AIM: To determine the mortality and morbidity among patients presented with acute NVUGIB, co-morbid illnesses, the intake of aspirin, non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), endoscopic therapy and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on clinical outcomes. METHODS: A prospective cohort study on all patients presented with acute NVUGIB to Specialized Arab Hospital (SAH), Nablus-Palestine, during the period April 2011-April 2013. The medical history for each patient was collected, all patients were given esomperazole 80 mg IV push and then 8mg/hour IV pump. Timing of endoscopy with Forrest grading, hospital course, and the 30 day mortality after being discharged from hospital, all variables analyzed and Chi square test was used to test the significance of relationships. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Total number, 86 patients, with a female to male ratio of 1:3, Patient's age: - 48/86(56%), 38/86(44%) were above and below the age of 60, respectively. Melena was the most common presentation, followed by hematemesis and general symptoms. Smokers 32/86(40%). Co-morbid illnesses 55/86 (64%), most common reported diseases were hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery diseases, and CHF. Ingestion of Aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) was reported in (64/86)74% of patients. Upper endoscopy was done after 24 hours of symptoms in 64/86 (74%). The most common endoscopic diagnosis was peptic ulcer disease 64/86 (74%), Forrest grade 3 clean base ulcers 37/64 (57%), Forrest grade II black spot, adherent clot or non bleeding visible vessel (NBVV) 17/64 (26%), and Forrest grade I oozing or spurter10/64 (16%). Number of blood units given was more in patients with active bleeders (Forrest I). High dose of IV esomeprazol (80 mg then 8 mg/hour) was given, before endoscopic intervention, in 38/86 (44%), 24/38 (65%) found to have Grade 3 (clean base) ulcer. All of NVUGIB patients were subsequently given esomeprazol, after endoscopy. Blood transfusion was needed in 65/86 (76%). Re-bleeding events have occurred in 5/86 (6%). The overall mortality was 4/86 (4.6%) all have co-morbid illnesses. Endoscopic intervention failed in 5/86 (5.8%) 4 referred for surgical intervention and one referred to interventional radiologist. CONCLUSION: Peptic ulcer is the most common cause of NVUGIB, bleeding is highly associated with Aspirin and NSAID's intake. High dose IV esomeprazol, (80 mg then 8 mg/hour), before EGD decreases the proportion of patients with stigmata of recent hemorrhage. The mortality and morbidity of NVUGIB in this study is slightly lower than that found in most previous studies.


Introduction/purpose Histopathological changes in cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) draining veins secondary to chronically high AVM inflow have not been clearly elucidated. Here, we examine the relationship between draining vein wall thickness and AVM flow rate. Materials and methods Records of patients with cerebral AVMs evaluated at our institution between 2007–2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were included if a surgical specimen of the nidus was available and if flows were obtained before treatment using quantitative magnetic resonance angiography. Specimens were mounted on slides and stained with hematoxylin and eosin as well as elastin special stain. Perinidal veins were identified and the wall thickness of each vein was measured from digitized images of the slides (Figure 1). Maximum vein wall thickness was recorded for each specimen. Intranidal arteries were also identified and the diameter of each artery was measured. Total AVM flow was estimated as aggregate flow within primary arterial feeders or flow in single draining veins. The relationship between maximum vein wall thickness, total AVM flow, flow per draining vein, flow per unit volume of AVM, and mean intranidal artery diameter was assessed.Abstract P-023 Figure 1 Example of a perinidal vein with thickened wall. Elastin special stain; original magnification x 10 Results 28 patients (20 male, 8 female) with mean age of 37 years (range 16–68 years) were included. Spearman's correlation revealed a statistically significant relationship between maximum vein wall thickness and total AVM flow (rho = +0.51, P = 0.006) (Figure 2) as well as AVM flow per draining vein (rho = +0.41, P = 0.03). However, there was no statistically significant correlation between maximum vein wall thickness and flow per unit volume of AVM (rho = +0.27, P = 0.17) or mean intranidal artery diameter (rho = +0.42, P = 0.24). Mean vein wall thickness was significantly higher in the presence of venous ectasia (562 μm vs. 300 μm, P = 0.007). Presence of venous stenosis was not significantly associated with age, Spetzler-Martin grade, volume, number of draining veins, deep venous drainage, intranidal fistula, or maximum vein wall thickness.Abstract P-023 Figure 2 Maximum vein wall thickness (µm) versus total AVM flow (mL/minute) (rho = +0.51, P = 0.006) Conclusion Maximum vein wall thickness is significantly related to total AVM flow and AVM flow per draining vein. This finding implicates chronically high AVM inflow in venous intimal hyperplasia and possible subsequent development of venous outflow stenosis. Disclosures S. Shakur: None. A. Hussein: None. S. Amin-Hanjani: None. T. Valyi-Nagy: None. V. Aletich: None. F. Charbel: None. A. Alaraj: None.


COVID-19 pandemic, a highly infectious disease, has led to unprecedented health and socioeconomic crisis worldwide. Accompanied by COVID-19 and its vaccination is an overabundance of misinformation promoting unhealthy practices among individuals. We propose a stratified SIS model incorporating an evolutionary game theoretical framework to help understand the simultaneous progression of pandemic and infodemic when vaccination is available. We consider two domains, disease and information domain, and assume that the information domain consists of the good and bad-behaving individuals. We assume that only the infected individuals with bad information can produce secondary cases of the infection. Findings indicate that the weight of good information does not significantly change the system's dynamics. Instead, it changes the system's stability with low risk requiring a higher weight of good information to arrive at a stable solution of lower infection and higher vaccination. Further, we found that we have an epidemic without misinformation management. INDEX WORDS: COVID-19, Pandemic, Misinformation, Vaccination, Domain, Game Theoretical framework, Infodemic Copyright by Seyifunmi M Owoeye 2022 Epidemiological Game-Theory Dynamics of the Co-evolution of Infodemic and Pandemic with Vaccination


Methods to find correlation among variables are of interest to many disciplines, including statistics, machine learning, (big) data mining and neurosciences. Parameters that measure correlation between two variables are of limited utility when used with multiple variables. In this work, I propose a simple criterion to measure correlation among an arbitrary number of variables, based on a data set. The central idea is to i) design a function of the variables that can take different forms depending on a set of parameters, ii) calculate the difference between a statistics associated to the function computed on the data set and the same statistics computed on a randomised version of the data set, called "scrambled" data set, and iii) optimise the parameters to maximise this difference. Many such functions can be organised in layers, which can in turn be stacked one on top of the other, forming a neural network. The function parameters are searched with an enhanced genetic algortihm called POET and the resulting method is tested on a cancer gene data set. The method may have potential implications for some issues that affect the field of neural networks, such as overfitting, the need to process huge amounts of data for training and the presence of "adversarial examples".


Filtering facepiece respirators have been widely used in the fields of occupational health and public hygiene, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, disposable respirators have been in high demand, and the waste generated from these disposable products poses a problem for the environment. Here, we aimed to test a practical decontamination method to allow for the reuse of KN95 respirators. In this study, three types of KN95 respirators were heated at 80 °C and 90 °C for different durations (15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, 6 h, 8 h, 10 h, and 24 h). The filtration efficiencies of the tested KN95 respirators before and after heating were measured, and the changes in microstructure were imaged with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In addition, a neural network model based on the nonlinear autoregressive with external input (NARX) to predict the filtration efficiency of the KN95 respirator was established. The results show that the temperature and time of dry heating affected particle prevention. The higher the temperature and the longer the heating time, the more obvious the decline in the filtration efficiency of the respirators. When the heating temperature reached 100 °C, the respirator may be no longer suitable for reuse. These results show that a dry heat temperature between 70 °C and 90 °C, and a heating time between 30 min and 2 h is assumed to be a suitable and effective decontamination method for respirators.


In today's context of Increasing market globalization, firms wishing to maintain theircompetitiveness must innovate constantly. Many authors have suggested Intrapreneurship as a method of stimulating Innovation and using the creative energy of employees by giving them the resources and independence they need to innovate within the firm. It is somewhat surprising, however, that research into Intrapreneurship has so far concentrated exclusively on largeorganizations, eventhough small businesses face the same need for innovation If they are to remain competitive. This exploratory research, which examines the phenomenon of intrapreneurship in the small business context, Is aimed at filling the gap.This paper concentrates on some specific aspects of the research, including the different types of intrapreneurshipobserved, thefactors governing theiremergence, motivating factors for the intrapreneurs and the owner-managers of the firms, and the strategic processes Involved.


An aging population is creating increasing pressures on health care systems. Assistive technologies including telecare monitoring applications installed in the home are being promoted as part of the solution. These systems differ from other more interactive systems both in using sensor-based technologies and having older users, aspects that can affect the way the user is viewed, which in turn can affect what is prioritised in design decisions. However little is known to date about the processes involved in designing such systems, especially from the perspective of how 'users' are considered. To explore this we studied a development project in telecare with a focus on how the user discourse evolved. Using qualitative methods and thematic analysis, we identified two broad themes about how 'users' are considered: the disappearing older user, where the discussion moved from rich pictures of older people's lives to sense-able scenarios; and the privileged developer, where representations of older relatives were mediated by the developers' stories of their own relatives, inadvertently prioritising their own needs as carers for those relatives. The findings demonstrate some of the challenges for a user-centred design process that can occur when working with sensor-based systems and older people that could have implications for whether these systems will be accepted.


Authors present an 11-year-old female admitted with a 3-month history of painless forehead mass. The mass was located in the left frontal area and was pronounced on inspection and palpation. Neurologic examination revealed no abnormalities. The patient was diagnosed for acute lymphoblastic leukemia 5 years ago and had been treated. The patient was under observation by the pediatric oncology clinic with remission state since 3 years. Brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic bone lesion in the right frontal bone. A preoperative diagnosis of myeloproliferative disorder was made and it was surgically resected and cranioplasty with porous polyethylene sheets (Medpor, Porex Surgical Inc, GA) was performed in the same stage. Pathologic examination revealed an aneurysmal bone cyst. The patient recovered with complete resolution of symptoms. Although rare lesions, aneurysmal bone cysts must be considered in the differential diagnosis of calvarial mass lesions.


Background: The efficacy of pemetrexed associates with the expression of folate enzymes, however, few serological marker is available to predict its efficacy. Moreover, dynamic monitoring of circulating tumor cell (CTC) count can predict the outcome of tumor therapy, the progress of tumor and the overall survival of the patient. By quantitative determination of folate receptor-positive CTCs, this study investigated the correlation of its baseline values to the efficacy of pemetrexed and performed a dynamic monitoring study in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Methods: This study enrolled 70 NSCLC patients who received first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. The CTCs were quantified by negative enrichment using immunomagnetic beads in combination with folate receptor-directed polymerase chain reaction(PCR) that allows secondary amplification of tiny amounts of CTCs in peripheral blood, thereby enhancing the sensitivity of detection. In this study, the CTC levels were examined by collecting 3mL of anti-ENTA whole blood samples before the treatment and after every chemotherapy, and followed up until progressive disease (PD) or completion of first-line chemotherapy. Based on the changes in CTC levels, we evaluated the correlation of the changes in CTC levels and the progress of the disease as well as the correlation of the CTC levels and the therapeutic outcomes. Results: The CTC level of seventy patients was 13.68 CU/3mL. Of twenty-two patients who received pemetrexed disodium/platinum combined therapy (AP/AC), the patients harboring high levels of folate receptor showed greater efficacy than those with low expression levels (8.7 Conclusions: The patients with high expression of folate receptor-positive CTCs appear to have superior response to pemetrexed than those with low expression. Additionally, the changes of CTC count can be used as a dynamic monitoring indicator in the treatment process to evaluate tumor burden and therapeutic outcomes. Citation Format: Xiaoxia Chen, Caicun Zhou, Xuefei Li. Correlation of baseline value of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells and efficacy of pemetrexed and dynamic monitoring study in non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2252.


Purpose:This article presents the state of the science of anxiety in middle‐aged men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA affects 10% of men in this population. Psychological outcomes, especially anxiety, have a significant impact on quality of life, yet are essentially ignored. Data sources:Search of CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES, with the key words "sleep apnea" and "anxiety" and with age and gender limits, resulted in 107 articles. Based on established inclusion criteria, 71 studies were excluded. The resulting 36 studies were critically evaluated by sample characteristics, anxiety measurement, and results. Conclusions:Anxiety was noted in 34 of the 36 samples, most commonly measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Effects of treatment on anxiety were significant. Implications for practice:Anxiety is common in middle‐aged men with OSA, but is not adequately studied in this population. Psychological screening for anxiety at the time of OSA diagnosis is warranted, but is not encouraged in the clinical guidelines. More primary care attention is needed on psychological implications that impact OSA treatment adherence. Advanced practice nurses can be instrumental in ensuring comprehensive assessment of patients with OSA, especially psychological aspects of the disease.


A steady state reaction of apparent equilibrium of K mica + Ca2+ ⇄ Ca vermiculite + K+ was indicated by prolonged dissolution extractions from Blount soil clay (from northern Indiana) abundant in dioctahedral mica and vermiculite, with log Keq = 2.92 for the reaction when extrapolated to infinite time. From this and published free energies of formation of mica and kaolinite, a mineral phase stability diagram depicting the phase joins of Ca vermiculite, muscovite, and kaolinite was constructed with the solute activity functions pH-pK+, 2pH-pCa2+, and pSi(OH)4. These solute functions for 14-day reactions of calcareous (and dolomitic), poorly drained Harps soil (from central Iowa) fell near the calcite-dolomite-CO2-H2O phase join, suggesting equilibrium. These functions for Harps soil and the control minerals muscovite, biotite, and (or) vermiculite plus calcite were plotted on the mica-vermiculite stability diagram for various CO2 partial pressures. The points fell on the vermiculite-stable side of the mica-vermiculite plane at CO2 partial pressures of 0.15 and 0.20 atm (similar to soil air that would exist under frozen soil during winter and early spring; 2pH-pCa2+ ≃ 10.3). They fell on the muscovite-stable side of the muscovite-vermiculite plane at CO2 partial pressures of 0.0001 and 0.001 atm (similar to soil air under natural summer conditions; 2pH-pCa2+, 13.6 and 12.6, respectively) and therefore K+ (and 137Cs+ in rainfall) would be expected to be fixed.The 2pH-pMg2+ values determined for Harps soil at the various CO2 partial pressures plotted either in the Mg montmorillonite stability field or on the Mg-montmorillonite-kaolinite phase join, in concordance with the abundance of montmorillonite and some kaolinite in the medium and fine clay fractions. The solute values for the nearby Clarion soil (upland, noncalcareous) plotted on the montmorillonite-kaolinite join, or with higher CO2 partial pressure, in the kaolinite stability area. The Gibbs free energy of formation (△Gf0) for a dioctahedral Ca vermiculite of −1303.7 kcal per 010 was determined from the Keq. The solute functions for the Blount soil showed kaolinite to be the thermodynamically stable phase with respect to dioctahedral mica and (or) vermiculite. The 14-day solute values for the Harps and upland Clarion soils were also on the kaolinite stability side of the kaolinite-vermiculite join. The kinetics of kaolinite formation in the upper midwestern U.S.A. are apparently slow on a scale of ~ 104 years.


This paper presents the design and optimization procedure for slotless brushless DC (BLDC) motors. The motor optimization is achieved using a modified harmony search technique, though other optimization methods can also be used. The expressions of motor electromagnetic torque, speed, voltage, current, power losses, volume and cost are analytically represented as functions of motor geometric parameters. The objective function is a combination of motor power losses, volume and cost, and needs to be minimized subject to a set of electrical and mechanical requirements and limitations. Ten design parameters are considered including the number of poles, current density and the dimensions of magnet, stator, rotor, winding and air-gap. The effects of each design parameter on the brushless DC motor performance have been investigated. The method was originally conceived for the design of a small motor for a biomedical application, but in this paper one sample case of a larger motor illustrates the general use of the technique.


The Salar de Atacama in the Chilean Central Andes harbors unique microbial ecosystems due to extreme environmental conditions, such as high altitude, low oxygen pressure, high solar radiation, and high salinity. Combining X-ray diffraction analyses, scanning electron microscopy and molecular diversity studies, we have characterized twenty previously unexplored Andean microbial ecosystems in eight different lakes and wetlands from the middle-east and south-east regions of this salt flat. The mats and microbialites studied are mainly formed by calcium carbonate (aragonite and calcite) and halite, whereas the endoevaporites are composed predominantly of gypsum and halite. The carbonate-rich mats and microbialites are dominated by Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria phyla. Within the phylum Proteobacteria, the most abundant classes are Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. While in the phylum Bacteroidetes, the most abundant classes are Bacteroidia and Rhodothermia. Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia phyla are also well-represented in the majority of these systems. Gypsum endoevaporites, on the contrary, are dominated by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Euryarchaeota phyla. The Cyanobacteria phylum is also abundant in these systems, but it is less represented in comparison to mats and microbialites. Regarding the eukaryotic taxa, diatoms are key structural components in most of the microbial ecosystems studied. The genera of diatoms identified were Achnanthes, Fallacia, Halamphora, Mastogloia, Navicula, Nitzschia, and Surirella. Normally, in the mats and microbialites, diatoms form nano-globular carbonate aggregates with filamentous cyanobacteria and other prokaryotic cells, suggesting their participation in the mineral precipitation process. This work expands our knowledge of the microbial ecosystems inhabiting the extreme environments from the Central Andes region, which is important to ensure their protection and conservation.


Tissue-resident memory (TRM) CD8+ T-cells play a crucial role in the protection against influenza infection but remain difficult to elicit using recombinant protein vaccines. OVX836 is a recombinant protein vaccine, obtained by the fusion of the DNA sequence of the influenza A nucleoprotein (NP) to the DNA sequence of the OVX313 heptamerization domain. We previously demonstrated that OVX836 provides broad-spectrum protection against influenza viruses. Here, we show that OVX836 intramuscular (IM) immunization induces higher numbers of NP-specific IFNγ-producing CD8+ T-cells in the lung, compared to mutant NP (NPm) and wild-type NP (NPwt), which form monomeric and trimeric structures, respectively. OVX836 induces cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells and high frequencies of lung TRM CD8+ T-cells, while inducing solid protection against lethal influenza virus challenges for at least 90 days. Adoptive transfer experiments demonstrated that protection against diverse influenza subtypes is mediated by NP-specific CD8+ T-cells isolated from the lung and spleen following OVX836 vaccination. OVX836 induces a high number of NP-specific lung CD8+ TRM-cells for long-term protection against influenza viruses.


RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES
To determine the efficacy of clot removal and the amount of applied saline and aspirated fluid and to compare procedure-related particle embolization for the hydrodynamic thrombectomy devices the LF 140 Angiojet (LF 140), the double-lumen Hydrolyser (double HL), and the triple-lumen Hydrolyser (triple HL) in an in vitro flow model.

METHODS
Thrombectomy of clots (n = 42) from 7-day-old porcine blood (9.8 g) was performed with the LF 140, the double HL, and the triple HL in a flow model (flow 1 L/min) made of silicone tubes (7 mm inner tube diameter). All catheters were used according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

RESULTS
Mean time of thrombectomy ranged from 20 seconds (triple HL) to 58 seconds (LF 140, P < 0.05). Only for the triple HL was remaining thrombus found within the tubes (41 mg). None of the tested devices worked isovolumetrically: the mean ratio of applied saline and aspirated fluid for the devices ranged from 0.79 (triple HL) to 0.89 (double HL, P < 0.05). Mean embolus weight and percentage of embolism from original thrombus were 675 mg/6.7% (LF 140, P < 0.05), 38 mg/0.4% (double HL), and 26 mg/0.3% (triple HL).

CONCLUSIONS
Thrombectomy time and embolus weight depend on the device chosen. The ratio of applied to aspirated fluid, indicating the capability to work nearly isovolumetrically, is acceptable for all tested devices. In vitro, the triple HL seems to be the most appropriate device for rapid mechanical, hydrodynamic thrombectomy. Because of the high in vitro particle embolization rate, the LF 140 seems to be strictly limited to small-caliber vessels.


Purpose Maintaining balance during static standing postures requires the coordination of many neuromuscular mechanisms. The role of the intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles in this paradigm has yet to be clearly defined. The purpose of this study was to explore foot muscle activation during static phases on common weight-bearing tasks of varying loads and balance demands. Methods Twenty healthy young adults performed 6 standing postures (single-limb and double-limb stand, squat, and heel raise) with one foot on a force plate. Muscle activity was recorded from the abductor hallucis, flexor hallucis longus and brevis, and tibialis posterior using intramuscular electrodes; surface electrodes were used to record activity from the peroneus longus and tibialis anterior. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA (2 loading conditions × 3 postures) were run to compare muscle activation and center of pressure velocity. Results Intrinsic foot muscle activity increased as loading and postural demand increased; however, the specific effects varied for each of the extrinsic foot muscles. Conclusions These results suggest that the intrinsic foot muscles play an important role in maintaining static balance. Strengthening intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles may help increase stability in people who have weak toe flexors or who suffer from a variety of foot pathologies.


This study revealed the effects of pyrophyllite ore materials on heavy metals mobility in soil plots located near the steel mill in Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The experiment was set up in a randomized block design with four pyrophyllite treatment rates i.e. 0, 200, 400 and 600 kg ha in three replications. Analyses of the heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd) in soil and plant samples were performed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Pyrophyllite addition in soil was found to reduce the availability of all tested heavy metals in the studied soil. The pyrophyllite addition at a rate of 200 kg ha reduced Mn, Cu and Zn available forms in soil by 11.1, 20.4 and 11.2%, respectively, compared with control. The pyrophyllite addition at higher rates i.e. 400 and 600 kg ha had an even higher impact on the decrease in Mn and Zn mobility in studied soil in comparison with 200 kg ha. Additionally, these pyrophyllite rates have the ability to reduce Ni mobility in studied soil. The study also found a positive effect of all pyrophyllite treatments to reduce heavy metals accumulation in the leaves of potato grown on the studied soil. In sum, the results of this study indicate that pyrophyllite treatment could be an effective technique for improving the environmental quality of soils and alleviating the hazards of heavy metals to plants. However, further studies are necessary to confirm or denied this


Chile swamp forests have a wide and fragmented distribution (1 300 km approx.) and are dominated mainly by mirtaceas. They are associated with poorly drained soils, so their hydroperiods are temporary or permanent. The best-known aspect of these forests is the floristic-vegetation, although information on its structural composition is generally weak and nonexistent for the remnants of the La Araucania region. The aim of this study was to characterize both vertical and horizontal structure of swampy forests that grow in the locality of Catrimalal, Labranza, Pumalal and Quepe in the central depression of La Araucania region. In each locality a rectangular plot of 300 m2 was established, tree species present were recorded and basic dasometric parameters were measured. In order to determine differences between the studied localities an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and a Tukey test were carried out. The vertical structure consists of four species of trees: Blepharocalyx cruckshanksii (Hook. & Arn.) Nied, Drimys winteri J.R. Forst. & G. Forst., Luma chequen (Molina) A. Gray and Myrceugenia exsucca (DC.) O. Berg, whose general average of height and diameter at breast height (DBH) reach 11.8 m and 22.1 cm. respectively. The horizontal structure shows an average canopy cover of 87% and D. winteri as the species with the highest coverage of crown. Statistical analyzes indicate the presence of significant differences among localities, mainly in Quepe. Low average levels of canopy coverage and height compared to previous descriptions could suggest a human impact on these forests. The difference found in Quepe could be due to a shorter hydroperiod, since this phenomenon regulates among others, the structure of these ecosystems. Swamp forests are essential for the maintenance of groundwater, therefore actions for their protection and conservation are increasingly necessary.


This paper presents an energy efficient medium access control (MAC) protocol for delay-sensitive data transmission over wireless sensor network. In general, energy consumption and delay depend on channel monitoring interval (CMI) and data sensing period at each sensor node. Based on this fact, we propose a new preamble structure to effectively advertise CMI and avoid the overhearing problem. In order to pursue an effective tradeoff between energy consumption and delay, we also develop a CMI determining algorithm that searches for a sub-optimal solution with a low computational complexity in a distributive way. Finally, experimental results are provided to compare the proposed MAC protocol with existing sensor MAC protocols. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Most of the existing Neural Machine Translation (NMT) models focus on the conversion of sequential data and do not directly use syntactic information. We propose a novel end-to-end syntactic NMT model, extending a sequence-to-sequence model with the source-side phrase structure. Our model has an attention mechanism that enables the decoder to generate a translated word while softly aligning it with phrases as well as words of the source sentence. Experimental results on the WAT'15 English-to-Japanese dataset demonstrate that our proposed model considerably outperforms sequence-to-sequence attentional NMT models and compares favorably with the state-of-the-art tree-to-string SMT system.


Abstract Objectives: We aimed to compare the in vitro flow dynamics of the Perimount Magna Ease™ (PME) and the Trifecta™ (TF) bioprostheses. Material and methods: A new flow chamber was designed to compare the flow patterns of the PME (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA, USA) and the TF (SJM, St. Paul, MN, USA) aortic valve prostheses. This new channel offered the possibility of 2D-particle-image-velocimetry (2D-PIV) to completely evaluate the flow field downstream from the aortic valve to the middle of the aortic arch. Maximum average velocities, vorticity, shear strength, maximum orifice diameters and jet flow diameters were analyzed. Valve sizes of 21, 23 and 25 mm were evaluated. Results: Average velocity values, shear strength and vorticities were smaller in the flow field of the TF (maximum average velocity: 0.81 ± 0.03m/s, PME 23 mm vs. 0.7 ± 0.02m/s TF 23 mm, P < .001) under pulsatile flow conditions (70 Hz, 70 mL stroke volume). The evaluation of the upper orifice area revealed bigger maximum diameters during the peak flow phase for the TF, but more leaflet-flutter. Conclusions: Our flow chamber allowed a precise and highly sensitive characterization and comparison of complex fluid dynamics of different aortic valve prostheses. Both the Trifecta™ and the Perimount Magna Ease™ showed a good performance on a high level.


In this paper we study a mathematical model of soil moisture transport with variable porosity. The problem is set for the case of highly concentrated solute spilled onto soil surface. We investigate the way solute transfer, adsorption of contaminant by soil particles and variable porosity influence infiltration of solute into the soil profile. For that purpose, two models are used: a classical one and the one with consideration of mentioned factors. By comparing the results of both models, we established that high concentration of solute causes moisture transport to transpire more slowly, and the pollutant to remain on the soil surface for longer time. Numerical results indicate that porosity can vary considerably under the conditions of intensive contamination with salts.


The objective of this review paper is to summarize the current status and identify the knowledge gaps in ceramic binder jetting additive manufacturing, with a particular focus on density. This paper begins with an overview of ceramic binder jetting. Then, it discusses different aspects of density, including various terminologies, measurement methods, and achieved values. Afterward, it reviews two categories of techniques to increase the part density: material preparation techniques (powder granulation, mixing powders of different sizes, using slurry feedstock, and mixing different materials) and postprocessing techniques (sintering, chemical reaction, infiltration, and isostatic pressing). Finally, it presents the knowledge gaps in the literature.


This study presents a new end-closure design, using a numerical approach, to eliminate the buckling that occurs at the bottom end of DOT-4BA propane cylinders. When the bottom heads are subjected to test pressure they often buckle, which causes instability of the propane cylinders. That instability is the cylinder's loss of upright standing. The buckling was predicted using both experimental and numerical approaches, and a proposed solution to prevent the failure by increasing the material was previously reported. An alternative end closure design is developed in this study to eliminate the end buckling without changing the material. In order to model the new end, a computer-aided finite element analysis (FEA) design tool was employed. Two different FEA models, 2D plane and 3D shell, were created and simulated in nonlinear conditions. The results obtained from the simulations are compared to previous corresponding studies.


Studies of international production acknowledge that the ability of firms to
learn, upgrade and innovate in global value chains (GVCs) is influenced by knowledge flows within
these global networks and by the national institutional systems in which the firms are embedded.
Little is known, however, about how differences in national innovation and business systems shape
the way firms and national economies insert themselves in global value chains and how this
influences their upgrading trajectories. Based on a review of the existing academic literature, the
chapter examines the impact of national innovation and business systems from middle-income and
developing countries on learning and innovation processes in services GVCs.


BACKGROUND
Influenza may contribute to the burden of acute cardiovascular events during annual influenza epidemics.

OBJECTIVE
To examine acute cardiovascular events and determine risk factors for acute heart failure (aHF) and acute ischemic heart disease (aIHD) in adults with a hospitalization associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
U.S. Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network during the 2010-to-2011 through 2017-to-2018 influenza seasons.

PARTICIPANTS
Adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza and identified through influenza testing ordered by a practitioner.

MEASUREMENTS
Acute cardiovascular events were ascertained using discharge codes from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, and ICD, 10th Revision. Age, sex, race/ethnicity, tobacco use, chronic conditions, influenza vaccination, influenza antiviral medication, and influenza type or subtype were included as exposures in logistic regression models, and marginal adjusted risk ratios and 95% CIs were estimated to describe factors associated with aHF or aIHD.

RESULTS
Among 89 999 adults with laboratory-confirmed influenza, 80 261 had complete medical record abstractions and available ICD codes (median age, 69 years [interquartile range, 54 to 81 years]) and 11.7% had an acute cardiovascular event. The most common such events (non-mutually exclusive) were aHF (6.2%) and aIHD (5.7%). Older age, tobacco use, underlying cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and renal disease were significantly associated with higher risk for aHF and aIHD in adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza.

LIMITATION
Underdetection of cases was likely because influenza testing was based on practitioner orders. Acute cardiovascular events were identified by ICD discharge codes and may be subject to misclassification bias.

CONCLUSION
In this population-based study of adults hospitalized with influenza, almost 12% of patients had an acute cardiovascular event. Clinicians should ensure high rates of influenza vaccination, especially in those with underlying chronic conditions, to protect against acute cardiovascular events associated with influenza.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


The median-times-to-failure (t50's) for straight dual-damascene via-terminated copper interconnect structures, tested under the same conditions, depend on whether the vias connect down to underlaying leads (metal 2, M2, or via-below structures) or connect up to overlaying leads (metal 1, M1, or via-above structures). Experimental results for a variety of line lengths, widths, and numbers of vias show higher t50's for M2 structures than for analogous M1 structures. It has been shown that despite this asymmetry in lifetimes, the electromigration drift velocity is the same for these two types of structures, suggesting that fatal void volumes are different in these two cases. A numerical simulation tool based on the Korhonen model has been developed and used to simulate the conditions for void growth and correlate fatal void sizes with lifetimes. These simulations suggest that the average fatal void size for M2 structures is more than twice the size of that of M1 structures. This result supports an earlier suggestion that preferential nucleation at the Cu/Si3N4 interface in both M1 and M2 structures leads to different fatal void sizes, because larger voids are required to span the line thickness in M2 structures while smaller voids at the base of vias can cause failures in M1 structures. However, it is also found that the fatal void sizes corresponding to the shortest-times-to-failure (STTF's) are similar for M1 and M2, suggesting that the voids that lead to the shortest lifetimes occur at or in the vias in both cases, where a void need only span the via to cause failure. Correlation of lifetimes and critical void volumes provides a useful tool for distinguishing failure mechanisms.


IZA DP No. 16398 AUGUST 2023 When Effective Teacher Training Falls Short in the Classroom: Evidence from an Experiment in Primary Schools* While in-service teacher training programs are designed to enhance the performance of several cohorts of students, there is little evidence on the persistence of their effects. We present the two-year results of a large-scale, randomized study of an intensive in-service teacher training program in France: during and after implementation. Our estimates highlight the short-run effectiveness of the training program; it successfully improves students' outcomes but only during the implementation year. A detailed analysis of teachers' outcomes indicates that teachers changed their pedagogical vision and practices but struggled to apply acquired skills to contents not directly covered in the training. JEL Classification: I20


Two of Sophocles' surviving tragedies contain scenes that portray the main character in excruciating pain for a sustained period of time: Philoctetes and Trachiniae. This article discusses three important stages in the reception history of these pain scenes: (1) Hercules Oetaeus, attributed to Seneca, (2) Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Laocoon treatise, and (3) recent European adaptations. In each case, it analyzes how the later playwrights, directors, and theorists responded to certain complexities inherent in Sophocles' representation of pain. The conclusion considers this reception history overall.


Pre-trained language models (LMs) have shown remarkable reasoning performance using explanations (or ``chain-of-thought'' (CoT)) for in-context learning. On the other hand, these reasoning tasks are usually presumed to be more approachable for symbolic programming. To make progress towards understanding in-context learning, we curate synthetic datasets containing equivalent (natural, symbolic) data pairs, where symbolic examples contain first-order logic rules and predicates from knowledge bases (KBs). Then we revisit neuro-symbolic approaches and use Language Models as Logic Programmer (LMLP) that learns from demonstrations containing logic rules and corresponding examples to iteratively reason over KBs, recovering Prolog's backward chaining algorithm. Comprehensive experiments are included to systematically compare LMLP with CoT in deductive reasoning settings, showing that LMLP enjoys more than 25% higher accuracy than CoT on length generalization benchmarks even with fewer parameters.


The purpose of this study was to search articles on acupressure treatment that used clinical control trials (CCT) or randomize control trials (RCT) to review the quality of conducted research quality and the caring effects of acupressure. Literature published in 6 databases, including MEDLINE, was searched. A total of 71 relevant articles were identified and included in the current study. Results showed: (1) Nursing staff conducted the majority of acupressure interventions. Nurses also had the most opportunities to provide acupressure care; (2) 69 articles (97.2%) found acupressure to deliver positive effects; (3) Less than half of the articles (34) remained following our elimination of those that presented substandard researching quality, unspecific caring scope, or a score of only 1 using Jadad Score evaluation. Of these 34, acupressure techniques were most often applied to 8 symptoms / objects; (4) Factors that should be considered in administering acupressure include methods of treatment, application strength, and application period. Study results should help clinical nursing staff and student nurses learn acupressure and develop acupressure standard operating procedures (SOPs). Results further provide direction and design guidance for future research.


Hepatocellular and hepatobiliary damage was assessed in equine acute, subacute and chronic grass sickness cases (AGS, SAGS, CGS). Histopathological analysis showed that even in some early AGS cases enlarged hepatocytes, hepatocyte vacuolation indicative of lipid accumulation (steatosis), intrahepatocyte, canalicular and periportal deposition of pigments, frequent leucocyte infiltration and cholangitis occurred. Analysis of serum indicated significantly increased levels of unconjugated bilirubin in all groups and conjugated bilirubin in AGS and SAGS groups, increased levels of bile acids in some individuals from each group and significantly increased levels of glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) in AGS and SAGS cases. Conjugated bilirubin was significantly elevated in urine of AGS and SAGS cases. The evidence suggests that abnormal liver function involving moderate hepatocellular pathology in conjunction with steatosis and cholestasis may contribute to the pathogenesis of GS.


Total knee arthroplasty is a large contributor to Medicare costs. In an effort to lower costs and improve outcomes, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services has implemented the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model, which incentivizes surgeons to submit both general health and joint-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). However, in addition to using PROMs for reporting purposes, surgeons should also consider incorporating PROMs into clinical practice. Currently, PROMs are not widely implemented in the clinical setting despite their value in measuring factors such as patients' expectations and mental state, which impact outcomes. Furthermore, as technology improves, PROM collection will become faster and more efficient. The information collected by PROMs can inform treatment decisions and facilitate communication between the surgeon and the patient.


: A number of practical problems may be encountered when a dentist attempts to provisionalize an indirect restoration. Problems that relate to provisional restorations for conservative, less retentive, ceramic cavity forms are discussed. A provisionalization technique that improves marginal integrity, assures predictable retention, and facilitates cleanup following detachment is introduced.


The aim of this study is to research into the relationship between growth in manufacturing companies in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) and innovation indicators, applied to products and processes. The authors analyzed data collected by SEADE in 1996 and 2001 in 2,278 organizations of different industrial sectors, and conducted a review of the relevant literature, to provide the necessary conceptual basis in order to refine and compare data, correlating both Innovation and TQM activities, and company growth. The research tools used were the statistical technique of multiple regression and correlation analysis. The results indicate that TQM and Innovation efforts have significant influence on the growth of companies. The analysis also facilitated the comprehension of related subjects underlying the main theme that were revealed during the study, such as the fact that TQM exerts a more significant influence on process innovation than on product innovation.


Indonesia is one of the countries with a significant market share. Based on data, it shows that Iphone market share in Indonesia is not among the top 5 biggest sales, especially with the current pandemic conditions. This problem occurs because other brands in the top rank also have variants of products that have similar to or the same prices as Iphone products. This research aims to determine the influence of reference groups on Iphone product purchasing decisions, the influence of lifestyle on Iphone product purchasing decisions, and the moderating effect of lifestyle on the relationship between reference groups and Iphone product purchasing decisions. The population of this research is Iphone users in big cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, Medan, Pontianak, Makassar, Palembang, Lampung, and Ambon. The sampling technique used was cluster random sampling with a total sample of 150 respondents. The data collection method is a survey with an online questionnaire. The multivariate analysis was used in this research, namely structural equation modelling. The results of the study indicate that the reference group has a significant influence on Iphone product purchasing decisions, lifestyle has a significant influence on Iphone product purchase decisions, and lifestyle can moderate the positive relationship between reference groups and purchasing decisions. In future research, other sampling techniques and a more varied number of samples are expected to be used to obtain more comprehensive results.
Keywords— Reference Group; Lifestyle; Purchase decision; Structural Equation Modelling.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to elucidate predictors of death and reintervention after mitral valve (MV) surgery in children.

METHODS
A single-centre retrospective study was performed enrolling 142 patients younger than 18 years who underwent primary index surgical mitral repair or replacement at Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome from July 1982 to April 2020. Patients with complete, transitional or partial atrioventricular septal defect and patients with single ventricle physiology were excluded. Patients were stratified according to the age group: group 1 (<1 year old), group 2 (1-5 years old) and group 3 (>5 years old). The composite primary outcome was freedom from death or transplant. The secondary outcome was freedom from redo MV surgery.

RESULTS
Transplant-free survival was 89% at 5 years and 88% at 10 years. Stratified by age, group 1 had poorer outcome in comparison with other groups (log-rank test P = 0.105). Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that age <1 year was a significant risk factor for death or transplant (P = 0.044). Age <1 year was associated with increased risk of reoperation (aHR = 3.38, P = 0.009), while the presence of genetic syndrome (aHR = 0.22) and preoperative EF% (aHR = 0.97) were protective factors for reoperation.

CONCLUSIONS
The overall survival and freedom from reoperation in children undergoing MV surgery still need improvements. Younger age was a significant risk factor for death and reintervention both after repair and replacement of the MV. In particular, infants and neonates have a three-fold risk for death compared to children.


Hereditary genetic diseases are illness that may be early identified, and there is agreement of the World Health Organization on the tests' importance and its effectiveness. However, the screening test' performance, as it is currently carried out, is affected by lack of information, which its damages range between lack of general knowledge on screening test' performance to a situation in which the screening test are performed in the absence of informed consent. Therefore, there is a need to promote knowledge about the actual exams performance and their significance among general population. The question is what is the right age and manner to make this knowledge available in order to obtain a reasonable level of knowledge sufficient for informed consent. As of today there is not much literature dealing with this question and there is no consensus concerning the way of making the information available. Therefore, there is a need in additional research and extensive public debate concerning the promotion of knowledge about screening test, even only to provide informed consent in situations where the exam performance is mandatory and unavoidable.


Edge localized modes may be a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability caused by the sheared rotation of H-mode plasmas. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is stabilized by coupling to Alfven waves. There is a critical velocity gradient, of the order of the Alfven velocity divided by the magnetic shear length. This is verified in a numerical simulation. The critical velocity shear is consistent with experiment. A nonlinear simulation shows how the Kelvin-Helmholtz mode can cause oscillations of the velocity profile


Variational principles for problems in fluid dynamics, plasma dynamics and elasticity are discussed in the context of the general problem of finding a variational principle for a given system of equations. In continuum mechanics, the difficulties arise when the Eulerian description is used; the extension of Hamilton's principle is straightforward in the Lagrangian description. It is found that the solution to these difficulties is to represent the Eulerian velocity v by expressions of the type v = ∇X + λ∇μ introduced by Clebsch (1859) for the case of isentropic fluid flow. The relation with Hamilton's principle is elucidated following work by Lin (1963). It is also shown that the potential representation of electromagnetic fields and the variational principle for Maxwell's equations can be fitted into the same overall scheme. The equations for water waves, waves in rotating and stratified fluids, Rossby waves, and plasma waves are given particular attention since the need for variational formulations of these equations has arisen in recent work on wave propagation (Whitham 1967). The idea of solving some of the equations by 'potential representations' (such as the Clebsch representation in continuum mechanics and the scalar and vector potentials in electromagnetism), and then finding a variational principle for the remaining equations, seems to be the crucial one for the general problem. An analogy with Pfaff's problem in differential forms is given to support this idea.


Based on neuroimaging data, the insula is considered important for people to empathize with the pain of others, whether that pain is perceived through facial expressions or the sight of limbs in painful situations. Here we present the first report of intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) recordings from the insulae collected while 7 presurgical epilepsy patients rated the intensity of a woman's painful experiences viewed in movies. In two separate conditions, pain was deduced from seeing facial expressions or a hand being slapped by a belt. We found that broadband activity in the 20-190 Hz range correlated with the trial-by-trial perceived intensity in the insula for both types of stimuli. Using microwires at the tip of a selection of the electrodes, we additionally isolated 8 insular neurons with spiking that correlated with perceived intensity. Within the insula, we found a patchwork of locations with differing selectivities within our stimulus set, some representing intensity only for facial expressions, others only for the hand being hit, and others for both. That we found some locations with intensity coding only for faces, and others only for hand across simultaneously recorded locations suggests that insular activity while witnessing the pain of others cannot be entirely reduced to a univariate salience representation. Psychophysics and the temporal properties of our signals indicate that the timing of responses encoding intensity for the sight of the hand being hit are best explained by kinematic information; the timing of those encoding intensity for the facial expressions are best explained by shape information in the face. In particular, the furrowing of the eyebrows and the narrowing of the eyes of the protagonist in the movies suffice to predict both the rating of and the timing of the neuronal response to the facial expressions. Comparing the broadband activity in the iEEG signal with spiking activity and an fMRI experiment with similar stimuli revealed a consistent spatial organization for the representation of intensity from our hand stimuli, with stronger intensity representation more anteriorly and around neurons with intensity coding. In contrast, for the facial expressions, we found that the activity at the three levels of measurement do not coincide, suggesting a more disorganized representation. Together, our intracranial recordings indicate that the insula encodes, in a partially intermixed layout, both static and dynamic cues from different body parts that reflect the intensity of pain experienced by others.


This paper argues that randomized linear sketching is a natural tool for on-the-fly compression of data matrices that arise from large-scale scientific simulations and data collection. The technical contribution consists in a new algorithm for constructing an accurate low-rank approximation of a matrix from streaming data. This method is accompanied by an a priori analysis that allows the user to set algorithm parameters with confidence and an a posteriori error estimator that allows the user to validate the quality of the reconstructed matrix. In comparison to previous techniques, the new method achieves smaller relative approximation errors and is less sensitive to parameter choices. As concrete applications, the paper outlines how the algorithm can be used to compress a Navier--Stokes simulation and a sea surface temperature dataset.


The article introduces unawareness of actions into the standard moral hazard model in contract theory. We allow the contracting party (the principal or the agent) to be unaware of his or the other party's actions. The principal may also have an incorrect belief about the awareness of the agent. We provide a solution concept where the principal contemplates the incentive scheme according to his conjecture of the agent's mind and also contemplates informing the agent through the contract. In the post-contractual stage, either party may be surprised by the other party's action. Finally, we analyze the value of awareness for each party, and present the negative result that awareness is not always valuable.


This article expands Patchen Markell's (2011) seminal problematization of The Human Condition by examining the impact that the modern developments in science and technology had on Arendt's signature categories. Whereas Markell is interested in the systematic "architecture" of the book, I attempt to historicize Arendt's distinctions in light of the story she tells about science and technology. From the invention of the telescope to the splitting of the atom, technoscience has provoked shifts in the hierarchies within the vita activa; spawned new varieties of "labor," "work," and "action"; and blurred the traditional boundaries between "nature" and the "human world." These reconfigurations draw the contours of a new, "modern world" that is different from the world whose story and conceptual tradition Arendt set out to articulate. Largely as a result of the activities of science and technology, the experiences that informed the categories of the "Western tradition" correspond to a world that is no longer our own.


Stippling is a simple non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) method. NPR stippling images are monochromatic binary images, which are made up of black dots distributed over white backgrounds. In this paper. we extend the composition and present methods for producing monochromatic multi-valued stippling and color stippling images. Our method is based on the scheme of point redistribution according to probability distributions presented by Secord et al. We extend their scheme and apply it to stippling with multi-valued dots over multi-valued backgrounds and to color images. Additionally, we develope a technique for improving the detail description by varying the dot sizes according to the gradient of tonal intensities of the input images.


With the enactment of related standards and the promotion of industry, semantic Web service is becoming a mainstream software form. Due to network dynamics and volatility of user's requirement, how to capture the changes in user's requirement and adapt the semantic Web service accordingly has always been a hard issue. The rational use of contextual information, which is a source of implicit requirements, will contribute to a rapid and intelligent Web service evolution process. A context driven approach for semantic Web service evolution is proposed in this paper. In this approach, a context-domain-web service ontology network is constructed and managed under the guidance of ISO/IEC 19763-3 metamodel for ontology registration. Contextual inference rules, which are extracted from ontology network, express the relationship between context and Web service. With these facilities, decisions in evolving a Web service resort to the computational tasks in ISO/IEC 19763-3 based ontology evolution theory.


A Computer system now operate in an environment of near ubiquitous connectivity, whether tethered to an Ethernet cable or connected via wireless technology. While the availability of always on communication has created countless new opportunities for web based businesses, information sharing, and coordination, it has also created new opportunities for those that seek to illegally disrupt, subvert, or attack these activities. We present natural based data mining algorithm approach to data clustering. Artificial ant clustering algorithm is used to initially create raw clusters and then these clusters are refined using k-mean particle swarm optimization (KPSO). KPSO that has been developed as evolutionary-based clustering technique. The algorithm uses hybridization the k-means algorithm and PSO principle to find good partitions of the data. Certain unnecessary complications of the original algorithm are discussed and means of overcoming these complexities are proposed. We propose k-means particle swarm optimization clustering algorithm in the second stage for refinement mean of overcoming these complexities is proposed. Our approach allows us to recognize not only known attacks but also to detect suspicious activity that may be the result of a new, unknown attack. The experimental results on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining-(KDDCup 1999.


Abstract A 68-year-old woman with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was admitted to the hospital because of tender and swollen knee joints. We performed a targeted synovial biopsy under arthroscopy to examine the histopathological characteristics 1 month after clinical onset. The synovia showed the typical histopathology of RA. Although the inflammatory changes were predominantly limited to the surface area of the synovia, associated with neovascularization and cell infiltrates composed mainly of T cells, plasma cells, and macrophages, lesions with fibrin deposition, mesenchymoid transformation and/or immature lymphoid follicles were also observed in part, indicating that this case was in the progression phase of RA. What we regularly call "early" might be "too late" even if it is within 1 month of clinical onset.


Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and αvβ3 integrin are key molecules that actively participate in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Some integrin-blocking molecules are currently under clinical trials for cancer and metastasis treatment. However, the mechanism of action of such inhibitors is not completely understood and evasive resistance of antiangiogenic therapy has been reported. We have previously demonstrated the anti-angiogenic and anti-metastatic properties of DisBa-01, a recombinant His-tag RGD-disintegrin from Bothrops alternatus snake venom in experimental models. DisBa-01 blocks αvβ3 integrin binding to vitronectin and inhibits integrin mediated downstream signaling cascades and cell migration. Recently, we reported that DisBa-01 strongly decreases the expression of VEGF mRNA and of its receptors, vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1 and 2 (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2) in endothelial cells. Here, DisBa-01 was submitted to adhesion under flow and transmigration assays, both using different DisBa-01 concentrations and β3-siMDA-MB-231 cells. In the first assay, labeled tumor cells incubated with Disba-01 perfused for 5 minutes through a chamber containing endothelial cells as coat. In the second, labeled tumor cells incubated with DisBa-01 were attracted by complete medium and transmigrated through an endothelial cell coat. Individually, assays were photographed and the cells quantified. Results show that DisBa-01 dose-dependently inhibited adhesion of MDA-MB-231 cells to human endothelial cells under flow conditions, similarly to the effect observed by β3-siMDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, the disintegrin or β3-silencing inhibited the transmigration of tumor cells through endothelial cells in vitro. These results demonstrate that endothelial αvβ3 integrin has a key role in tumor cell adhesion and transmigration through the endothelium under flow conditions.

Support: Fapesp (grant no. 1998/14138-2), CNPq, and CAPES (Brazil)

Citation Format: Cyntia Freitas Montenegro, Araceli Cristina Durante, Kelli Cristina Micocci, Antonio Carlos Manucci Pereira, Jr., Heloisa Sobreiro Selistre-de-Araujo. A role for endothelial αvβ3 integrin in breast tumor cell migration. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Third AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research; Sep 18-22, 2013; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(19 Suppl):Abstract nr B44.


A third-order-mode emitting laser diode, which is also intended for use with a phase-matched waveguide, is demonstrated and analysed. The AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure is engineered to down-convert the laser photons into photon pairs through a parametric process. Device design is hampered by competing requirements arising from the laser diode and nonlinear waveguide parts. The optimization strategy is discussed.


Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) is a newly classified autosomal-dominant cerebellar ataxia (ADCA) associated with CAG repeat expansion. We screened 111 patients with cerebellar ataxia for the SCA6 mutation. Of these, 35 patients were found to have expanded CAG repeats in the SCA6 gene, indicating that second to SCA3, SCA6 is the most common ADCA in Japan. Expanded alleles ranged from 21 to 29 repeats, whereas normal alleles had seven to 17 repeats. There was no change in the CAG repeat length during meiosis. The age at onset was inversely correlated with the repeat length. The main clinical feature of the 35 patients with SCA6 was slowly progressive cerebellar ataxia; multisystem involvement was not common. The 35 patients included nine cases without apparent family history of cerebellar ataxia. The sporadic cases had smaller CAG repeats (21 or 22 repeats) and a later age at onset (64.9 ± 4.9 years) than the other cases with established family history. We also identified one patient who was homozygous for the SCA6 repeat expansion. The homozygote showed an earlier age of onset and more severe clinical manifestations than her sister, a heterozygote carrying an expanded allele with the same repeat length as the homozygote. This finding suggests that the dosage of the CAG repeat expansion plays an important role in phenotypic expression in SCA6.


Abstract The Late Palaeozoic period was an important time in Earth history, primarily as a result of the formation of Pangea and the Gondwana glaciations that had direct influences in high latitudes and indirect, but no less important, effects in low latitudes. This study documents and interprets the isotopic record for the Early–Middle Permian in northern Gondwana from detailed fieldwork in the Venezuelan Andes. Sr-isotope dating of well-preserved brachiopod shells suggests a Kungurian age from samples located within the middle part of the Palmarito Formation. δ13C data show a long-term trend through the section towards more positive values, but with some very negative δ13C values suggesting carbonates affected by pedogenic processes. In the middle part of the succession, major excursions in δ13C and δ18O show a strong connection with glacial–deglacial events during the Early–Middle Permian. Overall results presented here fill an important gap in the regional palaeogeography and, therefore, have significant implications for the palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography of this Late Palaeozoic time.


The independent event model (IEV) is used to calculate single and double electron removal cross sections for collisions. The single electron removal cross sections are in good agreement with experiment. In contrast to the model of Janev and co-workers, it is found that the single electron removal cross section for is much larger than the double electron removal cross section for , since in small impact parameter collisions of protons with He the probability of removing the first electron is less than unity. Double electron removal cross sections for calculated in the IEV are found to be in poor agreement with experiment, in contrast to where good agreement was obtained. For , the IEV double ionization result is improved somewhat if approximate allowance is made for the screening of the projectile by the electron if it is captured in the first event. The difference in the agreement of the IEV double ionization results with experiment may also indicate a qualitative difference in the role played by electron correlation in these two collision systems.


Background Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and schistosome infections have been known to be major causes of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan countries. School aged and preschool children are known to be at high risk of infection. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with soil-transmitted helminths among school-going children in Lurambi Subcounty, Kakamega, Kenya. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted from Jan 2020 to Feb 2020 among 392 randomly selected primary school-going children aged 5 to 14 years old in six primary schools. Risk factors associated with STH infection were obtained using a structured questionnaire answered by the children's caregivers. Stool samples were examined using the standard quantitative Kato-Katz technique. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 and Epi Info version 188.8.131.52. Result A total of 278 children provided stool samples for analysis. The overall prevalence of intestinal helminths was 14.4% (40/278). The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides was 11.5% (32/278), 0.4% (1/278) for hookworm, 0.4% (1/278) for Trichuris trichiura, and 2.1% (6/278) for Schistosoma mansoni; coinfection was detected in 0.4% (1/278). The intensity of infection ranged between light and moderate. Significant risk factors for STH infection included failure to wash hands before eating (OR: 3.529; P = 0.041), failure to wash fruits and vegetables before eating (OR: 2.3129; P = 0.005), and not washing hands after soil contact (OR: 2.1529; P = 0.005). Age (Z = 2.4006, P = 0.0164) was a risk factor only for infection with Schistosoma mansoni. Conclusion Preventive chemotherapy and proper hygienic and sanitation practices should be integrated to achieve elimination of STH and Schistosoma mansoni in Lurambi Subcounty and at large in Kenya.


Purpose: The study aimed to compare the radiobiological and dosimetric parameters between sequential boost (SEQB) and simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) treatment regimen using intensity-modulated arc therapy technique in locally advanced head-and-neck cancer (LAHNC) patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 24 previously untreated LAHNC patients were randomized into SIB (n= 11) and SEQB (n = 13) arms. The planning computed tomography data set was transferred to the treatment planning system. All the target volumes and organ at risk volumes were delineated. Single plan for SIB group and three plans (three phases) were generated for SEQB group of patients. Radiobiological and dosimetric parameters were compared. Results: The BED10(planned) value for high-risk (HR) planning target volume (PTV) was same in both groups, whereas for intermediate-risk (IR) PTV and low-risk (LR) PTV, the values were higher in SEQB arm than SIB arm. The V95 values were 100% for all the target volumes in both arms of patients. The average D100 value for gross target volume, HR PTV, and IR PTV was higher in SEQB arm than that in the SIB arm. The average D100 value for LR PTV was higher in the SIB arm compared to that of the SEQB arm. The BED10(achieved) was calculated using D100 values of target volumes. The difference of BED10(achieved) values between SEQB arm and SIB arm further increased than the BED10(planned) values for all target volumes. The maximum doses for spinal cord, spinal cord planning risk volume, and brain stem were within the tolerance dose in both groups of patients. The left and right parotid glands sparing was comparable in both groups of patients. Average integral dose was higher in the SIB group than SEQB group. The average total monitor unit per fraction was higher in the SEQB arm than that in the SIB arm. Conclusion: SIB regimen may be considered as more logical and efficient over SEQB regimen in the treatment of LAHNC with comparable radiobiological and dosimetric parameters.


Previous work on eye tracking and eye-based human-computer interfaces mainly concentrated on making use of the eyes in traditional desktop settings. With the recent growth of interest in smart glass devices and low-cost eye trackers, however, gaze-based techniques for mobile computing is becoming increasingly important. PETMEI 2014 focuses on the pervasive eye tracking paradigm as a trailblazer for mobile eye-based interaction and eye-based context-awareness. We want to stimulate and explore the creativity of these communities with respect to the implications, key research challenges, and new applications for pervasive eye tracking in ubiquitous computing. The long-term goal is to create a strong interdisciplinary research community linking these fields together and to establish the workshop as the premier forum for research on pervasive eye tracking.


Summary This study investigated parental bonding patterns of hypochondriacal patients using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Hypochondriacal patients and a matched control group were drawn from in and out-patients of a psychiatric hospital. Maternal over-protection was found much more frequently (P <.005) in the hypochondriacal group than in the control group. This offers support for previous clinical observations on hypochondriacal patients. The implications of this and other findings of the study are discussed.


One in four women will experience sexual assault in their lifetime. Although less than 5% of sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement, one in five cases reported to police are deemed baseless (by police) and therefore coded as "unfounded." Police officers are in a unique position to act as gatekeepers for justice in sexual assault cases, given their responsibility to investigate sexual assault reports. However, high rates of unfounded sexual assaults reveal that dismissing sexual violence has become common practice amongst the police. Much of the research on unfounded sexual assault is based on police perceptions of the sexual assault, as indicated in police reports. Women's perspectives about their experiences with police are not represented in research. This qualitative study explored women's experiences when their sexual assault report was disbelieved by the police. Data collection included open-ended and semi-structured interviews with 23 sexual assault survivors. Interviews covered four areas including the sexual assault, the experience with the police, the experience of not being believed, and the impact on their health and well-being. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and entered into NVIVO for analysis. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's analytic method, resulting in the identification of four themes, including, (a) vulnerability, (b) drug and alcohol use during the assault, (c) police insensitivity, and (d) police process. The women in this study who experienced a sexual assault and reported the assault to police were hopeful that police would help them and justice would be served. Instead, these women were faced with insensitivity, blaming questions, lack of investigation, and lack of follow-up from the police, all of which contributed to not being believed by the institutions designed to protect them. The findings from this research demonstrate that police officers must gain a deeper understanding of trauma and sensitive communication with survivors of sexual assault.


Context. The Sun displays differential rotation that is intimately connected to the solar dynamo and hence related to solar activity, the solar cycle, and the solar wind. Considering the detectability and habitability of planets around other stars it is important to understand the role of differential rotation in other stars. Aims. We present projected rotational velocities and new measurements of the rotational profile of some 180 nearby stars with spectral types A-F. The results are consolidated by a homogeneous compilation of basic stellar data from photometry and the identification of multiple stellar systems. New and previous measurements of rotation by line profile analysis are compiled and made available. Methods. The overall broadening profile is derived analysing spectral line shape from hundreds of spectral lines by the method of least-squares deconvolution, reducing spectral noise to a minimum. The effect of differential rotation on the broadening profile is best measured in inverse wavelength space by the first two zeros of its Fourier transform. Results. Projected rotational velocity v sini is measured for more than 110 of the sample stars. Rigid and differential rotation can be distinguished in 56 cases where v sini > 12 km s −1 . We detect differential rotation rates of δΩ Ω = 5% and more. Ten stars with significant differential rotation rates are identified. The line shapes of 46 stars are consistent with rigid rotation, even though differential rotation at very low rates might still be possible in these cases. The strongest amount of relative differential rotation (54%) detected by line profile analysis is found among F stars. Conclusions. As of now, 33 differential rotators detected by line profile analysis have been confirmed. The frequency of differential rotators decreases towards high effective temperature and rapid rotation. There is evidence for two populations of differential rotators, one of rapidly rotating A stars at the granulation boundary with strong horizontal shear and one of mid- to late-F type stars with moderate rates of rotation and less shear. The gap in between can only partly be explained by an upper bound found for the horizontal shear of F stars. Apparently, the physical conditions change at early-F spectral types. The range of horizontal shear observed for mid-type F stars is reproduced by theoretical calculations while there seems to be a discrepancy in period dependence for late-F stars.


Background: Recent years are seeing a growing impetus in the semantification of scholarly knowledge at the fine-grained level of scientific entities in knowledge graphs. The Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG) https://www.orkg.org/ represents an important step in this direction, with thousands of scholarly contributions as structured, fine-grained, machine-readable data. There is a need, however, to engender change in traditional community practices of recording contributions as unstructured, non-machine-readable text. For this in turn, there is a strong need for AI tools designed for scientists that permit easy and accurate semantification of their scholarly contributions. We present one such tool, ORKG-assays. Implementation: ORKG-assays is a freely available AI micro-service in ORKG written in Python designed to assist scientists obtain semantified bioassays as a set of triples. It uses an AI-based clustering algorithm which on gold-standard evaluations over 900 bioassays with 5,514 unique property-value pairs for 103 predicates shows competitive performance. Results and Discussion: As a result, semantified assay collections can be surveyed on the ORKG platform via tabulation or chart-based visualizations of key property values of the chemicals and compounds offering smart knowledge access to biochemists and pharmaceutical researchers in the advancement of drug development.


This paper addresses the problem of reliably multicasting Web resources across wireless local area networks (WLANs) in support of collaborative computing applications. An adaptive forward error correction (FEC) protocol is described, which adjusts the level of redundancy in the data stream in response to packet loss conditions. The proposed protocol is intended for use on a proxy server that supports mobile users on a WLAN. The software architecture of the proxy service and the operation of the adaptive FEC protocol are described. The performance of the protocol is evaluated using both experimentation on a mobile computing testbed as well as simulation. The results of the performance study show that the protocol can quickly accommodate worsening channel characteristics in order to reduce delay and increase throughput for reliable multicast channels.


In a prospective study of patients treated with cephalexin or co-trimoxazole, almost all isolated E. coli strains of intermediate susceptibility to ampicillin or cephalosporin (MIC 2-16 microgram/ml) were shown to produce beta-lactamase detectable with a chromogenic cephalosporin substrate, or by the clover-leaf test or the acidimetric method. When assayed in preparations of sonicated bacteria, the enzyme had a cephalosporinase-substrate profile in a large majority of cases. In order to evaluate the clinical significance of this beta-lactamase production, 48 patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) were treated with cephalexin, an antibiotic hydrolysed by the enzyme. Forty-three additional patients were treated with co-trimoxazole for comparison. A statistically significant difference in cure rate (p less than 0.05) was found after 2 weeks. Six recurrences occurred in the cephalexin group and none in the co-trimoxazole group. However, after six weeks there were 8 and 5 recurrences, respectively (p less than 0.05). There were no differences in beta-lactamase activity or MIC/MBC between initial strains and isolates from recurrent UTI. Thus, the recurrent infections were not due to emergence of resistance.


Background: Racial or ethnic health disparities have been evidently apparent during the apartheid era in South Africa. This study aims to assess ethnic health disparities in four elderly population groups. Methods: Data for this study emanated from the 2008 study of "Global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) wave 1" (N = 3284) aged 50 years or older in South Africa. Associations between exposure variables and outcome variables (health status variables and chronic conditions) were examined through bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Indians or Asians reported the highest prevalence of poor self-rated health (23.7%) and functional disability (11.6% and 29.1%). Coloureds had the lowest grip strength (55.3%) and Whites the highest cognitive functioning (80.1%). Coloureds had the highest prevalence of hypertension (85.0%), stroke and/or angina (15.0%), edentulism (26.8%) and low vision (50.6%); and Indians or Asians had the highest prevalence of arthritis (43.5%) and diabetes (24.4%). In adjusted analysis, Whites (Odds Ratio [OR]: 0.24, Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.11, 0.57) and Coloureds (OR: 0.50, CI: 0.29, 0.87) had lower odds of self-reported health status compared to Black Africans. Coloureds (OR: 0.36, CI: 0.22, 0.61) had lower odds of grip strength than Black Africans. Indians or Asians had higher odds of functional disability (OR: 1.87, CI: 1.03, 3.02) and diabetes (OR: 2.65, CI: 1.45, 4.83) than Black Africans. Whites (OR: 3.92, CI: 1.63, 9.41) and Coloureds (OR: 2.14, CI: 1.21, 3.78) had higher odds of cognitive functioning than Black Africans. Whites had lower odds (OR: 0.54, CI: 0.31, 0.93) and Indians or Asians had higher odds (OR: 1.91, CI: 1.91, 1.01, 3.59) of arthritis than Black Africans. Coloureds had a higher prevalence of hypertension (OR: 1.71, CI: 1.14, 2.58), stroke and/or angina (OR: 1.74, CI = 1.36, 2.22), edentulism (OR: 6.51, CI: 4.07, 10.41) and low vision (OR: 1.68, CI: 1.29, 2.19) than Black Africans. Conclusion: There are still ethnic health disparities in South Africa in the post-apartheid era (i.e., Black Africans [lower cognitive functioning], Whites [poor self-reported health status and edentulism], Coloureds [poor self-reported health status, lower grip strength, arthritis, hypertension, stroke and/or angina, edentulism and low vision], Indians or Asians [poor functional disability, arthritis and diabetes]). Understanding these ethnic health disparities may help in developing better strategies to improve health across population groups.


Countries trying to attract foreign direct investment often use various tools to influence the foreign investor's allocation decision including public subsidies in the form of investment incentives. However, the effects associated with providing these incentives are often questioned, especially in light of the need to achieve at least a minimum level of attractiveness of the business environment. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the effects of investment incentives on foreign direct investment inflows (direct effect) and on selected macroeconomic variables (indirect effects) under the conditions in Slovakia. Findings showed that the preference of specific forms of investment incentives by the government of the Slovak Republic changed slightly in the observed period of 2002–2019. The results of the regression analysis further suggest that while financial incentives have a positive statistically significant direct effect on foreign direct investment inflows, in the case of fiscal incentives, this effect is the opposite. In terms of indirect effects of investment incentives, only a reduction in the unemployment rate through foreign direct investment was found. The study contributes to the literature by providing evidence on the effects of various forms of investment incentives and by offering some implications for investment promotion policy.


It is critical to diagnose and treat Legionella pneumonia (LP) immediately after infection because of the associated high mortality. The urine antigen test (UAT) is often used for the diagnosis of LP; however, it cannot detect the serogroups of all Legionella species. A detained medical history and several clinical findings such as liver enzyme elevation and hyponatremia are useful in diagnosis. Some specific types of Legionella are found in compost. Herein, we report a case of LP in which the patient's medical history and several clinical findings were useful for diagnosis.


The readout architecture for the silicon pixel detector of the PANDA MVD (Micro Vertex Detector) is presented. The pixel detector has to provide timing, position and energy information on a event-driven base, since no trigger signal is foreseen. The readout system is based on a custom ASIC, named ToPiX, directly connected to the GBT (GigaBit Transceiver) optical transceiver. A reduced size prototype with most of the main functionalities has been designed and tested. The ASIC has been bonded to a sensor based on the epitaxial technology and tested on a beam test. TID (Total Ionizing Dose) tests on the ToPiX prototype have been performed.


The data mining and machine learning community is often faced with two key problems: working with imbalanced data and selecting the best features for machine learning. This paper presents a process involving a feature selection technique for selecting the important attributes and a data sampling technique for addressing class imbalance. The application domain of this study is software engineering, more specifically, software quality prediction using classification models. When using feature selection and data sampling together, different scenarios should be considered. The four possible scenarios are: (1) feature selection based on original data, and modeling (defect prediction) based on original data; (2) feature selection based on original data, and modeling based on sampled data; (3) feature selection based on sampled data, and modeling based on original data; and (4) feature selection based on sampled data, and modeling based on sampled data. The research objective is to compare the software defect prediction performances of models based on the four scenarios. The case study consists of nine software measurement data sets obtained from the PROMISE software project repository. Empirical results suggest that feature selection based on sampled data performs significantly better than feature selection based on original data, and that defect prediction models perform similarly regardless of whether the training data was formed using sampled or original data.


Let $F \in \mathbf{Z}[\boldsymbol{x}]$ be a diagonal, non-singular quadratic form in $4$ variables. Let $\lambda(n)$ be the normalised Fourier coefficients of a holomorphic Hecke form of full level. We give an upper bound for the problem of counting integer zeros of $F$ with $|\boldsymbol{x}| \leq X$, weighted by $\lambda(x_1)$.


This paper is a straightforward model of complex real-time MPEG-4 video encoding and deciphering systems based on VHDL, mainly focused on energy efficiency, low power and assets on FPGA. In this add to a MPEG-4 video Encoder/decoder which works at fundamental level of 4:2:0 720 x 480 at 29:97 edges for each second. This configuration is essentially centered on vitality effectiveness. The decoder and encoder for video are the important parts of its codec module. The module of encoder contains transformation of frames, Segmentation, pre-handling, discrete cosine transform and Inverse DCT Compression.


The stability and hence reliability of sputtered gold-tungsten and gold-molybdenum films has been determined as a function of anneal temperature up to 650°c. Isothermal and isochronal resistivity experiments have yielded an activation energy for particle growth in 3000 A gold films of 0.4 eV below 200oc and 0.7 eV about 200oc. The activation energy for the refractory layer was calculated to be 1.8 eV from particle size measurements. Annealing the films up to 500oc for 24 h resulted in a decrease of internal stress in gold from 2.5 x 109 dyn/cm2 to 0.2 x 109 dyn/cm2. Similar decreases in internal stress were observed for tungsten and molybdenum. The observed results are discussed in terms of microstructural changes.


OBJECTIVE
Management of Rockwood type 3 acromioclavicular disruptions is a matter of debate. Should we adopt conservative or operative measures at first presentation? It is not clear but most of the evidences are in favour of conservative management. We present our experience in managing these patients surgically.

METHODS
We present a prospective series of eight cases of chronic Rockwood type 3 acromioclavicular joint disruptions treated surgically. Anatomical reconstruction of the coracoclavicular ligament was done by artificial braided polyester ligament prosthesis.

RESULTS
All the patients were able to perform daily activities from an average of the 14th postoperative day. All patients felt an improvement in pain, with decrease in average visual analogue scale from preoperative 6.5 points (range 3-9 points) to 2.0 points (range 0-5 points), Constant score from 59% to 91% and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons shoulder score from 65 to 93 points postoperatively. These results improved or at least remained stationary on midterm follow-up, and no deterioration was recorded at an average follow-up of 46 months.

CONCLUSION
This midterm outcome analysis of the artificial ligament prosthesis is the first such follow-up study with prosthesis. Our results are encouraging and justify the further use and evaluation of this relatively new and easily reproducible technique.


: Gum Karaya, is a natural plant-derived polysaccharide used as a mixed blend supplementary fish meal (SFM) in 7 different concentration (1%-7%) with the natural fish meal to enhance the growth and health of Labeo rohita (Rohu fish). At the end of the feeding period (21 days) growth performance, body composition, hematological and biochemical parameters of rohu fish were evaluated. The findings reveal a remarkable dose-dependent enhancement in growth performance, exemplified by specific growth rate (SGR), Relative Growth Rate (RGR), and daily weight gain, concomitant with a reduction in feed conversion ratio (FCR). Optimal growth, with a peak RGR of 34.05%, is observed at 5% Gum Karaya supplementation. Fish fed with 5% Gum Karaya exhibited the highest SGR, indicating an optimal supplementation level for maximum growth. Hematological assessments demonstrate a positive dose-dependent response in red blood cell count (RBC), white blood cell count (WBC), and hemoglobin (Hb) levels, which indicate stimulation of immune responses. Moreover, Gum Karaya supplementation led to favorable alterations in the biochemical constituents of fish muscles, including an increase in protein content and a decrease in lipid content. KSFM modulates various physiochemical parameters, including glucose, total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, suggesting enhanced metabolic health. While biological health indices, such as the Gonadosomatic Index (GSI), show promise for improving reproductive health, Hepatosomatic Index (HSI) and Spleenosomatic Index (SSI) exhibit minor variations. This experiment is first time report on the multifaceted benefits of Gum Karaya in enhancing the physiological and metabolic aspects of Labeo rohita , with significant implications for aquaculture practices and selective breeding strategies.


Background and objective Among biological hazards faced by healthcare workers, one of the most commonly reported is sharp-related injury. Needle-stick and sharp injuries transmit infectious diseases, especially blood-borne viruses. The conditions in which these exposures occur vary. Reporting of exposure and proper post-exposure prophylactic measures are important in controlling blood-borne infections in healthcare workers. Better analysis of such accidents is an important tool to reinforce exposure preventive measures. Hence, we conducted a study to describe the profile of splash, sharp and needle-stick injuries among healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital. Methods A record-based cross-sectional study was done in a tertiary care hospital, in south Tamil Nadu. All healthcare workers who have reported needle stick, sharp, or splash injuries during the last five years in the hospital were included. Data was extracted from post-exposure reports maintained in the hospital. Results are expressed in mean, standard deviation and percentages. Results A total of 189 healthcare workers (HCWs) had reported instances of splash, sharp and needle stick injuries in the last five years. The most common exposure was needle prick (86.2%), followed by splash of fluids (7.4%). The majority of HCWs were from the nursing department (44.4%), and the most commonly reported place of exposure was the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (30.3%), followed by inpatient wards. The associated activity in the majority of the injuries/exposures was the transfer of sharps or cleaning surfaces (26.4%), followed by blood withdrawal (25.7%). After the exposure, 99.5% of HCWs washed the wound immediately. In a total of 135 exposures, the identity of the source, and thus, the serological status was known. Among these, hepatitis B was the most common (17.8%), followed by HIV (11.9%). All exposures related to unknown sources were considered positive exposure and were managed accordingly. Among the HCWs with possible seropositive exposure to hepatitis B, antibody titres were recorded and HBV Immunoglobulin (low titre), and vaccination were administered accordingly. Among the possible HIV exposures, 97.1% of HCWs initiated post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). All probable hepatitis C exposures were given counseling and advised to follow up. No seroconversion at six months of follow-up has been recorded till now. Conclusion Healthcare workers are constantly at risk of exposure to splash, sharp and needle stick injuries, and although all categories of workers are at risk, nurses are at particularly high risk. A variety of activities can result in injury or a splash of fluids and so preventive activities, including health education, should be focused on all areas of healthcare and for all healthcare workers. More awareness is needed among healthcare workers regarding post-exposure prophylaxis.


Objective – This article aims to identify differences between country brand equities in the USA and China. Design/methodology/approach – The research was descriptive and quantitative, using as survey method self-administered questionnaires applied to 386 Brazilian respondents who are students from a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Theoretical foundations – Marketing and brand techniques may be applied to countries, and it is even possible to improve a country's competitive position in the global market in this way. Research about the value of country brand equities is recent and there is no consensus in literature concerning the nature of this value. Findings – We found that the USA's country brand equity is greater than China's; the USA presented higher averages than China in all dimensions as well as in the global value. contributions – The results represent a contribution to studies about country brand equity, which are new and scarce. From a practical point of view, the results may be used as a source of information in projects and international marketing activities by countries that possess automotive industries; by countries that have invested or want to invest in Brazil, in its automotive industry; and by countries that export cars to Brazil.