Background In the presence of comorbidities the effectiveness of many cardioprotective strategies is blunted. The goal of this study was to assess in a hypertensive rat model if the early reperfusion with anti-hypertensive and pro-angiogenic Chromogranin A-derived peptide, Catestatin (CST:hCgA352–372; CST-Post), protects the heart via Reperfusion-Injury-Salvage-Kinases (RISK)-pathway activation, limiting infarct-size and apoptosis, and promoting angiogenetic factors (e.g., hypoxia inducible factor, HIF-1α, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase, eNOS, expression). Methods and Results The effects of CST-Post on infarct-size, apoptosis and pro-angiogenetic factors were studied in isolated hearts of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), which underwent the following protocols: (a) 30-min ischemia and 120-min reperfusion (I/R); (b) 30-min ischemia and 20-min reperfusion (I/R-short), both with and without CST-Post (75 nM for 20-min at the beginning of reperfusion). In unprotected Wistar-Kyoto hearts, used as normal counterpart, infarct-size resulted smaller than in SHR. CST-Post reduced significantly infarct-size and improved post-ischemic cardiac function in both strains. After 20-min reperfusion, CST-Post induced S-nitrosylation of calcium channels and phosphorylation of RISK-pathway in WKY and SHR hearts. Yet specific inhibitors of the RISK pathway blocked the CST-Post protective effects against infarct in the 120-min reperfusion groups. Moreover, apoptosis (evaluated by TUNEL, ARC and cleaved caspase) was reduced by CST-Post. Importantly, CST-Post increased expression of pro-angiogenetic factors (i.e., HIF-1α and eNOS expression) after two-hour reperfusion. Conclusions CST-Post limits reperfusion damages and reverses the hypertension-induced increase of I/R susceptibility. Moreover, CST-Post triggers antiapoptotic and pro-angiogenetic factors suggesting that CST-Post can be used as an anti-maladaptive remodeling treatment.


In this work two 0.7-1.4GHz room-temperature 65nm CMOS low noise amplifiers (LNAs), designed for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope receiver, are compared. One LNA was fabricated with low-power (LP) transistors whereas the other, otherwise identical LNA, was fabricated with general-purpose (GP) transistors. As shown there are electrical and noise performance differences between the two circuits. The GP-LNA achieves better noise temperatures (∼22K) at the upper band edge whereas the LP-LNA has a higher gain. The GP-LNA is a marginally better option for the SKA due to better S11 and lower noise temperatures at the upper frequency range.


Abstract A plethora of competing ideological versions of enterprise are currently being promoted in pre‐ and post‐16 education and training. Dominant among these models is enterprise as self‐employment in small business. While moves to transform the educational system (and, indeed, whole regions of the country) in the name of economic enterprise proceed apace, there has been little in the way of independent, critical analysis of the consequences of the rise of this enterprise movement for young people. This paper explores the experience of youth enterprise for young adults in a depressed area of Britain: Cleveland. It draws on ethnographic interviews with 100 18‐ to 25‐year‐olds who have attempted to join the enterprise culture with their new, small businesses. The paper concentrates on the experiences of 'runners', 'fallers' and 'plodders' in the enterprise stakes and highlights some of the contradictions in current small‐business revivalism and enterprise promotion policies.


This article has focused on the relatively low priority accorded industrial wastes compared to human wastes by the public health community in the period from 1876 through 1932. The critical reason for this prioritization was the potential for acute health effects from human wastes as compared with the belief that industrial wastes had only indirect effects. State departments of health normally only responded to industrial wastes when they endangered the potable nature of water supplies or interfered with water and sewage treatment processes. Within the public health community, however, a relatively small group of interdisciplinary professionals argued for attention to the indirect health effects of industrial wastes and their impacts on the total stream environment. In conjunction with other groups interested in clean streams--such as sportsmen and manufacturers who required high quality process water--they pushed for a broader state legislative mandate in regard to pollution control. Some states created new bureaus or boards with responsibility for industrial wastes and the larger stream environment but the attack on industrial pollution remained limited in this period. The final significant development regarding industrial pollution and public health concerned the formulation by Streeter-Phelps of the Public Health Service of a theory of stream purification with a set of general quantitative indicators. This application was of particular importance in regard to the high-oxygen consuming nature of organic industrial wastes and the wide variety of effluents that existed. Industrial wastes constituted what Harvey Brooks, in his essay "Science Indicators and Science Priorities" calls a very "messy" research problem--one that does "not lend itself to elegant and widely applicable generalizations."(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Vitamin therapy in the dermatologic field is used for a variety of diseases, which may be divided into two groups: (1) the true and established vitamin deficiencies and (2) dermatoses in which a true vitamin deficiency is either debatable or undemonstrable but for which vitamin therapy appears to be of benefit. Some dermatoses of the latter group are the subject of our discussion. Vitamin therapy in dermatology presents certain peculiarities which must be appreciated if satisfactory results are to be achieved. For most diseases which yield to treatment with vitamins infinitely higher doses are required than are provided by dietary measures or by the administration of commercially advertised vitamin concentrate mixtures. Moreover, the route of administration plays at times an important, if yet unexplained, role (Spies and Butt 1 ). In selecting vitamin products one has the choice of synthetic vitamins and the natural concentrates. The


Summary Conventional research methodologies that use written vignettes to present stimuli have been criticized as lacking in realism. We propose the use of highly immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to overcome limitations of written vignettes and other traditional methodologies. We also illustrate how VR technology can be effectively used to investigate various topics in organizational behavior and industrial/organizational psychology. ? 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Nonlinear dispersion of the medium is taken into account in the derivation of the equations for self-consistent propagation of two adiabatic pulses when the sum of their frequencies is close to a two-photon resonance. Invariants describing the interaction of the two pulses are found. Analytic solutions are obtained for a special case. The nature of changes in the pulse profiles and their spectra during propagation are analysed. A critical propagation length at which a shock front appears in the pulse tails is considered as a function of the parameters of the problem.


The purpose of this work is to investigate the interaction between transport processes and chemical reactions, with special emphasis on modeling mass transport by the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) at microscale of the anode of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). In order to improve the performance of an SOFC, it is important to determine the microstructural effect embedded within the physical and chemical processes, which usually are modeled macroscopically. Without detailed knowledge of the transport processes and the chemical reactions at microscale it can be difficult to capture their effect and to justify assumptions for the macroscopic models with regard to the source terms and various properties in the porous electrodes. The advantage of an anode-supported SOFC structure is that the thickness of the electrolyte can be reduced, while still providing an internal reforming environment. For this configuration with an enlarged anode, more detailed knowledge of the porous domain in terms of the physical processes at microscale is called for. In the first part of this study, the current literature on the modeling of transport processes and chemical reactions mechanisms at microstructural scales is reviewed with special focus on the LBM followed by a report on the emphasis to couple conventional CFD to LBM. In the second part, two models are described. The first model is developed at microscale by LBM for the anode of an SOFC in MATLAB. In the LB approach, the main point is to carefully model the diffusion and convection at microscale in the porous region close to the three-phase-boundary (TPB). The porous structure is reconstructed from digital images, and processed by Python. The second model is developed at macroscale for the whole unit cell. For the macroscale model the kinetic model is evaluated at smaller scales to investigate if any severe limiting effects on the heat and mass transfer occur. LBM has been found to be an alternative method for modeling at microscale and can handle complex geometries easily. However, there is still a need for a supercomputer to solve models with several physical processes and components for a larger domain. The result of the macroscale model shows that the three reaction rate models are fast and vary in magnitude. The pre-exponential values, in relation to the partial pressures, and the activation energy affect the reaction rate. The variation in amount of methane content and steam-to-fuel ratio reveals that the composition needs a high inlet temperature to enable the reforming process and to keep a constant current-density distribution. As experiments with the same chemical compositions can be conducted on a cell or a reformer, the effect of the chosen kinetic model on the heat and mass transfer was checked so that no severe limitation are caused on the processes at microscale for an SOFC. For future work, macroscale and microscale models will be connected for the design of a multiscale model. Multiscale modeling will increase the understanding of detailed transport phenomena and it will optimize the specific design and control of operating conditions. This can offer crucial knowledge for SOFCs and the potential for a breakthrough in their commercialization. (Less)


Cutaneous drug eruptions have a variety of clinical features. Lichenoid drug eruptions are rare and may be difficult to diagnose. A case of a simvastatin‐induced lichenoid eruption with skin and mucosal involvement is reported.


The interactions of acetylene with structurally ordered PdxAg1-x/Pd(100) (x = 1, 0.75, 0.5, 0.25) surface alloys, in which Ag is presented only in the first layer as the computational model system, were investigated by gradient corrected periodic density functional calculations to unravel and understand contributions from electronic strain, electronic ligand and geometric ensemble effects. The calculated adsorption energies indicate that the hollow sites are always found to be more stable than any others and more sensitive to the Ag atoms because of the strong ensemble effect. However, the ligand effect plays a significant role in both the top and bridge adsorption sites. The electrons transferred to the acetylene molecules from the surface increase with increasing concentration of the surface atomic Ag.


Introduction: The electrocardiogram (ECG) plays an important role in the diagnosis of heart diseases. However, most patterns of diseases are based on old datasets and stepwise algorithms that provide limited accuracy. Improving diagnostic accuracy of the ECG can be done by applying machine learning algorithms. This requires taking existing scanned or printed ECGs of old cohorts and transforming the ECG signal to the raw digital (time (milliseconds), voltage (millivolts)) form. Objectives: We present a MATLAB-based tool and algorithm that converts a printed or scanned format of the ECG into a digitized ECG signal. Methods: 30 ECG scanned curves are utilized in our study. An image processing method is first implemented for detecting the ECG regions of interest and extracting the ECG signals. It is followed by serial steps that digitize and validate the results. Results: The validation demonstrates very high correlation values of several standard ECG parameters: PR interval 0.984 +/−0.021 (p-value < 0.001), QRS interval 1+/− SD (p-value < 0.001), QT interval 0.981 +/− 0.023 p-value < 0.001, and RR interval 1 +/− 0.001 p-value < 0.001. Conclusion: Digitized ECG signals from existing paper or scanned ECGs can be obtained with more than 95% of precision. This makes it possible to utilize historic ECG signals in machine learning algorithms to identify patterns of heart diseases and aid in the diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of patients with cardiovascular disease.


BACKGROUND
Haemodialysis vascular access dysfunction caused by aggressive venous neointimal hyperplasia is a major problem for haemodialysis patients with synthetic arteriovenous (AV) grafts. Several different strategies to prevent venous stenosis by inhibiting smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration using local delivery of potent antiproliferative agents are currently under investigation. We performed this study to evaluate the efficacy of sirolimus-eluting vascular grafts in preventing stenosis and to compare the effectiveness of sirolimus-coated grafts with that of paclitaxel-coated vascular grafts that we characterized in a previous study.

METHODS
AV grafts were implanted laterally between the common carotid artery and external jugular vein of 14 female Landrace pigs. Three types of grafts were implanted: grafts coated with 1.08 μg/mm(2) sirolimus (low dose, n = 6), grafts coated with 2.41 μg/mm(2) sirolimus (high dose, n = 2) and uncoated control grafts (n = 6). Animals were sacrificed 6 weeks after surgery. Cross-sections of the venous anastomoses were analysed to determine the percentage of luminal stenosis in each group, and immunohistochemistry was performed to identify the cellular phenotypes of the neointimal hyperplasia and tissues adjacent to the implanted grafts.

RESULTS
Compared with the control group, neointimal hyperplasia in the venous anastomoses of the groups implanted with sirolimus-coated vascular grafts was significantly suppressed without infection. The mean ± standard error values for the percentage of luminal stenosis were 75.7 ± 12.7% in the control group and 22.2 ± 1.41% in the low-dose sirolimus-coated group. Myofibroblasts and fibroblasts were the major cell types found in the neointimal hyperplasia.

CONCLUSIONS
Neointimal hyperplasia was effectively suppressed by sirolimus-eluting grafts. However, the inhibitory effects of sirolimus-eluting grafts were weaker than those observed for paclitaxel-coated grafts in our previous study.


Operational license of the four VVER-440/213 units at Paks NPP, Hungary is limited to the design lifetime of 30 years. Extension by an additional 20 years of the original license is one of the main goals of the plant owner. In 2008 a programme for long-term operation (LTO) was developed and submitted to the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. The LTO Programme defines the activities for ensuring the extension of the operational lifetime and contains the justification of the safe LTO. The LTO Programme has to be implemented and comprehensive justification of the safe LTO has to be provided in the formal License Renewal Applications unit by unit. This work has been completed by the end of 2011, and the application has been submitted for approval for the Unit 1. The authority review and the approval of the License Renewal Application for Unit 1 should be finished before the expiration of the original design lifetime in 2012. In line with the regulations and supporting the License Renewal Application, a large number of engineering tasks have been performed. In this paper the entire project will be reported. The issues will be discussed, which have been arisen during the development of the application as well as the difficulties generated by the Hungarian technical and regulatory peculiarities will be presented.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


The neutral hydrolysis reaction of post-consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) in solid state was studied through the reaction of the polymer with water at the molar ratio 1:91 with autogenous pressure. Two sizes of post-consumer PET flakes and temperatures of 135°C, 170°C and 205°C with pressures of 4.0 atm, 7.5 atm and 13.5 atm, respectively, were considered. With reaction time equal to 6h, the method reached 99% depolymerization at 205°C, 8.2% at 170°C and 1.7% at 135°C. The reaction extension was measured by separating the terephthalic acid formed in the process and calculating by gravimetry how much material could still be reacted. Through the viscosimetry of diluted solutions and the counting of carboxylic end groups in the remaining material from the gravimetric assay, it was possible to suggest that the reaction occurs randomly and in the whole volume of the polymeric particle and not solely on the surface. The terephthalic acid obtained and then purified was characterized by elemental analysis, magnetic nuclear resonance, size and particle size distribution and spectrophotometry in the visible spectrum, and it was similar to the petrochemical equivalent, with purity recorded in carbon base equal to 99.9%.


Effects of Reinforcement Rate on the Aversive Function of Timeout from Positive Reinforcement Cory Whirtley Although the use of timeout from positive reinforcement is widespread and has been shown to be an effective punisher in clinical settings, the factors responsible for its effectiveness are not fully understood. The present experiment was designed to evaluate one of these factors, the reinforcement rate underway during periods of time-in. Rats' lever pressing was maintained on variable-interval schedules of food reinforcement in a multiple schedule with two components. In one component, no timeouts were delivered. In the other component, when a variable-ratio schedule was met, lever presses were followed by a 30-s timeout during which a tone sounded, the component light was extinguished, and the food schedule was suspended. Across conditions, the reinforcement rates in both components ranged from 0.5 to 6 pellets per min and the degree of response suppression was evaluated. In the leanest condition, 0.5 pellets per min, the timeouts failed to suppress responding. Generally, as the reinforcement rate was increased, the degree of suppression was enhanced systematically, showing that the punitive function of timeout is directly related to time-in reinforcement rate. The results are discussed in relation to laboratory research on timeout avoidance and shock punishment.


Psychiatric disorders have historically been classified using symptom information alone. With the advent of new technologies that allowed researchers to investigate brain mechanisms more directly, interest in the mechanistic rationale behind defined pathologies and aetiology redefinition has greatly increased. This is particularly appealing for the field of personalised medicine, which searches for data-driven approaches to improve individual diagnosis, prognosis and treatment selection. Here we intend to systematically analyse the usage of functional MRI on both the elucidation of psychiatric disease biotypes and the interpretation of subtypes obtained via unsupervised learning applied to symptom or biomarker data. We searched the existing literature for functional MRI applications to the obtention or interpretation of psychiatric disease subtypes. The PRISMA guidelines were applied to filter the retrieved studies, and the active learning framework ASReviews was applied for article prioritization. From the 20 studies that met the inclusion criteria, 5 used functional MRI data to interpret symptom-derived disease clusters, 4 used it for the interpretation of clusters derived from biomarker data other than fMRI itself, and 11 applied clustering to fMRI directly. Major depression disorder and schizophrenia were the two most studied pathologies, followed by ADHD, psychosis, autism disorder, and early violence. No trans-diagnostic studies were retrieved. While interest in personalised medicine and data-driven disease subtyping is on the rise and psychiatry is not the exception, unsupervised analyses of functional MRI data are inconsistent to date, and much remains to be done in terms of gathering and centralising data, standardising pipelines and model validation, and method refinement. The usage of fMRI in the field of trans-diagnostic psychiatry remains vastly unexplored.


This paper summarized the affect that the total quality management been used in the hospital infection management. We introduced the all-round, all employees, the whole process of management into the infection management process. The specific content includes: All the infection management relevant departments was incorporated into the infection management network, all employees must be trained with the infection-related knowledge and skills, and through improved monitoring ways and means achieved the full monitoring. The infection management network was formed with comprehensive coverage including from the source and process to the result ,from the clinical department and supply link to the management department. Thus, the way of the previous infection management was changed because it single managed the clinical departments and only relied the data of the infection management. After practice, We believe that the total quality management approach organically into the hospital infection management can improve management efficiency and management quality and reduce the incidence of nosocomial infection.


Abstract: Ethanol can alter the affinity of mouse striatal opiate receptors for their ligands, and the present studies were aimed at determining the importance of the receptor microenvironment for this effect of ethanol. Changing the temperature of the binding assay, and thus altering the properties of neuronal membrane lipids, resulted in changes in the observed affinity of striatal binding sites for dihydromorphine (DHM), but not for d‐Ala2, d‐Leu5‐enkephalin (ENK). The changes in temperature also differentially altered the response of the two binding sites to ethanol. Two other factors that regulate opiate receptor affinity, Na+ and GTP, also affected the response to ethanol. High concentrations of ethanol were more effective at decreasing receptor affinity for both DHM and ENK when the binding assays were performed in the presence of GTP or Na+. In addition, at 37°C and in the presence of GTP or Na+, DHM binding, but not ENK binding, was significantly inhibited by a low, physiologically attainable concentration of ethanol. Our results suggest that the response of opiate receptors to ethanol is influenced by the microenvironment of the receptors, including the physical state of the membrane lipids and/or by the nature of the interactions of receptors with "coupling proteins" within the membrane. The differential responses of μ and δ receptors to temperature and to ethanol suggest that these receptors reside in specific membrane environments. Under physiological conditions, several different factors may contribute to a selective action of ethanol on particular subtypes of opiate receptors.


The next-nearest-neighbor hopping interactions of pi-electrons in quasi-one-dimensional organic polymer ferromagnet are considered by Peierls-Hubbard model, and a see of self-consistent equations are established to optimize the system. The competition between the SDW and CDW states, which is determined by the interplay between the electron-electron correlation and the next-nearest-neighbor hopping interaction, is studied. At the CDW state, the SDW along the main chain will be tuned by the CDW. Consequently the ferromagnetic state, in which all the spins of the unpaired electrons at side free-radicals are arranged parallelly, will be no longer a stable ground state of the system.


Point of Purchase (PoP) is the place where a customer is about to buy the product. This is the crucial point where the exchange takes place. It offers us a last chance to remind or attract customers. In spite of a considerable expenditure on point of purchase material by companies, there is a lack of an established method of measuring the effectiveness of communication at the retail outlet. The current study is an attempt to define and measure the extent of usage of PoP by consumers while shopping. It explores the phenomenon with the help of an experimentation using two main variables; level of information search and store benefits sought. It uses shopping involvement as a mediating variable. During the course of study scales for usage of PoP communication and shopping involvement were developed. In-depth interviews were carried among shoppers to understand their motivations and gratifications with regard to shopping. The interview findings were used to develop scales, which were tested before being used during the experiment. The experiments involved building scenarios specific to shopping situations. Participant observations were carried out at stores with different formats. The study found that all the three variables were significant in terms of main as well as interaction effects. Based on the findings the authors suggest a framework for enhancing the effectiveness of PoP Communication. [W.P. No. 2009-11-07]


PURPOSE
To examine the validity of the nursing diagnosis body image disturbance and to specify its major and minor defining characteristics in Japanese culture.

METHODS
A qualified sample of 149 RNs with an average of 10 years of clinical experience and knowledge of nursing diagnosis was given a questionnaire consisting of 21 defining characteristics from NANDA, 8 additional items from the literature, and 2 distracting characteristics.

FINDINGS
Four major diagnostic content validation (DCV) scores of 0.75 and higher and 15 minor defining characteristics with DCV scores from 0.60 to 0.74 were identified.

CONCLUSIONS
This study provides a foundation for further study of culturally appropriate defining characteristics for use in Japan.


Some unsolved problems concerning pure radiation fields in general relativity are studied. The general solutions for homogeneous and for conformally Ricci flat metrics are given. They are all of Petrov type N or O, and contain a hitherto unidentified conformally flat metric. Non-aligned Petrov type III pure radiation metrics are shown not to exist.


Child abuse and neglect pose an increasingly recognized and serious threat to the nation's children. In the last 10 years the reported cases of abused and neglected children more than doubled, from 1.4 million in 1986 to more than 3 million in 1997; substance abuse was involved in more than 70 percent of the cases. A recent survey of State child welfare administrators found that parental substance abuse was a factor in at least 50 percent of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect. Moreover, 80 percent reported that substance abuse and poverty were the two primary factors contributing to abuse and neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 1999).


ABSTRACT Group A human rotavirus strains belonging to the unusual serotype G9 were detected at high frequency in stool specimens from infected children with acute diarrhea in Bari, Italy, during a 15-month survey from March 2001 to June 2002. This may signify a local reemergence of the G9 rotaviruses detected in Italy in the early and mid-1990s or may be related to the global emergence of G9 rotaviruses in recent years.


Background/Aims: Arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) appear to be clinically superior to catheters as vascular access for maintenance hemodialysis, but higher insertion costs and high disease burden and mortality obscure the issue of whether AVF placement before hemodialysis initiation represents a net cost savings. We aimed to investigate Medicare costs for patients beginning maintenance hemodialysis, as related to timing of AVF placement. Methods: Data were from Medicare claims for incident hemodialysis patients aged ≥67 years in 2006. The study period extended from 2 years before to 1 year after dialysis initiation. Patients identified as having AVFs were categorized by timing of placement (mature AVF at dialysis initiation, maturing AVF at initiation, postinitiation AVF placement). Because timing may be influenced by factors that also influence overall costs, the model accounted for this nonrandom treatment assignment. An ordered probit extension of the classic Heckman correction was employed after identifying an appropriate instrumental variable. A cohort with Medicare coverage before and after dialysis initiation was identified, and Medicare claims were used to identify comorbid conditions and treatment costs. Results: Principal findings are that earlier AVF placement leads to lower costs, with the potential for about USD 500 million in savings. Additionally, the effect of nonrandom treatment assignment is real and significant. In our data, the impact of AVF placement timing was understated when treatment selection was ignored. Conclusions: For appropriate AVF candidates, having a mature AVF in place at the time of dialysis initiation appears to confer cost savings.


Construction design has become an increasingly complex synthesis activity for which
effective solutions depend upon co-operative participation by a number of people. Thus
communication, including the integration of specialised knowledge and negotiation of
differences between team members, is a vital process for collaborative design. A
questionnaire survey was initially conducted to investigate communication issues and
problems, which had been highlighted from a review of the literature, in current
construction design. The results confirmed that communication among the different
construction team members is often difficult although of paramount important to design
outcomes. Based on these results, case studies have been carried out to gain further
insights into communication issues and problems, and explore why and how they are
caused. Through the application of multiple approaches, a model has been developed,
which suggests strategies that may help participants communicate more effectively and
ultimately improve the quality of construction design outcomes.


Cassava is a widely distributed crop known for food security and industrial applications. Nonetheless, it is highly prone to attacks of pests and diseases. Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is an important cause of loss across the globe. In this context, research is focused on developing cassava mosaic disease resistant varieties through transgenic and conventional approaches. In this paper, the trait of CMD resistance is valued ex-ante using partial budget approach and economic surplus model. The trait value of CMD resistance at farm level varies from 38658 per hectare in drip-irrigated production system to 15562 per hectare in rainfed production system. At the macro level, the value of the improved trait is worth 1781.70 million rupees. The results clearly indicate attractive rate of returns on investment in research for CMD resistance in cassava.


The development of nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy has been described to phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to assess the risk of nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy associated with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors exposure. A literature search was performed at MEDLINE, EMBASE, Toxline and VigiBase. Randomized controlled trials, observational studies, case reports and spontaneous reports describing nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy associated with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors exposure were included. The risk of bias was assessed according to Centre for Reviews and Dissemination's (CRD) guidance. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and meta‐analysis. Four observational studies, 50 case reports and 608 spontaneous reports were identified. All observational studies evaluated males treated for erectile dysfunction. Treatment with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors is not associated with an increased risk of definitive nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy [odds ratio (OR) 1.16; 95% CI 0.89, 1.52, p = 0.046; I2 = 62.6%]. The methodological quality was assessed as good for three studies. Among case reports, 12 (23%) patients did not have risk factors to develop nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy. Thirty‐nine (78%) patients were treated for erectile dysfunction. A regular administration of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors was observed in 24 (48%) case reports. All case reports were assessed as higher risk of bias. According to the available evidence, the treatment with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors was not found to be associated with nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy. Further research is needed to study such association, including possible confounding factors.


The introduction of antibiotic prophylaxis for cesarean delivery has decreased the risk of postpartum endometritis and wound infection, but factors that contribute to prophylaxis failure are not understood. To determine factors that might contribute to postpartum infections following antibiotic prophylaxis, we cultured amniotic fluid, decidua, and chorioamniotic membrane specimens for anaerobic and facultative bacteria and for genital mycoplasmas at cesarean delivery. Women were assessed daily for the development of infections, and if endometritis developed, a protected endometrial culture was obtained. Postpartum endometritis developed in 16 and wound infection in four of 102 women. Infection rates were similar for women receiving cefotetan (N=50) or cefoxitin (N=52) for prophylaxis. The isolation of group B streptococcus {P<.001) or Enterococcus faecalis {P=.03) from the upper genital tract at delivery was significantly associated with postpartum endometritis. Antibiotic- resistant organisms (other than enterococci) were recovered uncommonly at delivery or with postpartum infections. Group B streptococcus was susceptible to the prophylactic agents used, suggesting that virulence factors other than antibiotic resistance are important for the development of postpartum endometritis. Group B streptococcus, E faecalis, and bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis were recovered from the endometrium at the time of postpartum endometritis.


Limited research has been done to date on the extent of public funding of Open Educational Resources (OER) within basic education (K-12 equivalent) in South Africa. As claims have been made about the potential cost reductions that come with using OER, this study aimed to establish a benchmark of public spending on educational resources, uncover how much is being spent on OER and assess cost-savings of OER adoption. A desk review and document analysis of official information sources on South African basic education was conducted to develop a conceptual understanding of funding allocations the South African government uses for educational resources. A review of publicly available government reports and budgets showed that there is insufficient information at this time to determine how much is being spent on OER specifically or to act as a benchmark for potential cost savings of OER. This study highlights the information gaps which would need to be filled in order to make claims about OER and their potential as cost savers.


Mass-spectrometric analyses of Xe released from acid-treated U ore reveal that apparent Xe fission yields significantly deviate from the normal values. The anomalous Xe structure is attributed to chemically fractionated fission (CFF), previously observed only in materials experienced neutron bursts. The least retentive CFF-Xe isotopes, 136Xe and 134Xe, typically escape in 2:1 proportion. Xe retained in the sample is complimentarily depleted in these isotopes. This nucleochemical process allows understanding of unexplained Xe isotopic structures in several geophysical environments, which include well gasses, ancient anorthosite, some mantle rocks, as well as terrestrial atmosphere. CFF is likely responsible for the isotopic difference in Xe in the Earth's and Martian atmospheres and it is capable of explaining the relationship between two major solar system Xe carriers: the Sun and phase-Q, found in meteorites.


The Jordan River Basin is under great hydric stress. Increases in population and agricultural demand are contributing to the closure of the basin. This paper analyses the results of integrated water resources planning model (WEAP) by studying the vulnerability of water resources in the lower Jordan River under a changing climate pattern and growing water demands. Water balance models show that all aquifers supplying the city of Amman will be depleted within the next few decades. Mitigation measures should include the introduction of additional water into the basin through the Red Sea–Dead Sea canal, in addition to demand management measures such as water conservation and increase in irrigation efficiency. The findings of this study would provide a useful guide to the co‐riparians for policy formulation, decision making and dispute resolution. Cooperation among the five riparian countries may be improved by building a Geographic Information System (GIS) database that provides access to accurate data for hydrological analysis.


Differences in heart stability of human pancreatic ribonuclease (cRNase) and serum ribonuclease were abolished by aprotinin, suggesting that the pancreatic enzyme was similar to the serum enzyme, but was being destroyed by proteases. Serum ribonuclease levels in normal subjects correlated with age but were unaffected by meal ingestion. Serum ribonuclease was not found to be useful in the detection of pancreatic cancer and was more frequently abnormal in patients with other solid tumours or renal failure.


A retrospective study of 80 cases of lithiasic cholangitis treated between 1970 and 1982 demonstrated that cholangitis represents 45 p. 100 of the clinical manifestations of stones in the main biliary tract and 6.5 p. 100 of biliary surgery. This complication mainly affects female patients (3 out of 4 cases) and charcot's triad is the form that is most frequently encountered (81.25 p. 100 of cases). External drainage of the main biliary tract by Kerr's drain was performed in 32,5 p. 100 of cases and internal bypass operations in the remainder (A.B.D. : 36,15 p. 100, sphincterotomy : 32,25 p. 100). Mortality has reached 11,25 p. 100, including over half of the cases by cholangitis of uremic origin.


The control system design of differential-drive wheeled robots in the approach of approximate feedback linearization is presented in this paper. A differential-drive wheeled mobile robot is a highly nonlinear multi-input/multi-output system. Traditional techniques can not result in a control system design with satisfactory performance. In this paper, we propose to reasonably choose the state variables so that the control design can be implemented in the sense of approximate linearization. To assess the proposed method for control of differential-driven mobile robot, we compare its performance with that under a conventional linearised controller. Simulation results demonstrate that the approximate feedback linearization can provide much better performance than the normal linearized control system design


The anaerobic environment of sewers is the main cause of the production of toxic and harmful gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane. The installation of septic-tanks between the drainage standpipes and municipal sewage pipes has aggravated the current situation of poor ventilation in sewage pipes. A system of enhanced ventilation has been formed. By connecting the drainage standpipes and sewage pipes, the system of enhanced ventilation can ameliorate the ventilation of sewage pipes and improve the gas-phase space environment. The experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation methods were established to explore the law of oxygen gas-liquid mass transfer under the different sewage flow rates or wind speeds. This study aimed to seek a method to enhance the oxygen mass transfer, suppress the anaerobic environment, and achieve the purpose of long-term control of harmful gases. The results showed that increasing the gas-liquid flow rates can accelerate the oxygen mass transfer, and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient increased by 3.5×10-4 min-1 for every increase of 0.1 m·s-1. However, the faster sewage reduced hydraulic retention time. The mass transfer time of oxygen was also shortened, and the promotion effect was not as good as that by enhancing the gas velocity in the pipelines. At the same time, when the average gas velocity increased by 0.1 m·s-1, the lengths of pipes where dissolved oxygen could effectively inhibit H2S increased by 25 m.


A new yeast wild-type Yarrowia lipolytica isolate presented efficient growth on glycerol. During flask cultures, nitrogen limitation led to the secretion of sugar-alcohols as the major metabolites of the process (mannitol, arabitol and erythritol), whereas insignificant quantities of citrate were synthesized. Although in some instances high initial glycerol concentrations were employed (≈150 g/L), remarkable glycerol assimilation and polyol secretion was observed. Total polyols ≈ 52 g/L (conversion yield on glycerol consumed = 0.43 g/g) was recorded in the flask experiments. The sugar-alcohol production bioprocess was successfully simulated with the aid of a modified Velhlust–Aggelis model that fitted very well with the experimental data, while optimized parameter values seemed to be quite consistent. In bioreactor trials, a noticeable metabolic shift towards citric acid production was observed, while simultaneously insignificant polyol quantities were produced. In fed-batch bioreactor experiments, a total citric acid quantity ≈ 102 g/L was recorded—one of the highest in the literature for wild-type Y. lipolytica strains. This metabolic transition was due to higher oxygen saturation into the medium that occurred in the bioreactor experiments compared with the flasks. Cellular lipids produced in the bioreactor trial contained higher concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids compared with those produced in flasks.


The aim of this study is to analyze the status of Iranian scientific production in selected areas relating to science and information technology including information technology, management, and library and information science by scientometric and social network analysis indicators. This research has a look on the approach of the scientific outputs of Iranian scholars indexed in WOS database. In order to identify the status of the scientific cooperation between researchers, the coauthorship network of these researchers has been studied. After reviewing the literature, all records related to the selected areas were extracted from WOS database.Then the retrieved data sets were examined based on quantitative indicators (the number of scientific outputs) and qualitative indicators (the number of citations, h-index, etc.). Finally, the co-authorship network for each of the fields was drawn using network analysis method and appropriate software. This network was examined using social network analysis indicators such as density, clustering coefficient and centrality. The density degree of the co-authorship network in all three areas is down, and the authorships (nodes) have little communication with each other. The average of clustering coefficient index of the networks, especially in the field of information technology, represents a relatively high tendency of the network members to form different clusters. By determining the centrality (degree, betweenness and closeness) of authors, their performance and the best writers for each of these indices were found. The results of this research can be effective in research policies by determining the dimensions of scientific cooperation in each of the studied areas.


Spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM), as a promising nonvolatile memory technology, faces challenges of high write energy and low density. The recently developed magnetoelectric random access memory (MeRAM) enables the possibility of overcoming these challenges by the use of voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect and achieves high density, fast speed, and low energy simultaneously. As both STT-RAM and MeRAM suffer from the reliability problem of write errors, we implement a fast Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation-based simulator to capture their write error rate (WER) under process and temperature variation. We utilize a multi-write peripheral circuit to minimize WER and design reliable STT-RAM and MeRAM. With the same acceptable WER, MeRAM shows advantages of 83% faster write speed, 67.4% less write energy, 138% faster read speed, and 28.2% less read energy compared with STT-RAM. Benefiting from the VCMA effect, MeRAM also achieves twice the density of STT-RAM with a 32 nm technology node, and this density difference is expected to increase with technology scaling down.


IN THIS paper a clinically useful method for dissolving calcific corneal opacities by means of a solution of the neutral sodium salt of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid is reported. Treatment with a solution of this material is appropriate for corneal opacities which consist of calcific deposits in the anterior layers of the stroma or in the epithelium. This type of corneal opacity may be exogenous, resulting from a lime burn, or may be endogenous in the band keratopathies associated with protracted uveitis, hypercalcemia, or phthisis bulbi. No effect from treatment with this solution is to be expected in opacities which are noncalcific, such as result from edema, infiltration with inflammatory cells, scarring, or vascularization. 1 The purpose of treatment for removal of calcific corneal opacities may be to improve vision when the opacities are axially situated or to relieve discomfort when calcific particles are being spontaneously extruded through the corneal epithelium.


The utilization of the GPS system for Aircraft Flight Guidance/Test (AFGT) is a research project in China. The paper describes the concepts and the technical realization of such a system, including three components: ground subsystem, on-board subsystem and data communication link using TDMA technique. The purpose of the proposed AFGT system is to calibrate and verify performance of an on-board radar. Therefore, it must meet the requirements of evaluation of radar performances in several areas: accuracy, coverage range, and others. The AFGT System's displays are separately: a Moving Colored Digital Map on which flight trajectories, waypoints, and heights of aircrafts are clearly marked; and a Polar Coordinate Figure on which the bearings, headings, and distances of aircrafts relative to the origin of the ground control center are shown. The AFGT may monitor and guide several aircrafts flying in the pointed airspace. It support airport surface surveillance and air traffic control at the terminal area. A real-time software package RTTEST, which includes tracking display software and on-flight test software for radar evaluation, has conducted simulation with satisfactory position accuracy.


Motivated by their role for integrality and integrability in topological string theory, we introduce the general mathematical notion of "s-functions" as integral linear combinations of poly-logarithms. 2-functions arise as disk amplitudes in Calabi-Yau D-brane backgrounds and form the simplest and most important special class. We describe s-functions in terms of the action of the Frobenius endomorphism on formal power series and use this description to characterize 2-functions in terms of algebraic K-theory of the completed power series ring. This characterization leads to a general proof of integrality of the framing transformation, via a certain orthogonality relation in K-theory. We comment on a variety of possible applications. We here consider only power series with rational coefficients; the general situation when the coefficients belong to an arbitrary algebraic number field is treated in a companion paper.


Haischer, MH, Cooke, DM, Carzoli, JP, Johnson, TK, Shipherd, AM, Zoeller, RF, Whitehurst, M, and Zourdos, MC. Impact of cognitive measures and sleep on acute squat strength performance and perceptual responses among well-trained men and women. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2019-This study assessed the efficacy of currently used assessments for sleep, anxiety, and stress in predicting 1-repetition maximum (1RM) back squat performance. Fifty-three men (age, 23 ± 3 years; body mass, 86.67 ± 13.93 kg; training age, 6.0 ± 2.5 years; 1RM = 163.5 ± 39.5 kg) and 15 women (age, 21 ± 1.5 years; body mass, 63.34 ± 9.6 kg; training age, 4 ± 1.5 years; 1RM = 81.5 ± 12.5 kg) participated. Subjects completed the Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes (DALDA), the revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2R), and Oviedo Sleep Questionnaire (OSQ) to evaluate stress, anxiety, and sleep, respectively. Subjects then completed the perceived self-efficacy (PSE) scale, to predict what loads they were 100, 75, and 50% confident that they could lift for a 1RM; then completed 1RM testing with rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and average concentric velocity (ACV) obtained on each attempt. The performance-dependent variable was calculated by subtracting the PSE responses from the actual 1RM (1RM-PSE difference). Bootstrapping with 1,000 replicate samples was used with linear regression to increased robustness of the statistical analyses, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Hours of sleep was an inverse predictor of ACV (p = 0.014; 95% CI = 0.046 to-0.011) and a positive predictor of RPE (p = 0.005; 95% CI = 0.068-0.342). Furthermore, the hypersomnia subscale of the OSQ was a negative predictor of 1RM-PSE difference at 50% confidence (p = 0.028; 95% CI = -3.507 to -0.528), and CSAI-2R total score was a negative predictor of RPE at 1RM (p = 0.043; 95% CI = -0.041 to -0.003); however, the DALDA did not exhibit any significant relationships. These data highlight the importance of monitoring anxiety and sleep when assessing readiness for maximal strength performance.


This is thesis explores applications of Mixed Reality, commonplace technologies and representation techniques in embodied and interactive design, through the development of an airport wayfinding system. The proposition that airports can be difficult to navigate, struggling to foster social connections, along with the challenging notion of providing an interface for Big Data spatially to users, motivates the research.  The development of personalised spatial way finding techniques aids methods for the use of location and big data to ergonomically and spatially represent users' navigation of space. Through methods of connecting people virtually within a single physical location using a unified design language, social implications of space are enhanced and extended. Finally, space which functions efficiency provides real-time feedback.  Key theory in Human Computer Interaction and Embodied Design informs the research, through mixed reality, technology and data-form translations.  Research is done over two stages, the first explores data inputs from users and represents these in 2D graphics. The second develops three separate design elements to create a spatial way finding system, to allow user engagement. These are a virtual projection, a set of physical forms and a set of wearable device applications. Design development happens through iterations within each experiment, and are always informed by previous work.  The result is an inhabitable data space with seamless embodied design exploring the localisation of large sets of data.


A system simulation environment is constructed dedicatedly for IEEE1394 high-speed digital communication. In this environment, various network transactions inherent in communication systems are taken into account for system simulation, which is indispensable to enable IP (Intellectual Property)-based design of the systems. By using the proposed environment, system-level design of IEEE1394 link layer controller and bus segment bridge is achieved with great ability of network transactions as well as connectivities with physical layer chips. Functionalities of the designed bus segment bridge has been verified according to its FPGA implementation.


Hookworms are ubiquitous human parasites, infecting nearly one billion people worldwide, and are the leading cause of anemia and malnutrition in resource-limited countries. Current drug treatments rely on the benzimidazole derivatives albendazole and mebendazole, but there is emerging resistance to these drugs. As part of a larger screening effort, using a hamster-based ex vivo assay, anthelmintic activity toward Ancylostoma ceylanicum was observed in the crude extract of aerial parts of Dalea ornata. These studies have led to the isolation and characterization of phenolic metabolites 1-10. The structures were determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, and the absolute configuration of 1 was assigned using electronic circular dichroism data. The new compound, (2S)-8-(3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl)-6,7,4'-trihydroxyflavanone (1), was weakly active at 7.3 μM, with 17% reduction in survival of the hookworms after 5 days. The rotenoids deguelin (9) and tephrosin (10), predictably perhaps, were the most active, with complete worm mortality observed by day 4 (or earlier) at 6.3 and 6.0 μM, respectively. The effects of 1-10 on hookworm motility and on toxicity to hamster splenocytes were also explored as important measures of treatment potential.


Department of Pharmacology, Jinling Hospi Nanjing 210002, China. E-mail: ghzhou@nj Huadong Research Institute for Medicine a State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines School of Engineering, China Pharmaceutica Key Laboratory of Drug Quality Control Education, China Pharmaceutical University † Electronic supplementary information section, sequences of oligonucleotides, t samples, the illustration of controllabl reactions by the conventional single-str from different downstream probes, the s invasive reaction, the linear relationship initial reaction rates, and the operation gates. See DOI: 10.1039/c7sc04210h ‡ Y. L. Liu and H. P. Wu contributed equ Cite this: Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 1666


The widespread nature and economic importance of Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) and interactions between IBV and the host immune response remain poorly understood. Understanding the mechanism of virus recognition via innate immunity can help resist IBV invasion. Retinoic acid-induced gene I-like receptor (RLRs) recognize virus RNA in virus infection, and LGP2 is a member of RLRs. According to the current studies, LGP2 exhibited certain inhibition in the virus, and there is a lack of investigation for chicken's LGP2. It is important to figure out the role of chLGP2 in host immune recognition of IBV. Our results showed that chLGP2 inhibited the proliferation of IBV Beaudette in cells. Also, chLGP2 can identify and combine with IBV RNA. The domains of chLGP2 were separately expressed and inspired by related literature, and the chLGP2 K30A mutant was constructed. Our results suggested its structural integrity and the adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity are critical for IBV inhibiting activity. chTRBP was selected after CO-IP and Mass spectrometry test. We found chTRBP and chLGP2 are the interacting partners and promote mutual expression. Our study showed that chTRBP could also suppress IBV infections via chLGP2, which provided a basis for future innate immunity research for IBV.


The action of adrenergic alpha- and beta-agonists and antagonists has been studied on the membrane potential and resistance of glial cells of cultured rat central nervous system. Noradrenaline and the alpha-adrenoceptor stimulating agents phenylephrine and clonidine (10(-7) to 10(-4)M) depolarized the glial membrane, whereas the beta-agonist isoprenaline caused a hyperpolarization at low concentrations (10(-7) and 10(-6)M). The effects of noradrenaline and phenylephrine were reversibly blocked by the alpha-antagonist phentolamine, whereas those of isoprenaline were antagonized by the beta-blocker atenolol. Atenolol did not affect the depolarization by noradrenaline. The glial depolarization induced by the alpha-agonists was not the consequence of a change in the extracellular K+-concentration unlike that produced by amino acid transmitters. The present results, together with those of biochemical and autoradiographic binding studies, suggest that alpha- and beta-adrenoceptors occur on glial cells and that the glial depolarization is mediated by alpha-receptors, whereas the hyperpolarization is due to activation of beta-receptors.


Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to reason about one's own and others' mental states. ToM plays a critical role in the development of intelligence, language understanding, and cognitive processes. While previous work has primarily focused on first and second-order ToM, we explore higher-order ToM, which involves recursive reasoning on others' beliefs. We introduce HI-TOM, a Higher Order Theory of Mind benchmark. Our experimental evaluation using various Large Language Models (LLMs) indicates a decline in performance on higher-order ToM tasks, demonstrating the limitations of current LLMs. We conduct a thorough analysis of different failure cases of LLMs, and share our thoughts on the implications of our findings on the future of NLP.


The radio frequency subsystem (RFS) for the Mariner Mars 1971 (MM'71) spacecraft is described. The MM'69 RFS was used as the baseline design for the MM'71 RFS, and the report describes the design changes made to the 1969 RFS for use on MM'71. It also cites various problems encountered during the fabrication and testing of the RFS, as well as the types of tests to which the RFS was subjected. In areas where significant problems were encountered, a detailed description of the problem and its solution is presented. In addition, some recommendations are given for modifications to the RFS and test techniques for future programs.


To the Editor:— Ergotamine tartrate and caffeine can be absorbed from mucous membrane. Because many patients with migraine or tension headaches are too nauseated to tolerate these drugs by mouth, and because it is difficult to arrange for administration of ergotamine tartrate hypodermically at the onset of an attack, it has been advised that they be administered rectally. This was first suggested in 1894 by Thomson, who used tincture of ergot for "periodic neuralgia of the head." More recently the use of these drugs has been reported in the form of suppositories or tablets (Cafergot). I wish to call attention to a much more satisfactory procedure in these cases. The patient is instructed to break the tablets (Cafergot) between his teeth and allow them to be absorbed from the area between the teeth and cheek. The tablets have a moderately bitter taste, but patients with severe headaches seldom complain of


Energy crisis is the major problem we are facing today. So we are in search of alternative form of energy sources. We know that existing resources are being depleted day by day. In this project we are planning to harness energy from mechanical vibration. These mechanical vibrations are produced from piezoelectric crystal by the process of piezoelectric effect. Piezoelectric effect states that when a mechanical stress is applied to one pair of opposite faces of a quartz crystal, then equal and opposite electric charges are developed on the pairs of opposite faces of the crystal. We plan to do it in various fields of applications like drums, dance floor, shoes, train etc


In response to informal discussions at the 1988 AGU Spring Meeting in Baltimore, Md., a dinner colloquium was held December 5, 1988, in San Francisco. Our purpose was to explore ways of promoting basic research in rock deformation, for which no professional organization exists that spans the full range of research interests. In spite of an informal distribution of announcements of the meeting, 54 people attended.

Rock deformation is the materials science of the crystalline and amorphous materials that make up the solid Earth. As such, it includes not only the physical processes responsible for brittle and ductile deformation but also the important chemical processes that influence time-dependent inelastic deformation. Consequently, there is a continuing need to engage interest and collaboration from materials scientists, mineral physicists, metallurgists, surface chemists, and geochemists in the study of the inelastic mechanical behavior of these complex materials.


Arnold Hauser shows that the social organisation of artistic production before the late fifteenth century is very much along communal lines and based in guild workshops. In the early Renaissance, the work of art is 'not yet the expression of an independent personality, emphasizing his individuality and excluding himself from all extraneous influence' (p. 48). According to Hauser, Michelangelo is the first modern artist in this respect, and in 'the claim independently to shape the whole work from the first stroke to the last and the inability to co-operate with pupils and assistants' (p. 48). The artistic labour process up to the end of the fifteenth century still took place entirely in collective forms. From that date, the artistic profession began to differentiate itself from craftsmanship, and artists began to become emancipated from the guilds. It has become a commonplace, documented by others since Hauser, to point out that the artist is a relatively modern figure. It is certainly true that the conception of the artist as unique and gifted individual is an historically specific one, and that it dates from the rise of the merchant classes in Italy and France, and from the rise of humanist ideas in philosophy and religious thought. Over the next couple of centuries this concept narrowed and sharpened, and the artist (or writer) was increasingly conceived of as a person with no institutional ties whatsoever. (Even in the seventeenth century it was common, and in no way shameful, to write for commission on political matters, and, moreover, to change one's allegiance without apology.1)


Dental pulp is a heterogeneous microenviroment where unipotent progenitor and pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells cohabit. In this study we investigated whether human Dental Pulp Stromal (Stem) Cells (DP-SCs) committed to the angiogenic fate. DP-SCs showed the specific mesenchymal immunophenotypical profile positive for CD29, CD44, CD73, CD105, CD166 and negative for CD14, CD34, CD45, in accordance with that reported for bone marrow-derived SCs. The Oct-4 expression in DP-SCs, evaluated through RT-PCR analysis, increased in relation with the number of the passages in cell culture and decreased after angiogenic induction. In agreement with their multipotency, DP-SCs differentiated toward osteogenic and adipogenic commitments. In angiogenic experiments, differentiation of DP-SCs, through Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) induction, was evaluated by in vitro matrigel assay and by cytometric analysis. Accordingly, endothelial-specific markers like Flt-1 and KDR were basally expressed and they increased after exposure to VEGF together with the occurrence of ICAM-1 and von Willebrand Factor positive cells. In addition, VEGF-induced DP-SCs maintained endothelial cell-like features when cultured in a 3-D fibrin mesh, displaying focal organization into capillary-like structures. The DP-SC angiogenic potential may prove a remarkable tool for novel approaches to developing tissue-engineered vascular grafts which are useful when vascularization of ischemic tissues is required.


The simultaneous production of heat and power at a small-scale is already a well known technique. Cogeneration is one of the main ways to bring about decentralized, embedded, localized and/or autonomous power production. This paper specifically introduces an autonomous cogeneration system composed of a Stirling engine and a linear induction generator. First of all, the system is described, then, a state-space model of the co-generator under steady-state oscillatory conditions is presented in order to synthesize an H∞ controller that ensures robust stability and desired performances through the resistant effort created by the generator on the piston. Finally, an emulator of the cogenerator and its control are designed, and then both performance and stability robustness are studied and compared to the theory.


Background/context Historically the hospice had provided a lymphoedema service for patients who had predominantly cancer related lymphoedema. However, over time it became apparent that the condition for many of these patients had stabilised and they were living with chronic lymphoedema. This posed a dilemma for the hospice as to whether hospice funds should continue to be used to treat this category of 'non-palliative' patients. The hospice undertook a detailed activity analysis of the lymphoedema service and presented this to the NHS commissioning managers. This led to the hospice working with one PCT area to establish an NHS community based non-palliative lymphoedema service. A further, newly formed CCG decided to take a different route to offer a non-palliative service under an Any Qualified provider (AQP) contract. Aim To establish a non-palliative lymphoedema service under an AQP contract as an extension to the existing experienced hospice lymphoedema service. Approach used Hospice managers attended AQP stakeholder meeting. Submission of tender documentation. Acceptance of contract. Redesign of current service to accommodate new contract for wider geographical area. Recruitment, training of additional staff. Set up of data collection to meet requirements of contract. Setting up good working relationships with the other 3 commissioned AQP providers. Outcomes Patients who are classed as non-palliative have the benefit of an excellent well established palliative lymphoedema service. Application to hospice practice. The hospice now receives full funding for non-palliative patients. The hospice lymphoedema team are able to access additional training and gain knowledge of different conditions, this ultimately extends the range of skills and experience that they have to hand to support palliative patients. Non-palliative patients more prepared to accept hospice care should they have further disease recurrence or their condition deteriorates. Opportunity for hospice managers to gain experience in AQP commissioning process.


Magnetization switching by current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) is of great interest for its potential application in ultralow-power non-volatile memory devices. The past research on SOT based MRAM heavily relies on the spin-dependent transport in ferromagnetic (FM) conductors. However, such system has additional energy dissipation due to the Joule heating in the metallic FM layer. Moreover, the propagation length of spin current is limited by the short spin-diffusion length and the strong magnetic damping in FM metals. Magnetic insulators (MIs), attract tremendous interest for ultralow-power spintronics and spin wave application recently due to low Gilbert damping and absence of Ohmic loss. In this thesis, we achieved magnetic switching of an insulating magnetic ferrite thulium iron garnet (TmIG) by current-induced SOT in the nonmagnetic metal (NM) tungsten (W) layer. The switching current density is as low as 7.5 × 10 10 A/m 2 for the W (5 nm)/TmIG (15 nm). Further thickness dependent study shows the SOT efficiency increases with the thickness of TmIG, which is in consistence with the theoretical proposed Ms-effect. This finding shed light on the understanding of SOT in MIs and promote the development of MI-based low-power spintronics.


The acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) development is highly dynamic. Currently, no satisfactory algorithm identifies patients with HBV at risk of this complication. The aim of the study was to characterize ACLF development in hospitalized HBV‐related patients without previous decompensation and to test the performance of traditional prognostic models in ruling out ACLF development within 28 days on admission we conducted a cohort study. Two multi‐center cohorts with hospitalized HBV‐related previous compensated patients were analyzed. Performances of MELD, MELD‐Na, CLIF‐C AD, and CLIF‐C ACLF‐D in ruling out ACLF development within 28 days were compared and further validated by ROC analyses. In the derivation cohort (n = 892), there were 102 patients developed ACLF within 28 days, with profound systemic inflammatory levels and higher 28‐day mortality rate (31.4% vs. 1.0%) than those without ACLF development. The MELD score (cut‐off = 18) achieved acceptable missing rate (missed/total ACLF development) at 2.9%. In the validation cohort (n = 1656), the MELD score (<18) was able to rule out ACLF development within 28 days with missing rate at 3.0%. ACLF development within 28 days were both lower than 1% (0.6%, derivation cohort; 0.5%, validation cohort) in patients with MELD < 18. While in patients with MELD ≥ 18, 26.6% (99/372, derivation cohort) and 17.8% (130/732, validation cohort) developed into ACLF within 28 days, respectively. While MELD‐Na score cut‐off at 20 and CLIF‐AD score cut‐off at 42 did not have consistent performance in our two cohorts. MELD < 18 was able to safely rule out patients with ACLF development within 28 days in HBV‐related patients without previous decompensation, which had a high 28‐day mortality.


Motivation There are current programs and plugins that automatically count the number of cells in a given image. However, many of these processes are not entirely automatic, as they require user input to specify a region of interest and are also frequently inaccurate. Results This project presents laocoön, a Python package specifically designed to automatically and efficiently count the number of fluorescently-labelled cells in images. This package not only allows for reliable cell counting, but returns the proportion of cells in each cell cycle relative to all the cells in the DAPI channel, which is currently used for research purposes, but could ultimately be utilized for clinical purposes. Availability and Implementation This package, its corresponding execution instructions, and further information about the underlying algorithms, are currently available in the GitHub repository https://github.com/edukait/laocoon under the MIT license and can be run on the command terminal of any operating system. Alternatively, laocoön is available in the Python Package Index (PyPi), so the user can use the pip command to immediately download the package. Contact email@example.com


Nowadays the measurement of the nuchal translucency thickness is being used as part of routine ultrasound scanning during the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, for the screening of chromosomal defects, as trisomy 21. Currently, the measurement is being performed manually by physicians. The measurement can take a long time for being accomplished, needs to be performed by highly skilled operators, and is prone to errors. Semi-automated methods requires that the user manually selects a region of the image containing the nuchal translucency, procedure that is somewhat time consuming. In this paper we present a complete system prototype that is able to perform the measurement of the nuchal translucency thickness without any manual intervention from the operator, operating on the video stream coming out from the ultrasound machine.


It was hypothesized that the typical adult pattern of higher glycolytic capacity in skeletal muscle of males compared to females is not observed in children and that fiber cross‐sectional area (CSA) is a determinant of glycolytic capacity in children. Biopsies were performed in vastus lateralis in 9–12 years‐old healthy boys and girls (N = 27). Fiber types were classified by myofibrillar ATPase staining and CSA was measured using planimetry. Citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) were analyzed using fluorometric and spectrophotometric methods. There was no significant difference between boys and girls in CS activity (0.45 ± 0.1 μkat g−1 dry muscle in boys and 0.42 ± 0.1 in girls) or LD activity (24 ± 6 μkat g−1 dry muscle in boys and 25 ± 7 in girls). CSA did not differ between boys and girls. CS was inversely related to type I CSA (r = −0.62, p < 0.001) and LD was directly related to type IIA (r = 0.63, p < 0.001) and type IIB CSA (r = 0.72, p < 0.001). CSA was a significant determinant of CS and LD, even after adjusting for sex and relative fiber type area in multiple regression analysis. This suggests that the typical adult pattern of higher muscle glycolytic capacity in males than in females, as estimated by LD activity, was not observed in children. Sex‐specific patterns in glycolytic capacity thus appear to develop during the transition from childhood to adulthood. In addition, fiber CSA was a strong determinant of both muscle glycolytic and oxidative capacity in children, regardless of sex.


The yogic practices not only serve as prevention and cure of physical disorders but also result in mental peace and higher psychic and spiritual attainments. In the yogic psychophysiology of the pranic system, the body, mind and spirit work in an integrated manner. Expansion of consciousness takes place through the awakening of the charkas. The outcomes of Yoga and meditation in various studies have shown beneficial effects in desirable psychosocial outcomes, clinical outcomes, neuropsychological and health care utilization.


ABSTRACT In this study, we examine volunteer firefighters' inclination toward a "code of silence". The likelihood of not reporting fellow group members' deviant behavior is increased by group standards such as loyalty, but this comes at the cost of violating the law. A factorial survey was conducted with volunteer firefighters in Germany to test the influence of several factors in determining whether whistleblowing or conforming to a "code of silence" was more likely. The results show that the question of whether a firefighter will disclose a deviant action depends on the severity (e.g. the forcefulness) of the team's or the team member's wrongdoing. External threats turn out to have a significant opposite effect and foster the "code of silence". Our results suggest that the factors that influence volunteer firefighters in this regard are similar to those that previous studies on the code of silence postulate as influencing professional working groups such as the police.


Purpose of review To provide the definition, causes, and current recommendations for workup and treatment of acute infectious colitis in adults, a common medical problem of diverse cause. Recent findings The management of acute colitis in adults depend upon establishment of cause. Most forms of infectious colitis are treatable with antimicrobials. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by guided culture on PCR-positive pathogens can often confirm active infection while standard culture methods provide isolates for antibiotic susceptibility testing, subtyping, and Whole Genome Sequencing. Summary Patients with colitis may be suffering from a range of etiologies including infectious colitis, neutropenic colitis, drug-induced colitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. The present review was prepared to provide an approach to prompt diagnosis and management of acute colitis to prevent severe complications (e.g. dehydration and malnutrition, or toxic megacolon) and provide recommendations for antimicrobial therapy.


Obesity is the most prevalent metabolic disease in developed countries and its prevalence rates worldwide are increasing rapidly. The disease is associated with a considerably enhanced morbidity in many body systems as well as mortality. This article reviews the effects of obesity on the four major blinding eye diseases: age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataract and glaucoma, and shows that obesity is a significant risk factor for these diseases and hence to blindness.


Existing test methods for thick-section specimens (≥ 4[mm]) have not provided precise compressive properties to date for the analysis and design of thick structure. In the current study, the cause of the premature failure for thick specimens (T800/924C and IM7/8552) was identified experimentally and numerically. The premature failure was successfully avoided during compressive testing and the failure mode was quite similar regardless of increasing specimen thickness and specimen volume. Furthermore it was identified that the failure location within gauge section does not have an influence on the compressive strength from the experimental result performed with the unwaisted specimens and the waisted specimens. Finally, clear 1-D thickness and 3-D scaling effects on the compressive strength of unidirectional composite laminates existed. The main factors influencing the effects were due to manufacturing defects such as void content and fibre waviness.


During development, dynamic remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton allows the precise placement and morphology of tissues. Morphogens such as Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and local cues such as receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) mediate this process, but how they regulate the cytoskeleton is poorly understood. We previously identified Basal cell carcinoma–enriched gene 4 (BEG4)/Missing in Metastasis (MIM), a Shh-inducible, Wiskott-Aldrich homology 2 domain–containing protein that potentiates Gli transcription (Callahan, C.A., T. Ofstad, L. Horng, J.K. Wang, H.H. Zhen, P.A. Coulombe, and A.E. Oro. 2004. Genes Dev. 18:2724–2729). Here, we show that endogenous MIM is induced in a patched1-dependent manner and regulates the actin cytoskeleton. MIM functions by bundling F-actin, a process that requires self-association but is independent of G-actin binding. Cytoskeletal remodeling requires an activation domain distinct from sequences required for bundling in vitro. This domain associates with RPTPδ and, in turn, enhances RPTPδ membrane localization. MIM-dependent cytoskeletal changes can be inhibited using a soluble RPTPδ-D2 domain. Our data suggest that the hedgehog-responsive gene MIM cooperates with RPTP to induce cytoskeletal changes.


We consider a continuous-time multi-arm bandit problem (CTMAB), where the learner can sample arms any number of times in a given interval and obtain a random reward from each sample, however, increasing the frequency of sampling incurs an additive penalty/cost. Thus, there is a tradeoff between obtaining large reward and incurring sampling cost as a function of the sampling frequency. The goal is to design a learning algorithm that minimizes regret, that is defined as the difference of the payoff of the oracle policy and that of the learning algorithm. CTMAB is fundamentally different than the usual multi-arm bandit problem (MAB), e.g., even the single-arm case is non-trivial in CTMAB, since the optimal sampling frequency depends on the mean of the arm, which needs to be estimated. We first establish lower bounds on the regret achievable with any algorithm and then propose algorithms that achieve the lower bound up to logarithmic factors. For the single-arm case, we show that the lower bound on the regret is $\Omega((\log T)^2/\mu)$, where $\mu$ is the mean of the arm, and $T$ is the time horizon. For the multiple arms case, we show that the lower bound on the regret is $\Omega((\log T)^2 \mu/\Delta^2)$, where $\mu$ now represents the mean of the best arm, and $\Delta$ is the difference of the mean of the best and the second-best arm. We then propose an algorithm that achieves the bound up to constant terms.


In this work, we tackle the problem of intersectional group fairness in the classification setting, where the objective is to learn discrimination-free models in the presence of several intersecting sensitive groups. First, we illustrate various shortcomings of existing fairness measures commonly used to capture intersectional fairness. Then, we propose a new framework called the $\alpha$ Intersectional Fairness framework, which combines the absolute and the relative performances between sensitive groups. Finally, we provide various analyses of our proposed framework, including the min-max and efficiency analysis. Our experiments using the proposed framework show that several in-processing fairness approaches show no improvement over a simple unconstrained approach. Moreover, we show that these approaches minimize existing fairness measures by degrading the performance of the best of the group instead of improving the worst.


This work is concerned with computing low-rank approximations of a matrix function $f(A)$ for a large symmetric positive semi-definite matrix $A$, a task that arises in, e.g., statistical learning and inverse problems. The application of popular randomized methods, such as the randomized singular value decomposition or the Nystr\"om approximation, to $f(A)$ requires multiplying $f(A)$ with a few random vectors. A significant disadvantage of such an approach, matrix-vector products with $f(A)$ are considerably more expensive than matrix-vector products with $A$, even when carried out only approximately via, e.g., the Lanczos method. In this work, we present and analyze funNystr\"om, a simple and inexpensive method that constructs a low-rank approximation of $f(A)$ directly from a Nystr\"om approximation of $A$, completely bypassing the need for matrix-vector products with $f(A)$. It is sensible to use funNystr\"om whenever $f$ is monotone and satisfies $f(0) = 0$. Under the stronger assumption that $f$ is operator monotone, which includes the matrix square root $A^{1/2}$ and the matrix logarithm $\log(I+A)$, we derive probabilistic bounds for the error in the Frobenius, nuclear, and operator norms. These bounds confirm the numerical observation that funNystr\"om tends to return an approximation that compares well with the best low-rank approximation of $f(A)$. Furthermore, compared to existing methods, funNystr\"om requires significantly fewer matrix-vector products with $A$ to obtain a low-rank approximation of $f(A)$, without sacrificing accuracy or reliability. Our method is also of interest when estimating quantities associated with $f(A)$, such as the trace or the diagonal entries of $f(A)$. In particular, we propose and analyze funNystr\"om++, a combination of funNystr\"om with the recently developed Hutch++ method for trace estimation.


The aim of this work is to study the temporal dynamics of rhizome epiphytes and sessile animals living on the rhizomes of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica in the east of Tunisia. Surveys were conducted in October 2009, and in January, April and August 2010 on a fringing reef located in Chebba. Rhizomes were sampled by SCUBA diving at three stations. Samples were examined with a microscope to estimate the cover of macroinvertebrate and macroalgal organisms on the top 10 cm of each rhizome. Results revealed a high diversity of epiphytes on P. oceanica rhizomes with a dominance of red and brown algae, ascidians, and bryozoans. Distinct temporal changes were observed in Oued Lafrann, with a high January cover (winter period) for all groups. These winter increases can be attributed to: (i) the low phenological parameters of P. oceanica in winter that reduce the effects of shading, (ii) life cycles of the epiphytes and invertebrates, (iii) water motion and (iv) grazing.


Executable Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) are used for defining the behaviors of systems. The operational semantics of such DSLs may define how conforming models react to stimuli from their environment. This commonly requires adapting the semantics to define both the possible domain-level stimuli, and their handling during the execution. However, manually adapting the semantics for such cross-cutting concern is a complex and error-prone task. In this paper, we present an approach and a tool addressing this problem by augmenting the operational semantics for handling stimuli, and by automatically generating a complete behavioral language interface from this augmentation. At runtime, this interface can receive stimuli sent to models, and can safely handle them by interrupting the execution flow. This tool has been developed for the GEMOC Studio, a language and modeling workbench for executable DSLs. We demonstrate how it can be used to implement a Pac-Man DSL enabling the creation and execution of Pac-Man games.


Background: Cognitive deficits are a central feature of schizophrenia and occur in high-risk relatives of the patients. Aim: We aimed to investigate whether children at-risk for schizophrenia also present neurocognitive deficits that are commonly observed in patients with schizophrenia.

Settings and Design: In a cross-sectional study, we assessed neurocognitive functioning in 15 at–risk children of schizophrenia patients with an equal number of healthy controls.

Materials and Methods: Offspring at-risk were compared with the control group on the measures of intelligence, verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, processing speed (assessed with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth (India Edition), verbal working memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test) and executive function (Maze test).

Results: Participants in the study group obtained significantly lesser scores, compared to those in the control group, on all neurocognitive measures including verbal comprehension, working memory, processing speed and verbal working memory except for perceptual reasoning and executive function.

Conclusion: High-risk children had lower than average IQ and performed poorly on several neuropsychological measures in contrast to children in the control group.


This article addresses the social implications of gender verification testing in sport. The authors ask how sex—gender is contained in mediated public discourses that questioned Caster Semenya's identity following her success in the women's 800 m at the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championship. The authors use critical discourse analysis to examine the perception of the case surrounding Semenya along with perceptions of her sex and gender identity. The authors argue that the manner by which Semenya's body is discursively constructed via news board discussants, scientific and medical communities, and athletic governance policies renders her flesh abject and promotes the interpretation of her body as being "'disordered," all in the service of maintaining the rhetoric of "fair play" and "equal opportunity" for female athletes. The authors claim that such tests reproduce existing hegemonic gender ideologies via the categories they reinforce and through the mechanism of testing itself, as this leads to sex—gender "verification."


The notched shear test (NST) has been used to measure shear strength profiles in the thickness direction of fluting, liner, sack and paperboard. Different shear strength profiles could be measured for the different paper qualities; in paperboard the profile followed the ply structure, in other qualities profiles with extreme points in the middle or close to the outer surfaces could be measured. A test procedure based on ground grooves was also suggested for characterization of shear strength in thin paper qualities. With this procedure the shear strength for newsprint and copy paper was approximated.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
We aimed to compare the efficacy of combined immunosuppression in terms of mucosal healing in paediatric patients with moderate-to-severe luminal Crohn's disease receiving infliximab according to either an 'escalated combined immunosuppression' or an 'early combined immunosuppression' strategy.

METHODS
In this prospective observational study, the efficacy of combined immunosuppression was evaluated in terms of mucosal healing at weeks 14 and 54 from baseline infliximab infusion. Comparison was performed between the escalated combined immunosuppression group [group A] and the early combined immunosuppression group [group B]. Factors associated with mucosal healing at weeks 14 and 54 from baseline infliximab infusion were also investigated.

RESULTS
Seventy-six patients initiated infliximab with concomitant azathioprine [group A = 28; group B = 48]. Comparison of baseline characteristics revealed a significantly longer duration from initial diagnosis to infliximab infusion in group A [median 8.1 vs. 0.7 months; p < 0.001]. Mucosal healing was achieved in 32% of patients in group A and 51% in group B at week 14 [p = 0.121], and in 42% in group A and 74% in group B at week 54 [p = 0.007]. Group B was also positively associated with mucosal healing at week 54 on multivariate logistic regression [odds ratio = 6.216, 95% confidence interval = 1.782-21.686, p = 0.004].

CONCLUSIONS
Mucosal healing during combined immunosuppression is more effectively achieved by treatment with an early combined immunosuppression strategy without corticosteroid induction administered within 1 month rather than escalating to receive combination therapy later during the course. The therapeutic window of opportunity in early Crohn's disease may be shorter than generally thought, especially in children.


This study examines associations between leisure reading and reading skills in data of 2,525 students followed from age 7 to 16. As a step further from traditional cross-lagged analysis, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to identify within-person associations of leisure reading (books, magazines, newspapers, and digital reading), reading fluency, and reading comprehension. In Grades 1-3 poorer comprehension and fluency predicted less leisure reading. In later grades more frequent leisure reading, particularly of books, predicted better reading comprehension. Negative associations were found between digital reading and reading skills. The findings specify earlier findings of correlations between individuals by showing that reading comprehension improvement, in particular, is predicted by within-individual increases in book reading.


Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an emerging and promising modality to treat severe aortic stenosis in a select group of patients who are poor surgical candidates. Despite the lesser degree of invasiveness of TAVI compared to open aortic valve replacement (AVR), TAVI is associated with a significant potential for serious life-threatening complications, both intraoperatively and postoperatively. These include vascular injuries, stroke, structural injury to the aorta and the heart and its valves, aortic root or annulus injury, conduction tissue injury, paravalvular leak, valve malposition, coronary complications such as obstruction or ischemia, pericardial effusion and tamponade, and procedural cardiac depression requiring immediate cardiopulmonary bypass for resuscitation. The prevention, detection, and treatment of these complications demands a skill set requiring the services of a cardiovascular surgeon with endovascular skills, an interventional cardiologist, a cardiac perfusion team, and cardiac anesthesia. Therefore, the optimal care of TAVI patients requires a multidisciplinary approach involving these services. The range of serious complications associated with TAVI, and the management strategies utilized in their treatment, are discussed.


Mutations in COL4A3/4/5 genes that affect the normal assembly of the α3/4/5(IV) collagen network in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) cause Alport syndrome. Patients progress to renal failure at variable rates that are determined by the underlying mutation and putative modifier genes. Col4a3 −/− mice, a model for autosomal recessive Alport syndrome, progress to renal failure significantly slower on the C57BL/6 than on the 129X1/Sv background. Reported here is a novel strain-specific alternative collagen IV isoform switch that is associated with the differential renal survival in Col4a3 −/− Alport mice. The downregulation or the absence of α3/4(IV) collagen chains in the GBM of Lmx1b −/− and Col4a3 −/− mice was found to induce ectopic deposition of α5/6(IV) collagen. The GBM deposition of α5/6(IV) collagen was abundant in C57BL/6 Col4a3 −/− mice but almost undetectable in 129X1/Sv Col4a3 −/− mice. This strain difference was due to overall low expression of α6(IV) chain and α5/6(IV) protomers in the tissues of 129X1/SvJ mice, a natural Col4a6 knockdown. In (129 × B6)F1 Col4a3 −/− mice, the amount of α5/6(IV) collagen in the GBM was inherited in a mother-to-son manner, suggesting that it is controlled by one or more X-linked loci, possibly Col4a6 itself. Importantly, high levels of ectopic α5/6(IV) collagen in the GBM were associated with approximately 46% longer renal survival. These findings suggest that α5/6(IV) collagen, the biologic role of which has been hitherto unknown, may partially substitute for α3/4/5(IV) collagen. Therapeutically induced GBM deposition of α5/6(IV) collagen may provide a novel strategy for delaying renal failure in patients with autosomal recessive Alport syndrome.


ABSTRACT The association between marriage and psychological distress has been well documented; however, whether race/ethnicity moderates this relationship remains vastly understudied. Our study investigated the effect of race/ethnicity on relationship between marriage and psychological distress among four groups of foreign-born Americans. Using the data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, we employed multivariate analyses to test the effect of interaction between marriage and race/ethnicity on psychological distress among foreign-born Mexicans (N=3,752), Chinese (N=812), Koreans (N=857) and Vietnamese (N=1,354). The analysis revealed that marriage significantly interacts with race/ethnicity in impacting psychological distress (F (7, 73) = 2.48, p < .01). Unmarried Mexicans (4.250, 95% CI = 3.566, 4.934) and unmarried Chinese (3.833, 95% CI = 2.738, 4.929) had a statistically greater average of psychological distress than married Mexicans (3.324, 95% CI = 3.124, 3.523) and married Chinese (2.591, 95% CI = 1.988, 3.184). Racial differences in terms of marital status and psychological distress existed only between married Chinese and Mexicans and between unmarried Mexicans and Vietnamese participants. Results highlight consideration for racial and ethnic differences in the association of marriage and psychological distress among these groups for culturally sensitive interventions.


Power transformers are in service under different environmental, electrical, and mechanical conditions [1] and may be subject to enormous hazards during the course of operation [2], [3]. They are commonly considered to be the heart of the transmission and distribution sectors of electric power systems; monitoring their condition and diagnosing faults are important parts of the maintenance function [4]. Utility engineers strive to keep power transformers in service and to prevent even shortterm outages. Failure of a transformer can cause extensive damage to equipment owned by consumers or the utility [5].


The professional nurse plays a major role in counseling the older couple throughout the pregnancy, labor, delivery, and puerperium. Nurses need to keep abreast of the new testing and monitoring procedures used during pregnancy and labor and delivery, and these procedures need to be explained to the pregnant couple. Individual and group teaching are ways that the nurse can counsel and support the older couple, thereby increasing their confidence in the health team and their ability to incorporate a child into their lifestyle. In this article these concerns are addressed as related to 1) physical needs and 2) psychological needs.


The unusual life history of a man (now 24 years old) is reported who, at two years of age, swallowed an alkaline solution which caused severe oesophageal stricture due to scarring. It required feeding by gastrostomy exclusively for 22 years. Reconstruction of the oesophagus was then performed by interposing the colon (splenic flexure). Since secondary malignant degeneration is to be expected in this form of oesophageal stricture, removal of the residual oesophagus is recommended.