms, the educational sector of Pakistan and many other countries is coming to be more closely integrated with a global market in education. Here we explain how and why this is happening, as well as what its consequences are.


In this letter, we analyze the performance of two improved belief propagation (BP) based decoding algorithms for LDPC codes, namely the normalized BP-based and the offset BP-based algorithms, by means of density evolution. The numerical calculations show that with one properly chosen parameter for each of these two improved BP-based algorithms, performances very close to that of the BP algorithm can be achieved. Simulation results for LDPC codes with code length moderately long validate the proposed optimization.


Abstract This paper uses evidence gathered in two perception studies of Australasian and British accounting academics to reflect on aspects of the knowledge production system within accounting academe. We provide evidence of the representation of multiple paradigms in many journals that are scored by participants as being of high quality. Indeed most of the journals we surveyed are perceived by accounting academics as incorporating research from more than one paradigm. It is argued that this 'catholic' approach by journal editors and the willingness of many respondents in our surveys to score journals highly on material they publish from both paradigm categories reflects a balanced acceptance of the multi-paradigmatic state of accounting research. Our analysis is set within an understanding of systems of accounting knowledge production as socially constructed and as playing an important role in the distribution of power and reward in the academy. We explore the impact of our results on concerns emerging from the work of a number of authors who carefully expose localised 'elites'. The possibilities for a closer relationship between research emerging from a multi-paradigm discipline and policy setting and practice are also discussed. The analysis provides a sense of optimism that the broad constituency of accounting academics operates within an environment conducive for the exchange of ideas. That optimism is dampened by concerns about the impact of local 'elites' and the need for more research on their impact on accounting academe.


Targeted antiviral chemotherapy has greatly reduced the incidence of CMV disease post-HSCT, but adverse side effects still make CMV seropositivity a negative prognostic factor for survival. Immune protection from CMV disease depends on the adaptive immune response, and various strategies for adoptive cellular therapy for CMV have been evaluated in clinical trials to reduce the dependency on antiviral drugs. Characterizing the development of post-transplantation CMV-specific T cell responses may help identify minimum requirements for successful immunologic control of CMV reactivation. We investigated CMV-specific T cell immune reconstitution in 15 patients who all received ACT for CMV 4 weeks post-HSCT. The CMV seropositive donor-derived ACT product consisted of 1x10 5 CD4+ and CD8+ T cells/kg, generated through 2-week in vitro co-culture with CMV antigen-pulsed autologous dendritic cells. No graft versus host disease >grade II occurred in the study group. CMV-specific T cells were characterized at various time points before, during, and after CMV reactivation events by IFN-γ secretion assay, and/or by phenotyping with HLA CMV pp65 and/or IE-1 peptide pentamers. Three patients who remained CMV PCR negative throughout had no detectable levels of CMV-specific T cells, whereas high levels of CMV-specific T cells developed in the other 12 patients who all experienced episodes of viral reactivation. 11/12 of the patients with CMV reactivation had pre-emptive antiviral chemotherapy, 1/12 controlled CMV reactivation unaided. 3/12 patients experienced a second episode of viral reactivation, which they controlled unaided. At the time of first CMV DNA detection, 1 week before the start of pre-emptive chemotherapy, pentamer+ cells were already detectable in 3/5 patients tested, with absolute numbers ranging from 1150-4900/ml blood. Only after a further 1 to 4 more weeks did T cells secreting IFN-γ in response to in vitro restimulation with CMV peptides first appear in 5 patients tested. By the time viral DNA had become undetectable post-antiviral chemotherapy or post-immunological control of viral replication, pentamer+ cells were present in 8/8 patients, with absolute numbers of pentamer+ T cells >10000/ml in 7/8 patients, a level often quoted as 'protective' (median: 37530 cells/ml, range: 3200–139300/ml). CMV-specific CD8 T cells were maintained at high levels long after resolution of CMV viraemia (median: 24200/ml, range: 5100–75900). Absolute numbers of IFN-γ + T cells also reached high levels shortly before to just after the end of a CMV reactivation episode in 5/5 patients tested (CD8+IFN-γ + median: 48490/ml, range: 2150–138290), but subsequently temporarily dropped again to undetectable levels in some patients. Four patients had CMV reactivation episodes that were immunologically controlled unaided. Just prior these four reactivation events there was a total lack of CD8+ T cells functionally responsive to CMV. This was in spite of the presence CMV-specific CD8+ cells by phenotype in 3/3 patients tested, at >10000/ml in one patient. 0% of these pentamer+ cells secreted IFN-γ in response to CMV peptide in vitro . Soon after, by the time of the first CMV PCR+ result CD8+ IFN-γ + T cells were already detected in all patients tested (median: 2180 cells/ml, range: 550–48480, n=3), with up to 64% of pent+ cells secreting IFN-γ. Pent+ cells were above the 10000 threshold in 2/3 patients tested at this time point. These data show that characterizing T cells by phenotype alone does not permit conclusions about their functionality, because some patients experienced CMV reactivation events in the presence of high levels of pentamer+ cells. Viral reactivation episodes however appeared to be associated with a prior lack of CMV-specific CD8+ cells capable of IFN-γ secretion. Immunological control of reactivation, on the other hand, may be associated with the ability to make rapid CMV-induced IFN-γ responses, because only patients with self-resolving CMV infection developed CD8+IFN-γ + responses immediately at the onset of viraemia. However it is not possible to know how many of the patients who received antiviral chemotherapy would have been able to control the infection unaided.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between factors unrelated to the disease process, the duration of symptoms and the degree of cognitive or functional impairment in elderly patients presenting with dementia.

METHOD
The living situation, educational level, age, gender and diagnosis based on standardized criteria were recorded for 209 elderly patients presenting to a memory clinic with dementia. Cognitive and functional deficits were measured with the cognitive section of the Cambridge Mental Disorders of the Elderly Examination combined with the Mini-Mental State Examination and the abbreviated version of the Blessed dementia scale, respectively.

RESULTS
129 patients had a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease, 19 had probable ischaemic vascular dementia and 61 had mixed dementia. There was no effect of diagnosis on duration of symptoms or dementia severity at the time of presentation. Patients living with a son or daughter were more functionally impaired than those living alone or with a spouse. Males had higher cognitive scores but did not have milder functional deficits. Patients with only a primary-school education had a trend towards lower cognitive scores at presentation but did not have more functional deficits.

CONCLUSIONS
The gender of the patient and the relationship to the carer are associated with cognitive and functional scores at the time of presentation in patients with dementia.


Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumor with dismal prognosis. Recently, molecular subtypes of SCLC have been defined by the expression status of ASCL1, NEUROD1, YAP1, and POU2F3 transcription regulators. ASCL1 is essential for neuroendocrine differentiation and is expressed in the majority of SCLC. Although previous studies investigated ASCL1 target genes in SCLC cells, ASCL1‐mediated regulation of miRNAs and its relationship to molecular subtypes remain poorly explored. Here, we performed genome‐wide profiling of chromatin modifications (H3K27me3, H3K4me3, and H3K27ac) by CUT&Tag assay and ASCL1 knockdown followed by RNA sequencing and miRNA array analyses in SCLC cells. ASCL1 could preferentially regulate genes associated with super‐enhancers (SEs) defined by enrichment of H3K27ac marking. Moreover, ASCL1 positively regulated several SE‐associated miRNAs, such as miR‐7, miR‐375, miR‐200b‐3p, and miR‐429, leading to repression of their targets, whereas ASCL1 suppressed miR‐455‐3p, an abundant miRNA in other molecular subtypes. We further elucidated unique patterns of SE‐associated miRNAs in different SCLC molecular subtypes, highlighting subtype‐specific miRNA networks with functional relevance. Notably, we found apparent de‐repression of common target genes of different miRNAs following ASCL1 knockdown, suggesting combinatorial action of multiple miRNAs underlying molecular heterogeneity of SCLC (e.g., co‐targeting of YAP1 by miR‐9 and miR‐375). Our comprehensive analyses provide novel insights into SCLC pathogenesis and a clue to understanding subtype‐dependent phenotypic differences.


The arrangement of machines or departments along a straight line is known as single row layout and it is a widely employed configuration in flexible manufacturing systems. In this paper, a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) is proposed to solve the single row layout design problem with unequal sized machines and unequal clearances. The algorithm is developed by hybridisation of a genetic algorithm with a local search operator. The proposed HGA is tested on 51 well known data sets from the literature with equal and unequal clearances, and the results are compared with the best known solutions. Finally, algorithm's effectiveness in reaching previously known best solutions is revealed and improvements up to 7% in problems with unequal clearance are obtained.


COVID-19 is a sudden, infectious disease that can be life-threatening and may cause people to feel panic and anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and psychological status of a specific population using an internet consultation platform during the outbreak of COVID-19. The questionnaire survey included questions regarding basic information (e.g. area, sex, age, occupation, and education level), clinical characteristics, and cognitive and psychological status concerning COVID-19 from January 31, 2020 to March 31, 2020. There were 277 patients (43.49%) with three or more symptoms, 121 (12.11%) with a clinical questionnaire score ≥8, and 6.81% who lived in Hubei in the previous 14 days. Of the respondents, 4.9% had contact fever or were confirmed to have COVID-19 in the previous 14 days. The respondents were mostly aware that COVID-19 can be transmitted from person to person and via the respiratory tract, but awareness of general susceptibility and specific symptoms of COVID-19 was low. Multivariate analysis showed that urban residents, clerk/students and higher education groups were well aware of COVID-19. Regarding mental health, the anxiety score of the respondents was 7.12 ± 2.32, and the proportion of anxiety was 54.15%. Younger women were more likely to have anxiety when they experienced positive symptoms. Individuals with a Hubei residence history and those who had contact with an individual with a fever or were confirmed patients in the previous 14 days were more likely to have moderate or severe anxiety. The COVID-19-related knowledge of the respondents was generally good but still could have been improved. Their psychological status was also affected by the pandemic. The internet consultation platform played a positive role in spreading pandemic-related information, providing medical help and psychological counseling, and strengthening early warning to the potential high-risk population.


We investigate the innuence of step edge diiusion (SED) and des-orption on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) using kinetic Monte{Carlo simulations of the solid{on{solid model. Based on these investigations we propose two strategies to optimize MBE growth. The strategies are applicable in diierent growth regimes: During layer{by{layer growth one can exploit the presence of desorption in order to achieve smooth surfaces. By additional short high ux pulses of particles one can increase the growth rate and assist layer{by{layer growth. If, however, mounds are formed (non{layer{by{layer growth) the SED can be used to control size and shape of the three-dimensional structures. By controlled reduction of the ux with time we achieve a fast coarsening together with smooth step edges.


A typical characteristic of columns in Doric temples is entasis; a slight convexity in the body of a column. Often, and particularly in guide-books, it is suggested that entasis is intended to compensate for an illusion of concavity in columns with truly straight sides. We have investigated whether any such visual illusion exists, both in parallel sided and in tapering columns in a series of experiments, finding little evidence to support any illusion-compensation theory. Further, we explored the possibility that entasis was employed for purely aesthetic reasons, but the results do not support this conclusion. Finally, evidence supporting an engineering role for entasis is presented.


The atomic numbers and the masses of fragments formed in quasifission reactions are simultaneously measured at scission in ^{48}Ti+^{238}U reactions at a laboratory energy of 286 MeV. The atomic numbers are determined from measured characteristic fluorescence x rays, whereas the masses are obtained from the emission angles and times of flight of the two emerging fragments. For the first time, thanks to this full identification of the quasifission fragments on a broad angular range, the important role of the proton shell closure at Z=82 is evidenced by the associated maximum production yield, a maximum predicted by time-dependent Hartree-Fock calculations. This new experimental approach gives now access to precise studies of the time dependence of the N/Z (neutron over proton ratios of the fragments) evolution in quasifission reactions.


We have simulated the CO2 seasonal cycle of the Martian atmosphere and surface with a hybrid energy balance model that incorporates dynamical and radiation information from a large number of general circulation model (GCM) runs. This information includes heating due to atmospheric heat advection, the seasonally varying ratio of the surface pressure at the two Viking landing sites to the globally averaged pressure (rk), the rate of CO2 condensation in the atmosphere, and solar heating of the atmosphere and surface. The GCM runs collectively covered a full set of seasonal dates and a large range of dust optical depths. We have compared the predictions of the energy balance model with the seasonal pressure variations measured at the two Viking landing (VL)sites and the springtime retreat of the seasonal polar cap boundaries. Numerical experiments with the energy balance model indicate that the following quantities have a strong influence on the VL seasonal pressures: albedo Ais of the seasonal CO2 ice deposits, emissivity eis of this deposit, atmospheric heat advection, and the pressure ratio rk. This last factor does not enter into the seasonal CO2 condensation/sublimation cycle in a significant way. The numerical experiments also indicate that the following factors have only a minor effect on the VL pressures: (1) the net radiative effects (solar plus thermal) of atmospheric dust at the latitudes of the polar caps, and (2) the subsurface heat conduction. The significant influence of the pressure ratio rk on the VL seasonal pressures is due to large seasonal variations in the global distribution of surface pressure. At low and mid-latitudes, these "weather" variations are engendered by seasonal changes in the Hadley circulation and by seasonal changes in the atmospheric scale height close to the surface. Comparison of the VL1 and VL2 pressures with one another provide direct evidence for the presence of such a "weather component" in the measured pressures. The differential weather component (VL2-VL1) derived from the data is reproduced approximately by the energy balance model. We find that the seasonal weather variations account for about 20% and 30% of the seasonal pressure variations measured at VL1 and VL2, respectively, that dynamical and scale height variations make comparable contributions to the weather component during years without global dust storms, and that the dynamical contribution is the larger one during years with global dust storms. Interannual variations in the weather component, rather than variations in CO2 condensation rates, are the dominant sources of the observed interannual variations of pressure during the season of global dust storms. Optimum fits to the Viking pressure measurements and the data on the polar cap boundaries are achieved with values of about 0.45 and 0.75 for Ais and eis, respectively. The former value is consistent with available photometric determinations of the albedo of the seasonal caps, while the latter value, especially in light of infrared thermal mapper brightness temperatures at high latitudes, may reflect, in part, the influence of the polar hood on the radiation balance of the winter polar regions.


Abstract:This interview is a conversation with Henry Bell, a poet and editor, and Sarah Irving, a writer, translator, and academic specialising in Palestine; together they are the joint editors of the acclaimed A Bird is Not a Stone (Freight Books, 2014), a collection of Palestinian poetry in Scottish translation. The editors explain the history of the collection and the collaborative bridge translation process that allowed for the poems to move from different registers of Arabic, the source language, to various target languages of Scotland: Scots, Gaelic, Shetlandic, and English. The discussion focuses on the role of poetry in Palestine, especially during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and its implications in the larger context of a world literary system. Finally, the interview considers representations of Islam and the figure of the Muslim in relation to contemporary Scotland, Britain, and Palestine, and the implications of the collection for the future.


This paper investigates predictors of life satisfaction and quality of life among severely disabled elderly adults. Markides and Martin's (1979) path analysis model was adapted specifically to elderly persons with severe disabilities. The study group comprised 97 patients discharged from three medical rehabilitation facilities in metropolitan Boston during 1984. The adapted model explained about 40% of the variance in quality of life among both men and women, with functional capacity being the most important predictor.


INCIDENCE OF REMOVABLE PARTIAL DENTURE TYPES IN EASTERN WISCONSIN Deo K Pun, DMD, MS Marquette University, 2010 Aim: This study was designed to investigate patterns of tooth loss in patients receiving removable partial dentures. Materials and Method: A point and shoot digital camera was used to collect 1502 digital images of cases at 5 dental laboratories in the eastern portion of the state of Wisconsin. Any case presenting to one the dental laboratories requesting a RPD was included. Two photographs were taken of each case. The first photograph was taken immediately upon arrival to the lab while the second photograph was taken immediately prior its first departure. A calibrated investigator analyzed all the photographs for Kennedy classification, type of RPD, major connectors, and other details Results: Kennedy class I was the most commonly constructed RPDs at a frequency of 41%. In the maxilla, class III RPDs were the most frequently fabricated while class I remained the most common RPD in the mandible. 73% of the RPDs used metal frameworks, while the remaining 27% of RPDs used acrylic or flexible frameworks. The horseshoe major connector was the most common maxillary major connector while in the mandible it was the lingual plate. Conclusions: Kennedy class I RPDs are still the most common mandibular RPD. However, the class III RPD is the most common maxillary RPD. 27% of all RPDs in this region utilized simple non-metallic frameworks which rarely met established design criteria. These numbers indicate a varying quality level of prosthodontic procedures provided in this region.


Spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) recently received significant attentions for its promising characteristics in cache and memory applications. As an early-stage modeling tool, NVSim has been widely adopted for simulations of emerging nonvolatile memory technologies in computer architecture research, including STT-RAM, ReRAM, PCM, etc. In this work, we introduce a new member of NVSim family - NVSim-VXs, which enables statistical simulation of STT-RAM for write performance, errors, and energy consumption. This enhanced model takes into account the impacts of parametric variabilities of CMOS and MTJ devices and the chip operating temperature. It is also calibrated with Monte-Carlo Simulations based on macro-magnetic and SPICE models, covering five technology nodes between 22nm and 90nm. NVSim-VXs strongly supports the fast-growing needs of STT-RAM research on reliability analysis and enhancement, announcing the next important stage of NVSim development.


A.M. Ostrowski in 1951 gave two well-known upper bounds for the spectral radius of nonnegative matrices. However, the bounds are not of much practical use because they all involve a parameter α in the interval [0, 1], and it is not easy to decide the optimum value of α. In this paper, their equivalent forms which can be computed with the entries of matrix and without having to minimize the expressions of the bounds over all possible values of α ∈ [0, 1], are given.


The present invention features a non-human animal model that is susceptible to infection by human hepatotrophic pathogens, particularly human hepatitis C virus (HCV). The model is based on a non-human, immunocompromised transgenic animal having a human-mouse chimeric liver, where the transgene provides for expression of a urokinase-type plasminogen activator in the liver. The invention also features methods for identifying candidate therapeutic agents, e.g., agents having antiviral activity against HCV infection. The animals of the invention are also useful in assessing toxicity of various agents, as well as the activity of agents in decreasing blood lipids.


An integration of distributionally robust risk allocation into sampling-based motion planning algorithms for robots operating in uncertain environments is proposed. We perform non-uniform risk allocation by decomposing the distributionally robust joint risk constraints defined over the entire planning horizon into individual risk constraints given the total risk budget. Specifically, the deterministic tightening defined using the individual risk constraints is leveraged to define our proposed exact risk allocation procedure. Embedding the risk allocation technique into sampling-based motion planning algorithms realises guaranteed conservative, yet increasingly more risk-feasible trajectories for efficient state-space exploration.


Optimal left ventricular assist device (LVAD) functioning and preservation of right ventricular (RV) function are major survival determinants in destination therapy (DT)-LVAD recipients. Currently, the indication for routine pump speed optimization in stable patients and its effect on RV function at follow-up remain underexplored. Hemodynamically stable patients (N = 17, age 61 [interquartile range {IQR} 51–66] years; 13 [77%] male) underwent a routine speed ramp test. Echocardiographic images were obtained at incremental speed settings to determine optimal pump speed. In 8 patients (47%), LVAD speed could be optimized. In these patients, RV fractional area change (26% [IQR 23–31] to 35% [IQR 27–45], p = 0.04) and RV longitudinal peak systolic strain (−13% [IQR −16 to −9] to −17% [IQR −18 to −11], p = 0.02) at 3 months follow-up improved without RV dilatation. Furthermore, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide level decreased (3,162 [IQR 1,336–4,487] ng/L to 2,294 [IQR 1,157–3,810] ng/L, p = 0.02). No significant follow-up changes were found in patients without indication for speed adjustment. In conclusion, routine evaluation of optimal LVAD speed reveals the potential of speed optimization in a substantial proportion of stable LVAD-DT patients and can improve RV function.


In this paper we describe some experiments related to a corpus derived from an authoritative historical Italian dictionary, namely the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana ('Great Dictionary of Italian Language', in short GDLI). Thanks to the digitization and structuring of this dictionary, we have been able to set up the first nucleus of a diachronic annotated corpus that selects—according to specific criteria, and distinguishing between prose and poetry—some of the quotations that within the entries illustrate the different definitions and sub-definitions. In fact, the GDLI presents a huge collection of quotations covering the entire history of the Italian language and thus ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. The corpus was enriched with linguistic annotation and used to train and evaluate NLP models for POS tagging and lemmatization, with promising results.


Diversity of the T cell receptor is mainly developed through V(D)J rearrangement and N addition during TCR development. The product of V(D)J rearrangement is the CDRβ3, a region of high variability that recognizes antigen and includes all of the D gene. The Dβ sequence is highly conserved across various species, from trout to mouse to humans. This suggests that there are some natural constraints on the TCR; these constraints are thought to limit deleterious T cells from reaching the periphery. We hypothesize that altering the D region will have an effect on the development of thymocytes. To do this we have created Dβ altered mice. These mutants are a Dβ2 KO (Dβ1); a replacement of the Dβ locus with a charged Dβ (DβDKRQ); and a replacement of the Dβ locus with a hydrophobic DH (DβYTL). When compared to WT mice, the mutant Dβ mice have an altered T cell repertoire in both CDRβ3 amino acid composition and length and these differences can be attributed to the changes in the germline sequence. Changing the Dβ also changes the total T cell number in both developing and mature T cells, with an altered Dβ being selected against. However, Treg numbers from the DβDKRQ mice are increased in the mucosa, suggesting a link between charge, self-reactivity and nTreg induction. Ongoing experiments will elucidate the role of the Dβ sequence on the development of T cells and the role it plays in infection and inflammation.


Background Determining cancer incidence and mortality is a key factor in the implementation of health policies and cancer prevention strategies. This report aims to describe the trends of cancer incidence in a single referral oncology department from the Marrakech region (Morocco). Material and Methods. All new cancer cases of age ≥ 15 years registered at the Medical Oncology department of Mohammed VI University Hospital of Marrakesh between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019, were included. Central nervous system (CNS) cancers, tumors of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues, and thyroid cancers for which chemotherapy was not indicated or was managed in other cancer-specialized departments were excluded from the analysis. Manual data collection from printed archived medical records of the study population was performed. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using R software and Joinpoint Regression Program. Results A total of 15648 new cancer cases were analyzed. Missing data (n = 1822) accounted for 11.64%, and 4.1% (n = 652) were excluded. The final statistical analysis and registration included 13174 cases. The median age at diagnosis is 54 years for females and 61 years for males. Female patients outnumbered males with a ratio of 1.58 among all age groups except those aged ≥75 y. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) for all sites was 68,0 per 100.000 person-years, which has increased with an annual percent change (APC) of 10.61%. The five most common malignancies among males are lung, stomach, prostate, colic, and rectal cancers. Among females, the five most frequent cancers are breast, cervix, ovary, colon, and stomach. Conclusion The higher incidence observed in our results translates into a growing burden on the center and is expected to impact our ability to deliver cancer care. Epidemiological studies to identify risk factors and effective efforts are needed to further invest in cancer control and prevention plans.


The authors prove that the number of types of toric Fano varieties with certain constraints on the singularities is finite.


In this position paper—one of six care practice papers published by Lamaze International and reprinted here with permission—the benefit of allowing labor to begin on its own is discussed and presented as an evidence-based practice that helps promote, protect, and support normal birth. The paper is written for childbearing women and their families. The accompanying commentary—written by a leading home-birth midwife and prominent national and international speaker on maternity care—describes further evidence of the disadvantages of inducing labor. The indications for and risks of induction are also explored. Lamaze International recommends that, unless there is a medical indication for induction, labor should be allowed to begin on its own.


The article considers the position and meaning of insurance in the social-economic system of Russia. Insurance is associated primarily with protection of the property interests under risky events. There is a large classification of risks, which is closely related to the insurance institution, and the authors analyze some types of risks providing relevant contemporary examples. Insurance is a means of the risk management system; however, the current economic, political, and social situation has a direct impact on the insurance system. Thus, in periods of instability, insurance companies have to adapt to the economic situation and financial possibilities of people to purchase insurance products. Insurance as a type of activity performs two groups of functions - economic and social. The main task of insurance is to implement effective measures of insurance protection from risky events. The article also considers activities of insurers in Russia from 2012 to 2018: the number of insurance companies, the authorized capital, the peak volume of foreign deposits, insurance payments, reinsurance operations, etc. The authors present two types of insurance - voluntary and compulsory - and consider the features of each type. The data of sociological surveys allows to analyze these features and to identify the role of voluntary and compulsory insurance in the social-economic system (tasks, functions, and so on).


Quantitative practical work on wave motion commonly falls within the general subject areas of sound, 3 cm em radiation and light. In the past none of these areas has given rise to any practical work on the Doppler effect, apart from simple qualitative demonstrations with sound waves. A direct approach to a quantitative experiment is afforded by considering various ways of demonstrating a plane standing wave.


Salmon was a nuclear explosion in the Tatum salt dome, near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, that took, place on October 22, 1964. Computational attempts to simulate the experimental results had been largely unsuccessful. This paper reports that recent calculations suggest that the reason is that the salt yield strength is extremely sensitive to strain hardening. The hardening effect had not been observed in laboratory-scale measurements, which were not made at small enough strain levels and may not have been representative of in-situ pore-fluid pressure.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of font size, interline spacing, and a technology called ReadingMate on the letter-counting task performance of users running on a treadmill.

BACKGROUND
Few researchers have investigated how runners read text while running on a treadmill. Our previous studies showed that ReadingMate had positive effects on the reading-while-running experience; however, the effect of other text conditions (i.e., font size and interline spacing) and the interplay between ReadingMate and such text conditions on the letter-counting task performance are not clearly understood.

METHOD
Fifteen participants were recruited for the experiment. There were three main factors: display types (normal and ReadingMate), font sizes (8, 12, 16, and 20 point), and interline spacing (1.0x, 1.5x, 2.0x, and 2.5x). The researchers employed a letter-counting task. The performance was measured regarding task performance time, success rate of counting the target letter f and number of give-ups.

RESULTS
Overall, the letter-counting task performance while running on a treadmill improved as font size and interline spacing increased, as expected. ReadingMate was more effective than normal display particularly when text was displayed in a small font size and with dense interline spacing.

CONCLUSION
When text must be displayed in a small font size and with dense interline spacing, ReadingMate can be used to improve the users' task performance.

APPLICATION
Practical applications of ReadingMate include improving the text-reading experience in shaky environments, such as in aviation, construction, and transportation.


The DSTATCOM is a fast response, inverter-based power controller that provides flexible voltage control at the point of connection for improving the power quality in distribution systems. It can also provide instantaneous power factor correction to improve line utilization and minimize energy losses. The DSTATCOM is an alternating, synchronous voltage source connected in shunt (parallel) to the distribution three-phase feeder circuit via a coupling transformer. It can exchange reactive power with the distribution system by varying the amplitude and phase angle of an internal voltage source with respect to the line terminal voltage, resulting in controlled current flow through the coupling transformer. The DSTATCOM is a solid-state, DC to AC voltage-source inverter, utilizing advanced power semiconductor switching devices. It can effectively replace conventional voltage and VAr control elements, load tap changing transformers, voltage regulators and switched capacitors used in distribution systems. This paper presents the results of field tests conducted on the prototype model which was connected at a lumber mill for the purpose of mitigating running voltage flicker.


Background In the ASE/AIE-mediated genetic mechanism for age-related gene regulation, a recently identified age-related homeostasis mechanism, two genetic elements, ASE (age-related stability element) and AIE (age-related increase element as a stem-loop forming RNA), play critical roles in producing specific age-related expression patterns of genes. Principal Finding We successfully identified heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A3 (hnRNP A3) as a major mouse liver nuclear protein binding to the AIE-derived RNAs of human factor IX (hFIX) as well as mouse factor IX (mFIX) genes. HnRNP A3 bound to the AIE RNA was not phosphorylated at its Ser359, while hnRNP A3 in the mouse liver nuclear extracts was a mixture of phosphorylated and unphosphorylated Ser359. HepG2 cells engineered to express recombinant hFIX transduced with adenoviral vectors harboring an effective siRNA against hnRNP A3 resulted in a substantial reduction in hFIX expression only in the cells carrying a hFIX expression vector with AIE, but not in the cells carrying a hFIX expression vector without AIE. The nuclear hnRNP A3 protein level in the mouse liver gradually increased with age, while its mRNA level stayed age-stable. Conclusions We identified hnRNP A3 as a major liver nuclear protein binding to FIX-AIE RNA. This protein plays a critical role in age-related gene expression, likely through an as yet unidentified epigenetic mechanism. The present study assigned a novel functional role to hnRNP A3 in age-related regulation of gene expression, opening up a new avenue for studying age-related homeostasis and underlying molecular mechanisms.


In 3 recent randomized controlled trials of intra-arterial treatment of acute ischemic stroke - IMS-III, SYNTHESIS and MR RESCUE - intra-arterial treatment increased the proportion of patients with recanalization and the treatment appeared safe. However, the trials did not show an effect on functional recovery, although a substantial effect could not be excluded. The delay between onset of symptoms and treatment was long, and stent retrievers were used in only a few patients. In our view, a rational and ethical approach would now be to treat quickly with IV rtPA and when possible, refer and include in new randomized clinical trials that compare intra-arterial treatment with standard care, such as MR CLEAN or BASICS in the Netherlands


Degradable plastic is a topic that continues to be discussed, especially for disposable applications. Blending starch with commercial plastics such as Linear Low Density Polyethylene was the alternative that continues to be developed. The degradation mechanism of biopolymer may occur as microorganisms and also through the mechanism of exposure to sunlight or Ultra Violet light. In this work, degradation test on Linier Low Density Polyethylene-starch-clay nanocomposite film was conducted with a Xenon Arc. Nanocomposite samples were prepared from masterbatch clay and 10% wt and 20% wt of starch. Pure Linear Low Density Polyethylene was used as a control parameter. On day 7th, 20% wt starch sample was already brittle and 10%wt starch was brittle on day 14th. In the 3th day of Xenon Arc aging, starch granulates already disappeared on the surface of sample and the degraded starch leave a hole on the surface of Linear Low Density Polyethylene matrix. The hole dimension became larger with time increasing of Xenon Arc aging. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis result showed decreasing onset temperature degradation for the starch. The oxidation and degradation of starch was occurred during the aging. Meanwhile onset temperature degradation of Linear Low Density Polyethylene in the nanocomposite sample was increased might be this occurred due to the formation of crosslink on Linear Low Density Polyethylene before degraded. Image of 10% wt and 20% wt starch observed using Atomic Force Microscope also showed that the degradation occurs on starch. It was proved by the image after 14 days aging become the same as the image of Linear Low Density Polyethylene used as a control that showed the lamella of Linier Low Density Polyethylene.


Abstract. GOCO06s is the latest satellite-only global gravity field model computed by the GOCO (Gravity Observation Combination) project.
It is based on over a billion observations acquired over 15 years from 19 satellites with different complementary observation principles.
This combination of different measurement techniques is key in providing consistently high accuracy and best possible spatial resolution of the
Earth's gravity field. The motivation for the new release was the availability of reprocessed observation data for the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE),
updated background models, and substantial improvements in the processing chains of the individual contributions.
Due to the long observation period, the model consists not only of a static gravity field, but comprises additionally modeled temporal variations.
These are represented by time-variable spherical harmonic coefficients, using a deterministic model for a regularized trend and annual oscillation. The main focus within the GOCO combination process is on the proper handling of the stochastic behavior of the input data.
Appropriate noise modeling for the observations used results in realistic accuracy information for the derived gravity field solution.
This accuracy information, represented by the full variance–covariance matrix, is
extremely useful for further combination with, for example, terrestrial gravity data
and is published together with the solution. The primary model data consisting of potential coefficients
representing Earth's static gravity field, together with
secular and annual variations, are available on the International Centre for Global Earth Models (http://icgem.gfz-potsdam.de/, last access: 11 June 2020).
This data set is identified with the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.5880/ICGEM.2019.002 (Kvas et al., 2019b). Supplementary material consisting of the full
variance–covariance matrix of the static potential coefficients and estimated co-seismic mass changes is
available at https://ifg.tugraz.at/GOCO (last access: 11 June 2020).


Thrombotic catheter occlusion is a common complication associated with central venous catheters (CVCs). A wide variety of needleless connectors that differ greatly in design and function are available for use with CVCs; however, there are a limited number of studies comparing the catheter occlusion rate associated with differently designed needleless connectors. This retrospective observational study compared occlusion rates associated with a split-septum neutral-displacement needleless connector versus those of a solid-surface neutral-reflux needleless connector in patients undergoing home infusion therapy. The neutral-reflux needleless connector was associated with a significant reduction in occlusion rate and thrombolytic use versus the neutral-displacement needleless connector.


Cikapundung river holds a very strategic role as one of the water supply source for Bandung, but the water quality is decreasing over the years. This degradation has also influenced the groundwater in its riverbank. This paper discusses our effor to build a conceptual model to reconstruct previous analytical model which was built in 1997. The base map was built using a total of 32 scenes of WorldView-2 image, combined with Aster image. The dimension of the model was one layer model with elevation (Z) 400 to 2200 m, 361 rows and 454 columns, covering the area of 21.6 x 27.2 km2. Two types of property hydrogeology were defined based on the existing geological maps: Volcanic breccias and, Sand and clay intercalations. The parameterization of the stream was divided into two segments: Curug Dago to Viaduct, Viaduct to Dayeuhkolot. Initial head were observed at: 17 dug wells, 24 river points, and two spring points in 2013. All parameters accommodated by software SWS visual MODFLOW flex 2012 that used three-dimension mathematic equation in steady state to build a conceptual model. Model has been calibrated and showed an appropriateness with dug wells and springs with correlation coefficient of 0.92 and water balance in 0.01 steady state condition (2040 m3).The conceptual model successfully replicates the previous analytical model, showing three segments of water interactions: no flow at segment Maribaya to Curug Dago, combination of effluent and influent flow at segment Curug Dago to Viaduct, and influent flow Viaduct to Dayeuhkolot. However, the model shows some local variations that was not spotted in the previous model.


The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between students' motivation, academic performance and career commitment to accounting profession among undergraduate accounting students. The sample of the study involved 101 undergraduate accounting students of Universitas Padjadjaran. Purposive sampling technique was used in this study. There are three independent variables investigated in this study, namely study motivation, academic performance and commitment carrier in the accounting profession. Intrinsic interest, extrinsic interest, normative belief and conflict anticipation was treated as sub-variable of the study motivation. Descriptive analysis along with bivariate correlation analysis was applied in this study. The results indicated that majority of accounting undergraduate student choosing accounting study program due to intrinsic interest motivation and extrinsic interest motivation and there is no indication motivation influenced by normative believe motivation and conflict anticipation motivation. Intrinsic interest has a positive and significant correlation with academic performance (r=2.17, p<0.01) and academic performance has a positive correlation (r = 0.124) with commitment carrier in the accounting profession.


Applications can be submitted as jobs in grid. Grid jobs usually comprise the scenarios of file stage-in, execution and file stage-out. These scenarios always run in batch mode. It leads to the waiting of the computational resource for data transfer and limits the performance of the grid application, especially when the application is data/communication intensive. Utilizing the file sharing function of distributed file system, the scenarios of grid job can be processed in parallel, while the waiting of computational resource can be eliminated. Thus, the execution performance of the grid job is promoted. After the comparison of different kinds of distributed file systems, this paper proposes CIFS-based mode for the data exchange in grid job, and testifies the promotion of the performance under this mode. In the test of a series of data/communication intensive jobs, the CIFS-based mode performs better performance than GridFTP.


The main problems of the creation of afterburning turbofan engines, among which the irremovable surge of the compressor, is disclosed by historical analysis. According to the published models, such surge is a hydrodynamic instability in the form of rotating stall mutual transitions to surge with the primary cause of instability in the form of stall or vibration combustion in the afterburner. The Pratt & Whitney F100 serial engine, which based on TF30 is one of the first in which the irremovable surge was detected. As a result, several planes F-15 crashed, so far as the compressor could not be restored to a stable state without stopping and restarting the engine. Dissection of the problem with this phenomenon led to the conclusion that this irremovable surge problem was generated by the engine design. To eliminate it, the company had to refine several systems, such as an electronic engine control system, fuel supply of the afterburner along with the nozzle locations, firing belt, combustion stabilization, an extension of flow separation along the contours, etc. According to the analysis of publications, particular difficulties arose with the recoverable unsurge operation of such engines. It is noteworthy that today, the F-135-PW100 engines have been installed on the F-35 aircraft, the predecessors of which are the F-100 engines with the same problems. The results of experimental studies of a fan are presented in the article to deepen in the stall flow mechanism and the occurrence of rotating stall of the fan blades. The perturbations from vibrational combustion in the afterburner combustion chamber to the fan stall boundary in the afterburning turbofan engine system at bench conditions were simulated by independent throttling of the duct over a wide range of the bypass ratio. Numerous monographs and publications according to vibrational combustion, in particular in afterburner combustion chambers TRDF AL-21F and TRDDF AL-31F, of A. M. Lulka, confirm the possibility of the propagation of perturbations against the flow in the bypass duct and the impossibility of their propagation through the turbines. The propagation of surge perturbations in the afterburning turbofan engine to the compressor of the internal duct behind the fan occurs through the interaction of the duct. The more reliable way to prevent emergencies is to provide stability margin area of compressors. Estimation of the pre-stall state of the flow traditionally is carried out by the diffusivity factor of Lieblein FD, which is applicable in 2D calculations. The integral variational principle of nonequilibrium thermodynamics of the "maximum flow of mechanical energy" of V. N. Yershov was applied.


Purpose Hexokinase-II (HK-II) is the key enzyme in the first rate-limiting step of glycolysis that catalyzes the conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. Here, we examined the association between HK-II expression and radioresistance in laryngeal carcinoma and whether the inhibition of HK-II expression can enhance the radiosensitivity of these tumors. Methods The effects of HK-II small interfering RNA (siRNA) on the radiosensitivity of Tu212 cells were examined in vitro and in vivo in a mouse model. Cells were irradiated using a 6-MV linear accelerator. The cell viability, cell survival, proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle of Tu212 cells were evaluated using trypan blue staining, colony formation assays, CCK-8 assays, and flow cytometry, respectively. Oxygen consumption, lactic acid production, glucose consumption, and the ATP level of Tu212 cells were also examined. The expression of glycolytic and regulatory enzymes involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle was assessed using Western blotting. Results The HK-II siRNA and X-ray combination treatment led to a significantly greater reduction of cell viability, inhibition of cell survival and proliferation, increased apoptosis, and increased G2 phase arrest compared to either treatment alone (all, P<0.01). HK-II siRNA increased the oxygen consumption rate of cells, significantly inhibited lactic acid production and glucose consumption, and significantly suppressed the upregulation of HK-II, pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), phosphofructokinase platelet (PFKP), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), and citrate synthase (CS) (all, P<0.01). Conclusion The inhibition of HK-II by siRNA enhances the radiosensitivity of laryngeal carcinoma Tu212 cells by inhibiting glycolysis and partially inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation.


Two fluid models of RF glow discharges, the non-equilibrium and equilibrium, are compared. The non-equilibrium fluid model is obtained by interpolating between a kinetic and a three-moment non-equilibrium formulation of the Boltzmann equation. The three-moment non-equilibrium model is valid in the time scale of the energy moment relaxation time and all coefficients are based on the mean energy. The equilibrium model is a single-moment model in which equilibrium conditions are assumed and the mean energy and average velocity relax to the equilibrium. Consequently, the transport coefficients in the equilibrium model are obtained from formulae based on local electric field and background gas pressure. Self-consistent RF glow discharge simulations for helium gas are carried out based on these two models, and the differences between the non-equilibrium and equilibrium models are compared. Owing to the finite relaxation time in the non-equilibrium model, momentum and energy, which require time and space to change in space-time varying electric fields, cannot change as rapidly as in the equilibrium model. Consequently, the non-equilibrium model shows the transition between the alpha and gamma regimes, a higher plasma density and a reduced sheath width.


[1] Narrow bipolar event (NBE) is a distinct class of intracloud lightning discharge, which is associated with the strongest radio frequency emissions and produces typical narrow bipolar radiation field waveforms. On the basis of the transmission-line model, we introduce a direct technique to measure the time taken by the current front to propagate along the channel from distant radiation field pulses; the channel length of the NBE can then be estimated by multiplying this time by an assumed propagation speed. Our method involves integrating over the initial half cycle of narrow bipolar waveform of the NBE. The ratio of the integral result to the initial peak amplitude makes a good approximation to the time taken by the current front to travel along the channel, even though the current amplitude suffers heavy attenuation along the propagating channel. This method can be applied to all NBEs which produce narrow bipolar radiation field waveforms. Besides, if both the far radiation field and the near-electrostatic field measurements were available, one could combine the method here and that of Eack (2004) to obtain the channel length of the NBE.


Introduction: During pregnancy many changes occur in women's self-concept and the changes in their selfimage and the shift in focus from themselves to the needs of the foetus and unfamiliar territory of pregnancy and early motherhood creates anxiety. Relaxation techniques are a great way to help in managing anxiety such as progressive muscle relaxation technique(PMRT) which may be very useful for treating anxiety symptoms during pregnancy. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the effect of progressive muscle relaxation on anxiety among antenatal mothers. Material & Method: Quasi Experimental design with two group pre-test and post-test design was used. Conceptual framework for the study was adopted from Ludwig Von Bertalanffy (1968) General System Model was chosen to conduct the study. Through convenience sampling, 35 subjects were selected in experimental and 35 in control group. Subjects in experimental group (n=35) were provided PMRT and conventional care and in control group (n=35) only conventional care was provided. Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) and Socio demographic data sheet was used to collect the data. Results: Results revealed that there was significant difference in level of anxiety after four weeks of progressive muscle relaxation technique in experimental group (p value 0.005) as compared to control group. However, there was no association of pre-test level of anxiety with selected demographic variables Conclusion: The study concluded that progressive muscle relaxation technique was effective in reducing anxiety among antenatal mothers after 4 weeks of intervention in experimental group.


Abstract The objective of this study was to improve the accuracy of net radiation (Rn) measurements under conditions conducive to dew or frost deposition. Two nonventilated net pyrradiometers were mounted over grass during November and December 1986. A heating element was located on the supporting arm of each radiometer so that heal would be conducted to the sensing head. Heat was applied to one radiometer for a few days, followed by a period during which no heat was applied. The procedure was repeated, alternating between radiometers throughout the experiment. Heating the radiometers successfully averted the deposition of dew and frost on the domes, which produced errors in Rn as high as 54 W m−2. The effect of heating alone was slightly asymmetric and resulted in a significant decrease in the mean Rn of 8 W m−2 relative to the unheated radiometer. This effect can be compensated for in the calibration of the radiometer.


ABSTRACT The international community, or a segment of it, has instituted a variety of arrangements to constrain the flow of missiles and missile technology to countries (and non-state actors) that lack them. These arrangements have achieved some success but have also demonstrated serious shortcomings. Not all supplier nations are equally committed to missile nonproliferation. Determined proliferators, if unable to gain missile technology through other means, can reverse-engineer existing missiles or – eventually – produce indigenous technology. After all, missile technology is already decades old. Below, authors from India, Japan, and Turkey debate the following questions: Can the spread of missile technology be constrained? If so, how – and if not, how should the world respond to the reality of missile proliferation?


Abstract : The issues confronting decisionmakers in their attempts to use the development and transfer of technology as an instrument of U.S. national security policy can be partitioned into four generic types: (1) the international transfer of technology as a variable in East-West relations; (2) the comparative advantage of the U.S., relative to the Soviet Union, in the use of technology; (3) the effect of international technology transfers on the economic position of the U.S.; (4) the nature of U.S. technical assistance to new and industrializing nations. Very little attention, however, has been given to the analytical foundations which provide the basis for policy decisions in these areas, especially as they pertain to our relationship with the Soviet Union, since the belief in certain 'political myths' has, until recently, substituted for more traditional kinds of analysis. More refined definition of the issues and their subsequent decomposition into researchable questions is necessary. This stage is especially critical, since a clear statement of purpose is an essential step in implementing a case survey method, the most desirable approach to answering questions about the international transfer of technology, given the current state of the art.


Potent immunological adjuvants are urgently required to complement subunit protein and peptide vaccines in prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination. Carbonyl-amino condensations, which are essential to the inductive interaction between antigen-presenting cells and T-helper cells, were tested as a target for the enhancement or immune responses to vaccine antigens. Enzymic oxidation of cell surface galactose by the novel adjuvant NAGO, to increase amine-reactive carbonyl groups on lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells, provided a potent noninflammatory method of enhancing the immunogenicity of viral, bacterial, and protozoal subunit vaccines in mice. In pilot protection studies with a glutathione-S-transferase vaccine against bovine Fasciola hepatica, a formulation containing NAGO as sole adjuvant agent proved very effective in inducing protection. In terms of protection in individual animals, NAGO alone was better than Quil A emulsified in squalene Montanide (five of eight animals were protected better than 80% by NAGO; four of eight animals were protected better than 93% by NAGO; two of eight animals were protected better than 80% by QA/SM). QA/SM (69% mean protection) was, however, more consistent overall than NAGO (65% mean protection). NAGO proved more effective in murine models when combined with muramyl dipeptide, but this combination has yet to be tested in protection studies.


Upwelling off southern Senegal and Gambia takes place over a wide shelf with a large area where depths are shallower than 20 m. This results in typical upwelling patterns that are distinct (e.g., more persistent in time and aligned alongshore) from those of other better known systems, including Oregon and Peru where inner shelves are comparatively narrow. Synoptic to superinertial variability of this upwelling center is captured through a 4-week intensive field campaign, representing the most comprehensive measurements of this region to date. The influence of mesoscale activity extends across the shelf break and far over the shelf where it impacts the midshelf upwelling (e.g., strength of the upwelling front and circulation), possibly in concert with wind fluctuations. Internal tides and solitary waves of large amplitude are ubiquitous over the shelf. The observations suggest that these and possibly other sources of mixing play a major role in the overall system dynamics through their impact upon the general shelf thermohaline structure, in particular in the vicinity of the upwelling zone. Systematic alongshore variability in thermohaline properties highlights important limitations of the 2D idealization framework that is frequently used in coastal upwelling studies.


A case is reported of a young woman with bulimia nervosa who presented with profound folate deficiency. This association has not been reported before despite the increased theoretical possibility. Initially she has responded well to folic acid therapy and social support.


The purpose of this article is to provide a commentary on the reports of the findings from the longitudinal Children in the Community (CIC) study by Cohen, Crawford, Johnson, and Kasen (this issue), Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS) by Skodol et al. (this issue), and McLean Study of Adult Development (MSAD) by Zanarini, Frankenburg, Hennen, Reich, and Silk (this issue). This article focuses in particular on the implications of their longitudinal findings with regard to a fundamental component of personality disorder: temporal stability. Also discussed are their findings with regard to an integration of general personality structure with personality disorder.


Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious respiratory disease contracted through the inhalation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Serine hydrolases are abundant in M. tuberculosis and serve as a model for studying the inhibition of TB. Rv0045c is an example of such with little known regarding its biological function. Rv0045c was exposed to methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, or glycerol and the effects of varying concentration of these alcohols on the catalytic efficiency and thermal stability of the enzyme was determined. The thermal stability of Rv0045c was found to decrease with concentration of methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol. The opposite was true of the thermal stability when exposed to increasing concentrations of glycerol. The effect of the alcohols on enzyme kinetics, however, were much less straightforward. Data suggests that a concentration of 10% alcohol by volume is optimal for catalytic activity.


Joint manifestations of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are observed in 30% of cases. Their largest share is in total forms of ulcerative colitis (UC) 85-90% and Crohn's disease (CD) involving the colon 30-35% or large and small intestines 60%. The pathogenesis of articular manifestations remains unclear. The importance of increased permeability of the intestinal wall, which is noted in patients with UC and CD, is discussed, as a result of which the components of the membrane wall of bacteria enter the bloodstream. These components act as peptide antigens that can lead to the development of arthritis. Contacting the molecules of histocompatibility complexes and further activating T-lymphocytes, peptides lead to joint inflammation. From the point of view of a rheumatologist, the articular manifestations of IBD are classified as seronegative spondyloarthropathies. During 2013-2020, we studied the frequency of treatment of patients with IBD with extraintestinal articular manifestations for examination to a rheumatologist. We analyzed the ratio of the number of patients with IBD having joints manifestations, which were confirmed and diagnosed by a rheumatologist or consulted in the areas of a gastroenterologist and a surgeon-proctologist. All patients who turned to a rheumatologist with joints manifestations over the years were referred by a gastroenterologist (38%), surgeon-proctologist (14%) and these extraintestinal manifestations of IBD were suspected and confirmed by a rheumatologist (48%). The need for a differentiated approach to the treatment of peripheral arthritis and any axial skeletal lesions is noted, the role of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) drugs, steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), immunosuppressant and biological drugs in the treatment of articular syndrome in IBD is evaluated. It is indicated that patients with IBD having of joints manifestations should be observed jointly by a rheumatologist, gastroenterologist and a proctologist. Regional or granulomatous ileitis is a chronic bowel disease (Crohn's disease) that covers all the layers of the intestinal wall (transmural lesions), and sometimes spreads to the mesentery, regional lymph nodes affecting both the small and large intestines, but most often localized in the terminal section of a thin guts (regional, terminal ileitis). These diseases can be accompanied by damage to the peripheral joints, spine, or joints and spine. The clinical manifestations of the joint syndrome in both processes are the same. The pathogenesis of the intestinal process and joint damage has not been fully established, but it is believed that many mechanisms participate in it, and in particular, toxic, immune, autoimmune. In the blood of patients, antibodies to the cells of the intestinal mucosa, lymphocytotoxin antibodies, circulating immune complexes, in which, possibly, antigenic components of intestinal microbes, etc., are also present. In Crohn's disease, articular manifestations usually occur in childhood and adolescence. The development of peripheral arthritis in these diseases is usually not associated with the carriage of the histocompatibility antigen B27. Ankylosing spondylitis is more common in men than in women (3: 1). This disease usually develops in people who have HLA B27. Articular changes with regional ileitis occur more often in patients with other extraintestinal manifestations of the processes - with ulcers of the oral mucosa, exacerbate erythema nodosum, gangrenous pyoderma.