Kink turns (k-turns) are important structural motifs that create a sharp axial bend in RNA. Most conform to a consensus in which a three-nucleotide bulge is followed by consecutive G•A and A•G base pairs, and when these G•A pairs are modified in vitro this generally leads to a failure to adopt the k-turn conformation. Kt-23 in the 30S ribosomal subunit of Thermus thermophilus is a rare exception in which the bulge-distal A•G pair is replaced by a non-Watson–Crick A•U pair. In the context of the ribosome, Kt-23 adopts a completely conventional k-turn geometry. We show here that this sequence is induced to fold into a k-turn structure in an isolated RNA duplex by Mg2+ or Na+ ions. Therefore, the Kt-23 is intrinsically stable despite lacking the key A•G pair; its formation requires neither tertiary interactions nor protein binding. Moreover, the Kt-23 k-turn is stabilized by the same critical hydrogen-bonding interactions within the core of the structure that are found in more conventional sequences such as the near-consensus Kt-7. T. thermophilus Kt-23 has two further non-Watson–Crick base pairs within the non-canonical helix, three and four nucleotides from the bulge, and we find that the nature of these pairs influences the ability of the RNA to adopt k-turn conformation, although the base pair adjacent to the A•U pair is more important than the other.


Personal information management systems (PIMS) aka personal data stores (PDSs) represent an emerging class of technology that seeks to empower individuals regarding their data. Presented as an alternative to current 'centralised' data processing approaches, whereby user data is (rather opaquely) collected and processed by organisations, PDSs provide users with technical mechanisms for aggregating and managing their own data, determining when and with whom their data is shared, and the computation that may occur over that data. Though arguments for decentralisation may be appealing, there are questions regarding the extent to which PDSs actually address data processing concerns. This paper explores these questions from the perspective of PDS users. Specifically, we focus on data protection, including how PDSs relate to rights and the legal bases for processing, as well as how PDSs affect the information asymmetries and surveillance practices inherent online. We show that, despite the purported benefits of PDSs, many of the systemic issues of online/data ecosystems remain.


Objective: To determine the factors that predict outcome of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in critically ill children. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Multidisciplinary pediatric intensive care unit of a university hospital in Malaysia. Patients: Patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit from July 2004 to December 2006 for respiratory support due to acute respiratory failure and those extubated from invasive mechanical ventilation. Interventions: NIV was used as an alternative means of respiratory support for all children. In patients who had prior invasive mechanical ventilation, NIV was used to facilitate extubation, or it was used after a failed extubation. The children were assigned to the nonresponders group (intubation was needed) or responders group (intubation was avoided totally or for at least 5 days). The physiologic variables were monitored before, at 6 hrs, and 24 hrs of NIV. Measurements and Main Results: Of 278 patients, 129 were admissions for management of acute respiratory failure and 149 patients received NIV to facilitate extubation (n = 98) or for a failed extubation (n = 48). Their median age and weight were 8.7 months (interquartile range, 3.1–33.1 months) and 5.5 kg (interquartile range, 3.3–10.8 kg), respectively. Intubation was avoided for >5 days in 79.1% (n = 220). No significant difference in age or weight of responders and nonresponders was observed. The cardiorespiratory variables in all patients improved, but significant differences between the two groups were noted at 6 hrs and 24 hrs after NIV. Conclusions: NIV was a feasible strategy of respiratory support to avoid intubation in >75% of children in this study. A higher Pediatric Risk of Mortality II score, sepsis at initiation of NIV, an abnormal respiratory rate, and a higher requirement of Fio2 may be predictive factors of NIV failure.


The metabolism of human serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and its trypsin-treated counterpart have been compared in the guinea pig in vivo. Removal of surface-exposed protein from the lipoprotein particle in this way resulted in significant modification of its metabolism in guinea pigs in vivo. Limited trypsinisation of LDL permitted removal of 20-25% of its protein moiety; trypsinised LDL was deficient in lysine and arginine residues (25-30% of each removed). The modified particle retained its basic structural features, such as internal molecular architecture, but displayed an elevated net negative surface charge and diminished immunological reactivity. Following intravascular injection of iodinated LDL (131I) and trypsinised LDL (125I) into the same animal, the two lipoproteins displayed biexponential decays; the rate constants for the plasma turnover of LDL and trypsinised LDL were significantly different (P less than 0.05), trypsinised LDL exhibiting a slower disappearance from the circulation. Density-gradient ultracentrifugation revealed marked elevation in the modal densities of both LDL and trypsinised LDL upon metabolism in vivo, although the rate of increase was greater for trypsinised LDL than LDL in each case (average increment 0.022 g/ml and 0.014 g/ml at 24 h respectively). The diminished plasma clearance of trypsinised LDL as compared to the native human and guinea pig LDL indicates that sites required for the cellular recognition and uptake of the LDL particle reside in its surface-exposed, trypsin-accessible protein. Furthermore, such protein appears to play a central role in regulating the intravascular processes by which the lipid content of LDL is diminished, and by which it is transformed to a particle of higher density.


Introduction:Down syndrome, or trisomy 21, is a complex genetic disease resulting from the presence of 3 copies of chromosome 21. The origin of the extra chromosome is maternal in 95% of cases and is due to the failure of normal chromosomal segregation during meiosis. There are many cytogenetics methods for early detection and diagnosis for the DS, some of them are invasive and the others are non-invasive methods.
Material and methods:To Identify the number and gender of Down syndrome (DS) patients and ages of parents and the City of Bitola, Macedonia, in the period of 10 years. According to medical registry book during 2006 to 2015 there are three cases of Down syndrome. All patients are baby girls. Two of them were born in 2006 and the other one was born in, 2008.
Results and discussion:All the informations are taken from counseling service for infants, toddlers and pre-school children and development counseling medical center in Bitola. Cytogenetic analysis in children with DS are taken from clinical hospital dr.Trifun Panovski from Bitola,from gynecological department.Physical therapy takes place in the center for children with special needs.
Conclusion:Early detection and diagnosis of DS are very important. Also, ages of parents and their choice whether to continue pregnancy or not should be respected. Altough advanced maternal age is a major risk factor for trisomy 21, most children with Down syndrome are born to mothers <30 years of age.


Improvements in disk speed have not kept up with improvements in processor and memory speed. Conventional storage techniques, in the face of multimedia data, are inefficient and/or inadequate. An efficient multimedia object allocation strategy is presented. We describe a multimedia object model, the object and storage device characteristics, and the fragmentation strategy. A bipartite graph approach is used for mapping fragments to storage devices and a cost value is used to determine an efficient allocation of an object and to balance the loads on the devices.<<ETX>>


Abstract Studies in the greater galago have not provided a comprehensive description of the organization of eye-specific retino-geniculate-cortical projections to the recipient layers in V1. Here we demonstrate the overall patterns of ocular dominance domains in layers III, IV, and VI revealed following a monocular injection of the transneuronal tracer wheat germ agglutinin conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP). We also correlate these patterns with the array of cytochrome oxidase (CO) blobs in tangential sections through the unfolded and flattened cortex. In layer IV, we observed for the first time that eye-specific domains form an interconnected pattern of bands 200–250 μm wide arranged such that they do not show orientation bias and do not meet the V1 border at right angles, as is the case in macaques. We also observed distinct WGA-HRP labeled patches in layers III and VI. The patches in layer III, likely corresponding to patches of K lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) input, align with layer IV ocular dominance columns (ODCs) of the same eye dominance and overlap partially with virtually all CO blobs in both hemispheres, implying that CO blobs receive K LGN input from both eyes. We further found that CO blobs straddle the border between layer IV ODCs, such that the distribution of CO staining is approximately equal over ipsilateral and contralateral ODCs. These results, together with studies showing that a high percentage of cells in CO blobs are monocular, suggest that CO blobs consist of ipsilateral and contralateral subregions that are in register with underlying layer IV ODCs of the same eye dominance. In macaques and humans, CO blobs are centered on ODCs in layer IV. Our finding that CO blobs in galago straddle the border of neighboring layer IV ODCs suggests that this novel feature may represent an alternative way by which visual information is processed by eye-specific modular architecture in mammalian V1.


Sexual abuse of children is widespread and occurs in all demographic groups. Studies suggest that approximately one in three young girls and one in six young boys may experience at least one sexually abusive episode by the time they reach adulthood. Children are not yet equipped to make an informed decision about sex and, if sexually abused, may have severe and long-lasting psychologic consequences. Family physicians have an ethical and legal responsibility to report suspected child sexual abuse. In order to do so effectively, physicians must understand the problem and recognize the signs and symptoms. Physicians should also become familiar with available resources, which can provide them with guidelines and assistance.


Objectives. The study aimed to identify alcohol-related advertisements and access to alcohol outside selected Metro Manila schools as well as to identify alcohol-related ordinances and determine their enforcement.
Methods. An area within 100 meters of ten randomly selected colleges in Metro Manila were included in the study using the Global Positioning System (GPS). These areas were grid-searched for alcohol related advertisements and alcohol outlets. Ordinances related to alcohol were also identified.
Results. An average of six advertisements and 12 establishments which sell alcoholic drinks were seen near the selected colleges in Metro Manila. Three of the five cities where the ten colleges were situated had ordinances which prohibit selling to minors while two cities prohibit issuing of liquor licenses to establishments within 200 meters from a school.
Conclusion. Alcohol-related advertisements and alcohol outlets were plentiful near Metro Manila colleges even when there were ordinances which prohibit giving licenses to establishments to sell alcoholic beverages


The idea of innate and universal facial expressions that have links with human emotions was given the status of scientific hypothesis by Darwin (1872/1965). Substantial evidence, old and new, supports his hypothesis. Much of the evidence is independent of language, but Russell's (1994) criticisms of the hypothesis focus on language-dependent data. In this article, it is argued that Russell's critique was off target in that his arguments relate only to a hypothesis of the universality of semantic attributions and overstated in that he used questionable logic in designing studies to support his claims. It is also argued that Russell misinterpreted the relation between the universality hypothesis and differential emotions theory. Finally, new evidence is presented that supports the Darwinian hypothesis of the innateness and universality of the facial expressions of a limited set of emotions and the efficacy of the most commonly used method of testing it.


Nursing by nature is a profession with high level of stress. As a profession it is considered to be one of more difficult jobswhich requires physical, mental and emotional engagement of nurses and technicians. Determine stress levels and working conditions of nurses in primary and secondary health care. The research was conducted at the General Hospital in Trebinje (secondary health care) and the Medical Center of Foca (primary health care). The study included 90 nurses and technicians.The study lasted for a period from10/02/2017 to 28/02/2017. The data were collected by anonymous questionnaire to identify stress at work which is adapted to protect workers' health by the WHO. The health center in Foca(primary health care) tested 47.8% of respondents, and the rest are respondents who are employed at the General Hospital in Trebinje (secondary health care) (52.2%). Of the total number of nurses / technicians, 61.1% believe that there is enough time to adequately carry out their work. More than a half of the respondents (51.1%) believe that the work in their institutionis stressful. Twenty percent of the medicine nurses / technicians is exposed to unfavourable physical conditions at work. Highly statistically significant is higher number of nurses / technicians from the primary health care who consider to have good prospects for career development in comparison to nurses / technicians from secondary health care (χ2 = 15.563, p = 0.001). The highest percentage of nurses / technicians, 65.6% believe that their incomesare not sufficient to meet their own needs and those of their families. The results analysis showed that the stress of nurses / technicians at both levelsof thehealth care is equally present, as well as that nurses in secondary health care encounter more difficultworking conditions. Besides that financial compensation for the work of nurses / technicians is not enough to satisfy their own needs and those of their families.


This paper analyzes a real-life distribution problem that is related to a pharmaceutical supplier in Spain. Every day, a fleet of vehicles has to deliver the previously requested items to a large set of pharmacies. The distribution has to be conducted with (i) the total distance and time incurred by the entire fleet being reasonably low and (ii) the time of the delivery meeting the specified time windows or, if that is not possible and some delays occur, the total fee incurred by these unpunctualities being minimized. Unpunctuality fees depend upon how important is the customer for the distributor, and the size of the tardiness gap. To include even more realistic details, travel times are modeled as random variables, which also makes the problem more challenging to solve by employing traditional optimization methods. To solve this stochastic variant of the problem, a simheuristic algorithm is proposed and evaluated.


Certain short-period Si/Ge superlattices containing biatomic sheets of Si have been proposed as candidates for light-emitting Si-based structures. The thermal stability of biatomic sheets of Si in such structures is thus of interest and has been investigated here using the way in which their distinctive double-peaked lines in the Raman spectrum changes with annealing. The Raman data obtained were correlated with the results of an electron microscopical examination of the annealed samples which further demonstrated that, at 700 degrees C, rather than the layers becoming mixed through a simple interdiffusion process they instead become periodically of varying thickness in a way which would lower their strain energy. It is postulated that the changes in layer thickness arise as a result of interface diffusion. The results provide a useful starting point for understanding how direct-gap Si-based structures can be processed.


Development of Real-Time Fuel Management Capability at the Texas AM M.S., Texas A&M University Chair or Advisory Committee: Dr. William Charlton For the Texas A&M University Nuclear Science Center reactor a fuel depletion code was created to develop real-time fuel management capability. This code package links MCNP and ORIGEN2 and is interfaced through a Visual Basic code. Microsoft Visual Basic was used to create a user interface and for pre-and post-processing of MCNP and ORIGEN2 output. MCNP was used to determine the flux for all fuel and control rods within the core while ORIGEN2 used this flux along with the power history to calculate buildup and depletion for tracking the fuel isotopic evolution through time. A comparison of MCNP calculated fluxes and measured flux values were used to confirm the validity of the MCNP model. A comparison to Monteburns was used to add confidence to the correctness of the calculated fuel isotopics. All material isotopics were stored in a Microsoft Access database for integration with the Visual Basic code to allow for isotopics report generation for the Nuclear Science Center staff. This fuel management code performs its function with reasonable accuracy. It gathers minimal information from the user and burns the core over daily operation. After


We assessed whether mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug-resistance gene 1 (pfmdr1) (C1034S, D1042N, and Y1246D) would predict treatment outcome during a 28-day in vivo treatment trial in the Peruvian Amazon. Mefloquine (MQ) was compared with mefloquine-artesunate (MQ-AS) in a randomized, multi-clinic protocol for the first time in the Americas. Of 115 patients enrolled in the in vivo arm, 97 patients were eligible for molecular analysis. All 97 patients remained parasite-free during 28 days of follow-up (MQ, n = 46; MQ-AS, n = 51), indicating 100% clinical efficacy of the MQ and MQ-AS treatment regimens. The reported MQ-sensitive alleles (C1034, D1042, and Y1246) were present in 48.5% (n = 47) of the cases, whereas 49 isolates (50.5%) contained the D1246 mutation reported to confer MQ resistance in vitro. However, neither this mutation nor a double mutation (S1034, D1246; n = 16) was predictive of MQ treatment outcome.


In this paper, as a generalization to content algebras, we introduce amount algebras. Similar to the Anderson-Badawi $\omega_{R[X]}(I[X])=\omega_R(I)$ conjecture, we prove that under some conditions, the formula $\omega_B(I^{\epsilon})=\omega_R(I)$ holds for some amount $R$-algebras $B$ and some ideals $I$ of $R$, where $\omega_R(I)$ is the smallest positive integer $n$ that the ideal $I$ of $R$ is $n$-absorbing. A corollary to the mentioned formula is that if, for example, $R$ is a Pr\"{u}fer domain or a torsion-free valuation ring and $I$ is a radical ideal of $R$, then $\omega_{R[][X]]}(I[[X]])=\omega_R(I)$.


Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. During the postmonsoon season, a small linear cloud system has been observed over this lake in early morning, while the sky above the surrounding land is clear. Although this cloud system is apparently generated by land breezes, previous studies on land‐lake (sea) circulation have suggested that environmental factors at low latitudes inhibit development of nocturnal land breezes. In this study, we investigate the mechanism of these early morning clouds through numerical simulation. The simulations show a linear updraft system over the lake, forming along the southwest lakeshore around 22:00 and moving northeast to the middle of the lake. The heavier air mass from the land meets the extraordinarily warm and humid air mass over the lake, triggering updrafts under the conditionally convective instability. The characteristic high surface water temperature was favorable for generation of the land breeze and updraft systems. That high surface water temperature of the lake is produced by the tropical climate along with efficient energy absorption because of the shallowness of the water body. This unique feature can generate a clear nocturnal land breeze circulation accompanying a migrating updraft system over the lake despite its low latitude.


Taxonomy is the science of the classification of living things and comprises two main processes, defining taxa and naming them. In relation to the taxonomy of the Dingo, the scientific name has been unstable for many years. It has been referred to as Canis familiaris, Canis familiaris dingo, Canis lupus familiaris, Canis lupus dingo or Canis dingo. The nomenclature, however, has become even more unstable in recent years with advocacy for the name Canis dingo by some authors in spite of a lack of morphological differentiation or interfertility between Dingo and Domestic Dog hybrids. As a result, there is a need to review the taxonomy of the Dingo with the aim of confirming its correct scientific name in order to promote stability. Using the most widely accepted species concepts, we reviewed the taxonomy of the Dingo by objectively dissecting each of the proposed arguments for recognising the Dingo as a distinct species. We conclude that the most appropriate taxonomic name to use for the Dingo is Canis familiaris, and that this binomial is the appropriate taxonomic name for all ancient and modern dog breeds, their hybrids and wild-living derivatives. It is important to highlight that correct taxonomy is an important part of on-ground conservation and management of wildlife. However, the taxonomy used as a basis for management decisions needs to be based on a consistent and evidence-based scientific approach and not other factors.


Stuck pipe is one of the biggest challenges in the drilling sector and is a multi-billion-dollar issue. Recovering from stuck pipe absorbs significant cost and time. Durations for stuck pipe events and recovery can be mostly variable from a few days to up to over a month to resolve.
 When attempts to release the stuck pipe by jarring or acid fail, the operating company and drilling contractors are left with little option but to sever the drill string and prepare for side-track operations or even abandon the hole. Traditional pipe severance methods in the event of a stuck pipe situation typically take significant time (often days, and sometimes weeks), require specialist tools, Service Hands, and are usually reliant on wireline services to deliver the severance method.
 In 2018, a Major Operating Company in UAE faced a challenging high-sticking Formation, which caused massive NPT, stuck of drill strings, and loss of drilled section holes.
 Brainstorming within the Drilling Engineering team took the campaign to the next level of pre-planning to reach deep access in the hole to be able to achieve zonal isolation by spotting cement plugs through drilling BHA, find a solution to save the hole and recover the pipes in an efficient, cheap and productive manner.
 An environmentally safe pre-planned solution to severe the drill string was proposed to help save the wells and allow an excellent methodology to save the wells/fields from stuck pipe risks.
 The engineering solution allows a fast recovery of drill pipes using a downhole tool as a part of drilling BHA, with the option to activate it if required, by dropping a smart dart and circulating with mud for a specific time to apply cut string with two option, either spotting cement with recovered BHA or lift BHA with fish neck to try to fish in the hole.


Abstract Employers that emphasise ethics often encourage a variety of positive work-related outcomes, yet the manner inwhich different ethics policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) enhance employee attitudes is still subject toinvestigation. Consequently, this study explored how ethics training and an ethics code work with perceived social responsibility to encourage positive feelings about work. Using survey data collected from 781 individuals employed in an education-based health science centre, the results indicated that hours of ethics training and a shared ethics code operated through perceived social responsibility to enhance a positive work attitude, measured as job satisfaction and an intention to stay. Creating an ethical environment and emphasising socially responsible business practices should encourage employees to respond more favourably to the workplace. In particular, companies should use ethics codes and training to emphasise CSR, thus enhancing employees' work attitudes.


NASA has been developing a waste management device for human space exploration missions called the Heat Melt Compactor (HMC) as part of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Human Spaceflight Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) project. Human space missions typically generate trash with a quantity of plastic that is twenty percent or greater by mass. The plastic rich trash contains valuable water entrained in food residue and sanitary wipes blended with paper, duct tape, rubber gloves, and other sundry trash items. The Heat Melt Compactor was designed to provide high trash volume reduction, microbial stabilization, and resource recovery including water and potentially radiation shielding material from the trash. The Heat Melt Compactor dries, compresses, and encapsulates the waste inside the plastic producing a tile that has the consistency of hard plastic. This paper provides an overview of the engineering efforts associated with development of a second generation HMC. The Gen 2 HMC is a ground based prototype unit that has been designed to function within the physical and environmental constraints of an International Space Station (ISS) Express Rack and serves as a precursor to developing proto-flight hardware.


Stress resilience involves numerous brain-wide transcriptional changes. Determining the organization and orchestration of these transcriptional events may reveal novel antidepressant targets, but this remains unexplored. Here, we characterize the resilient transcriptome with co-expression analysis and identify a single transcriptionally-active uniquely-resilient gene network. Zfp189, a previously unstudied zinc finger protein, is the top network key driver and its overexpression in prefrontal cortical (PFC) neurons preferentially activates this network, alters neuronal activity and promotes behavioral resilience. CREB, which binds Zfp189, is the top upstream regulator of this network. To probe CREB-Zfp189 interactions as a network regulatory mechanism, we employ CRISPR-mediated locus-specific transcriptional reprogramming to direct CREB selectively to the Zfp189 promoter. This single molecular interaction in PFC neurons recapitulates the pro-resilient Zfp189-dependent downstream effects on gene network activity, electrophysiology and behavior. These findings reveal an essential role for Zfp189 and a CREB-Zfp189 regulatory axis in mediating a central transcriptional network of resilience.


Object-based multimedia communications demand a much more sophisticated delivery framework for delivering synchronized, multiplexed, media object streams across the Internet or wireless networks. We describe the Moving Picture Expert Group's Delivery Multimedia Integration Framework (DMIF) and examine several remote retrieval issues. We also describe our design and implementation of a DMIF-based MPEG-4 multimedia streaming system.


System includes a head portion having a lead body and at least one electrode, disposed along the lead body in the vicinity of at least one electrode, leading part of the leading portion without damaging the nearby tissue when positioned in the body and a holding mechanism to assist in securing. The system includes a top portion having a lead body and at least one electrode, leading portion and a coiled retention feature that helps secure the top portion without damaging the nearby tissue when positioned in the body there. Head portion for stimulating a target neural tissue, an elongate body, at least one electrode disposed along the elongate body, disposed along the lead body in the vicinity of at least one electrode, the goal of neural tissue and a passive retention feature to assist in securing the elongate body near the tissue.


We are all born with basic habits of mind that enable us to successfully learn about and master our world. Gradually, however, those abilities are sidelined as children progress through school. Inquiry becomes confused with research, and the agency of children as inquirers is lost.This exploration of the meaning of inquiry identifies three elements that are crucial to the process. Choice, curiosity and gut instinct—hardly fodder for educational research or the standardization of curricula—are presented as central to maintaining healthy lifelong learning.


BACKGROUND: Blackberries consumption has been associated with health benefits. However, these fruits present a short shelflife. Thus, food irradiation is a potential alternative technology for conservation of these fruits without use of chemicals. OBJECTIVE: Analyse the potentiality of gamma radiation as a decontamination method for blackberry fruits. METHODS: Fresh packed blackberries were irradiated in a Co-60 source at two doses (1.0 and 1.5 kGy). Bioburden, physical and rheological, sensorial and total soluble content parameters were assessed before irradiation, immediately after and at two days storage time at 4 ◦ C. RESULTS: The characterization of blackberries microbiota point out to an average bioburden value of 10 4 CFU/g and to a microbial population predominantly composed by filamentous fungi. The inactivation studies on the blackberries mesophilic population indicated a limited microbial inactivation (<1 log decimal reduction) for the applied radiation doses, being the surviving population mainly constituted by filamentous fungi and yeast. No effect of irradiation on colour of blackberries was observed. Concerning texture parameters, no significant differences were observed in both fracturability and firmness between non-irradiated and irradiated blackberries immediately after irradiation. In blackberries stored for two days, both parameters were slightly lower in irradiated blackberries, compared to non-irradiated blackberries. The performed sensorial analysis indicated a similar acceptability among irradiated and non-irradiated fruits. CONCLUSION: This work reveals gamma irradiation treatment potential since no major impact was detected on blackberries physical, rheological and sensory attributes. Further studies with longer periods of storage are needed to elucidate the advantages of irradiation as a conservation treatment.


Objective: In 95% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs) can be detected reacting with at least one of the five components of the M2 antigen identified as the 2-oxoacid dehydrogenase complex (OADC). However, among our PBC sera 15–20% are anti-M2 negative by ELISA and western blotting but in the immunofluorescence test (IFT) they show the typical AMA staining. The aim of the present study was to characterise the target antigen(s) of these non-M2-related AMAs. Patients and methods: We analysed sera from 27 patients with clinically and histologically proven PBC being AMA positive by the IFT but anti-M2 negative by ELISA and western blotting. They were tested by western blotting against various 100 000 g supernatants obtained after sonication of mitochondria from rat liver, bovine heart and pig kidney. These were further separated by isopycnic sucrose density centrifugation using different sucrose density fractions. Results: Fourteen of the 27 AMA positive/anti-M2 negative sera (52%) reacted in the western blotting with a 60 kDa protein and eight (29%) with an 80 kDa protein, both present in the 100 000 g supernatant from bovine heart mitochondria accumulating at sucrose densities of 1.14–1.16. An identity of these determinants with any of the M2-related antigens could be excluded. In the 60 kDa band components of the mitochondrial enzymes F1F0-ATPase, ubiquinone cytochrome c reductase and acyl CoA dehydrogenase were detected by MALDI–TOF analysis; the 80 kDa protein could not be further characterised. Conclusions: AMA positive/anti-M2 negative PBC sera contain antibodies to further mitochondrial antigens at 60 and 80 kDa which do not correspond to any of the M2 determinants. Those antibodies can be detected to a lesser extent in sera from patients with classical anti-M2 positive PBC but not in patients with other hepatic and non-hepatic disorders and may, therefore, represent additional marker antibodies for the serological diagnosis of PBC.


The text of the famous Georgian poem "The Man in the Panther's Skin" arrived to us in the present day through relatively different versions, preserved in numerous manuscripts. Respectively, numerous differences can be found in the prologue of the poem (a final version of which has not yet been established), as presented in those various manuscripts. The prologue of the poem in several old manuscripts contains two stanzas dedicated to King Davit, whose identity has yet to be determined, although several opinions have been expressed – e.g. by Sargis Kakabadze – as to who he might be. In the two stanzas, the king is portrayed as a very powerful and influential monarch, to whom even the neighboring monarchs submit. The author of the poem also presents a local monarchical legend, according to which the Georgian king is a descendant of the biblical King David. The poet also opines that a holy mass should be celebrated by the Pope in the name of the king. A scrupulous analysis has allowed me to advance the supposition that the King Davit of the prologue of the poem is King Davit X (1505-1525) of Kartli, who considered himself the King of All Georgia. The statement that it is necessary for a mass in the name of the king to be celebrated by the Pope takes its basis in the close relationship of Georgia with the Roman See, which became especially intense during the reign of King Davit's grandfather Giorgi VIII and his father Konstantine II, and continued during the reign of Davit's son Luarsab I, and his grandson Svimon I. Some documents about King Davit himself, of which there are few, also support the supposition that King Davit of the prologue of the poem "The Man in the Panther's Skin" was indeed King Davit X.


In this paper we introduce a new algorithm, the cascaded parameter scan method, to efficiently carry out the scan over magnet parameters in the safety analysis for storage ring top-off injection. In top-off safety analysis, one must track particles populating phase space through a beamline containing magnets and apertures and clearly demonstrate that for all possible magnet settings and errors, all particles are lost on scrapers within the properly shielded region. In the usual approach, the number of tracking runs increases exponentially with the number of magnet settings. In the cascaded parameter scan method, the number of tracking runs only increases linearly. This reduction of exponential to linear dependence on the number of set-points, greatly reduces the required computation time and allows one to more densely populate phase space and to increase the number of setpoints scanned for each magnet. An example of applying this approach to analyze an NSLS-II beamline, the damping wiggler beamline, is also given.


Occurrence of extramedullary (EM) disease at diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been associated with increased risk of relapse and worse outcomes post-chemotherapy. There is minimal data in the literature concerning the association with outcomes following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The purpose of this single-centre study was to retrospectively investigate the impact of EM disease at diagnosis on the outcome of 303 patients with AML in first complete remission (CR1) that underwent HCT during the time period 2000-2013. Median age at HCT was 51 years (range 18-71), 151 (50%) patients were female. Myeloablative conditioning (MAC) was used in 202 (67%) patients, reduced-intensity (RIC) in 101 (33%) patients. Donors were related for 194 (64%) patients, unrelated for 109 (36%) patients. Grafts were peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) in 253 (83%) patients and bone marrow in 50 (17%) patients. Median follow-up of patients alive was 63 months (range 12-168). Cytogenetics at diagnosis were available for 263 (87%) of patients, of which 16 (5%) were favorable, 185 (61%) were intermediate and 62 (20%) were unfavorable risk (MRC classification). Primary induction failure prior to achievement of CR was seen in 67 (22%) patients. In vivo T-cell depletion was performed in 71 (23%) patients. A total of 124 patients (41%) underwent HCT during the years 2000-2006 and 179 patients (59%) during the years 2007-2013. EM disease at diagnosis was seen in 39 patients (13%), of whom 11 patients had CSF disease, 7 patients had gingival infiltration and 5 patients had leukemia cutis. Univariate analysis for overall survival (OS) demonstrated that EM disease at diagnosis had no influence (HR=0.96 for EM, 95%CI=0.60-1.51, p=0.85, Figure 1). Multivariable analysis for OS including the previously described variables verified this observation. EM disease did not influence cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) on univariate analysis (HR=0.94 for EM, 95%CI=0.45-1.96, p=0.86, Figure 2), and this also was confirmed on multivariable analysis. Moreover, EM disease did not influence cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality on both univariate (HR=0.94 for EM, 95%CI=0.53-1.66, p=0.83) and multivariable analysis. In conclusion, EM disease at diagnosis of AML in patients achieving CR1, does not seem to influence outcomes post allogeneic HCT. This is significant in the consideration of allogeneic HCT for the treatment of this unfavorable subtype of AML. We are unable to comment on whether a similar percentage of patients with EM disease versus without EM disease, achieve CR1. Disclosures Kim:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Research Funding.


The airway epithelium is a critical component of the respiratory system, serving as a barrier against inhaled pathogens and toxins. It is composed of various cell types, each with specific functions essential to proper airway function. Chronic respiratory diseases can disrupt the cellular composition of the airway epithelium, leading to a decrease in multiciliated cells (MCCs) and an increase in secretory cells (SCs). Basal cells (BCs) have been identified as the primary stem cells in the airway epithelium, capable of self-renewal and differentiation into MCCs and SCs. This review emphasizes the role of transcription factors in the differentiation process from BCs to MCCs and SCs. Recent advancements in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) techniques have provided insights into the cellular composition of the airway epithelium, revealing specialized and rare cell types, including neuroendocrine cells, tuft cells, and ionocytes. Understanding the cellular composition and differentiation processes within the airway epithelium is crucial for developing targeted therapies for respiratory diseases. Additionally, the maintenance of BC populations and the involvement of Notch signaling in BC self-renewal and differentiation are discussed. Further research in these areas could provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying airway epithelial homeostasis and disease pathogenesis.


An integrated receiver decoder (IRD) built-in VCR for digital broadcast recording has been developed. This VCR is based on the D-VHS standard and records digital bit stream data. For this VCR, a one-chip digital signal processing LSI, an interface LSI and digital/analog compatible head were developed.


Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases we found 2 Schmorl G. Junghanns H. Ile Iiieit ma spine in lien/iltl, 01(1 differences between the seropositive and seronegative disease. 2nd American edition translaited aind editcd by E F patients that to some extent paralleled our original Bcscmann. Ncw York and London: Grunc aind Stratton. 1971. Stanford expenience and now the Italian data.' 3 Vernon-Roberts B, Pirnc C J. Dcgcncrative changes in the intcrvcrtcbral discs of thc lumbar spinc and their scqucla1c. Royal National Hospital for ANDREI CALIN Rheurnatol Relhabil 1977: 16: 13-21. Rheumatic Diseases, 4 Epstein B S. The spinie. A radiological teat atnd atlas. Upper Borough Walls, Philadclphia: Lea and Fcbiger. 1976. Bath BAI 1RL.


Adler et al. (2016) open with a summary of the business case driving our field to change and close by providing principles for accomplishing that change, where they conclude that "there is no right answer to the ratings question" (p. 244). Lying between the opening and closing sections is a series of arguments for and against today's performance rating status quo, arguments illustrating just what happens when too many years are spent seeking answers along too narrow a path. In this commentary, we provide additional support for the strategy- and outcome-driven approach to performance management advocated in the article. In addition, we offer ideas for what has contributed to getting us and keeping us where we are. Unless we understand what has driven performance ratings research and practice to be the object of an intense and lengthy debate, these same forces may well drive us to carry out years-long experiments of questionable value along similarly narrow paths. We want to offer our views on how to foster outcome-based practice more broadly.


The aim of this research is to find out the best temperature, time and amount of dehydrator on dehyration of ricinoleic of castor oil by P 2 O 5 . Dehydration as means to obtain linoleic and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) as glyseride forms. Dehydration was carried out using various temperature, time and amount of dehydrator. The reaction medium was maintained under vacuum through by silica gel to reduced water, gentle bubling with nitrogen thorough by Mg to prevent oxidation, and used Zn powder as an antipolymerization agent. Dehydration was followed by GC which the best result was caused the lowest ricinoleic and the highets linoleic and CLA. Identification was done by FTIR, UV and GC- MS and it was compared with the standard. The best dehydration was obtain for 200 o C, 3% (w/w) P 2 O 5 , and 4 h with a convertion factor (yield) of 97,94%. The composition of best result was: 1.02% (9c – 12c) linoleic, 41.97% (9c/t – 12t/c) linoleic, 19.50% (9c/t-12t/c) CLA, 4.89% (9t – 12t)linoleic,19.79%(9t–11t)CLA and0.94%ricinoleic.TheratioofCLA:linoleicofdehydrated was 0.82 : 1 or 76.18 % compared to the standard CLA with the proportions of 1.45:1.


Abstract. The formation of alkyl nitrates in various oxidation processes
taking place throughout the diel cycle can represent an important sink of
reactive nitrogen and mechanism for chain termination in atmospheric
photo-oxidation cycles. The low-volatility alkyl nitrates (ANs) formed from
biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), especially terpenoids, enhance
rates of production and growth of secondary organic aerosol. Measurements of
the NO3 reactivity and the mixing ratio of total alkyl nitrates
(ΣANs) in the Finnish boreal forest enabled assessment of the
relative importance of NO3-, O3- and OH-initiated formation of
alkyl nitrates from BVOCs in this environment. The high reactivity of the
forest air towards NO3 resulted in reactions of the nitrate radical,
with terpenes contributing substantially to formation of ANs not only during
the night but also during daytime. Overall, night-time reactions of NO3
accounted for 49 % of the local production rate of ANs, with contributions
of 21 %, 18 % and 12 % for NO3, OH and O3 during the day.
The lifetimes of the gas-phase ANs formed in this environment were on the
order of 2 h due to efficient uptake to aerosol (and dry deposition),
resulting in the transfer of reactive nitrogen from anthropogenic sources to
the forest ecosystem.


This volume of "Research in Race and Ethnic Relations" analyzes the pattern of assimilation and incorporation among the Hispanic population in the Washington DC metro region. Following a comprehensive introduction looking at theoretical and policy implication, the book consists of two conceptual chapters discussing the literature of ethnic incorporation and assimilation in urban regions, one chapter analyzing demographic trends among the Hispanic population, and four chapters analyzing different issues related to assimilation, in particular the nature entrepreneurialship, civic engagement, political participation, and education among migrants. This book makes a considerable contribution to the literature of emerging gateways in the field of migration and urban development with articles from notable academics and public policy analysts in their respective fields. It is the only comprehensive study of its kind concerning Hispanic migration to the Washington DC region (the majority of other studies in the field are based on data from major metropolitan cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles).


The main objective of this book is to provide methods of designing for stable CSTR and unstable CSTR with time delay and with or without positive or negative zero. The methods consist of synthesis method and IMC method. Simulation examples on various transfer functions models model relating concentration of the product to the feed flow rate in isothermal CSTR carrying out Van de Vusse reaction, transfer function model relating the reactor temperature to jacket temperature in jacketed CSTR, transfer function model relating concentration of the cells to the dilution rate in bioreactors and transfer function relating temperature of incinerator to the inlet load rate in municipal waste incinerator are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Many recycle processes where energy and mass recycle takes place are represented by SOPTDZ transfer function model.


Successful decision making requires an ability to monitor contexts, actions, and outcomes. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is thought to be critical for these functions, monitoring and guiding decisions especially in challenging situations involving conflict and errors. A number of different single-unit correlates have been observed in the ACC that reflect the diverse cognitive components involved. Yet how ACC neurons function as an integrated network is poorly understood. Here we show, using advanced population analysis of multiple single-unit recordings from the rat ACC during performance of an ecologically valid decision-making task, that ensembles of neurons move through different coherent and dissociable states as the cognitive requirements of the task change. This organization into distinct network patterns with respect to both firing-rate changes and correlations among units broke down during trials with numerous behavioral errors, especially at choice points of the task. These results point to an underlying functional organization into cell assemblies in the ACC that may monitor choices, outcomes, and task contexts, thus tracking the animal's progression through "task space."


This article presents a unique and compact coplanar waveguide (CPW) antenna that exhibits triband operation with circular polarization. The single antenna was designed to operate simultaneously in the following bands: WiMAX (3.3–3.6 GHz), wireless local area network (WLAN) (5.15–5.825 GHz), ITS (5.795–6.400 GHz), and ITU‐R (7.725–8.5 GHz). The realization of the triband antenna was achieved by using two semi fractal ring patches resembling the shape of a three leaf clover, and by introducing a pair of symmetrical L‐shaped slits in its ground plane. The antenna's physical parameters were investigated to fully understand their affect on the antenna's performance. The salient parameters obtained from this analysis enabled the optimization of the antenna's overall characteristics. The design concept was confirmed by fabricating the antenna prototype and measuring its characteristics. The proposed antenna has dimensions of 20 × 20 × 1 mm3. Measured results show the antenna exhibits circular polarization in WiMAX and ITU‐R bands, and linear polarization in the WLAN band. The antenna radiates omnidirectionally in the H‐plane, and approximately bidirectionally in the E‐plane. In addition, the antenna presents stable gain over the triband. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:413–418, 2015.


UNLABELLED
We present a tool that assesses the enrichment of significant associations from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a pathway context. The SNP ratio test (SRT) compares the proportion of significant to all SNPs within genes that are part of a pathway and computes an empirical P-value based on comparisons to ratios in datasets where the assignment of case/control status has been randomized. We applied the SRT to a Parkinson's disease GWAS dataset, using the KEGG database, revealing significance for Parkinson's disease and related pathways.

AVAILABILITY
https://sourceforge.net/projects/snpratiotest/


Study Design. Prospective study based on magnetic resonance imaging for lumbar disc herniation. Objective. In this study, we captured diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of the affected nerve root in lumbar disc herniation and examined the relationship between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and clinical symptoms to evaluate the efficacy of DWI in the diagnosis of lumbar spinal disorders. Summary of Background Data. DWI captures diffusion of water molecules in intracellular or extracellular fluid, allowing visualization of edematous changes, and is therefore used in diagnosis of hyper-acute cerebral infarction. In addition, it is possible to quantify the degree of diffusion using ADC calculated from the DWI data. Meanwhile in lumbar disc herniation, edematous changes occur in DRG of affected nerve root. If DWI enables visualization of these edematous changes, it will be possible to diagnose objectively the affected level. Methods. The subjects were 30 patients who underwent surgery of unilateral radiculopathy and a single level lumbar disc herniation. We analyzed the relationship between morbidity duration, visual analogue scale (VAS) score of leg symptoms, and ADC. In addition, we investigated any correlation between VAS recovery ratio (i.e., VAS preoperative − VAS postoperative)/VAS preoperative × 100) with ADC. Results. When compared with the contralateral side, ADC of the affected DRG was observed to increase in 18 and decrease in 12 subjects, and thus no definite trend was observed. The relationship between morbidity duration, VAS score, and ADC had no observed correlation. A positive correlation between ADC and VAS recovery ratio was statistically observed (P < 0.01, leg pain: r = 0.707, leg numbness: r = 0.738). Conclusion. This study showed that patients with decreased ADC tended to show poor improvement of leg symptoms, which may suggest the possibility that ADC of DRG is related to neuronal plasticity. Level of Evidence: 2


Colorectal cancer stem cell (CSC) has been regarded to be the root of colorectal cancer progression. However, there is still no effective therapeutic method targeting colorectal CSC in clinical application. Here, we investigated the effects of dichloroacetate (DCA) on colorectal cancer cell stemness. We showed that DCA could reduce colorectal cancer cell stemness in a dose‐dependent manner, which is evident by the decreased expression of stemness markers, tumor cell sphere‐formation and cell migration ability. In addition, it was found that DCA trigerred the ferroptosis of colorectal CSC, which is characterized as the upregulation of iron concentration, lipid peroxides, and glutathione level, and decreased cell viability. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that DCA could sequester iron in lysosome and thus trigger ferroptosis, which is necessary for DCA‐mediated attenuation on colorectal cancer cell stemness. Taken together, this work suggests that DCA might be a colorectal CSC‐killer.


Abstract Plane Taylor bubbles with correct and incorrect tip angles are numerically generated for the case of zero surface tension (s.t.) using a Fourier collocation method. We find that all of these bubbles satisfy correct asymptotic shape at their tails. We have identified some generic patterns in the behavior of these bubbles with incorrect tip angles. We provide theoretical justifications of these observations and provide some validation criteria for solutions with correct tip angle. We derive a tip angle dependent higher order constraint on the solution at the tip and show this to be a very useful validation criterion. The usefulness of this criterion is exemplified by allowing tip angles of bubbles to be determined numerically. The relevance of our results to accurate computation of the nature of selection mechanism for the zero s.t. limit bubble is discussed.


An efficient algorithm combining the adaptive integral method and the discrete complex image method is presented for analyzing large-scale microstrip structures. The mixed potential integral equation is discretized using the RWG basis functions for expansion and testing. The biconjugate gradient method is employed to solve the resulting matrix equation. The resulting algorithm has the memory requirement proportional to O(N) and the operation count for the matrix-vector multiplication proportional to O(Nlog N). Numerical results for some microstrip circuits and a microstrip antenna array are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of this method.


T cells contact allogeneic antigen presenting cells (APCs) and assemble, at their contact interface, a molecular platform called the immunological synapse. Synapse‐based molecules provide directional signals for the T cell—either positive signals, resulting in T‐cell activation, or negative signals causing T‐cell inactivation or anergy. To better understand the molecular basis of in vivo T‐cell anergy we analyzed the contacts made between in vivo anergized T cells and APCs, and determined which signaling molecules were included or excluded from their immunological synapses. Anergy was induced in TCR transgenic mice by the intravenous injection of semiallogeneic donor spleen cells. T cells from anergized mice were mixed with APCs, the T‐cell/APC synapses imaged using deconvolution microscopy, and their molecular compositions were determined. T cells from anergic mice formed unstable immunological synapses in vitro with allogeneic APCs and failed to recruit the signaling proteins necessary to initiate T‐cell activation. These findings suggest that T‐cell anergy induced by exposure to semiallogeneic donor cells is associated with defects in the earliest events of T‐cell activation, immunological synapse formation and recruitment of TCR‐mediated signaling proteins.


An automated sequential injection on-line preconcentration procedure for determination of trace levels of copper and lead via solvent extraction/back extraction coupled to ICP-MS is described. In citrate buffer of pH 3, neutral complexes between the analytes and the chelating reagent, ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC), are extracted into isobutyl methyl ketone (IBMK). The organic phase is separated from the aqueous one by means of a dual-conical gravitational phase separator, and stored in a PTFE holding coil. Afterwards, the organic phase is propelled and mixed with an aqueous back extractant of nitric acid containing Pd(II) ions as stripping agent, thereby facilitating a rapid metal exchange reaction with the APDC ligand and transfer of the analytes back into the aqueous phase. The aqueous phase is separated in a second dual-conical gravitational phase separator, and 30 µl is entrapped in a sample loop, the content of which is subsequently introduced into the ICP-MS, via a direct injection high efficiency nebulizer (DIHEN), for quantification. Enrichment factors of 29.6 (Cu) and 23.3 (Pb), detection limits of 17 ng l−1
(Cu) and 11 ng l−1
(Pb), along with a sampling frequency of 13 h−1 were obtained at a sample flow rate of 6.0 ml min−1. The precisions (RSD) at the 0.2 µg l−1 level were 4.4%
(Cu) and 4.8%
(Pb), respectively. The applicability of the procedure is demonstrated for the determination of copper and lead in three certified reference materials and a urine sample.


We study the formation of membrane budding in model lipid bilayers with the budding assumed to be driven by means of diffusion of trans-membrane proteins over a composite membrane surface. The theoretical model for the lipid membrane incorporates a modified Helfrich-type formulation as a special case. In addition, a spontaneous curvature is introduced into the model in order to accommodate the effect of the non-uniformly distributed proteins in the bending response of the membrane. Further, we discuss the effects of line tension on the budding of the membrane, and the necessary adjustments to the boundary conditions. The resulting shape equation is solved numerically for the parametric representation of the surface which has one to one correspondence to the membrane surface in consideration. Our numerical results successfully predict the vesicle formation phenomenon on a flat lipid membrane surface, since the present analysis is not restricted to the conventional Monge representation often adopted to the problems of these kind for the obvious computational simplicity, despite it's limited capability on describing the deformed configuration of membranes. In addition, we show that line tension at the interface of the protein concentrated domain makes a significant contribution to the budding formation of membranes.


Bangladesh is the Southern Asian country that has been experiencing the highest absolute decline in the Under Five Mortality Rate in the past 15 years. This paper focuses on the importance of women's education and empowerment variables in explaining this extraordinary result. We use a twolevel multilevel logistic regression to take into account the great differences among territorial communities in terms of child mortality reduction. It emerges that the importance of woman's empowerment measured as individual and as mother remains relevant even when the context is considered. A sensitivity analysis has been conducted to test the relevance of different indicators of female empowerment.


A 10% solution of ethanol in physiological saline, administered to the Blanc de Bouscat rabbit by the intraperitoneal route, causes a decrease of intraocular tension at a single dose as low as 15 mg per kg. This dose of 15 mg/kg, regularly given during 6 days per weeks, for 4 weeks, determines a progressive fall of intraocular tension during the 3 to 4 first days of each week, and has apparently cumulative effects: then, it remains at a constant level during the following days, and finally recovers its initial value between 2 consecutive weeks. The decrease of intraocular tension seems to be linked to a reduction of the secretory rate of aqueous humor, partly compensated by an increase of outflow resistance. Ethanol rate, as measured in the aqueous humor 120 min after the last injection, may be either equal to or higher than alcoholemia. After 24 hrs, there is no longer any dosable ethanol trace in the aqueous humor and in the blood, while the intraocular tension has reached its minimal value. It seems that a biological damage due to ethanol still persists, while ethanol rate is null in the blood and in the aqueous humor. A great number of authors have tried to find out the possible causes of ocular hypotension determined by high single doses of ethanol (from 200 to 3250 mg per kg) given to various animal species and to man. Proposed hypotheses do not seem to be worth being kept in mind when ethanol doses and very small (15 mg/kg). In the light of works carried out in vitro, it may be supposed that observed hypotensive ocular effects could be linked to central biochemical disorders having repercussions upon the variations of intraocular tension.


The purpose of this paper is to examine the pressures that globalization exerts on industrial relations systems in South Asia, how industrial relations and human resources (IR and HR) are changing in response, and to conclude with a vision of some future directions for IR and HR policy and practice in these countries.


OBJECTIVE
To study the actual glomerular filtration rates (GFR) in patients with nonfunctioning kidneys as shown by intravenous pyelography (IVP) using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) dynamic renal scintigraphy and dual-plasma sample clearance method.

METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed 107 patients with nonfunctioning kidneys shown by IVP who underwent renal dynamic 99Tcm-DTPA SPECT imaging. GFR was measured by Gates' methods (GFRGates') and dual-plasma sample clearance method (GFRdual-plasma). Based on the dynamic functional images and GFRdual-plasma measurements, the patients were categorized into mild renal impairment (GFRdual-plasma≥30 mL/min), moderate renal impairment group (GFRdual-plasma of 20-30 mL/min), severe renal impairment group (GFRdual-plasma of 10 to 20 mL/min), and nonfunctioning kidney group (GFRdual-plasma≤10 mL/min), and GFRGates' were compared among the groups.

RESULTS
According to GFRdual-plasma, the numbers of patients having mild, moderate, and severe renal impairment and nonfunctioning kidneys were 12(11.2%), 33(30.8%), 41(38.3%), and 21(19.6%), respectively. GFRdual-plasma and GFRGates' were not significantly different in mild and moderate renal impairment groups, but in patients with severe renal impairment, GFRdual-plasma was significantly lower than GFRGates' (13.9∓6.2 vs 18.8∓4.2 mL/min; t=-2.73, P=0.03), which was also the case with patients with nonfunctinging kidneys (4.5∓2.1 vs 7.2∓3.2 mL/min; t=-3.81, P=0.005).

CONCLUSION
Of the patients with nonfunctinging kidneys shown by IVP, only 58% of them actually have severe renal impairment or worse, and further SPECT dynamic renal scintigraphy is necessary to assess the actual risk of renal function impairment before operation.


Although bladder cancer represents a serious health problem worldwide, relevant mouse models for investigating disease progression or therapeutic targets have been lacking. We show that combined deletion of p53 and Pten in bladder epithelium leads to invasive cancer in a novel mouse model. Inactivation of p53 and PTEN promotes tumorigenesis in human bladder cells and is correlated with poor survival in human tumors. Furthermore, the synergistic effects of p53 and Pten deletion are mediated by deregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, consistent with the ability of rapamycin to block bladder tumorigenesis in preclinical studies. Our integrated analyses of mouse and human bladder cancer provide a rationale for investigating mTOR inhibition for treatment of patients with invasive disease.


When scientists speak of a "jet" they are usually referring to a fast flowing column of material, typically air or water. These jets range from the mundane, like water rushing out of a hose, to the exotic, such as the relativistic plasma jets that beam out from quasars or monster black holes. A turbo-jet, for example, pushes an aircraft forward using the supersonic thrust of air that streams out of the back of the engine. Writing in Physical Review Letters, Stephan Gekle and colleagues at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in collaboration with the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain, have found a supersonic jet in a surprising place: the collapsing splash from an object falling into water [1]. Their general setup is easy to reproduce by dropping a marble into a deep bowl of water (a billiard ball into a full bucket works even better). This effort is rewarded with not one, but three jets (see Fig.1): First, one of upward streaming supersonic air, followed by an obvious upward jet of water, along with a less evident downward jet of water toward the marble. Although Gekle et al. perform a more controlled experiment—they pull a disk downward through the liquid surface at a controlled speed—the general features of what they find are the same. Moreover, the disk enables Gekle et al. to have good control of the experimental conditions. In the kitchen version of the experiment, the marble creates a crown-shaped splash and crater as it falls into the liquid. The crater deepens to the point at which the walls start to contract. This is due to both the weight of the water outside and possibly surface tension, both of which create pressure gradients that force the collapse. Air inside this collapsing neck must escape upward or downward as the neck approaches pinch-off. It is in this escaping air that Gekle et al. found supersonic velocities—the first jet in this simple experiment (see Video 1). The shape of the neck plays an interesting role. As the air escapes through the neck, right before the neck FIG. 1: The impact of a heavy object on a fluid surface causes a sequence of events leading to the creation of three jets. From left to right in time: The crater first deepens and forms a crown as the object descends. When sufficiently deep, the crater begins to pinch radially due to the pressure of the surrounding fluid. A supersonic jet of air escapes through this collapsing neck. Following the impact of the fluid surface on itself at the neck pinch-off, two fluid jets emerge upward and downward from the pinch. This process illustrates the self-focusing and near singularities that occur when the liquid adjusts to the changing topology of its surface. (Alan Stonebraker)


We consider design of monetary mechanisms for two-sided matching. Mechanisms in the tradition of the deferred acceptance algorithm, even in variants incorporating money, tend to focus on the criterion of stability. Instead, in this work we seek a simple auction-inspired mechanism with social welfare guarantees. We consider a descending-price mechanism called the Marshallian Match, proposed (but not analyzed) by Waggoner and Weyl (2019). When all values for potential matches are positive, we show the Marshallian Match with a"rebate"payment rule achieves constant price of anarchy. This result extends to models with costs for acquiring information about one's values, and also to matching on hypergraphs. With possibly-negative valuations, which capture e.g. job markets, the problem becomes harder. We introduce notions of approximate stability and show that they have beneficial welfare implications. However, the main problem of proving constant factor welfare guarantees in"ex ante stable equilibrium"remains open.


In this paper I argue that it is time to rethink the military within Management and Organization Theory. The starting point for this discussion is a juxtaposition of the (lack of) study of the military within Management and Organization Theory compared with the recent (and sustained) interest in depicting war, the military and the military subject within popular culture. I argue that the military is a gendered and gendering organization that has wider discursive effects on the lived experience of masculinity. Having laid down these conceptual claims, I then argue for the value of film, and popular culture more broadly, as an important source of 'knowledge' about organizational life. To elaborate this claim, I conduct a close reading of four films that represent post‐Cold War conflicts and identify three recurring themes that tell particular 'truths' of the experiences of the contemporary military organizational subject. I conclude that there is something meaningful and relevant in the contemporary popular culture of war that can help address the limitations of the exploration of the military within Management and Organization Theory.


A reply We would like to thank Dr Asai for his interest in our study. In a study of fibreoptic oral intubation Dr Asai found the exact opposite to us, that cricoid pressure decreased the incidence of impingement. As he used a bimanual cricoid pressure technique, Dr Asai wonders if this factor could explain the difference in outcome. We did indeed use the single-handed cricoid pressure technique in our study and apologise if we did not make this clear. However, apart from this there were other significant methodological differences between the studies. The fibreoptic scope and the gum elastic bougie (GEB) differ considerably in their physical characteristics; we used a larger tracheal tube (9 mm vs 8 mm for males and 8 mm vs 7 mm for females); and we railroaded the tube with a laryngoscope blade in the valleculla to imitate a rapid sequence induction. We also appear to be studying a different phenomenon. In Dr Asai's study the main finding was the tendency of the fibrescope to bend and herniate into the oesophagus. It is not difficult to see how cricoid pressure, by compressing the oesophageal inlet, could prevent this happening and aid intubation. The greater stiffness of the GEB does not allow it to bend in this fashion. Furthermore, we speculate that the greater stiffness of the GEB may cause greater obstruction when the tube snags the glottis because it less likely to bend to overcome a marginal impingment than the more flexible fibrescope. The opposing outcomes in the two studies are interesting, but the methodological differences between them makes it difficult to draw a meaningful conclusion.


This article considers how well evidentiary processes within the international criminal tribunals match up to the challenge to provide fair and reliable verdicts. Rather than using the adversarial-inquisitorial dichotomy as the basis for exploring this question, the article takes as its reference point the well recognized norms of equality of arms and the right to adversarial procedure. It is argued that although the tribunals have met the minimum standards of fairness required by these norms, the combination of adversarial party presentation and free admission of evidence, within an evidentiary context in which it is difficult for the defence to make their own inquiries, has restricted defence access to information and its ability to challenge evidence. The article goes on to argue that some of these shortcomings have been addressed within the International Criminal Court by the establishment of a Pre-Trial Chamber but that the Chamber needs to be developed further to promote a truly participative approach to fact-finding between the parties.


The aim of this review paper is to explore the available information from research findings on the use of Turmeric (Curcuma longa) as a reliable phytogenic antibiotic for poultry production in the tropics especially in Nigeria and other countries. A wide range of phytogenic additives has found a growing interest in fortification of poultry diets. Supplementation of natural alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters in order to maintain both birds' performance and health in the tropics will be a welcome development. Turmeric has reportedly been widely supplemented in poultry diets as natural alternative antibiotics in several studies with outstanding performances. The nutritional, medicinal, haematological and phyto-toxicological effects of turmeric were reviewed in this paper. Hence, turmeric supplementation at recommended inclusion rate in poultry feeds without posing any deleterious effects to the birds' performances as well as the consumers of the products, and ultimately, leading to better profitability on the part of the farmers, will be a nutritional breakthrough for the farmers in the tropics.


Introduction: Humans have been using substances in one form or the other for centuries. Adolescents seem to be the most vulnerable group, and the slum dwellers are particularly at risk because of the prevailing environment. Objectives: The objective of this study is to study the prevalence of substance use among adolescents of slums of Guwahati city and to find out various factors influencing substance use among them. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the adolescents living in slums of Guwahati, Assam, from February to May 2014. Using cluster sampling method, 23 slums were selected, and desired clusters were obtained by applying probability proportionate to size method. From each slum, equal number of boys and girls were interviewed to get a total of 414 study subjects. Statistical Analysis: Proportions, Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were used. Results: The prevalence of ever users was 37.68% and 35.02% were current users. Gutkha was the most common substance used. The mean age of initiation of abusive substances was around 12 years for both boys and girls. Age, sex, religion, caste, schooling status, occupation, living status of parents and respondents, peer usage, and relationship with the family members showed significant association with substance use. Binary logistic regression concluded that age group, sex, and peer usage were the most significant factors influencing substance use behavior. Conclusion: As increasing age and peer usage influenced the substance usage, peer group counseling, recreational activities, and skill development programs in the early years hold promising in curbing the problem.


Lithium-air batteries (LABs) have attracted tremendous attention since the proposal of the LAB concept in 1996 because LABs have a super high theoretical/practical specific energy and an infinite supply of redox-active materials, and are environment-friendly. However, due to the lack of critical electrode materials and a thorough understanding of the chemistry of LABs, the development of LABs entered a germination period before 2010, when LABs research mainly focused on the development of air cathodes and carbonate-based electrolytes. In the growing period, i.e., from 2010 to the present, the investigation focused more on systematic electrode design, fabrication, and modification, as well as the comprehensive selection of electrolyte components. Nevertheless, over the past 25 years, the development of LABs has been full of retrospective steps and breakthroughs. In this review, the evolution of LABs is illustrated along with the constantly emerging design, fabrication, modification, and optimization strategies. At the end, perspectives and strategies are put forward for the development of future LABs and even other metal-air batteries.


A novel method is proposed to suppress the frequency chirp of single-driver z-cut Mach–Zehnder modulators. Theoretical analysis shows that by multiplying the output pulses of a half clock frequency driving single-driver z-cut modulator with the one delayed odd multiple bit duration, the frequency chirp can be removed entirely, and return-to-zero (RZ) pulses with duty cycles of about 25% and 56% are obtained. An experimental scheme is proposed to validate the proposed method. The experimental results show that perfect 40 GHz zero-chirp RZ pulses can be obtained by using this scheme.


Evaluation of signature properties of military equipment is very important. It is crucial to apply the proper method out of many possible approaches, based on amongst others ranking by probability of detection, detection time, and distance to target, which have been carried out by various countries. In this paper we present results from camouflage pattern assessments utilising two different approaches, based on human observers (detection time) and simulations (CAMAELEON). CAMAELEON ranks camouflaged targets by their local contrast, orientation and spatial frequency, mimicking the human eye's response, and is a rapid and low cost method for signature assessment. In our camouflage tests, human observers were asked to search for targets (in a natural setting) presented on a high resolution pc screen, and the corresponding detection times were recorded. In our study we find a good correspondence between the camouflage properties of the targets in most of our unique tests (scenes), but in some particular cases there is an interesting deviation. Two similar camouflage patterns (both were random samples of the pattern) were tested, and it seemed that the results depended on the way the pattern is attached to the test subject. More precisely, it may seem that high-contrast coloured patches of the pattern in the target outline were significantly different detected by humans compared to CAMAELEON. In this paper we discuss this deviation in the two signature evaluation methods and look at potential risks.


BACKGROUND
Greater central adiposity is related to the risk of diabetes.

OBJECTIVE
We aimed to test the hypothesis that central adiposity measured by computed tomography (CT) is a better predictor of the risk of diabetes than is body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist/hip ratio (WHR), or waist/height ratio.

DESIGN
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were measured at the L2-3 and L4-5 disc spaces in 1106 of the 3234 participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program. Sex-specific proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between VAT and SAT at both cuts, BMI, and other measures of central adiposity as predictors of the development of diabetes.

RESULTS
Men had more VAT than did women. White subjects had more VAT at both cuts than did other ethnic groups. The ratio of VAT to SAT was lowest in African Americans of both sexes. Among men in the placebo group, VAT at both cuts, WC, BMI, waist/height ratio, and WHR predicted diabetes (hazard ratio: 1.79-1.44 per 1 SD of variable). Among women in the lifestyle group, VAT at both cuts predicted diabetes as well as did BMI, and L2-3 was a significantly better predictor than was WC or WHR. SAT did not predict diabetes. None of the body fat measurements predicted diabetes in the metformin group.

CONCLUSIONS
In the placebo and lifestyle groups, VAT at both cuts, WHR, and WC predicted diabetes. No measure predicted diabetes in the metformin group. CT provided no important advantage over these simple measures. SAT did not predict diabetes.


We developed a system called DELTA that supports the students' use of backward chaining (BC) to prove the congruence of two triangles. DELTA is designed as an interactive learning environment and supports the use of BC by providing hints and a function to automatically check the proofs inputted by the students. DELTA also has coloring, marking, and highlighting functions to support students' attempts to prove the congruence of two triangles. We evaluated the efficacy of DELTA with 36 students in the second grade of a junior high school in Japan. We found that (1) the mean number of problems, which the experimental group (EG) completely solved, was statistically higher than that of the control group on the post-test; (2) the EG effectively used the BC strategy to solve problems; and (3) the students' attempt to use both the forward chaining strategy and the BC strategy led to solving the problems completely. key words: secondary education, interactive learning environments, learning support system, problem-solving, backward chaining


Background: The Avabahuk is a disease described in ancient Ayurveda and is correlated with frozen shoulder of modern science. It is mainly due to vatadosha prakopa and the treatment adopted for this are for snayu-sandhi-asthi-gata-vata. Many treatment modalities mentioned in Ayurveda for treatment of Avabahuka. The treatment modality Agnikarma, the intentional therapeutic heat burn therapy is one among them. Aim and objectives: The aim of the study is to compare efficacy of Agnikarma and topical Diclofenac sodium gel in Avabahuk (Frozen shoulder) treatment. Methodology: The sample size will decide in pilot study and the patients will randomly divided equally into 2 groups. In Group A (Interventional) the Agnikarma will be done at weekly interval for 4 weeks along with physiotherapy. In Group B (comparator group) the topical diclofenac sodium gel application for 4 weeks with physiotherapy. Study Protocol Kumar et al.; JPRI, 33(32B): 45-52, 2021; Article no.JPR .68560 46 Results: The changes will observed and record in objective outcomes. Conclusion: Agnikarma will be effective in lowering the pain and stiffness of frozen shoulder.


The policies is always changes according to the changing times, and changes take place in educational facilities welfare policy. Early childhood facilities, is no exception. Recent, increase in the number of kindergarten and kindergarten children according to policy changes of government`s active welfare. This change in pattern, policy changes and increased support to know the impact on the community, and this is not just a simply agenda that they need to be recognized social change. In addition, it can be seen changes in relevant laws and educational process according to childhood policy change flow and depending on social change. In this study, comparative study infants and installation of the facility based on criteria, ensuring standards of early childhood facility site, facilities of evolution of infants care act, act infants, infants of activities safety management. And Standards and facilities that are required to change the direction of the revision is for the purpose of research through changes in kindergarten curriculum to respond the policies flow. Research methods are literature on the various laws and research analysts, leading comparison of different child care and child care policy changes in laws and regulations to review materials are analyzed.


After almost 20 years of declining cocoa production, Ghana has been able in the last decade to increase the share of export prices going to producers and more than double production. Contrary to Washington Consensus prescriptions, these accomplishments were achieved through reforms that did not include market liberalization. In The Cocoa Coast: The Board-Managed Cocoa Sector in Ghana, the authors identify factors that have contributed to Ghana's success in cocoa production. These include the accountability of the government for the sector's performance (cocoa-sector performance being seen as a key dimension of economic management), its interest in maintaining the ability to raise funds globally as a reliable supplier of high-quality cocoa, and its policy of retaining a portion of producer revenues to promote the adoption of yield-enhancing measures. The authors also suggest how Ghana can improve the efficiency of the cocoa sector through measures such as increased transparency and curtailing services that would be better provided by the private sector. The Cocoa Coast will be a valuable resource for policy makers, development specialists, and others interested in different national development paths.


This paper proposes the performance improvement of the power converters in Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) based on size reduction, efficiency improvement and power quality. The traditional UPS consists of step up transformer or dc-dc chopper to boost the voltage which decreases the efficiency, reduces the power quality and leads to increase the cost of energy conversion. Many PWM techniques are available for inverter switching. This paper introduces the concept of space vector modulation for four wire voltage source inverters. The Space vector modulation scheme generates the inverter leg switching time from the sampled reference phase voltage amplitudes. It involves sector identification and lookup tables. The four wire inverters are used in many applications to handle the neutral current caused by the unbalanced and non-linear load. The Space Vector Modulation (SVM) for four wire voltage source inverter is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK model for two level output voltages. Further the results are analyzed for various loading conditions for two level output voltage waveform. Index Terms – Inverter, Space Vector Modulation, THD


Tattoo, Tat't'aow, Tattow, Tatoo, Tatto, Tatu, Ta Tau (Polynesian): To perform permanent marks or designs upon the skin by puncturing it and inserting a pigment or pigments: Practiced by various tribes of low cultures; and by individuals in civilized countries. Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary Lydia oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia Lydia the tattooed lady? She has eyes that men adore so And a torso even more so Lydia, oh Lydia That encyclopedia Lydia the queen of tattoos On her back is the battle of Waterloo Beside it the wreck of the Hesperus II And proudly above waves the red white and blue You can learn a lot from Lydia. La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la, la "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady," as sung by Groucho Marx (© 1939 by Leo Feist, Inc)


Conventional single-tensor tractography cannot depict the entire motor tract of the corticospinal tract because of fiber-crossing and other factors. Using a 3-tesla magnetic resonance (MR) unit, we compared single- and multi-tensor methods for the tract ratio of the 5 major components of the motor pathway, the lower extremity, trunk, hand, face, and tongue, in 5 healthy volunteers. Multi-tensor tractography is better than single-tensor tractography at 3T in depicting more fibers of non-trunk areas from the primary motor cortex.


In previous research,the homopolar magnetic bearing and the maglev motor using the magnetic bearing were developed for application to an artificial heart. Implantable VAD is subjected to acceleration due to patient movement. For this reason, magnetic bearings must have acceleration resistance performance that allows the rotor to float stably without contact against external acceleration. In this pepar, the acceleration resistance performance of the magnetic bearings and maglev motor was calculated. After that, the acceleration performance of two real machines of magnetic bearing and maglev motor ware evaluated by applying acceleration to the magnetic bearing by sinusoidal excitation using a vibrator. As a result, it was confirmed that the acceleration resistance performance of the magnetic bearing and maglev motor almost coincided with each other in the calculation and real machine experiments.


We have investigated the interaction between human platelets and the NK-system, with special emphasis on the action of secretory products from platelets in an NK assay with 51Cr-labelled K562 as target cells. Supernatants from thrombin-stimulated platelets added to the NK assay consistently decreased the NK-cytotoxicity by 40% +/- 4.3%, indicating the existence of secreted products from platelets as a source of NK-inhibiting substances. In contrast, no direct cytotoxic effect of these secretory products on the target cells (K562) was seen. Thus, normal human platelets, when stimulated with thrombin, are capable of secreting different, yet undefined factors, which significantly inhibit NK activity in vitro. The results also suggest that the role of products from contaminating in vitro activated platelets should be borne in mind when performing conventional NK assays.


Dissimilar welding process yields unwanted disadvantages on the weld joint due to the large difference between stainless steel-aluminium sheets melting points and nearly zeros solid solubility between these two metals. Aluminium AA6061 and stainless steel SUS304 were lap-welded by using Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding with aluminium filler ER5356 and stainless steel filler ER308LSi. The effect of welding voltage and type of filler metals used to the weld joints were studied. The welding voltage had significance effect to the welding process, as high voltage resulted in poor appearance of the weld joint. Joints between aluminium and stainless steel using aluminium filler have good microstructure as it shows enrichment of eutectic silicon particle, thus increase the hardness of the joint. The intermetallic compound layer occur between heat affected zone and fusion zone. The hardness value of welded seam in this joint range from 60 to 100 HV. The fracture in tensile test occurred at the edge of the joint before derive into welded seam with the highest tensile strength of 104.4 MPa. Meanwhile, aluminium-stainless steel joints using stainless steel filler contains carbide precipitate in its microstructure, which is undesirable in welding process. The enrichment of chromium particles indicates that there is element addition in weld joint throughout welding process. The hardness value of the welded seam range from 180 to 230 HV and the highest tensile strength is 61.76 MPa. Based on this study, it can be concluded that aluminium filler ER5356 is the optimum filler in joining dissimilar metal aluminium AA6061 and stainless steel SUS 304.


A total of 31 algal samples were collected from 5 sampling sites of various water bodies of Bahuda river mouth areas of Orissa during a collection trip in the month of January 2010. Altogether 36 algal taxa were reported belonging to Cyanobacteria/Cyanoprokaryota, Chlorophyta, Euglenozoa and Bacillariophyta. The species distribution indicates the dominance of green algae followed diatoms and blue green algae. The occurrence of species with respect to trophic status of these water bodies indicate that ditch is more eutrophicated in comparison to mesotrophic pond and oligotrophic river.


Although the outsourcing of information systems has been widely used for a long time, there are few systematical researches on the situational variables in the information system of restaurant management and outsourcing results. For this reason, this study examines the relationships among the situational variables in the information system of restaurant companies, the level of outsourcing, and outsourcing results and attempts to raise the quality of restaurant management and suggest progressive ways of rational operation and efficient management of employees. The results of the empirical analysis of this study are summarized as follows. First, the financial capability and information technology resources of a contracting company have statistically significant effects on partnership; the external circumstances of information systems such as the uncertainty of information technology and the uncertainty of circumstances have positive effects on the quality of partnership. Second, the reliability and interdependence of a contracting company, or the service company of a client company have positive effects on outsourcing results. Third, the financial capability of a contracting company has positive effects on outsourcing results while information technology resources and the capability of information technology have positive effects on efficiency at work. Furthermore, the uncertainty of information technology and the uncertainty of circumstances have positive effects on the external circumstances of information systems.


The increased scope and percentage of children being homeschooled raise questions about the impact of this framework on the child's world. One of the issues that has not been adequately studied with regard to homeschooling is whether the emotional and personal problems of parents have greater impact on children who are homeschooled. The present research, conducted in Israel, examined this question from the perspective of attachment theory, which focuses on how people relate to intimate relationships. Previous research has shown an association between the attachment of parents and emotional and behavioral characteristics of their children. Against this background, the present research compared a group of homeschooling mothers and children with a group of mothers who sent their children to school (a total of 101 children; mean age, 9.2 years). These groups did not differ in age and socioeconomic status. The comparison focused on variables beyond these and also considered the degree of structure of the homeschooling practiced. The findings indicated a correlation between mother's attachment anxiety and internalizing and externalizing problems of the child. However, no correlation was found between attachment avoidance and these problems, and no difference was found between the two groups in terms of these correlations. The results contribute, among other things, to understanding the association between homeschooling and behavioral and emotional problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


ABSTRACT The molecular mechanisms that coordinate postnatal brain enlargement, synaptic properties, and cognition remain an enigma. Here, we demonstrate that neuronal complexity controlled by p21-activated kinases (PAKs) is a key determinant for postnatal brain enlargement and synaptic properties. We showed that double-knockout (DK) mice lacking both PAK1 and PAK3 were born healthy, with normal brain size and structure, but severely impaired in postnatal brain growth, resulting in a dramatic reduction in brain volume. Remarkably, the reduced brain size was accompanied by minimal changes in total cell count, due to a significant increase in cell density. However, the DK neurons have smaller soma, markedly simplified dendritic arbors/axons, and reduced synapse density. Surprisingly, the DK mice had elevated basal synaptic responses due to enhanced individual synaptic potency but were severely impaired in bidirectional synaptic plasticity. The actions of PAK1 and PAK3 are possibly mediated by cofilin-dependent actin regulation, because the activity of cofilin and the properties of actin filaments were altered in the DK mice. These results reveal an essential in vivo role of PAK1 and PAK3 in coordinating neuronal complexity and synaptic properties and highlight the critical importance of dendrite/axon growth in dictating postnatal brain growth and attainment of normal brain size and function.


Background and Objectives:This study was performed to, 1) evaluate the diagnostic value of the Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), which is known to be present in the heart ventricle, for patients with dyspnea for the assessing its causes;diastolic or systolic heart failure or pulmonary disease, and 2) find if the BNP is correlated with the distance walked in 6 minutes, which is known to be a prognostic indicator for heart failure. Subjects and Methods:Fifty-seven patients who admitted to the Kangbuk Samsung Medical Center, with the chief complaint of dyspnea, were enrolled in the study. The subjects were classified into three groups according to the causes of their dyspnea, which were systolic heart failure, diastolic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The plasma BNP levels were measured by a radioimmunoassay, both at admission and discharge. The BNP levels at admission were compared among the three groups. The presence of a correlation between the distance walked in 6 minutes and the BNP at discharge were also evaluated. Results:The patients group with systolic heart failure had the highest mean BNP concentration of 934.6±386.7 pg/mL. The other two groups had significantly lower levels of BNP. The patients group with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had significantly lower level than the group with diastolic heart failure (33.2±25.6 vs. 181.8±222.2 pg/mL). The BNP concentrations at discharge, and the distance walked in 6 minutes, between the three groups showed no statistical significance (p=0.69). Conclusion:This study showed that the mean plasma BNP level was highest in the group with systolic heart failure, followed by diastolic heart failure and lastly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These findings suggest that diagnostic value of the plasma BNP concentration in the assessment of the causes of dyspnea. Although this study has failed to show a correlation between the plasma BNP concentration at discharge and the distance walked in 6 minutes, prospective cohort studies, with larger sample sizes, need to be performed to establish the relationship, if any. (Korean Circulation J 2003;33 (4):302-310)


AS MANY AS 90% of motor vehicle accidents are caused by human error,' often associated with inexperience. In Australia as elsewhere, there havebeenattemptsto improve driver awareness and ability, eitherby setting up educational programmes, beginning at kindergarten, to teach children the rules of the road from an early age, or by conducting advertising campaigns,' by any of the mass media, aimed at increasing the social conscience of members of the public. In 1983, Freebody and Connor conducted a survey (see page 815, this issue of the Journal) of final-year students in the north-western region of NewSouthWales. Their results, which they compare with those of a similar survey conducted in 1977, show that the campaign against drinkdriving which took place in the interim six-year period has had a considerable effect on young people's attitudesand on the extent of their knowledge with regard to road-safety issues. It would seem that there is a social awareness in this respect among today's youth which was not apparent six years ago. In particular, young people today showa greater understanding of the problem of drink-driving. In addition, the majority of the students who took part in the 1983 survey were in favour of introducing driver education into the present educational system. Indeed, it does seem reasonable that it should become part of the school curriculum, if the aim is to raise the awareness of young people and impress upon them their social responsibilities. New educational programmes are often delayed or prevented by financial restrictions. The establishment of a driver-education course in a secondary-school curriculum would certainly be a costly enterprise. There would need to be a practical component to the course; the theory alone is unlikely to impress 16to 17-year-old adolescents. Teachers would have to be recruited or retrained to instruct students in the theoryand practice of driving motor vehicles as very few of us would be competent to do this without some training, even though we may feel we are safe drivers. Ideally, such an educational programme should not cease oncea licence hasbeenobtained. A booklet published by the NewZealand Ministry of Transport indicates that the group at greatest risk of being involved in motor vehicle accidents are young people who havebeendriving for some years and have long left the formal educational system.' Drivers of 20 to 25 years of age tend to regard themselves as experienced drivers who have developed a personal styleof driving, and