Background: Six Keys to normal occlusion by Andrews, describes six general characteristics of 120 models of optimal natural occlusion, which should be the goal orthodontic treatment. It is the sixth key, molar relationship, angulation, inclination, rotation, tooth contact, and the curve of Spee. Among the six keys to normal occlusion, the correct position of the long axis of the mesiodistal tooth crown contribute to achieving a balance occlusion and system stomatognatic. Normal occlusion distal crown tipping depends on the exact mainly from the upper anterior teeth, because the rectangle occupies a wider space when tipped than when upright, so that the level of mesiodistal tipping determine the amount of space they occupy, and therefore, has a great influence on occlusion posterior and anterior aesthetics and arch. Purpose: To determine the anterior angulation in normal occlusion and to determine the relation of anterior angulation and intercanine width in normal occlusion FKG UNAIR student. Methods: This study is an analityc observational study using total sampling. The sample from FKG UNAIR student. Researcher measured the study models of FKG UNAIR student. Standarized photograph of study models was taken, then measured with protractor No.19 (Shinhwa). Intercanine width was measured with caliper. Result: Repeated test to determine the differences between two measurement obtained a significance 0.073. p>0.05, there is no difference in the first measurement and the second one. The analysis data for the correlation between anterior angulation and intercanine width p> 0.05 except for teeth 33 p= 0.047 (p<0.05). Conclusion: There was no correlation between anterior teeth angulation and intercanine width in normal occlusion, except for teeth 33 angulation and intercanine width there was a correlation between them.


There exists a recursive algorithm for constructing BPST-type multi-instantons on commutative R. When deformed noncommutatively, however, it becomes difficult to write down nonsingular instanton configurations with topological charge greater than one in explicit form. We circumvent this difficulty by allowing for the translational instanton moduli to become noncommutative as well. Such a scenario is natural in the self-dual Yang-Mills hierarchy of integrable equations where the moduli of solutions are seen as extended space-time coordinates associated with higher flows. By judicious adjustment of the moduli-noncommutativity we achieve the ADHM construction of generalized 't Hooft multi-instanton solutions with everywhere self-dual field strengths on noncommutative R.


Crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD) is known to be due to a contralateral supratentorial lesion decreasing blood flow and the metabolism in a cerebellar hemisphere. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an imaging technique that utilizes arterial blood water as a tracer for quantifying the regional cerebral blood flow in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This case was a patient with simple partial status epilepticus (SPSE) and CCD confirmed by ASL-perfusion MRI. Controlling the SPSE resulted in improvement of CCD being observed in the follow-up ASL-perfusion MRI. J Korean Neurol Assoc 35(3):142-147,


The complexity of ontology authoring and the difficulty to master the use of existing ontology authoring tools, put significant constraints on the involvement of both domain experts and knowledge engineers in ontology authoring. This often requires substantial effort for fixing ontologies defects (e.g. inconsistency, unsatisfiability, missing or unintended implications, redundancy, isolated entities). The paper argues that ontology authoring tools should provide immediate semantic feedback upon entering ontological constructs. We present a framework to analyse input axioms and provide meaningful feedback at a semantic level. The framework has been used to augment an existing Controlled Natural Language-based ontology authoring tool – ROO. An experimental study with ROO has been conducted to examine users' reactions to the semantic feedback and the effect on their ontology authoring behaviour. The study strongly supported responsive intuitive ontology authoring tools, and identified future directions to extend and integrate semantic feedback.


// there is little a priori knowledge of the plant parameters, the performance of certainty equivalence based adaptive control lers during the transient period, before the parameter estimates have converged, is usually less than adequate. This paper intro duces a new suboptimal loss function with an N-step-ahead prediction horizon, similar in principle to standard predictive control loss functions, for adaptive control applications. How ever, the new loss function is modified so that the resulting control law possesses caution in the sense that the uncertainty in the parameter estimates is taken into account automatically. As such, the cautious controller achieves more robust perfor mance than the corresponding certainty equivalence controller during the transient period when there is large uncertainty in the parameter estimates. The new cautious controller has a closed-form solution that involves only slightly more computa tional expense than the corresponding certainty equivalence predictive controller.

http://users.iems.northwestern.edu/~apley/papers/1998 Suboptimal N-Step-Ahead Cautious Controller.pdf


Oxidative stress represents a major cause of cellular damage and death in pathological conditions including osteoporosis, in which oxidative stress is associated with increased bone resorption and low bone mass. And grape seed proanthocyanidins are a group of polyphenolic bioflavonoids which are known to possess broad pharmacological activity and therapeutic potential, exerting a protective role against oxidant injury. The aim of our study was to investigate whether proanthocyanidins exert an anti-apoptosis effect in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells, via their antioxidant activity. Firstly, we determined the anti-apoptosis effect of proanthocyanidins in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells, which were subject to H2O2 treatment, then we determined the association of the antioxidant activity exerted by proanthocyanidins with their anti-apoptosis effect. Results demonstrated that proanthocyanidins inhibit H2O2-promoted apoptosis in MC3T3-E1 cells, via ameliorating the viability of MC3T3-E1 cells post H2O2 treatment and reducing the apoptotic cell numbers. And the proanthocyanidins treatment also ameliorates the H2O2-induced mitochondrial dysfunction via promoting the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and respiratory chain complex IV, and reducing the mitochondrial free radical production, ROS and mitochondrial superoxide. Moreover, the proanthocyanidins inhibit H2O2-induced apoptosis signaling which is mediated by p53. This study implied a possible anti-osteoporosis effect of proanthocyanidins via their antioxidant and anti-apoptosis activity.


Abstract The nonalcoholic hepatic steatos is represents one of the most frequent disorders in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. The obesity and especially the abdominal adipose tissue distribution represent factors of higher risk for nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis. The echographic examination and FirboScan are very important in identification of this disorder. The study consisted in analysis of the clinical and paraclinical results in order to identify the SHNA (The nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis) incidence. It must be mentioned the fact that the absence of the abdominal obesity and increased transaminases do not exclude SHNA(The nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis).


Weed control tries to suppress competitors for a crop and often relies on differential intoxication, making use of differences in uptake, development, or metabolism. We explored the possibility of using natural signals to shift competition in favour of the crop. Using the competitive horsemint (Mentha longifolia) as a paradigm, we showed that essential oils from certain mint species suppress the seedling development of different target species in a specific and efficient manner. The specificity concerned both the donor and the receptor. We demonstrated further that the effect of horsemint oil was specific for actin filaments, and not for microtubules. Since the elimination of actin will impair auxin transport, which is essential for root regeneration in vegetatively propagating weeds, we tested the efficacy of horsemint essential oil in combination with a slow-release carrier against field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), a pertinent weed in organic cereal production. We observed that the development of this weed can be specifically blocked, especially if the carrier is worked into the soil. We propose that allelopathic interactions, often relying on manipulative chemical signalling, harbour significant potential for organic weed control.


existenrce of any and every degree of even organic disease of the 1ear t. In as' henic cascs exposure for from fifteen to thirty minutes to a temperature of 115° to 1200 F. in the tepidarium-the thermometer hanging three feet from the floor level-will usually induce mild but sufficient diaphoresis without distress of any kind, and may be followed by some appropriate ablution, any intense thermal or mechanical stimulation being, of course, out of the question. Even this modified form of bath is probably inadmissible in severe cases of aortic regurgitation, compound valvular lesions, dilatation from adherent pericardium, or fatty degeneration, but in simple cases of aortic and mitral stenosis and mitral regurgitation it is often beneficial in many ways. An important subject, to which a mere cursory reference is alone possible at present, is that of the properties and uses of the so-called excitant or heating compresses-cold, wet compresses eovered in such a way as to preclude evaporation. The powerful influence of their continued application, in promnoting the resolution of chronic inflammations and catarrhs, the absorption of old and hardened exudations, and the relief of various neuralgic and spastic affections, is one of the best-ascertained facts, and its precise modus operandi one of the most interesting problems of hydrotherapy. Fortunately, however, the fact itself of the efficacy in question of this apparently trifling procedure is one which can be readily tested by any practitioner. X few words must be devoted to the subject of the methodicaldrinking of cold water. As collated and in part diseovered by Winternitz, the effects of this procedure may be briefly summarised as follows: 1. Immediately after the drinking of cold water the pulserate is lowered, probably by stimulation of the pneumogastric fibres, but soon returns to the normal. 2. The temperature falls in the stomach and also, to a noticeable degree, in the rectum, a fact which may find clinical application in inflammatory conditions of the pelvic organs; conversely, cold enemata reduce the temperature of the stomach. 3. Catabolic processes are stimulated, and there is true diuresis, the excretion of urea, as also of the other urinary constituents, being markedly increased. 4. Peristalsis and the portal circulation are stimulated, and also (in consequence, perhaps, of the latter effect) the excretion of bile. 5. Bocker has attributed to water drinking an improvement in the respiratory qualities of the red blood corpuscles. Most of the above effects are more marked when the water taken is imbibed gradually, rather than in larger quantities at a time but with longer intervals. The value of pure water as a diuretic is perhaps hardly yet sufficiently appreciated. Dropsical effusiols may sometimes be relieved by its free administration, alternated with periods of nearly complete abstention. I would suggest also that in view of the proofs advanced by Dr. lHaig of the tendency of alkalies to induce chronic uric-acidaemia, their routine administration in cases of gout and rheumatism. except, perhaps, in the hope of dissolving actual calculi, is hardly justifiable, and in pure water we possess at least one, available substitute. Its power of increasing tissue waste indicates water drinking as a remedy for obesity. What place, then, are we to assign to hydriatic procedures as a class in the modern therapeutic armamentarium? Obviously their scope is far wider than that of any individual drug. The modern renascence of hydrotherapy was contemporaneous with the final close of the reign of authority and tradition in the healing art and the dawn of the epoch of science. A wave of therapeutic pessimism had swept over Europe, anid sectarian hydropathy was the outcome of an instinctive return to first principles, a feeling that it would be necessary to begin over again and to build upon surer foundations. But Priessnitzian hydropathy was no less arbitrary and empirical than the system it pretended to supfrsede, and it was not until the attention of scientific observers had been secured that the extravagant claims of fanaticism were replaced by the sober assertions of reason. I-n France this was the case almost from the first, but it occurred later in Germany and England. Meanwhile the new seience of pharmacology had stolen into being, and it began to be perceived that the so-called rival systems were not necessarily rivals at all, but complementary factors of the one true method, their apparent antagonism being due to an imperfect understanding of their respective functions. In practice there can be no doubt that the benefits of really appropriate medication are augmented by the simultaneous employment of hydriatic procedures. To such other elements of rational treatment as are constituted by massage, medical gymnastics, the scientific regulation of diet, aero-therapeutics, and the various electrical methods, the natural relationship of hydrotherapy is sufficiently obvious. Its amalgamation with these has already proceeded far, and is destined, probably, to proceed much further in course of the construction of that concrete and organised system which we dimly apprehend as the gaol of therapeutic endeavour.


The hypothesis of the present study was that cod larvae have a limitation in lipid digestion, and that absorption of lipids would increase by pre-hydrolysation. The diets used were designed to contain 15 % lipid, of which 40 % was phosphatidylcholine (PC) and 60 % was TAG. Cod larvae (40 d post hatch (dph)) were fed a single meal where either PC or TAG was radioactively labelled, and the labelled PC or TAG was either intact or hydrolysed (pre-digested). The larvae were then incubated individually in chambers with collection of CO2 for 10 h. The following fractions were analysed for radioactivity: the incubation water (evacuated feed); the intestine; the body; the CO2 trap. The larvae ate a 16–29 μg diet, equivalent to 3·4–5·2 % of dry body weight. In the whole population, 0–16 % of the lipid was evacuated. The larvae that had eaten less than 1·9–2·7 μg lipid absorbed close to 100 % of the lipid, absorption being defined conservatively as the amount contained in the carcass and CO2, excluding the intestinal tissue. In these larvae, approximately 100 % of the absorbed lipid was also catabolised. In the larvae that ingested more than 1·9–2·7 μg lipid, there was a linear reduction in lipid absorption to a minimum of 55 % at the highest lipid intakes parallel to an increasing retention of lipids in the carcass. There were only minor differences in digestion, absorption, retention and metabolism of lipids between the larvae fed the different diets, and the larvae tended to retain lipid classes as they were present in the feed. The study shows that 40-dph Atlantic cod larvae have an efficient utilisation of dietary lipids supplied as intact PC and TAG.


Abstract Upper Tithonian (Jurassic) ammonites occur in the Chinameca Formation at Chinameca, southern Veracruz, eastern Mexico. The fauna includes Eopaquiericeras peraltai n. gen. and sp. and E. pazi new genus and species of the family Platylenticeratidae, Chinamecaceras maldonadoi n. gen. and sp. of the subfamily Aspidoceratinae, Veracruciceras ruizi n. gen. and sp. and V. myczynskii n. gen. and sp. of the subfamily Simoceratinae, Durangites zigzagcostatus n. sp., and representatives of Haploceras, Salinites, Kossmatia, and Andiceras. Kossmatia is the most abundant and biostratigraphically significant ammonite in the Chinameca fauna and its age significance and distribution in Mexico is discussed. In addition, a comparison of the suture lines of Kossmatia and the related older genus Lemencia indicates that they both belong to the Tithonian subfamily Richterellinae rather than the Upper Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian families Ataxioceratidae and Lithacoceratidae. The Chinameca ammonites have affinities with taxa of the same age from central and northern Mexico, Cuba, and the southern United States.


We perform first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to study quasi-one-dimensional edge-passivated (with hydrogen) zigzag graphene nanoribbons of various widths with chemical dopants, boron and nitrogen, keeping the whole system isoelectronic. The gradual increase in doping concentration takes the system finally to zigzag boron nitride nanoribbons (ZBNNRs). Our study reveals that for all doping concentrations the systems stabilize in antiferromagnetic ground states. Doping concentrations and dopant positions regulate the electronic structure of the nanoribbons, exhibiting both semiconducting and half-metallic behaviors as a response to the external electric field. Interestingly, our results show that ZBNNRs with a terminating polyacene unit exhibit half-metallicity irrespective of the ribbon width as well as applied electric field, opening a huge possibility in spintronics device applications.


The Burmese lynx spider, Oxyopes birmanicus Thorell (Araneae: Oxyopidae) is one of the endemic and entomophagous predatory arthropod species in India. This present study describes the seasonal abundance, vertical distribution, and feeding behaviour of O.birmanicus on nymph (4 th /5 th instar) and the adults of the tea mosquito bug, Helopeltis theivora Waterhouse (Hemiptera: Miridae) under laboratory conditions. The seasonal abundance of the O. birmanicus spider was considerably high from June to November and low from January to April. The abundance of O. birmanicus significantly correlated with the TMB infestation percentage. In a vertical distribution study, the O. birmanicus spider largely preferred the top level of the tea bush, the observed population was shared by the top and middle levels with 76% and 24% respectively. The feeding potential of the female O. birmanicus spider was significantly higher than the male and egg-guarding female. Both, male and egg-guarding female O. birmanicus showed on-par feeding efficacy. The study found that O. birmanicus was an efficient predator against TMB and the results may be useful in developing an integrated pest management strategy for TMB.


Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious chronic bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It is one of the deadliest diseases in the world and a heavy burden for people all over the world. However, the hub genes involved in the host response remain largely unclear. Methods The data set GSE11199 was studied to clarify the potential gene network and signal transduction pathway in TB. The subjects were divided into latent tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis, and the distribution of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was analyzed between them using GEO2R. We verified the enriched process and pathway of DEGs by making use of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO). The construction of protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was achieved through making use of the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING), aiming at identifying hub genes. Then, the hub gene expression level in latent and pulmonary tuberculosis was verified by a boxplot. Finally, through making use of Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), we further analyzed the pathways related to DEGs in the data set GSE11199 to show the changing pattern between latent and pulmonary tuberculosis. Results We identified 98 DEGs in total in the data set GSE11199, 91 genes upregulated and 7 genes downregulated included. The enrichment of GO and KEGG pathways demonstrated that upregulated DEGs were mainly abundant in cytokine-mediated signaling pathway, response to interferon-gamma, endoplasmic reticulum lumen, beta-galactosidase activity, measles, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, etc. Based on the PPI network, we obtained 4 hub genes with a higher degree, namely, CTLA4, GZMB, GZMA, and PRF1. The box plot showed that these 4 hub gene expression levels in the pulmonary tuberculosis group were higher than those in the latent group. Finally, through Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), it was concluded that DEGs were largely associated with proteasome and primary immunodeficiency. Conclusions This study reveals the coordination of pathogenic genes during TB infection and offers the diagnosis of TB a promising genome. These hub genes also provide new directions for the development of latent molecular targets for TB treatment.


We have recently described the existence of a cytochrome P450-associated, mitochondrial-based 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD)-1-hydroxylation reaction in the chick macrophage-like cell line HD-11. Considering that this reaction is regulated by the same set of factors (ie. interferon-gamma, lipopolysaccharide, and glucocorticoids) that modulate expression of the macrophage nitric oxide synthase (mac NOS), we investigated the possibility that endogenous nitric oxide (NO) production may be linked to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D) synthesis by HD-11 cells in vitro. To test this hypothesis we investigated the effects excluding from the extracellular medium the essential amino acid L-arginine, substrate for endogenous NO production, on the basal and stimulated expression of the HD-11 cell 25-OHD-1-hydroxylation reaction. Depletion of L-arginine from the extracellular medium for as little as 6 h resulted in a significant decrease (p < 0.02) in basal 1,25-(OH)2D synthesis; after 15 h in an L-arginine-free environment hormone production was reduced to < 10% of basal levels without any adverse affect on cell viability. Reintroduction of L-arginine, but not D-arginine, into the extracellular medium restored 1,25-(OH)2D3 synthetic capacity fully if done after < or = 6 h of incubation in the absence of L-arginine. Competitive inhibition of NOS with Nw-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (p < 0.002) and Nw-nitro-L-arginine (p < 0.02) significantly inhibited 1,25-(OH)2D synthesis, indicating that macrophage NO generating capacity is functionally linked to endogenous synthesis of the active vitamin D metabolite.


Acute myocardial infarction during pregnancy or the postpartum period is rare. We report a case of a 39-year-old postpartum woman who developed non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction due to severe diffuse coronary vasospasm. To our knowledge, this is the first case of angiographically evidenced coronary vasospasm, in a postpartum woman, with resistance to intracoronary nitroglycerin.


The geo-acoustic parameters are of great importance in determining how the sea bottom affects sound propagation in the ocean. Many inversion techniques have been developed to estimate geo-acoustic parameters. One-step inversion algorithms using a cost function defined only by energy loss may not result in a unique solution of geo-acoustic inversion problem because of the correlation between seabed sound speed and attenuation. This paper utilizes different characteristics of normal modes to define appropriate cost functions in a two-step inversion algorithm for inferring geo-acoustic parameters. This inversion scheme is applied to the combustive sound source data obtained by two L-shaped arrays. The inverted seabed sound speed and attenuation are comparable to the results derived from measured time series and transmission loss data at the same experimental site [Knobles, Wilson, Goff, and Cho, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 124, 2008]. [Work supported by ONR321OA].


Vaccines have contributed to reductions in morbidity and mortality from preventable diseases globally, but low demand for vaccination threatens to reverse these gains. Explorations of the determinants of vaccination uptake may rely on proxy variables to describe complex phenomena and construct models without reference to underlying theories of vaccine demand. This study aimed to use the results of a formative qualitative study (described elsewhere) to construct and test a model to explain the determinants of vaccination uptake. Using the results of a survey among more than 3,000 primary caregivers of young children in Nigeria, Uganda and Guinea, factor analysis produced six explanatory factors. We then estimated the effects of each of these factors on uptake of immunization using a structural equation model. The results showed that the probability that a child is fully vaccinated increases if a caregiver has support from others to vaccinate them (B= 0.33, {beta}= 0.21, p<0.001) and if caregivers had poor experiences with the healthcare system (B= 0.09, {beta}= 0.09, p= 0.007). Conversely, the probability of full vaccination decreases if the caregivers husband exerts control over her decision-making ability (B= -0.29, {beta} = -0.20, p<0.001) , or if the caregiver perceives vaccines to be of low importance (B= -0.37, {beta}= -0.27, p<0.001). Belief in religious protection (B= -0.07, {beta}= -0.05, p=0.118) and a belief that vaccines are harmful (B= -0.12, {beta}= -0.04, p= 0.320) did not have an observed effect on vaccination status . This research suggests that interventions may benefit from that including entire families and communities in their design.


Cyclodextrins are macrocyclic oligosaccharides which have found numerous applications in supramolecular chemistry. When combined with transition metals, they may lead to large assemblies suitable for the formation and study of unusual host-guest complexes. In this work, we present the synthesis and structural characterization of two new CD dimers. The latter were obtained by reaction of the sulfur-capped CD 6,6, 6,6-tetradeoxy6,6-(μ2-sulfido)-6 ,6-(μ2-sulfido)2,2,2,2,2,2,3,3,3,3,3,3-tetradeca-O-methyl-α-CD with K2PtCl4 and K2PdCl4, respectively. The two complexes are isostructural, with P1 space group and a = 14.3341(11)Å, b = 16.4120(14)Å, c = 17.3817(19), α = 74.814(7)°, β = 82.380(7)°, γ = 64.190(3)° for the Pt complex and a = 14.5623(3) Å, b = 16.5684(3) Å, c = 17.4742(3)°, α = 99.0740(10)°, β = 97.3390(10)°, γ = 116.0200(10) for the Pd complex. The X-ray analyses reveal a nanotubular structure for both complexes (length ca. 18 Å). In both of them, the two metal centres adopt a square planar coordination geometry. All CD moieties exhibit a regular torus shape. m28.p02


Abstract Broome, E. J., Brown, D. L. and Mitchel, R. E. J. Dose Responses for Adaption to Low Doses of 60Co γ Rays and 3H β Particles in Normal Human Fibroblasts. Radiat. Res. 158, 181–186 (2002). The dose response for adaption to radiation at low doses was compared in normal human fibroblasts (AG1522) exposed to either 60Co γ rays or 3H β particles. Cells were grown in culture to confluence and exposed at either 37°C or 0°C to 3H β-particle or 60Co γ-ray adapting doses ranging from 0.1 mGy to 500 mGy. These cells, and unexposed control cells, were allowed to adapt during a fixed 3-h, 37°C incubation prior to a 4-Gy challenge dose of 60Co γ rays. Adaption was assessed by measuring micronucleus frequency in cytokinesis-blocked, binucleate cells. No adaption was detected in cells exposed to 60Co γ radiation at 37°C after a dose of 0.1 mGy given at a low dose rate or to 500 mGy given at a high dose rate. However, low-dose-rate exposure (1–3 mGy/min) to any dose between 1 and 500 mGy from either radiation, delivered at either temperature, caused cells to adapt and reduced the micronucleus frequency that resulted from the subsequent 4-Gy exposure. Within this dose range, the magnitude of the reduction was the same, regardless of the dose or radiation type. These results demonstrate that doses as low as (on average) about one track per cell (1 mGy) produce the same maximum adaptive response as do doses that deposit many tracks per cell, and that the two radiations were not different in this regard. Exposure at a temperature where metabolic processes, including DNA repair, were inactive (0°C) did not alter the result, indicating that the adaptive response is not sensitive to changes in the accumulation of DNA damage within this range. The results also show that the RBE for low doses of tritium β-particle radiation is 1, using adaption as the end point.


We present a new type of lattice for trapping cold atoms in nearly-dark states where they weakly interact with light. The periodic potential is obtained with fields in a lin ⊥ lin configuration tuned on the blue side of a J → J transition and in the presence of a uniform static magnetic field. A numerical analysis performed for J = 4 demonstrates the occurrence of very small absorption widths and large populations in the lowest vibrational states. These lattices should be interesting for increasing the atomic density and for observing delocalized atomic wave functions.


The increasing power demands of spacecraft payloads, and the future prospect of space based solar photovoltaic (PV) power stations, mean that there is an emerging requirement for large area solar arrays that will provide far greater power (kWpeak) than is currently available. To be practical, such arrays will need to use solar cells which have a much higher specific power (i.e. power per unit mass) and a much lower cost per watt than current space-rated solar PV technologies. To this end, the Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) at Swansea University, the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and the Department for Mechanical Sciences at the University of Surrey, have been working on a new solar cell technology, based on thin film cadmium telluride (CdTe), deposited directly onto ultra-thin space qualified cover glass. This offers a potentially high specific power, low-cost technology with the added benefit of allowing a high degree of solar array flexibility for improved stowage volume and novel deployment strategies. Cells based on this innovative solar cell architecture have been manufactured and tested under a three year UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) funded project, with the result that highly efficient (for their class) cells were produced, which passed mechanical, thermal and ionising radiation tests with great success. Whilst this work was in progress, an opportunity to fly test cells on the joint Algerian Space Agency – UK Space Agency AlSat-1N Technology Demonstration CubeSat arose, and a successful bid was made to fly a payload capable of characterising the cells in orbit, via an automatic Current-Voltage (I-V) measurement circuit. The resulting Thin Film Solar Cell (TFSC) payload, comprising four test cells, was integrated onto AlSat-1N at Surrey, and launched from India into a 661 km × 700 km, 98.20° Sun Synchronous orbit on 26th September 2016. This paper describes the new cell technology, the pre-flight ground testing, the flight payload, and the first flight results of thin film CdTe solar cells flying on an international 3U CubeSat technology demonstrator.


Bromeliaceae, has 82 genera and 3,719 species found throughout the Neotropical region, from the southern United States to central Argentina and Chile. These plants are present in environments with different characteristics and have high endemism in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Tank bromeliads stand out for their morphology, which forms permanent water-accumulating compartments called phytotelmata, rich in organic detritus and living organisms. Culicidae use phytotelma as a breeding ground, and some species of Wyeomyia are highly dependent on these tanks. Research on the importance of bromeliads as water reservoirs that may favor the reproduction of mosquitoes that carry pathogens are controversial. Some studies indicate that these plants are potential breeding grounds for Aedes, while others suggest that they are not preferential foci for synanthropic mosquitoes, as is the case for A. aegypti. This work aimed at verifying the presence of Aedes and other Culicidae in native bromeliads in natural habitat and under ornamental cultivation in an urban environment, comparing the incidence of larvae in these possible breeding sites and contrasting with the luminosity and accumulated water volumes. Differences in species composition were observed between rural and urban environments. In the rural environment, four species of Culicidae were collected, the most abundant being Wyeomyia galvaoi -19 specimens, followed by Culex (Microculex) imitator - five specimens, while Aedes aegypti and Toxorhynchites sp 1, were the least abundant, with two individuals each. In the urban environment, five species were found, with greater abundance of Aedes aegypti (461 individuals), followed by Aedes albopictus (45), Toxorhynchites sp. 01 (3), Wyeomyia sp1 (02), and Wyeomyia galvaoi (01) In addition, these phytotelma showed great diversity of other organisms, such as: mites, nematodes, protists, rotifers, ostracods, and insect larvae of the Chironomidae, Syrphidae and Tachinidae families. The study concluded that the incidence of mosquito larvae in native bromeliads is low, and that luminosity and accumulated water volumes can influence the presence of larvae. The authors emphasize that the importance of bromeliads in mosquito reproduction may vary according to several factors.


Two types of states are widely used in quantum mechanics, namely (deterministic-coefficient) pure states and statistical mixtures. A density operator can be associated with each of them. In this paper, we address a third type of states, that we previously introduced in a more restricted framework. These states generalize pure ones by replacing each of their deterministic ket coefficients by a random variable. We therefore call them Random-Coefficient Pure States, or RCPS. We here analyze their properties and their relationships with both types of usual states. We show that RCPS contain much richer information than the density operator and mean of observables that we associate with them. This occurs because the latter operator only exploits the second-order statistics of the random state coefficients, whereas their higher-order statistics contain additional information. That information can be accessed in practice with the multiple-preparation procedure that we propose for RCPS, by using second-order and higher-order statistics of associated random probabilities of measurement outcomes (we also discuss our single-preparation procedure). Exploiting these higher-order statistics opens the way to a very general approach for performing advanced quantum information processing tasks. We illustrate the relevance of this approach with a generic example, dealing with the estimation of parameters of a quantum process and thus related to quantum process tomography. This parameter estimation is performed in the non-blind (i.e. supervised) or blind (i.e. unsupervised) mode. For the considered type of measurements, we show that this problem cannot be solved by using only the density operator ρ of an RCPS and the associated mean value Tr ( ρ ˆ A ) of the operator ˆ A that corresponds to the considered physical quantity. In contrast, we succeed in solving this problem by exploiting a fourth-order statistical parameter of state coefficients, in addition to second-order statistics. Numerical tests validate this result and show that the proposed method yields accurate parameter estimation for the considered number of state preparations.


Abstract Background and Objectives There is a growing interest to involve older adults in the co-design of technology to maintain their well-being and independence. What remains unknown is whether the beneficial effects of co-designed solutions are greater than those reported for non co-designed solutions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects and experiences of co-designed technology that support older adults to age in place. Research Design and Methods We conducted a systematic review to (a) investigate the health and well-being outcomes of co-designed technology for older adults (≥60 years), (b) identify co-design approaches and contexts where they are applied, and (c) identify barriers and facilitators of the co-design process with older adults. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Science Citation Index (Web of Science), Scopus, OpenGrey, and Business Source Premiere. Results We identified 14,649 articles and included 34 projects. Four projects reported health and well-being outcomes; the effects were inconsistent. Co-design processes varied greatly and in their intensity of older adult involvement. Common facilitators of and barriers to co-design included the building of relationships between stakeholders, stakeholder knowledge of problems and solutions, and expertise in the co-design methodology. Discussion and Implications The effect of co-designed technology on health and well-being was rarely studied and it was difficult to ascertain its impact. Future co-design efforts need to address barriers unique to older adults. Evaluation of the impact of co-designed technologies is needed and standardization of the definition of co-design would be helpful to researchers and designers.


Summary. Over a decade ago, an audit was conducted in Lithuania to assess the protection of children's rights during criminal proceedings. The audit identified various shortcomings and issues related to child interviews. These problems were addressed in 2017 with the implementation of amendments to the Law on Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania, which have been in effect for over five years. This article aims to analyze the current practices, particularly in recent years, of law enforcement institutions when conducting interviews with minor witnesses and victims during criminal proceedings. Through analysis and empirical research, it was found that minors are frequently questioned outside of designated child interview rooms for unjustifiable reasons. Furthermore, their rights, particularly the right not to testify against their relatives or family members, are not always adequately explained to them. The legal significance of such procedural violations is discussed. Additionally, it is highlighted that employees of the Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service often lack proper preparation for conducting interviews with children. The article concludes by summarizing other findings from the empirical research.


A gynaecological history may necessitate enquiries about menstrual protection. The use of and attitudes to menstrual protection of 1377 young women (15-19 years) were investigated. Most young women (84%) used pads for their first few menstrual periods. At the time of survey 34% were using tampons regularly although 64% had tried and found them too difficult to insert. Tampons were the preferred type of menstrual protection. Although mothers were the first source of information about menstrual protection only 25% had explained to their daughters how to use a tampon.Information about Toxic Shock Syndrome had little effect on the use of tampons, over half the women failing to remove a tampon within the 5 h recommended by manufacturers and only 12 subjects ceasing to use tampons.Women who use tampons were older, had a knowledge of menstruation and had no desire to change their type of menstrual protection. Those women who preferred to insert a tampon digitally rather than using an applicator held few misconce...


Integrated timed-transfer (ITT) systems are starting up in Switzerland, Austria, and many regions of Germany. They distinguish themselves from regular timed-transfer systems, in which vehicles arrive at and depart from a station at approximately the same time to minimize waiting times for passengers, by integrating the timed-transfer systems of individual metropolitan areas into one complete public transportation system for a region. Very little has been written about ITT in the English language literature, and the purpose here is to close the information gap. The advantages and disadvantages of an ITT system are illustrated by discussing a concrete example. Technical and economic aspects of ITT are discussed. Terms such as "symmetry time" and "optimal minimum headway" are defined. Early results of ITT systems in Europe are reported. The applicability of ITT to North America is demonstrated with the example of the San Jose-Oakland-Sacramento corridor. The public transportation system in this area is currently disjointed, and the introduction of ITT would increase the usability of public transit.


The paper evaluates the relative effect of deterrence, prevention, curative and commitment policy measures on the size of undeclared work in a real business cycle model with undeclared work, tax evasion and search frictions in the labour market. A numerical application of the model to the European economy shows that all these approaches reduce the undeclared share of output, but that deterrence and commitment policies also produce a negative effect on stationary employment. The curative approach produces the sharper fall in undeclared work while stimulating stationary output and employment.


Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men. A total of 110 Iraqi Arab individuals were included in this study; 60 individuals of them had prostate cancer with increased levels of TPSA (patients group); their age range 52-90 years. They were referred for diagnosis and treatment to the National Al-Amal Hospital for oncology in Baghdad during the period from July 2017 to October 2017. While the other 50 apparently healthy subjects were the control group, their age range similar to patients group. Sera and blood samples were collected from all patients and controls than used to assess for the level of IL-18 and DNA extraction, respectively. The polymorphisms were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-single specific primer (PCR-SSP), at the position -137 G\C (rs187238) in the promoter of IL18 gene. The genetic polymorphism of the IL18 gene promoter -137G/C (rs187238) was determined and presented with three genotypes (GG, GC, and CC) in prostate cancer patients and controls. Testing for Hardy-Weinberg (H-W) equilibrium revealed that Prostate cancer patients showed insignificant variation in the distribution of IL-18 -137 genotypes (P> 0.05). While the control samples showed significant variation (p ≤0.05) between the observed and expected. Comparing patients with controls indicated that IL-18-137 alleles or genotypes showed no association with the risk of prostate cancer development in Iraqi Arab population or protection against them. Serum level of IL-18 was highly significant (P ≤ 0.001) increased in patients compared to control. The IL-18 serum levels differences in GG and GC genotypes was significant (p <0.05) between patients and control. While there were no significant differences between the three IL-18 -137 genotypes inpatient or in controls.


In the past decade, commodity software applications have been deployed more than ever in almost every domain. Having the ability to differentiate the original trusted application at run-time from its compromised, mimic or trojanised versions would mitigate a broad range of intrusion threats to these applications. This has been addressed by application-level intrusion detection systems, however, such schemes mostly depend on the system software for either monitoring or modelling the application. This is while system software can itself get compromised by kernel-level rootkit attacks. In this study, the authors have proposed a new hardware-based app-IDS, which works independent of the system software of the target system. The proposed method, referred to as HPCgnature, includes a new abstraction corresponding to the repetitious functionalities of programs. Such functionalities generate a distinguishing sequence of periods, referred to in this study as the Operational Periodicity. The method uses monitoring scheme based on external access to the hardware performance counters of CPUs. Implementing a prototype, they have shown how HPCgnature can detect intrusions in 12 complex interactive desktop applications. Evaluation results indicate this model could differentiate applications with 98% accuracy, and can detect even small run-time code injection attacks by an accuracy of >75%


The Fresh Breeze project concerns the architecture and design of a multicore chip that can achieve superior performance while supporting composability of parallel programs. The requirements of composability imply that the management of processor allocation and memory management must be sufficiently flexible to permit reassignment of resources according to the current needs of computations. The Fresh Breeze programming model combines the spawn/join threading model of Cilk with a write-once memory model based on fixed-size chunks that are allocated and freed by efficient hardware mechanisms. This model supports computing jobs by many users, each consisting of a hierarchy of function activations. The model satisfies all six principles for supporting modular program construction. Within this programming model, it is possible for any parallel program to be used, without change, as a component in building larger parallel programs.


Ingestion of alcohol is associated with numerous changes in human energy metabolism, especially that of plasma lipids and lipoproteins. Regular moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), an effect that has been attributed to the concurrent elevations of plasma high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations. More recent evidence has accrued against the hypothesis that raising plasma HDL concentrations prevents ASCVD so that other metabolic processes associated with alcohol consumption have been considered. This review explored the roles of other metabolites induced by alcohol consumption—triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, non-esterified free fatty acids, and acetate, the terminal alcohol metabolite in athero-protection: Current evidence suggests that acetate has a key role in athero-protection but additional studies are needed.


Objective To investigate whether feeding extensively hydrolysis protein formula during the NICU hospitalization was more beneficial for preterm infants with a gestational age (GA) ≤34 weeks when breastfeeding was not possible. Methods In total, 587 preterm infants were randomly divided into two groups: observation groups fed with extensively hydrolyzed formula (EHF) milk and control groups fed with standard preterm formula (SPF) milk until discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The incidence of complications during hospitalization was recorded in both groups. Then, two groups were uniformly fed with 0-to-6-month infant formula milk and followed-up for 6 months after discharge. Results The final study included 370 premature infants, including 185 babies in the observation group and 185 in the control group. In contrast to the SPF, feeding EHF among preterm infants of GA <34 weeks during NICU hospitalization significantly reduced the incidence of feeding intolerance (FI) (14.1 vs. 30.3%, p < 0.01). The incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) was significantly reduced in the observation group (2.2 vs. 6.5%, p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the incidence of other related complications. At discharge, there was no difference in total serum protein (46.6 vs. 46.4 g/L), albumin (33.5 vs. 34.2 g/L), and calcium (2.37 vs. 2.35 mmol/L), but the serum phosphorus concentrations associated with skeletal mineralization (2.10 vs. 2.22 mmol/L, p < 0.05) was significantly reduced and alkaline phosphatase significantly rose (254 vs. 220 IU/L, p < 0.05) in the observation group. No significant difference was found in the growth rates of body weight, head circumference, or body length, either during the NICU hospitalization or during the 6-month follow-up after discharge (p > 0.05). Conclusions Feeding premature infants of GA ≤34 weeks with EHF reduced the incidence of FI, but had no advantage in establishing whole intestinal nutrition, shortening parenteral nutrition (PN) time, or hospitalization time. It had little effect on physical growth or development during NICU hospitalization and within 6 months after discharge. However, it may increase the incidence of metabolic bone disease (MBD).


Direct coupling of unactivated alcohols remains a challenge in synthetic chemistry. Current approaches to cross-coupling of alcohol-derived electrophiles often involve activated alcohols such as tosylates or carbonates. We report the direct arylative substitution of homoallylic alcohols catalyzed by a nickel-bisphosphine complex as a facile method to generate allylic arenes. These reactions proceed via formation of an allylic alcohol intermediate. Subsequent allylic substitution with arylboroxine nucleophiles enables the formation of a variety of allylic arenes. The presence of p-methoxyphenylboronic acid is crucial to activate the allylic alcohol to achieve high product yields.


INTRODUCTION

Elotuzumab (Elo) is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeted against Signaling Lymphocytic Activation Molecule F7 (SLAMF7, also known as CS1). Through both direct activation and engagement of natural killer cells, Elo selectively targets and kills SLAMF7-expressing myeloma cells. In Ph1 of the 1703 multicenter, open-label, dose-escalation study, intravenous (IV) Elo, escalated from 5 to 20 mg/kg plus lenalidomide (Len) and low-dose dexamethasone (dex), resulted in an 82% objective response rate (ORR) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).1 Here we report final Ph1 and Ph2 results.

METHODS

Patients with RRMM treated with ≥1 prior therapy in Ph1 or 1–3 prior therapies in Ph2 were enrolled ([NCT00742560][1]). Methods for the Ph1 portion have been described previously.1 Patients in the Ph2 cohort were randomized to 10 or 20 mg/kg Elo. Treatment was administered in 28-day cycles; patients received IV Elo on Days 1, 8, 15, and 22 for cycles 1–2 and on Days 1 and 15 for subsequent cycles. Patients also received oral Len (25 mg; Days 1–21) and oral dex (28 mg plus 8 mg IV on Elo dosing days, or 40 mg once weekly). Treatment continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. All patients in Ph2 received a premedication regimen before Elo dosing to mitigate infusion reactions (IRs). Elo was infused at up to 2 mL/min for cycles 1–4 and could be escalated up to 5 mL/min for subsequent cycles. The primary endpoint was ORR (≥partial response) according to International Myeloma Working Group criteria; secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS) and safety.1

RESULTS

In Ph1, 28 patients were treated (5 mg/kg, n=3; 10 mg/kg, n=3; 20 mg/kg, n=22) and median PFS was 33 months. In Ph2, 73 patients (median age 63 years; range 39–82) were treated (10 mg/kg, n=36; 20 mg/kg, n=37). The median number of treatment cycles was 22 (range 3–49) for the 10 mg/kg group and 16 (range 1–51) for the 20 mg/kg group. At data cut-off (16 January 2014), 13 patients in Ph2 (10 mg/kg, n=6; 20 mg/kg, n=7) were still on treatment and 60 patients had discontinued due to disease progression (57%), adverse events (AEs; 20%), or other reasons (23%). Overall, ORR was 84% (10 mg/kg, 92%; 20 mg/kg, 76%). A stringent complete response/complete response (sCR/CR) was seen in 14% of patients, 43% had a very good partial response (VGPR), and 27% had a partial response (PR). Median time to objective response was 1 month (range 0.7–19). Median PFS was 29 months (10 mg/kg, 32 months; 20 mg/kg, 25 months). When stratified by level of response, median PFS was not reached for patients with sCR/CR (n=10) and was reached at 36 and 16 months for VGPR (n=31) and PR (n=20), respectively. The most common treatment-emergent AEs were diarrhea (66%), muscle spasms (62%), fatigue (56%), constipation (51%), nausea (48%), and upper respiratory tract infection (47%), similar to those reported for Ph1.1 Serious AEs were experienced by 58% of patients, most commonly pneumonia (12%). Seven patients (10%) had IRs at a flow rate ≤2 mL/min. Flow rate was increased for those who did not have an IR at 2 mL/min. A total of 46 patients received infusions at a rate >2 mL/min, 31 of whom received infusions at the maximum rate of 5 mL/min. No new AEs were seen at rates >2 mL/min compared with ≤2 mL/min; 1 patient (2%) had an IR (Grade 1 nausea) at >2 mL/min. Overall rate of IRs was 11%. At the time of this analysis, 5 deaths across the Ph1 and Ph2 cohorts were reported in the database. Active follow-up on overall survival has been initiated and more complete information is planned to be reported in the final presentation.

CONCLUSIONS

In this Ph1b/2 study, Elo in combination with Len/dex demonstrated robust and clinically meaningful efficacy as measured by ORR and PFS. Elo/Len/dex was generally well tolerated at all doses studied with no dose-limiting toxicities observed. No new safety signals were observed in Ph2. Elo administration at rates up to 5 mL/min resulted in a low incidence of IRs. The novel mechanism of action of Elo and its apparent safety and efficacy when combined with Len/dex in this study support the ongoing Elo Ph3 Clinical Development Program in RRMM and first-line multiple myeloma.

1Lonial S, et al. J Clin Oncol . 2012:30:1953-9.

This study is being funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb in collaboration with AbbVie Biotherapeutics.

Professional medical writing and editorial assistance was provided by Kathryn Rees at Caudex Medical and was funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Disclosures Richardson: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Off Label Use: Elotuzumab is an investigational agent being studied for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Jagannath: Celgene; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Sanofi-Aventis: Honoraria. Moreau: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Novartis, Millenium, Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Jakubowiak: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Millenium, Onyx: Consultancy; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Millenium, Novartis, Onyx, SkylineDx: Honoraria; Celgene, Janssen, Onyx: Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Millenium, Novartis, Onyx, SkylineDx: Advisory board, Advisory board Other. Facon: Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Vij: Onyx: Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Millennium: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Array: Honoraria. White: Celgene, Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Reece: Celgene, Janssen: Consultancy; Otsuka, Celgene, Janssen, Millenium, Novartis, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Otsuka, Celgene, Janssen, Millenium, Novartis, Amgen: Honoraria. Benboubker: Celgene: Consultancy; Celgene, Millennium: The TAKEDA Oncology Company, Onyx Therapeutics, Lilly and Company: Honoraria. Zonder: Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy. Tsao: AbbVie: Employment. Anderson: Celgene, Onyx, Millennium, Gilead, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Oncopep, Acetylon: Equity Ownership; Celgene, Onyx, Millennium, Gilead, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oncopep, Acetylon: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Bleickardt: Bristol-Myers Squibb: Employment. Singhal: AbbVie: Employment. Lonial: Millennium, Celgene, Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Onyx: Consultancy, Research Funding.

 [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT00742560&atom=%2Fbloodjournal%2F124%2F21%2F302.atom


Background In most cases, hydration is performed by water injection into the stromal tissue with a needle. The technique is simple, however it is sometimes troublesome. Purpose We describe a simple technique for hydrating the corneal stroma in cataract surgery using an irrigation port. Patients and methods The technique began by pushing the irrigation port against the corneal stroma for a few seconds during phacoemulsification, which generated edema in the corneal incision that subsequently prevented leakage. This procedure is called the hydration using irrigation port (HYUIP) technique. A total of 60 eyes were randomized and placed in two groups, 30 eyes underwent surgeries using the HYUIP technique (HYUIP group) and 30 eyes underwent surgeries without the HYUIP technique (control). The three points evaluated during each surgery included 1) the occurrence of anterior chamber collapse during the pulling out of the I/A tip after inserting the intraocular lens, 2) the need for conventional hydration, and 3) watertight completion at the end stage of surgery. Results The anterior chamber collapse and the need for conventional hydration were significantly smaller in the HYUIP group compared to the control group. Regarding the self-sealing completion, no significant difference was observed between the two groups. Conclusion The HYUIP technique is an effective method for creating self-sealing wound. In addition, this technique helps to prevent anterior chamber collapse.


Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy that is the most frequent cancer to involve the skeleton. MM bone disease is characterized by the formation of lytic bone lesions adjacent to MM cells that rarely heal even when patients are in long-term remission. This is due to the persistent suppression of bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) differentiation into osteoblasts. We previously reported that MM cells induce long-lasting suppression of osteoblast differentiation by repression of the Runx2 gene through elevated expression of the transcriptional repressor Gfi1. However, how Gfi1 activity in BMSC is regulated by MM cells remains unclear. Using bioinformatics analysis, we found that there are three putative phosphorylation sites in the Gfi1 protein for Aurora A kinase (AurA) at S216, S326, and T418. We confirmed that Gfi1 was phosphorylated by AurA at multiple sites using an in vitro kinase assay. Co-immunoprecipitation assays revealed that AurA physically interacted with Gfi1 and phosphorylated Gfi1 protein. The interaction with AurA stabilized Gfi1 protein by blocking Gfi1 protein turnover, thereby extending the Gfi1 half-life from 2 hrs to 6 hrs. Further, co-transfection studies using wildtype and mutant AurA and Gfi1 showed that AurA inhibition of Gfi1 protein turnover was dependent on AurA kinase activity and phosphorylation of the S326 and T418 amino acid residues of Gfi1. Studies with co-transfected Myc-ubiquitin, FLAG-Gfi1, and HA-AurA revealed that AurA decreased Gfi1 ubiquitination, thereby leading to increased Gfi1 protein stability. Amino acids S326 and T418 are in Gfi1 zinc fingers (ZF) 3 and 6, respectively. It is known that Gfi1 ZF3, 4, and 5 are required for DNA binding, and that the K403R mutation in ZF6 interferes with DNA binding. Therefore we investigated if AurA phosphorylation of Gfi1 interferes with DNA binding. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and mRunx2 promoter oligo-pull down assays demonstrated that phosphorylated Gfi1 can still bind the Runx2 promoter. However, co-transfection studies with AurA and Gfi1 expression vectors with mRunx2 -promoter luciferase reporters demonstrated that AurA phosphorylation of Gfi1 blocked repression of the Runx2 promoter. These data indicate that although AurA increased the amount of Gfi1 protein present on Runx2 , AurA phosphorylation of Gfi1 appeared to lock Gfi1 in an "Off" (inactive) status and abrogated Gfi1 repression of Runx2 expression in osteoblast precursor cells. Since AurA phosphorylation of Gfi1 is not blocking DNA binding, the difference between Gfi1 "OFF" and "ON" status probably involves altered protein-protein interactions between Gfi1 and other factors that regulate Runx2 transcription. TNFa treatment, which we showed also represses Runx2 via Gfi1 activity, decreased the AurA protein level in MC-4 osteoblast precursor cells. Importantly, we found that AurA mRNA was decreased in both MC-4 cells treated with MM cells in vitro, and in bone marrow stromal cells isolated from MM patients. In conclusion, these data indicate that MM cells lower the levels of AurA in bone marrow stromal cells, thereby decreasing AurA phosphorylation of Gfi1. This helps to maintain Gfi1 in the "ON" status and allows Gfi1 repression of the Runx2 gene, thereby preventing osteoblast differentiation. These data suggest that AurA is an important regulator of Gfi1 function in MM bone disease.

Disclosures: Roodman: Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Eli Lilly: Research Funding.


Superconducting cable-in-conduit has been used for the high-current windings of dipoles for several accelerators. A novel CIC design is currently being developed for use in the booster and ion ring for the proposed JLEIC. Enabling technologies for long-length cable fabrication, coil-winding and low-resistance splice and leads are summarized.


Chronic rhinosinusitis of adults: new definition, new diagnosis. The three-nose theory, which is based on evolution and development of the nose, seems useful for a better understanding of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The nose seems in fact to be composed of three noses (one olfactory, one respiratory and one sinusal nose), each of them being able to be affected by specific diseases. The concept of chronic nasal dysfunction (CND) is based on standardized recording of nose and sinus symptoms, irrespectively of their aetiology. Clinical, endoscopic and CT-scan check up is then aimed to look for a specific disease of one or the other of the three noses (nasal polyposis, chronic respiratory rhinitis, sinusitis…) or for a disease affecting simultaneously the three noses (rhinosinusitis), each disease leading if necessary to specific additional tests (allergic tests, tooth check-up, immune balance tests…). This implies specific therapeutic options, the effectiveness of the choosed one being evaluated by comparing the standardized recordings of nose and sinus symptoms.


Abstract. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) reservoir plays a critical role
in the C cycle of marine and freshwater environments because of its size and
implication in many biogeochemical reactions. Although it is poorly
constrained, its importance in ancient Earth's C cycles is also commonly
invoked. Yet DOC is rarely quantified and characterized in modern stratified
analogues. In this study, we investigated the DOC reservoirs of four
redox-stratified alkaline crater lakes in Mexico. We analyzed the
concentrations and isotopic compositions of DOC throughout the four water
columns and compared them with existing data on dissolved inorganic and
particulate organic C reservoirs (DIC and POC). The four lakes have high DOC
concentrations with great variability between and within the lakes
(averaging 2 ± 4 mM; 1 SD, n=28; i.e., from ∼ 15 to 160 times the amount of POC). The δ13CDOC signatures also span
a broad range of values from −29.3 ‰ to −8.7 ‰ (with as
much as 12.5 ‰ variation within a single lake). The
prominent DOC peaks (up to 21 mM), together with their associated isotopic
variability, are interpreted as reflecting oxygenic and/or anoxygenic
primary productivity through the release of excess fixed carbon in three of
the lakes (Alberca de los Espinos, La Preciosa, and Atexcac). By
contrast, the variability of [DOC] and δ13CDOC in the case
of Lake Alchichica is mainly explained by the partial degradation of organic
matter and the accumulation of DOC in anoxic waters. The DOC records detailed
metabolic functions such as active DIC-uptake and DIC-concentrating
mechanisms, which cannot be inferred from DIC and POC analyses alone but
which are critical to the understanding of carbon fluxes from the
environment to the biomass. Extrapolating our results to the geological
record, we suggest that anaerobic oxidation of DOC may have caused the very
negative C isotope excursions in the Neoproterozoic. It is, however, unlikely
that a large oceanic DOC reservoir could overweigh the entire oceanic DIC
reservoir. This study demonstrates how the analysis of DOC in modern systems
deepens our understanding of the C cycle in stratified environments and
helps to set boundary conditions for the Earth's past oceans.


The proposed analysis deals with the study of the surge behaviour of buried long conductors, by taking into account the true frequency-dependent electrical properties of soil as a discharge medium of a transient current. As regards the water content, the worst case of soil practically devoid of moisture and, conversely, the case of water-saturated soil are both considered. Finally, when the conductor under investigation is a cable sheath, the propagation function and the induced noise inside the shielded cable are evaluated


An inventory of anthropogenic sand-drift phenomena from the late prehistoric and early historic period on the Drenthe plateau (Northern Netherlands) casted doubt on the idea that these drifts had caused a 'crisis' situation on the plateau, inducing large-scale emigration of the people to the salt marshes. It is argued that, instead, the combined effect of sand-drifts, peat formation and soil exhaustion during the Early Iron Age diminished the economic potential of the area with its steadily increasing population. Simultaneously, the salt marshes became available for exploitation and it is suggested that the inhabitants of the plateau gradually incorporated these areas into their economic system, i.e . to graze their herds. The idea is put forward that during the Early Iron Age transhumance was practised between the plateau and the marshes preceding the permanent settlement of the latter during the Middle Iron Age. The lightly built structures at the base of the site of Middelstum-Boerdamsterweg are interpreted as summer encampments.


In this study, we present the first large-scale quantitative analysis of a corpus of censored historical Hebrew manuscripts that have survived through the ages. A new multi-dimensional ontology-based approach was applied to explore the geographic, temporal, actorand subjectbased distribution of censorship events. We adopted an ontology-based approach to apply statistical analysis on the metadata of censored Hebrew manuscripts for estimating the scope and quantifying the extent of the known facts on the censorship activity and its various characteristics over the years. In addition, we revealed some previously unknown phenomena and trends. Particularly, we analysed the relationship of censorship on other types of events in manuscripts' lifecycle and compared the distribution of censored vs. non-censored manuscripts in different dimensions. We also devised a set of rules to complete the missing locations of over 50% of censorship events, which has substantially changed the big picture of spatial distribution of censorship activity. From the temporal perspective our findings demonstrate that censorship was conducted in "waves" and there was a decrease in the creation of new manuscripts in periods of high censorship activity. Certain subjects, such as Kabbalah and Philosophy were censored significantly more than others, and the locations and script types' distribution in censored manuscripts differs from the non-censored manuscripts.


The interaction of femtosecond (80 fs) laser pulses with an underdense gas at moderate laser intensity of 3–5·1015 W/cm2 is studied. We report especially on time-resolved measurements of intense self-generated magnetic fields above 30 T at the given irradiance using a pump probe device with a Faraday rotation diagnosis on the probe pulse. The induced magnetic field is found far above the one predicted by the inverse Faraday effect. The theoretical mechanism responsible for this strong field production is identified as a self-ponderomotive effect induced by the pump pulse.


Single-Cell mRNA sequencing has enhanced our knowledge of the cell populations found in individual tissues or disease states. However, low correlation between mRNA and protein expression levels hinders our understanding of biology and disease. Traditional single cell protein assays are limited in the number of parameters that can be achieved within one experiment.
 Here we use oligo-conjugated antibodies (Ab-seq) in combination with massively parallel single cell mRNA sequencing on the BD Rhapsody™ platform to simultaneously measure the protein and mRNA content of individual human blood cells (PBMCs). To accomplish this, a 30+ parameter Ab-seq panel against immune relevant cell surface markers was paired with the BD Rhapsody™ Immune Response panel (a targeted gene expression panel consisting of 399 targets). The Multi-omics data from this single workflow experiment provides a measurement of both gene expression and protein expression. The digital measurements are rendered free of PCR bias through the use of the unique molecular indices (UMIs).
 Our results show that protein expression detected with Ab-seq is highly sensitive and specific. Protein expression patterns correlate well with results from flow cytometry data on the same samples. Ab-seq allowed the robust detection of expressed genes even when their cognate mRNA transcripts have low abundance. Certain markers cannot be easily distinguished at the mRNA level (i.e. isoforms CD45RA and CD45RO) but are easily distinguished at the protein level. Our study shows successful analysis of protein and mRNA expression data within a single workflow, and should enable the further elucidation single cells within different tissues, developmental time points, and disease states.


The mosquito parasite, Coelomomyces psorophorae (Blastocladiales, Chytridiomycetes) alternates obligately between the larvae of Culiseta inornata and the copepod Cyclops vernalis. Isogametes, derived from heterothallic, wall-less gametangia which develop in the copepod, fuse to produce a diploid zygote that subsequently infects the mosquito host. Zoospores from the resistant sporangia which are produced in the haemocoel of the mosquito infect the copepod. A tentative life-history is proposed and implications of these discoveries for the biology, taxonomy, and possible role of Coelomomyces in biological control are discussed.


Summary form only given, as follows. Barium has a number of characteristics that indicate it may be a good atomic radiator in a glow discharge. Thus, a Ba glow discharge may prove to be of interest to the lighting industry for use in a novel, efficient light source. Progress in experimental determinations of the radiometric efficiency of a barium DC glow discharge under a variety of conditions will be reported.


Abstract This paper represents the first element of the introduction to this volume, and as such investigates its principal underlying rationale; namely the importance of accurate diagnosis of stone decay in the formulation of effective conservation strategies. It does this by exploring ways in which perceived similarities between stone decay and human disease have influenced attitudes towards conservation, and how refinements within medical diagnostic strategies can inform future condition assessments of building stones. In doing so, it identifies the importance of looking beyond obvious symptoms to the isolation of the fundamental causes of decay and the factors that control them. These controls are strongly conditioned by accumulated stresses within the stonework. In many buildings these are the product of a complex history involving exposure to a variety of environmental conditions and successive human intervention. Only by understanding these memory effects is it possible to explain current decay phenomena, attempt any prediction of future behaviour or recommend appropriate intervention. The concept of appropriateness is further developed through an examination of the TNM (Tumours, Nodes and Metastases) Staging System for cancer diagnosis. This holistic scheme embodies a progressive approach to diagnosis that begins with a clinical assessment based on how the patient presents, and leads on to more detailed pathological investigations involving sampling, testing and analysis. The scheme also requires an assessment of the certainty of the diagnosis and proposed treatments must be viewed in terms of a cost benefit analysis. A modified version of this staging system has already been developed for use in the physical assessment of buildings. It is suggested that the next stage in its development, and that of any other condition assessment procedure that deals solely with the fabric of a building, is the inclusion of a value-based appraisal of its cultural significance.


In 2013, Harris and Atmospheric and Environmental Research developed the greenhouse gas laser imaging tomography experiment (GreenLITE™) under a cooperative agreement with the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the Department of Energy. The system uses a pair of high-precision, intensity-modulated, continuous-wave (IMCW) transceivers and a series of retroreflectors to generate overlapping atmospheric density measurements from absorption of a particular greenhouse gas (e.g. CO2 or CH4), to provide an estimate of the two-dimensional spatial distribution of the gas within the area of interest. The system can take measurements over areas ranging from approximately 0.04 square kilometers (km2) to 25 km2 (~200 meters (m) × 200 m, up to ~5 km × 5 km). Multiple GreenLITE™ CO2 demonstrations have been carried out to date, including a full year, November 04, 2015 through November 14, 2016, deployment over a 25 km2 area of downtown Paris, France. In late 2016, the GreenLITE™ system was converted to provide similar measurements for CH4. Recent experiments showed that GreenLITE™ CH4 concentration readings correlated with an insitu instrument, calibrated with World Meteorological Organization traceable gas purchased from the NOAA Earth Systems Research Laboratory, to within approximately 0.5% of CH4 background or ~10-15 parts per billion. Several experiments are planned in 2017 to further evaluate the accuracy of the CH4 and CO2 retrieved concentration values compared to the calibrated in situ instrument and to demonstrate the feasibility of GreenLITE™ for environmental and safety monitoring of CO2 and CH4 in industrial applications.


We study in this report a model of optimal Carbon Capture and Storage in which the reservoir of sequestered carbon is leaky, and pollution eventually is released into the atmosphere. We formulate the social planner problem as an optimal control program and we describe the optimal consumption paths as a function of the initial conditions, the physical constants and the economical parameters. In particular, we show that the presence of leaks may lead to situations which do not occur otherwise, including that of non-monotonous price paths for the energy.


Cardiac vagal withdrawal when moving from supine to an upright posture may be independent of respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Further, ventilatory efficiency of an upright lung may improve with clustering of heart beats during inhalation. We studied healthy human subjects (n=8, 6 male) during supine rest (SUP) and 80 degrees head-up tilt (HUT). ECG and expired breath were sampled continuously to determine heart rate, mean and end-tidal (ET) fractional content (F) of O2 and CO2, tidal volume (V(T)) and breathing frequency (Bf). HUT increased heart rate (47+/-3 vs. 59+/-9 beats min(-1), p<0.01), decreased the high frequency component of heart rate variability (8.76+/- vs. 7.07+/-1.12, p<0.05), and increased the ratio of low to high frequency components in the heart rate (0.62+/-0.6 vs. 1.79+/-2.07, p<0.05). HUT did not change VT, Bf, or minute ventilation (V'E), but decreased FCO2 (4.90+/-0.48 vs. 4.56+/-0.42 %, p<0.05) and FETCO2 (6.64+/-0.24 vs. 6.30+/-0.27 %, p<0.01). HUT increased the CO2 ventilatory equivalent (24.88+/-2.50 vs. 26.74+/-2.61, p<0.01). Mean heart rate during inhalation increased with HUT (26+/-3 vs. 34+/-6 beats min-1), with no change during exhalation. Increased clustering of heart beats during inhalation independent of a decrease in HF cardiac variability may partly offset decreases in ventilatory efficiency of an upright lung.


Most edible ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mushrooms are currently harvested from nature and many of them are high-priced. Demand for the wild mushrooms as a culinary delicacy has stimulated research that aims to understand (1) the puzzled role that the ECM fungi play in the forest ecosystem, and (2) nutritional and other requirements for fruiting, which is highly variable. In this review, we focus on understanding of the ECM fungi mediated carbon and nitrogen movement between the symbiotic partners and on the interactions with other fungi in forest ecosystems. Thereby, we better understand the diverse nitrogen requirements for edible ECM fungal growth and mushroom fruiting. We attempt to provide a theoretical basis for the future research of edible ECM mushrooms in wild and controlled conditions.


OBJECTIVES
This study provides information on the types of practices that employ 2 types of advance practice providers (APPs), nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs), and the association between employment of APPs and health information technology (IT) adoption by the practice.

STUDY DESIGN
Three outcomes predicted the likelihood that practices employed at least 1 NP, at least 1 PA, or at least 1 of either type of APP; one outcome estimated electronic health record (EHR) adoption across practices; and 4 models assessed the EHR functionalities used by practices.

METHODS
Data from SK and A Information Services' 2013 Office-Based Provider Database were used to estimate EHR adoption using a Poisson regression model. Independent variables included practice size, care setting, practice specialty, ownership, geographic region, whether a practice employed a NP, and whether a practice employed a PA.

RESULTS
In 2013, three-fourths of practices that employed at least 1 APP had adopted an EHR. Practices that employed at least 1 APP were 9% to 12% more likely to have an EHR that had advanced functionalities, compared with practices without an APP.

CONCLUSIONS
This study found an association between employment of APP staff and practice-level adoption of EHRs and practice-level adoption of certain EHR functionalities. Practices that employ APPs are prepared to implement team-based approaches to care that may be further enhanced through the use of health IT. Future research should examine how practices with APPs are using health IT to promote better health and coordinate care.


Motivation and attitudes of Polish students learning Hebrew Limited studies have been carried out in Poland to investigate the motivation which is activated and maintained among Polish students learning Hebrew as their optional second language. The aim of this research was to examine the relationships among integrative and instrumental attitudes and motivation level (Gardner, 1985a) in two age groups of students learning Hebrew, using an 18-item questionnaire adapted from the AMTB (Gardner, 1985b). Contrary to expectations, gender and family ties did not significantly bias the motivation and attitudes in the sample investigated. Close relationships were found between age and integrative attitude and motivation intensity: older students had a more integrative attitude than younger students and experienced more intensive motivation.


The reason for the failure of the differential equations to yield physical minor loops involved in the magnetization in ferromagnetic materials is explained. A modified solution for minor loops is presented which retains the features of D.C. Jiles and D.L. Atherton's (1983) original motor loops, but only requires knowledge of the initial point on each portion of the loop to obtain the solution. This yields a general differential equation formulation for the Jiles-Atherton theory that can be used with circuit simulations having arbitrary excitations and initial conditions for ferromagnetic components. >


Morris Janowitz believed that for an army to be victorious it needs to be led by as many intellectual forces as possible, just as any organization needs organizational intellectualism to prosper. It is agreed in scholarly literature that the intellectual must author various articles and manifestos to express their viewpoints, mindset, and philosophy in the public sphere. Based on Janowitz's belief and using the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as a case study, this research offers a model for a generic research methodology that can be practiced elsewhere. The mission was to find the extent to which the higher echelons of the Israeli military engage in writing academic articles concerning matters of strategy and army professionalism. Among other conclusions, the authors point out that, with certain reservations considered, the number of articles authored by the IDF's senior officers proved to be low. If publication indeed reflects intellectualism, the few articles produced over seven decades by the IDF's leading echelon ought to sound a warning for Israel's military decision-makers.


We have combined a sample of 44 984 quasars, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 3, with the FIRST radio survey. Using a novel technique where the optical quasar position is matched to the complete radio environment within 450 ′′ , we are able to characterize the radio morphological make-up of what is essentially an optically selected quasar sample, regardless of whether the quasar (nucleus) itself has been detected in the radio. About 10% of the quasar population have radio cores brighter than 0.75 mJy at 1.4 GHz, and 1.7% have double lobed FR2-like radio morphologies. About 75% of the FR2 sources have a radio core (> 0.75mJy). A significant fraction (∼ 40%) of the FR2 quasars are bent by more than 10 degrees, indicating either interactions of the radio plasma with the ICM or IGM. We found no evidence for correlations with redshift among our FR2 quasars: radio lobe flux densities and radio source diameters of the quasars have similar distributions at low (mean 0.77) and high (mean 2.09) redshifts. Using a smaller high reliability FR2 sample of 422 quasars and two comparison samples of radio-quiet and non-FR2 radio-loud quasars, matched in their redshift distributions, we constructed composite optical spectra from the SDSS spectroscopic data. Based on these spectra we can conclude that the FR2 quasars have stronger high-ionization emission lines compared to both the radio quiet and non-FR2 radio loud sources. This is consistent with the notion that the emission lines are brightened by ongoing shock ionization of ambient gas in the quasar host as the radio source expands.


STUDY QUESTION
Is it possible to construct an age curve denoting the ages above which women are biologically too old to reproduce?

SUMMARY ANSWER
We constructed a curve based on the distribution of female age at last birth in natural fertility populations reflecting the ages above which women have become biologically too old to have children.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
The median age at last birth (ALB) for females is ∼40-41 years of age across a range of natural fertility populations. This suggests that there is a fairly universal pattern of age-related fertility decline. However, little is known about the distribution of female ALB and in the present era of modern birth control, it is impossible to assess the age-specific distribution of ALB. Reliable information is lacking that could benefit couples who envisage delaying childbearing.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
This study is a review of high-quality historical data sets of natural fertility populations in which the distributions of female age at last birth were analysed. The studies selected used a retrospective cohort design where women were followed as they age through their reproductive years.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
Using a common set of eligibility criteria, large data files of natural fertility populations were prepared such that the analysis could be performed in parallel across all populations. Data on the ALB and confounding variables are presented as box and whisker plots denoting the 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentile distribution of the age at last birth for each population. The analysis includes the estimation of Kaplan-Meier curves for age at last birth of each population. The hazard curve for ALB was obtained by plotting the smoothed hazard curve of each population and taking the lowest hazard within a time period of at least 5 years. This lowest hazard curve was then transformed into a cumulative distribution function representing the composite curve of the end of biological fertility. This curve was based on the data from three of the six populations, having the lowest hazards of end of fertility.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
We selected six natural fertility populations comprising 58 051 eligible women. While these populations represent different historical time periods, the distribution of the ages at last birth is remarkably similar. The curve denoting the end of fertility indicates that <3% of women had their last birth at age 20 years meaning that almost 98% were able to have at least one child thereafter. The cumulative curve for the end of fertility slowly increases from 4.5% at age 25 years, 7% at age 30 years, 12% at age 35 years and 20% at age 38 years. Thereafter, it rises rapidly to about 50% at age 41, almost 90% at age 45 years and approaching 100% at age 50 years.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
It may be argued that these historical fertility data do not apply to the present time; however, the age-dependent decline in fertility is similar to current populations and is consistent with the pattern seen in women treated by donor insemination. Furthermore, for reproductive ageing, we note that it is unlikely that such a conserved biological process with a high degree of heritability would have changed significantly within a century or two.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
We argue that the age-specific ALB curve can be used to counsel couples who envisage having children in the future. Our findings challenge the unsubstantiated pessimism regarding the possibility of natural conception after age 35 years.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
No external funding was either sought or obtained for this study. There are no conflicts of interest to be declared.


Galileo opens his Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences with a remark about the famous 16th century Venetian arsenal, which he praises for its impressive amount of instruments and machines; this arsenal, he says, offers an opportunity to wonder and think. With their unprecedented variety of tools and artifacts, contemporary classrooms may have looked like the Venetian arsenal to Galileo. True, some of the artifacts that are part of our educational settings have been there for a long time now – for example, textbooks. Others, however, made their appearance with the digital technological progress during the 20th century. And, like the instruments and machines of the Venetian arsenal, they offer new possibilities for thinking and learning. Now, for these possibilities to be materialized in the classroom, the conditions surrounding the use of artifacts in processes of teaching and learning need to be clearly understood. Indeed, since artifacts are artificial devices, neither the understanding of their use nor the best exploitation of their epistemic possibilities is self-evident. This is why investigating the proper conditions of artifact use in educational settings constitutes an important research problem. The various chapters in this part of the book tackle this problem and offer interesting theoretical and methodological contributions to current debates in the field. Thus, seeing the chapters from a general viewpoint, the various authors inquire about the manner in which teachers adapt and use specific resources in their own practice – for example, CAS (Kieran, Tanguay, and Solares), Enciclomedia (Trigueros and Lozano), a digital-based algebra environment (Drijvers), material objects and symbolic artifacts (Forest and Mercier), and textbooks (Rezat).1 Naturally, the authors tackle the


Experience at high luminosity hadron collider experiments shows that tracking information enhances the trigger rejection capabilities while retaining high efficiency for interesting physics events [1]. The design of a tracking based trigger for Super LHC (S-LHC), the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC collider [2], is an extremely challenging task requiring the identification of high-momentum tracks as a part of the Level 1 trigger decision. Simulation studies show that this can be achieved by correlating hits on two closely spaced silicon strip sensors. This paper focuses on the design and development of micro-strip stacked prototype modules and their performance. The prototypes have been built with the silicon sensors and electronics used to equip the present CMS Tracker [3]. Correlation of signals collected from sensors are processed off detector. Preliminary results in terms of signal over noise and tracking performance with cosmic rays will be also shown.


A microscope auto-focusing system using the self-adaptive mountain-climbing search (SAMCS) method is introduced based on personal computer (PC) control. It mainly consists of four parts: the microscope, the digital camera to get the video images, the mechanical part of step motor and the computer to control the focusing process. The precision of the auto-focusing system is to some extent improved through high-resolution color images acquired by the digital camera as well as high subdivision of the step motor drive. An improved searching method--the SAMCS method is presented here. It can effectively improve the searching efficiency while guaranteeing the precision of the auto-focusing system. Based on the normal mountain-climbing search (MCS) algorithm, the SAMCS method takes full consideration of omnidistance concept and local extreme point influences. Thereby it can adaptively adjust the searching range according to different environmental conditions, and has quite good robustness. This feature mainly has two advantages. First, this method is much more exact than the normal mountain-climbing, which can not avoid local fluctuations. Second, it is much faster than the method of only using omnidistance searching to avoid local fluctuations. At the same time, we also take evaluation function and region selection into consideration to reach a faster and more accurate focusing result. And the experimental result demonstrates a good efficiency and accuracy.


We show that high-angle Bessel beams may significantly reduce nonlinear pulse distortions due, for example, to nonlinear Kerr effects (self-phase-modulation and self-focusing) yet enhance ionization and plasma generation. Holographic reconstruction of Bessel beams in water show intensity clamping at increased intensities and evidence of nontrivial plasma dynamics as the input energy is increased. The solvated electron density increases significantly and the cavitation-induced bubbles are ejected from the focal region indicating a significant excess plasma heating in the Bessel-pulse wake.


Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential feasibility of using a smartphone app in myopia screening. Methods The app estimates myopic refractive error by measuring the far point distance for reading three 20/20 Tumbling E letters. In total, 113 myopic subjects with astigmatism no greater than −1.75 diopters (D) were enrolled from 5 sites. The mean age was 22 ± 8.5 years. The app measurement was compared with noncycloplegic subjective refraction measurement or autorefractor if subjective refraction was not available. In addition, 22 subjects were tested with the app for repeatability. Results For 201 eyes included, the range of spherical equivalent refraction error was 0 to −10.2 D. The app measurement and clinical measurement was highly correlated (Pearson R = 0.91, P < 0.001). There was a small bias (0.17 D) in the app measurement overall, and it was significantly different across the 5 sites due to different age of subjects enrolled at those sites (P = 0.001) – young adults in their 20s were underestimated the most by 0.49 D, whereas children were overestimated by 0.29 D. The mean absolute deviation of the app measurement was 0.65 D. The repeatability of multiple testing in terms of 95% limit of agreement was ±0.61 D. Conclusions Overall, the app measurement is consistent with clinical measurement performed by vision care professionals. The repeatability is comparable with that of some autorefractors. Age-associated human factors may influence the app measurement. Translational Relevance The app could be potentially used as a mass screening tool for myopia.


This study presents a clinical validation of postoperative measurements of acetabular cup alignment following total hip arthroplasty (THA). The methodology was based on concurrent anatomic three-dimensional (3D) measurements of both the acetabular cup alignment and pelvic orientation, using an original CT/X-ray matching algorithm named Xalign. The subjects were 19 patients who had undergone bilateral THA using CT-based surgical navigation. All patients had postoperative pelvic CT scans and multiple antero-posterior (AP) pelvic X-rays. Using a proprietary software algorithm, the X-rays included in the study were matched with the corresponding postoperative CT scans. The goal of this method was to allow 3D anatomic pelvic and acetabular measurements on two-dimensional AP X-rays. The postoperative cup abduction, version and pelvic flexion angles were determined in three different ways: using CT images directly, applying the Xalign method, and finally by performing conventional (abduction only) measurements on AP pelvic X-rays. The cup orientation measured on CT images was taken as the ground truth. The Xalign measurement errors were defined as the difference between the CT cup values and those obtained by applying the matching method. The mean cup abduction error was 0.85° ± 1.3° (± standard deviation) and the mean version error was 0.01° ± 1.99°. Conventionally measured cup abduction ranged from 44° to 62° and correlated significantly (p = 0.001, r = −0.5) with pelvic flexion angle, proving the linear negative correlation between pelvic flexion and the error in conventional radiographic cup measurements. The Xalign method offered reasonable accuracy for cup orientation, and allowed cup and pelvic 3D anatomic measurements at different times.


Based on the Weibull statistical distribution and the thickness effect on dielectric breakdown strength EBD, a formula to evaluate the reliability of solid insulation structures (SISs) in pulsed power systems is derived. By calculating this formula, it is concluded that an increase of 1.4 times in the dielectric thickness d or a 3/4 decrease in the applied voltage U will increase the reliability of SISs by "9." Moreover, by introducing the variable of pulse number N into the Weibull statistical distribution, a formula to evaluate the lifetime of SISs is also derived. It is concluded that when the time shape parameter a is equal to 1, an SIS is in its normal lifetime stage, and the lifetime can be described by the Martin's formula; when a is not equal to 1, the Martin's formula should be revised. To verify the lifetime formula, experiments were designed and conducted. In the end, useful suggestions on design of SISs are summarized.


Background: The natural history of ocular lesions in Behcet's disease is toward severe loss of vision/blindness in few years, whereas cytotoxic drugs have changed the outcome. Several open labeled cohort studies showed pulse cyclophosphamide (PCP) to be the best choice. Since one third of these patients are resistant to PCP it is important to know how much improvement one can expect from the responders. To address this question, we selected patients who improved or maintained their baseline visual acuity after treatment. Methods: From a cohort of 528 patients (1056 eyes), 753 eyes were selected. At the beginning of the study PCP was given for one month as 0.75 to 1 g in perfusion, and then followed every 2 to 3 months. Prednisolone was also given as 0.5 mg/kg/daily and then tapered upon controlling inflammation. The mean±SD number of pulses was 11.5 ± 8.5/month with follow-up of 20.6 ± 19.8 months. Different disease activity indices such as visual acuity, posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis, total inflammatory activity index (TIAI), total adjusted disease activity index (TADAI) were calculated at baseline and at last evaluation. Results: The mean visual acuity improved from 2.4 to 4.4. The mean indices for posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis, TIAI and TADAI improved from 2.2 to 1, 2.7 to 1.4, 19.3 to 9, and 27.2 to 20.5 respectively. The P value was less than 0.001 for all comparisons. Conclusion: Pulse cyclophosphamide is able to improve ocular lesions of Behcet's disease; therefore it may be used as a first choice, especially in retinal vasculitis.


In this article, the complex nonlinear dynamics and chaos control have been examined in Hamiltonians systems with quartic coupling through the generalized three-dimensional (3D) Yang-Mills Hamiltonian system with four control parameters. We provide sufficient conditions on the four control parameters of the system which guarantee the 3D integrability in the Liouvillian sense. Therefore, we get a classification of the 3D Yang-Mills Hamiltonian system in sense of integrability and non-integrability. The integrable cases are identified and the detailed calculations of their associated first integrals of motion are given. The nature of the behavior orbits could be distinguished in a fast and efficient way by using a set of reliable methods based on the so-called the evolution of deviation vectors related to the studied orbit. This set of methods includes the Poincar´e surface of section (PSS), the maximum Lyapunov exponent (mLE), the Smaller Alignment Index (SALI), the Generalized Alignment Index (GALI). In this view, the chaotic behavior will be explored and the order-chaos transition could be eval-uated both in 2D and 3D, when any control parameters on which the system depends vary. Finally, the efficiency and rapidity of these proposed methods are proven by using several numerical illustrative paradigms for identifying whether the system is in chaos or order state.