ABSTRACT Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) containing unmethylated CpG motifs, CpG ODN, are Toll-like receptor 9 agonists (TLR9a), which have been used as adjuvants in pneumococcal vaccines to improve antibody responses in immunodeficient patients. Here, we examined whether the coadministration of TLR9a with pneumococcal CRM197-conjugate vaccine enhances protection against pneumococcal colonization, the levels of antipolysaccharide antibodies, and the CD4+ T-cell responses. Wild-type BALB/c mice and B-cell-deficient BALB/c Igh-Jtm1Dhu mice were immunized twice with the following: (i) PCV alone; (ii) simultaneous PCV and TLR9a; (iii) PCV and then TLR9a, after a 48-h delay; (iv) TLR9a alone; and (v) phosphate-buffered saline. Nasopharyngeal protection, serum antibodies, CD4+ T-cell responses, and clearance of bacteremia after intraperitoneal challenge with Streptococcus pneumoniae 6B were evaluated. We found decreased nasopharyngeal protection against S. pneumoniae 6B colonization after simultaneous immunization with PCV and TLR9a compared to immunization with PCV alone in wild-type BALB/c mice (P = 0.037). A similar trend was observed in B-cell-deficient BALB/c Igh-Jtm1Dhu mice. Simultaneous administration did not enhance antibody levels and lowered the CRM197-specific cytokine release of gamma interferon, interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-5 and IL-13. Immunization with PCV and then TLR9a, after a 48-h delay, significantly improved nasopharyngeal protection compared to simultaneous administration (P = 0.011). Furthermore, delaying TLR9a delivery increased antibody titers compared to both simultaneous administration (P = 0.001) and PCV immunization alone (P = 0.026). In conclusion, the immunological and clinical impact of adjuvanting a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar; Pfizer) with a TLR9a is highly depended on timing of the adjuvant administration. Thus, careful timing of adjuvant administration may improve novel vaccine formulations.


Average Daily Fibre/day' Consumption (grammes) (grammes) SIR: It is surprising that in discussing dietary control of coronary heart disease (Journal, April 13) no mention was made of dietary fibre as a possible protective agent. It was an Australian, Eben Htpsley, who was one of the early protagonists of the concept that lack of dietary fibre has an retiological role in a specific disease, that is, eclampsia.' Since then much work, pa rt icularly in Africa, has led to the extension of this concept to other diseases including ischsemic heart disease.


A study was made on the possibility of synergistic effects of ethyl alcohol and lead on porphyrin metabolism in rabbits. Experimental rabbits were divided into 4 groups. Group A was the control group not given any treatment, and the other 3 groups (Groups B, C and D) were treated with ethyl alcohol, lead, and ethyl alcohol and lead respectively, for 2 months. Ethyl alcohol solution (5%) was administered to rabbits in Groups B and D as drinking water on every weekday. The average dose of alcohol was 6 ml/kg/day (18 ml/cap/day). Lead was injected intravenously to rabbits in Groups C and D at a dose of 0.5 mg Pb/kg on alternate days (3 times per week). Furthermore, a large dose of Pb was administered to other rabbits (Group C'). In rabbits treated with alcohol alone (Group B), no effect was observed in the biochemical indicators related to porphyrin metabolism. In the groups treated with lead (Groups C and C') and with lead and alcohol combined (Group D), some biochemical changes in porphyrin metabolism developed with increase of Pb-B, i.e. increase of ALA-S activity and total porphyrin content in the bone marrow, elevation of FEP level, increase of ALA-U and CP-U, and decrease of ALA-D activity in erythrocytes. Comparison of Groups C and D showed that CP-U and ALA-U increased significantly in Group D, but no significant difference was observed between both groups in FEP and in ALA-S activity in the bone marrow and liver. The other laboratory measurements, such as total porphyrin contents in the liver and plasma, and GOT or GPT level in serum, showed no significant change in all the groups. In the present study, the biochemical changes suggesting synergism of lead and ethyl alcohol were observed slightly in ALA-U and CP-U but not in ALA-S and FEP. These results suggest that these changes are essentially due to lead rather than mutual enhancement of the direct effects of these two toxins on porphyrin metabolism. However, it still remains to be determined whether or not ethyl alcohol affects the liver and kidney functions which may be related to ALA and CP excretion.


The switched discrete host-parasitoid model with Beverton-Holt growth concerning integrated pest management has been proposed, and the switches are guided by the economic threshold (ET). The integrated pest management (IPM) tactics are applied to prevent the economic injury if the density of host population exceeds the ET, and the IPM tactics are called off once the density of host population descends below ET. To begin with, the regular and virtual equilibria of switched system has been discussed by two or three parameter-bifurcation diagrams, which reveal the regions of different types of equilibria. Besides, numerical bifurcation analyses about inherent growth rates show that the switched discrete system may have complicated dynamics behavior including chaos and the coexistence of multiple attractors. Finally, numerical bifurcation analyses about killing rates indicate that the system comply with the Volterra principle, and initial values of both host and parasitoid populations affect the host outbreaks times.


To study ecological characteristics of Sagitiaria pygmaea and Sagittaria trifolia occurring in Korea their propagules were collected from 3 locations (Sagittaria pygmaea: Chuncheon, Suweon, Milyang; Sagittaria trifolia: Suweon, Iri, Jeonju) in 1981, cultured and replanted 4 times (May 20, June 5, June 20, July 5) in 1982. Sagitraria pygmaea from Suweon flowered earlier than those from Chuncheon and Milyang in the plants planted on May 20, but this was reversed in another planting dates. Three storied inflorescence was observed newly in Sagittaria pygmaea. Sagittaria pygmaea from Iri and Jeonju had more number of tillers, but less number of tubers per tiller than those from Suweon. Sagittaria rrifolia from Chuncheon flowered earlier than those from Suweon and Milyang. Sagirtaria trifolia from Milyang was narrower in the upper leaf width and less in the number of tubers per plant than those from Chuncheon and Suweon. Each of local collections may be regarded as different ecotype based on the above differences.


Summary. Cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attack and stroke, is the major cause of death in adults in Europe. The underlying atherosclerosis which causes cardiovascular disease is difficult to treat or reverse, and this has led to intense interest in strategies to prevent its development. The major causes of cardiovascular disease—a high fat diet, tobacco smoking and high blood pressure—are now well known. Control of these risk factors has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. It is now possible with simple information (age, sex, blood pressure level, cholesterol level and information on smoking) to predict the risk of heart attack or stroke fairly accurately. The challenge for the future is to make the information available on risk prediction and on how to reduce risk accessible to lay people, so that they may choose, if they wish, to adopt a life style that will reduce their risk. Such a life style involves healthy food choices, avoidance of overweight, the promotion of leisure exercise and complete avoidance of tobacco. Drug treatments can be extremely effective in controlling both blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but they should be seen as an adjunct to life style measures rather than a primary means of achieving prevention. Practical prevention will only be achieved through dynamic partnerships between the medical profession, Government, voluntary bodies, teaching institutions, insurance companies and paramedical bodies. An outline about how cardiac societies can participate in this process is appended.


Clonogenic assays are the gold standard to measure in vitro radiosensitivity, which use two cell plating methods, before or after irradiation (IR). However, the effect of the plating method on the experimental outcome remains unelucidated. By using common cancer cell lines, here we demonstrate that pre-IR and post-IR plating methods have a negligible effect on the clonogenic assay-derived photon sensitivity as assessed by SF2, SF4, SF6, SF8, D10, or D50 (N.B. SFx indicates the survival at X Gy; Dx indicates the dose providing X% survival). These data provide important biological insight that supports inter-study comparison and integrated analysis of published clonogenic assay data regardless of the plating method used.


A decisive element of reliable maintenance of the rehabilitation result achieved by patients undergoing inpatient cardiac rehabilitation has turned out to be comprehensive and successful management of the transition into the outpatient phase. This requires concrete planning and implementation of the concept, to be based on patient-related approaches and including the family physician, relatives, occupational institutions, and local and regional partners such as adult education centres, health insurances, sports clubs, psychological individual care, etc. Problem-orientated planning adapted to the individual requirements and expectations of the patient is of utmost importance.


This essay draws on critical theories of post-Holocaust testimony and postmemory in conjunction with the emerging sociological concept of "empathetic identification" to investigate the implications of trauma healing in Anne Michaels's Fugitive Pieces. The novel features two protagonist narrators—Jacob Beer, a child survivor of the Holocaust, and Ben, a child of Holocaust survivor parents—each acknowledging the moral imperatives to remember the painful past of the Holocaust as well as the need to envision the possibility of coming to terms with the horrors of the past. Contrary to Holocaust literature that focuses on the irredeemable breakdown in the psyche, Fugitive Pieces makes it the central motivating aim to ponder the complex and bewildering experience of healing. With two memoirs—Jacob's and Ben's—each addressing the traumatic memory for the dead and to the living, Fugitive Pieces is characteristically structured as a model of the witnessing process, a process that aims to move beyond the isolation imposed by trauma. As a theoretical starting point in my reading of Fugitive Pieces, I turn to the psychoanalytical theory of testimony and postmemory—especially the works of Dori Laub and Marianne Hirsch— to examine how testimony in association with empathetic identification can help sustain life after massive trauma.


The decay of chlorine in drinking water involves a complex set of reactions that is usually simplified to first order kinetics in models of water quality in distribution systems. However, to be useful in optimising chlorine dosing regimes, the kinetics expression should accurately describe the shape of the chlorine decay curve for different chlorine doses and be able to simulate re-chlorination. After considering the nature of the reactions involved in chlorine decay, five simplified reaction schemes were evaluated for their suitability to describe chlorine concentration in bulk water. Each scheme was fitted to a sample of experimental data of chlorine decay in raw water obtained from Warragamba Dam (the major source of water supplied to Sydney, Australia). A scheme involving two parallel reactions of organic carbon compounds with chlorine is both necessary and sufficient to satisfy the requirements of modelling chlorine decay accurately.


Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PQ) provides highly effective therapy and chemoprevention for malaria in pregnant African women. PQ concentrations of >10.3 ng/ml have been associated with reduced maternal parasitemia, placental malaria, and improved birth outcomes. We characterized the population pharmacokinetics (PK) of PQ in a post hoc analysis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and -uninfected pregnant women receiving DHA-PQ as chemoprevention every 4 or 8 weeks. ABSTRACT Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PQ) provides highly effective therapy and chemoprevention for malaria in pregnant African women. PQ concentrations of >10.3 ng/ml have been associated with reduced maternal parasitemia, placental malaria, and improved birth outcomes. We characterized the population pharmacokinetics (PK) of PQ in a post hoc analysis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and -uninfected pregnant women receiving DHA-PQ as chemoprevention every 4 or 8 weeks. The effects of covariates such as pregnancy, nutritional status (body mass index [BMI]), and efavirenz (EFV)-based antiretroviral therapy were investigated. PQ concentrations from two chemoprevention trials were pooled to create a population PK database from 274 women and 2,218 PK observations. A three-compartment model with an absorption lag best fit the data. Consistent with our prior intensive PK evaluation, pregnancy and EFV use resulted in a 72% and 61% increased PQ clearance, compared to postpartum and HIV-uninfected pregnant women, respectively. Low BMI at 28 weeks of gestation was associated with increased clearance (2% increase per unit decrease in BMI). Low-BMI women given DHA-PQ every 8 weeks had a higher prevalence of parasitemia, malaria infection, and placental malaria compared to women with higher BMIs. The reduced piperaquine exposure in women with low BMI as well as during EFV coadministration, compared to pregnant women with higher BMIs and not taking EFV, suggests that these populations could benefit from weekly instead of monthly dosing for prevention of malaria parasitemia. Simulations indicated that because of the BMI-clearance relationship, weight-based regimens would not improve protection compared to a 2,880 mg fixed-dose regimen when provided monthly. (The clinical trials described in this paper have been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifiers NCT02163447 and NCT02282293.)


The lowest lying singlet and triplet states of HBCN-, HCCN, HNCN+, HAlCN-, HSiCN, HPCN+, HGaCN-, HGeCN, and HAsCN+ were studied using the CCSDT(Q)/CBS//CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ level of theory. Periodic trends in geometries, singlet-triplet gaps, and barriers to linearity were established and analyzed. The first row increasingly favors the triplet state, with a singlet-triplet gap (ΔEST = Esinglet - Etriplet) of 3.5 kcal mol-1, 11.9 kcal mol-1, and 22.6 kcal mol-1, respectively, for HBCN-, HCCN, and HNCN+. The second row increasing favors the singlet state, with singlet-triplet gaps of -20.4 kcal mol-1 (HAlCN-), -26.6 kcal mol-1 (HSiCN), and -26.8 kcal mol-1 (HPCN+). The third row also favors the singlet state, with singlet-triplet gaps of -26.8 kcal mol-1 (HGaCN-), -33.5 kcal mol-1 (HGeCN), and -33.1 kcal mol-1 (HAsCN+). The HXCN species have larger absolute singlet-triplet energy gaps compared to their parent species XH2 except for the case of X = N+. The effect of the substitution of hydrogen with a cyano group was analyzed with isodesmic bond separation analysis and NBO.


An adrenal "incidentaloma" is defined as an unexpected finding on radiological imaging performed for unrelated indications. Improvements in radiological technology have seen a dramatic increase in this phenomenon. We report the unique case of a 60-year-old female presenting with a 6-month history of abdominal pain, altered bowel habit, and rectal bleeding. Her past medical history included situs inversus totalis and a patent ductus arteriosus. Colonoscopy revealed an ulcerated tumour in her sigmoid colon. Staging PET-CT confirmed a sigmoid tumour and also identified a large heterogenous enhancing FDG-avid right adrenal mass. Biochemical testing/MIBG imaging confirmed a right adrenal phaeochromocytoma. Hypertension was controlled and excision was performed via a transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy, in the left lateral decubitus position. Uniquely, liver retraction was not required due to its position in the left hypochondrium. Histology confirmed a benign 46 mm phaeochromocytoma. Subsequent uncomplicated sigmoid colectomy/right salpingo-oophorectomy for a locally advanced colonic tumour was performed with adjuvant chemotherapy. This case highlights the importance of accurately identifying functioning adrenal tumours before elective surgery as undiagnosed phaeochromocytomas carry significant intraoperative morbidity/mortality. Right adrenalectomy was made easier in this patient by the liver's unique position. Uncomplicated colorectal resection was made possible by combined preoperative functional/anatomical imaging.


This report defines and analyzes a general model of macrodiversity in CDMA networks (Code Division Multiple Access). Some differences between the up link (from users to base stations) and downlink (from base stations to users) lead to two different models which are studied in parallel in this report. In order to satisfy the bit rate requirements of users, it is necessary to make use of a control policy of emitted powers. We prove necessary and sufficient conditions of the existence of a power allocation in the network which satisfies all users. These conditions depend on the users requirements and on the geometry of the network. For a finite network on the downlink, we prove a necessary condition on the optimal power allocation policy. This result shows that macrodiversity has a limited impact on the downlink. The analysis of infinite networks is led in the framework of stationary ergodic point processes. On the uplink, there is a necessary and sufficient condition of the existence of a power allocation which guarantee a given set of bit rate requirements for users. This condition is of type «<1», where is function only of the average bits rate requirement of users and on the average number per unit of surface of users and base stations. On the contrary, on downlink , it is proven that if the location of users in space are realisations of a homogeneous Poisson point process, then almost surely there is no power allocation which satisfy all the users' demands whatever is the position and the density of base stations.


A considerable setback of polyamide fibers, especially polycaproamidefibers (PCAFs), is their low light resistance. This leads to changes in their appearance and their physicomechanical parameters under ambient atmosphere conditions and as a result of the effect of sunlight. This setback could be compensated to a certain extent by the introduction of suitable light stabilizers in the fiber mass. Depending on its efficiency, each light stabilizer is added at a concentration of 0.2–5% with respect to the mass of the polymer. We have investigated two possibilities for introducing the light stabilizer into the fiber mass. In the first one, the composition was finished immediately after the fiber spinning, and in the second one, polycaproamide granules were processed with a solution of light stabilizers before their melting. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4921–4924, 2006


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if an FDG-PET study was able to visualize muscle uptake of the chest and abdomen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: This study included 25 patients with COPD and 25 patients without COPD who had undergone a FDG-PET study. The nonattenuation-corrected images were used to determine the degree of FDG uptake in the intercostals, subscapular, abdominal rectus, and abdominal oblique muscles. The intensity of uptake in the muscles was rated on a 4-point grading scale with 1 being less, 2 the same, 3 slightly more, and 4 markedly more intense than the sternum. Results: Thirteen patients with COPD demonstrated FDG activity in the intercostal muscles that was equal to or greater than the sternum and the tracer was demonstrated predominantly in the inferolateral chest wall (n = 8), the entire lateral chest wall (n = 2), the posteroinferior chest wall (n = 2), and the entire chest wall (n = 1). In all 13 patients with COPD who demonstrated FDG activity in the abdominal oblique muscles, the site of muscle activity was predominantly in the anteroinferior abdominal wall (n = 8), the lateral wall (n = 4), and the anterior wall (n = 1). In patients without known COPD, the frequency and intensity of uptake in the muscles were less than those with the disease. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the ability of FDG-PET imaging to assess muscle function in respiratory disorders and may prove to be of some value in further characterizing this disorder.


Revegetation plantings have been established throughout the world to mitigate the effects of clearing, including loss of faunal habitat. Revegetation plantings can differ substantially in structural complexity and plant diversity, with potentially differing habitat qualities for fauna. We studied bird occurrence in revegetation of different complexity and floristics in southern Australia. We assessed bird species richness and composition in remnant forest and cleared agricultural land as reference points, and in two types of plantings differing in structure and floristics—(1) "woodlot plantings" composed of native trees only and (2) "ecological plantings" composed of many species of local trees, shrubs and understorey. By approximately 20 years of age, both types of plantings had a similar bird species richness to that in remnants. Bird species richness was greater in ecological plantings than woodlot plantings. Species composition also differed. Ecological plantings contained a shrub‐associated bird assemblage, whereas woodlot plantings were dominated by generalist bird species. Remnants contained a unique bird assemblage, which were not found in either of the two types of plantings, suggesting that plantings are not a viable replacement of remnant vegetation over this time period. Bird species richness responded positively to structural complexity, but not to floristic richness. Bird species richness was greater in plantings that were older, in riparian locations, and where weed cover was lower. We conclude that plantings in general can provide habitat for many species of birds, and that structurally complex ecological plantings in particular will provide unique and valuable additional habitat for birds.


Stochastic particle acceleration is essentially a diffusion process in energy phase space. In spite of the statistical behavior of the diffusion process, there is an average energy gain tendency of deterministic nature which is usually called Systematic Acceleration. In practice only the systematic acceleration rate has been considered, ignoring effects of the diffusion process, usually identified as a fluctuational acceleration rate. However, depending on the nature of the phase velocity spectrum of the turbulence, or on competitive energy loss processes, the average systematic acceleration rate may become inefficient and even null, so that energetic particle production is due only to the energy spread effects (diffusion in energy). We calculate separately the contribution of both energy change rates, in order to evaluate the importance of particle production by each. We consider the classical Fermi process and turbulent acceleration by magnetosonic waves (for the case in which S=O in the resonance condition). The transport equation is solved analytically for the steady state and for the time-dependent situation. We find that the contribution of fluctuational acceleration to the source solar particle spectrum cannot be considered as mere particle flux fluctuations, but may represent an important overproduction in some cases and particle depression in others. The relevance of energy spread effects is related to the efficiency of the energy gain: the nature of the initial particle population relative to the velocity spectra of turbulence, and thus the relative proportion among the different kind of interactions of particles with accelerating agents. We discuss the conditions under which diffusion in energy effects should be ignored relative to the average energy gain rate. With some exceptions in the stationary case, energy spectra derived on the basis of systematic acceleration alone cannot describe the real particle flux. This must be taken into account in calculations of the flux of secondary radiation.


This article presents the first practice of assimilating real-world all-sky GOES-16 ABI infrared brightness temperature (BT) observations using an ensemble-based data assimilation system coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model at a convection-allowing (1 km) horizontal resolution, focusing on the tornadic thunderstorm event across Wyoming and Nebraska on 12 June 2017. It is found that spurious clouds created before observed convection initiation are rapidly removed, and the analysis and forecasts of thunderstorms are significantly improved, when all-sky BT observations are assimilated with the adaptive observation error inflation (AOEI) and adaptive background error inflation (ABEI) techniques. Better forecasts of the timing and location of convection initiation can be achieved after only 30 min of assimilating BT observations; both deterministic and probabilistic WRF forecasts of midlevel mesocyclones and low-level vortices, started from the final analysis with 100 min of BT assimilation, closely coincide with the tornado reports. These improvements result not only from the effective suppression of spurious clouds, but also from the better estimations of hydrometeors owing to the frequent assimilation of all-sky BT observations that yield a more accurate analysis of the storm. Results show that BT observations generally have a greater impact on ice particles than liquid water species, which might provide guidance on how to better constrain modeled clouds using these spaceborne observations.


OBJECTIVE
To observe the choroidal thickness in eyes with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy(CSC) after half-dose photodynamic therapy(PDT).

METHODS
Case series study. Consecutive 30 patients (35 eyes) with chronic CSC admitted from October 2010 to October 2011 in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center were recruited in this study. Optical coherence tomography(OCT),fundus fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were performed in each patient to confirm the diagnosis. ICGA-guided PDT was performed in each patient. Choroidal thickness at subfoveal and 1500 µm superior, inferior, nasal and temporal to the fovea were measured before PDT, 1, 3 and 6 months after PDT using enhanced depth imaging OCT. Data were analyzed with one-way repeated measures ANOVA and LSD-t test when pairwise comparison was needed.

RESULTS
Thirty patients, aged from 33 to 66 years old, including 26 males and 4 females (gender ratio 6.5: 1) were recruited. Subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in chronic CSC eyes was (435.54 ± 102.91) µm at baseline,which decreased significantly to (373.63 ± 106.01) µm, (360.69 ± 111.06) µm and (369.00 ± 108.12) µm at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after PDT respectively (F = 108.34, P < 0.01). At 6 months after PDT, SFCT was slightly thicker than that at the 3(rd) month,but no statistical significance was noted (LSD-t test: P > 0.05). The changing trends of choroidal thickness at the other 4 measuring points were similar to that of the SFCT.

CONCLUSION
Choroidal thickness is reduced within 6 months post PDT in chronic CSC eyes.


The current systems of infrastructure that comprise water supply are incapable of recognising value in water's urban place in anything other than in empirical terms. The 'Water-Shed' scheme transforms this utility into a rarely considered design opportunity that reinvigorates the relationship between the borough of Petone and its water supply at Waiwhetu aquifer. With a framework compiled from history, art, landscape and architecture practice, it entails the re-appropriation of the systems and technologies of contemporary water extraction. The outcome is an architecture that recovers meaning within this amenity and re-confirms waters central value to life. Light in conjunction with material manipulation are used directly and incidentally to reveal water's character. The scheme also conceives of nature in constructed terms, opening the possibility for infrastructures like Water-Shed to negotiate non-oppositional relationships between city and environment. The result is the maturation of industrial landscape the reinforcement of the hydrological and civic identities of Petone. No longer is water amenity simply reduced to productive issues of cost, efficiency and reliability. Debate regarding the access and availability of drinking water will be one of the defining issues of the 21st century. Water-Shed contributes to this discussion by asking how we can re-think the buildings and sites that form parts of the city's water distribution network.


Many different therapeutic options are available for locally recurrent prostate cancer (PCa). However, standard treatment has not yet been established. We conducted a partial prostate re-irradiation (PPR) program for the treatment of isolated and limited-size intraprostatic recurrences, in patients who previously underwent external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) as primary treatment for prostatic cancer (PCa). The analysis of this experience in terms of feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy is reported. The inclusion criteria of this retrospective analysis were: previous definitive EBRT, evidence of biochemical recurrence, radiological detection of isolated local relapse, and PPR as local salvage therapy. Gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicities were registered according to the RTOG/EORTC criteria. Between July 2012 and May 2019, 44 patients were treated with PPR. All patients completed the planned treatment. The median follow-up was 25.4 months. Tumor progression was observed in 18 patients (40.9%). Two-year local control, biochemical failure- and clinical relapse-free survival rates were 90.1%, 58.3%, and 67.9%, respectively. The occurrence of biochemical failure after PPR is lower for patients with the time interval between the primary EBRT and first biochemical failure > 4 years; local control results strongly associated with a biologically effective dose (BED) at first EBRT > 177Gy. No acute grade 3 or greater toxic events were observed. Two late grade 3 GU toxicities were reported. Although retrospective in design, our study indicates that PPR appears as a feasible, well-tolerated, and effective salvage treatment for isolated local PCa recurrence. Long term data are required in order to confirm these results.


We suggest to combine the Anthropic Principle with the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Realizing the multiplicity of worlds it provides an opportunity of explanation of some important events which are assumed to be extremely improbable. The Mesoscopic Anthropic Principle suggested here is aimed to explain appearance of such events which are necessary for emergence of Life and Mind. It is complementary to the Cosmological Anthropic Principle explaining the fine tuning of fundamental constants. We briefly discuss various possible applications of the Mesoscopic Anthropic Principle including the Solar Eclipses and assembling of complex molecules. Besides, we address the problem of Time's Arrow in the framework of the Many-Worlds Interpretation. We suggest the recipe for disentangling of quantities defined by fundamental physical laws and by an anthropic selection. The main emphasis is made on the problem of the biological evolution.


SIR,-As much as one would like to avoid a public controversy of the medico-political events in another part of the world one cannot let go unchallenged Lord Taylor's remarks in your columns (18 January, p. 178). Lord Taylor regrets the split in the medical profession in this province between those who wish to practise medicine without Government interference and those working in community health clinics. What he omits entirely to say is that only about 10% of physicians in community clinics are either Canadians or individuals who by virtue of having lived in Canada for a number of years have become part of the professional life of this country and province. The great majority of physicians practising in these clinics have been imports to Canada since the crisis of July 1962. It is little wonder that these newcomers, who deliberately set themselves against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of their established colleagues, are treated with suspicion. Surely one cannot expect to earn the respect of one's indigenous colleagues by such action. While one would not like to suggest that the mechanics of granting hospital privileges in this country are perfect, Lord Taylor fails to recognize the fact that few, if any, of these physicians had had hospital privileges in Britain before they embarked on their missionary career amongst the aborigines of Saskatchewan. At least some of them are illequipped by previous experience to obtain such privileges, bearing in mind that the requirements of general practice in Canada are entirely different from those in Great Britain. It is over 18 months since Lord Taylor has been in Saskatchewan to mediate in the medical care crisis at the Government's request. It seems strange that he should still feel competent to make pronouncements on the Saskatchewan situation, which obviously must have changed greatly since his brief sojourn in this province. Perhaps he might wish to reflect on the fact that the National Health Service, for the introduction of which he takes much credit, is far from being an earthshaking success. He might want to bear in mind that the N.H.S. is being kept in existence largely through the labours of great numbers of foreign-trained physicians. Nor can the high rate of emigration of British doctors be interpreted other than due to dissatisfaction with working conditions at home. -I am, etc., Saskatoon, GORDON M. WYANT. Saskatchewan, Canada.


Many technological advancements of the past decade have contributed to improvements in the photon efficiency of the confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). The resolution of images from the new generation of CLSMs is approaching that achieved by the microscope itself because of continued development in digital imaging methods, laser technology and the availability of brighter and more photostable fluorescent probes. Such advances have made possible novel experimental approaches for multiple label fluorescence, live cell imaging and multidimensional microscopy.


For practical considerations, it is in some case impossible to simulate MAS models at population level. The current paper shows that MAS models applied to samples with heterogeneous costs of interactions between agents have biased results. Heterogeneous costs of interactions in MAS models can come from the spatial dimension in MAS models or from fixed costs per interaction. The paper presents two correction procedures to remove the sampling bias and to increase the reliability of the outcome. The correction procedures can be very promising for future applications of MAS models because it becomes possible to deploy more complex models without bias on more detailed datasets that are only available at sample level, which will be the case for country- or EU-wide MAS applications.


Introduction: Background: Breast milk is the perfect food and uniquely superior to, artificial baby milk.
Giving a child breast milk from another woman is not a newer concept; wet nursing was a fairly common
practice a few decades ago. Human milk banks are services which collect, screen, process and distribute
donated breast milk. Current research evidences suggest that pasteurized donor human milk can provide
many of the components and eliminate the risk of transmission of infectious agents.
Method: Quantitative research approach was adopted to assess the knowledge on Human Milk Banking; a
structured knowledge questionnaire was given to100 antenatal mothers. The study was conducted at Justice
K.S Hegde charitable Hospital. Descriptive survey design was adopted to accomplish the objectives.
Results: Findings revealed that 52% of mothers had good knowledge and remaining mothers had an average
knowledge. The 'p' value of age with regards to knowledge on human milk banking is 0.099, whereas
the 'p' value of parity is 0.718. Meanwhile the 'p' value of family is 0.213 and that of religion is 0.428.
For education, occupation, income and any previous exposure with human milk banking the 'p' values
were 0.284, 0.082, 0.104 and 0.750 respectively. The above results shows that for all the demographic
characteristics, the 'p' value is >0.05. Hence it was found that there was no significant association between
knowledge of antenatal mothers with selected demographic variables.
Conclusion: Providing knowledge to antenatal mothers on human milk banking serve as an investment
for the future needs. The nurse practitioner has a primary responsibility of enhancing the knowledge and
developing positive attitude, towards utilization of human milk banking.


The restricted availability of suitable in vitro models that can reliably represent complex human brain development is a significant bottleneck that limits the translation of basic brain research into clinical application. While induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have replaced the ethically questionable human embryonic stem cells, iPSC-based neuronal differentiation studies remain descriptive at the cellular level but fail to adequately provide the details that could be derived from a complex, 3D human brain tissue. This gap is now filled through the application of iPSC-derived, 3D brain organoids, "Brains in a dish," that model many features of complex human brain development. Here, a method for generating iPSC-derived, 3D brain organoids is described. The organoids can help with modeling autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH), a rare human neurodevelopmental disorder. A widely accepted explanation for the brain malformation in MCPH is a depletion of the neural stem cell pool during the early stages of human brain development, a developmental defect that is difficult to recreate or prove in vitro. To study MCPH, we generated iPSCs from patient-derived fibroblasts carrying a mutation in the centrosomal protein CPAP. By analyzing the ventricular zone of microcephaly 3D brain organoids, we showed the premature differentiation of neural progenitors. These 3D brain organoids are a powerful in vitro system that will be instrumental in modeling congenital brain disorders induced by neurotoxic chemicals, neurotrophic viral infections, or inherited genetic mutations.


This study examines the experiences of Indigenous Mexican educators following their participation in a transborder professional development initiative aimed at strengthening Indigenous Mexican education. Using qualitative and ethnographic methodologies, this article is guided by the following research questions: How do former participants in Transformacion Docente, a U.S.-based and funded professional development program, conceptualize and enact culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy in their practice? And how have their perceptions of pedagogy been impacted by their participation in Transformation Docente? The findings challenge the hegemony of development agendas through multi-sited critique of top-down Intercultural-Bilingual Education policy and analyze on-the-ground enactments of Indigenous education. Findings reveal transborder professional development supported opportunities for Indigenous educators to: 1) legitimize Indigenous identities, 2) further Indigenous language agendas, and 3) rethink inclusion and relationality in teaching. This article highlights Indigenous teachers as strategic border negotiators, and narrators of counterhegemonic practices within institutional spaces. The study's implications further discussions of Indigenous survivance, and demonstrate the significance of transborder Indigenous dialogues to advance Indigenous struggles for self-determination.


A procedure and program are described for rapid, economical and simple production of fully quantitative, multi-element analyses from energy dispersive microprobe data. Methods are outlined for background shaping and scaling, comprehensive overlap correction, and adjustment for instrumental drift. Program facilities include the output of all coefficients required, built-in standard data, the option to use default standards when no working standards have been measured, and the ability to respecify standards during data processing.


This paper presents experimental checking of the model for measuring available bandwidth in IPv6. The experiment was performed using a measuring infrastructure RIPE test box, ensuring precision accuracy. The experimental results showed that to increase the accuracy of available bandwidth, we need to neutralize the effect of the variable part of the delay by increasing the number of measurements. Finally, we made the computer simulation, which allowed us to establish a dependence between the measurement error of the available bandwidth and the number of measurements.


Tension pneumomediastinum is a rare complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection that has increased in incidence with the novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Although traditionally managed with conservative measures, we present the indications and methods for the first operative management of tension pneumomediastinum with concomitant SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.


The existence and stability conditions for a single-bit sigma-delta modulator operated in sliding mode are derived. Based on these conditions, a stable single-bit modulator of arbitrary order is synthesized. Also, an alternative interpretation on the modulator's noise-shaping mechanism is presented. From the sliding mode aspect, the modulator is regarded as a device that performs frequency-weighted minimization of the modulation error, and the modulator's loop filter as the weighting function. The noise-shaping equation derived from this aspect helps precisely predict the modulator performance. A fifth-order 2.2-MHz wide-band modulator with an effective resolution of 17 bits is designed as an illustrative example. The simulation result conforms the accuracy of the analysis. In the end, this paper presents a possible extension of single-bit to multibit modulation while still maintaining the sliding-mode operation.


The stated economic policy of the African National Congress (ANC) underwent a dramatic shift in the 1990s, away from a soft-left redistributionist position to one much more closely aligned with the policy preferences of the South African business community. To what extent can this shift be attributed to lobbying efforts by that community? The article reviews the development of economic policy by the ANC in the 1990s, and concludes that while business was undoubtedly influential in this process, much of that influence was indirect and derived from two sets of sources: first, the international policy consensus around the neo-liberal reform agenda; and second, indirect signals from 'the market' by means of such mechanisms as movements in the value of the currency, and investor and business confidence.


Simultaneous provision of multiple services using a centralized light source can greatly reduce the complexity and cost of a wavelength-division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON). In this paper, we report two schemes to simultaneously provide an ultra-wideband (UWB) service and a wired service using a centralized light source. In one scheme, a UWB signal and a wired signal are multiplexed and modulated on a single wavelength in the center office for wireless and wired downstream services. In the other scheme, the wavelength from a UWB downstream signal is reused in the optical network unit to provide a wired upstream service. Both schemes are experimentally demonstrated with the data-transmission performance evaluated by measuring the electrical spectra, eye diagrams, and receiver sensitivities. The proposed schemes would greatly reduce the cost while significantly improving the spectrum efficiency of a WDM-PON network incorporating UWB-over-fiber (UWBoF) systems for broadband wireless access, making the WDM-PON network more attractive for practical deployment.


To publish information extracted from multilingual pages of Wikipedia in a structured way, the Semantic Web community has started an effort of internationalization of DBpedia. Multilingual chapters of DBpedia can in fact contain different information with respect to the English version, in particular they provide more specificity on certain topics, or fill information gaps. DBpedia multilingual chapters are well connected through instance interlinking, extracted from Wikipedia. An alignment between properties is also carried out by DBpedia contributors as a mapping from the terms used in Wikipedia to a common ontology, enabling the exploitation of information coming from the multilingual chapters of DBpedia. However, the mapping process is currently incomplete, it is time consuming since it is manually performed, and may lead to the introduction of redundant terms in the ontology, as it becomes difficult to navigate through the existing vocabulary. In this paper we propose an approach to automatically extend the existing alignments, and we integrate it in a question answering system over linked data. We report on experiments carried out applying the QAKiS (Question Answering wiKiframework-based) system on the English and French DBpedia chapters, and we show that the use of such approach broadens its coverage.


Summary The doctrine of the perspicuity of the Scriptures was clearly articulated and strongly defended by the Reformers. Evangelical Christians today also need to reaffirm and defend this biblical doctrine. This article addresses the impor tance of this doctrine and looks at different definitions of this doctrine as well as its limitations. In the second part, theological and biblical evidence supporting the perspicuity of the Scriptures is presented. In the final section, the author suggests an answer to the question of whether the perspicuity of the Scriptures is a presupposition brought to the biblical text or a principle of interpretation.


System for sealing in a conduit a space between an inner wall of the conduit and at least one pipe or cable extending through the conduit, wherein the system comprises: at least one rubber element for providing in the conduit a support-structure which is clampable between the inner wall and the at least one pipe or cable; and a sealant for application against the support-structure and for sealing off at least one end of the conduit between the inner wall and the at least one pipe or cable.


Abstract Introduction: Podoplanin is a cell-surface glycoprotein constitutively expressed in the brain and implicated in human brain tumorigenesis. The intrinsic function of podoplanin in brain neurons remains however uncharacterized. Materials and methods: Using an established podoplanin-knockout mouse model and electrophysiological, biochemical, and behavioral approaches, we investigated the brain neuronal role of podoplanin. Results: Ex-vivo electrophysiology showed that podoplanin deletion impairs dentate gyrus synaptic strengthening. In vivo, podoplanin deletion selectively impaired hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory without affecting amygdala-dependent cued fear conditioning. In vitro, neuronal overexpression of podoplanin promoted synaptic activity and neuritic outgrowth whereas podoplanin-deficient neurons exhibited stunted outgrowth and lower levels of p-Ezrin, TrkA, and CREB in response to nerve growth factor (NGF). Surface Plasmon Resonance data further indicated a physical interaction between podoplanin and NGF. Discussion: This work proposes podoplanin as a novel component of the neuronal machinery underlying neuritogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and hippocampus-dependent memory functions. The existence of a relevant cross-talk between podoplanin and the NGF/TrkA signaling pathway is also for the first time proposed here, thus providing a novel molecular complex as a target for future multidisciplinary studies of the brain function in the physiology and the pathology. Key messages Podoplanin, a protein linked to the promotion of human brain tumors, is required in vivo for proper hippocampus-dependent learning and memory functions. Deletion of podoplanin selectively impairs activity-dependent synaptic strengthening at the neurogenic dentate-gyrus and hampers neuritogenesis and phospho Ezrin, TrkA and CREB protein levels upon NGF stimulation. Surface plasmon resonance data indicates a physical interaction between podoplanin and NGF. On these grounds, a relevant cross-talk between podoplanin and NGF as well as a role for podoplanin in plasticity-related brain neuronal functions is here proposed.


Research on sedimentation processes in tidal freshwater marshes is lagging far behind that for salt marshes despite the imponance of tidal freshwater systems for understanding impacts of watershed land use on estuarine habitats and water quality. From September 1996 to November 1997, biweekly sedimentation rates were monitored at 30 sites spanning 5 distinct habitat types across the intenidal zone of the tidal freshwater delta at the head of the Bush River tributary to upper Chesapeake Bay. These data were used to determine the spatio-temporal dynamics of sedimentation and erosion in the delta as well as the role of vegetation in seasonal to interannual physical processes. The ol:lserved mean net sedimentation rate was 1·00 g cm 2 yr I, with a range of 74'15 to 145·2 g cm 2 yr 1. No relations between delta sedimentation rate and total precipitation, peak precipitation intensity, or watershed discharge were found over time. Instead, three distinct temporal regimes in the data predominantly reflected seasonal patterns in vegetation life cycle. With regard to spatial patterns, non parametric statistical tests demonstrated that each habitat had a unique cycle of sedimentation and erosion. When sedimentation rates were multiplied by habitat area, the floating leaf habitat was found to have sequestered 6370 t yr I. In contrast, the high marsh lost 624 t yr I. These data indicate that the greater diversity of plant species in tidal freshwater marshes generates a wider variation in geomorphic processes than is possible for salt marshes. (l:,. 200 I Academic Press


Laparoscopic techniques in general surgery have become a widely accepted method, especially for treatment of symptomatic gallstone disease. Many reports have investigated the indications, contraindications, equipment, techniques and outcome of laparoscopic procedures. However, as yet, relatively few studies have discussed the problems concerning patient's monitoring and care during the postoperative course. In the present paper, the authors review the pertinent literature analyzing the management of the postoperative period after laparoscopic surgery of the upper abdomen. Obviously, most data have regarded cholecystectomy, that is the most frequent procedure. Surgical laparoscopists have utilized knowledge deriving from gynecological experience, but these procedures are generally short and performed on young, otherwise healthy female patients. On the contrary, laparoscopic digestive surgery shows both gastrointestinal and peculiar general problems. These procedures are frequently performed on older patients who may have pre-existing diseases and require longer periods of peritoneal insufflation. During surgery of the upper abdomen, the pneumoperitoneum and the patient's operative position produce haemodynamic and respiratory changes coupled with acid-base disturbances. Intraabdominal hypertension causes a venous stasis along the inferior vena caval territory that can lead to a decrease in cardiac preload and in cardiac output. Usually, a compensatory increase in peripheral vascular resistance ensures normal or mildly high values of arterial tension. Furthermore, a hypercapnia and a mild mixed acidosis can develop as a result of the concomitance of different pathogenetic factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The Centre d'Electronique de l'Armement (CELAR) has studied and developed ultra wide band (UWB) time domain "laboratory" instrumentation. UWB radars emit an instantaneous short pulse including a large frequency spectrum. Two potential applications of these systems, allowed by using mainly the lower frequencies, are the detection and the identification of stealth targets and buried objects (like unexploded ordnances and mines). Good penetration into a lossy ground needs frequencies lower than 300 MHz; it becomes a major difficulty for the efficient use of radar imaging techniques, because of the poor resulting resolution. This is the reason why other identification and classification techniques, like these based on the singularity expansion method have been extensively analysed and develop over the years.


Abstract 1996 Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) belongs to the most frequently occurring mature B-cell neoplasms besides chronic lymphocytic leukemia, lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL), mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and hairy cell leukemia. Data on cytogenetic abnormalities in SMZL is limited although these may facilitate the differentiation between SMZL and other mature B-cell neoplasms with similar immunophenotypic features like LPL. Thus, cytogenetic analysis may be a valuable tool in diagnosing these cases and may in addition give prognostic information. We therefore analyzed bone marrow samples from 134 patients with SMZL as identified by their typical immunophenotype in parallel by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) and chromosome banding analysis (CBA). In addition, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis was performed in 92/134 patients applying a standard panel of probes targeting del(6q), del(11q22.3) (ATM), trisomy 12, del(13q14) (D13S25, D13S319), del(17p13) (TP53), and t(11;14) while del(7q) was analyzed in ten cases only. The patients′ ages ranged from 41.3 to 89.4 years (median, 71.0 years), the male/female ratio was 1.35:1.00. In 73 patients (54.5%) an aberrant karyotype was identified by CBA. Specifically, these aberrations were classified into the following categories: complex karyotype (defined as at least three structural or numeric aberrations), 10.4%; del(7q), 4.5%; t(11;14), 3.7%; other deletions, 6.7%; trisomies, 6.0%, other translocations, 4.5%; and other aberrations, 18.5%. FISH analysis identified the following chromosomal aberrations: del(6q), 4/74 (5.4%); del(11q22.3), 7/90 (7.8%); trisomy 12, 10/78 (12.8%); del(13q14), 12/92 (13.0%); del(17p13), 11/89 (12.4%); and del(7q), 5/10 (50.0%). Cases with aberrant karyotypes as identified by CBA did not differ in age from other cases (69.0±11.3 vs. 69.5±9.2, n.s.), however, they had a non-significantly higher percentage of lymphoma cells as identified by MFC (23.3±22.9% vs. 16.6±20.4%, p=0.089). Interestingly, cases in which FISH analysis identified a trisomy 12 had a lower percentage of lymphoma cells as identified by MFC as compared to those without trisomy 12 (11.2±11.7% vs. 26.9±24.3%, p=0.003). There were no significant differences in the percentage of lymphoma cells as identified by MFC for the other chromosomal aberrations detected by FISH analysis. The presence of del(6q) was associated with a significantly shorter time to therapy (TTT) as compared to cases without del(6q) (median 1 month vs. not reached/59% at 3 years, p=0.034). A similar trend was observed for del(11q) (median 1 month vs. not reached/62% at 3 years, p=0.061). Within the five cases with del(7q) no events have been observed so far for TTT. Regarding chromosomal aberrations detected by CBA the presence of either complex aberrations, t(11;14), or aberrations other than deletions and translocations was associated with a shorter TTT as compared to cases with remaining chromosomal aberrations or normal karyotype (median 1.0 months vs. not reached/71% at 3 years, p=0.015). This data suggests that chromosomal aberrations can be detected in bone marrow samples infiltrated by SMZL in about half of the cases independently of the degree of infiltration. Specific aberrations may confer prognostic information and thus yield clinically important information. Disclosures: Kern: MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment, Equity Ownership. Haferlach: MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment, Equity Ownership. Schnittger: MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment, Equity Ownership. Haferlach: MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment, Equity Ownership.


Melatonin was discovered more than 60 years ago. Since then, several seminal discoveries have allowed us to define its function as a neuroendocrine hormone and its molecular targets in mammals and many other species. However, many fundamental issues have not yet been solved such as the subcellular localization of melatonin synthesis and the full spectrum of its molecular targets. In addition, a considerable number of controversies persist in the field, mainly concerning how many functions melatonin has. Altogether, this illustrates how "immature" the field still is. The intention of this opinion article is to note the controversies and limitations in the field, to initiate a discussion and to make proposals/guidelines to overcome them and move the field forward.


In this work projected for watershed segmentation technique takes regarding 3 times the time taken by the k-means bunch technique. Though the HSV color area was found to convey higher results compared to the RGB color area, in our experiments the RGB and HSV color areas were found to convey virtually equivalent results. Eventually, it had been set to use the HSV color area as a result of it gave higher results than the RGB color area just in case of "difficult Queries". K-MEAN primarily {based} bunch rule has been projected and also the iterations taken was abundant less (sometimes forty times less) than that of K-MEAN and ANN based schemes. Moreover, K-MEAN based mostly schemes might discover all the peaks and thence, categories accurately. The impact of the configuration, migration policy, rate of migration, and kind of migration on the speed convergence has been studied and it had been discovered that the migration policy and rate of migration greatly influence the convergence rate.


If Santa Claus had a good long-term memory, she would remember who had consistently been good in the previous years and would reward them accordingly. She would not only rely on the current year 'I have been a good boy letter' but she would look for long-term good behaviour to decide on her gifts allocation.If investors – like Santa Claus – had a good long-term memory, they would purchase assets that have been performing consistently well in the previous years. Consistent good behaviour will be defined as 'resilience'. If resilience is rewarded it should translate into higher volumes of transactions and insure the survival of the fund. This is – in short – my variant definition of a Santa Claus effect.This Santa Claus effect will be tested on the trading of Australian Listed Property Trusts over the 1993-1998 period.


Background Tocilizumab (TCZ) shows a great clinical effectiveness to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and some reports indicates the mechanism by which TCZ impinge on the many aspects of RA pathogenesis. Nevertheless, it is not confirmed precisely whether TCZ affects inflammatory cells and anti-inflammatory cells in peripheral blood and whether the changes of these cell populations are associated with the clinical response to TCZ treatment. Objectives To evaluate associations between the proportions of peripheral cells and clinical response in RA patients treated with TCZ. Methods Consecutive RA patients who started to receive 8mg/kg of TCZ every 4 weeks as first biologics between March 2010 and April 2012 after giving a written informed consent were included in this study (n=39). The proportions of multiple subsets of peripheral cells at base line, week 24 and week 52 were sequentially measured by using the expression levels of differentiation markers, activation markers and co-stimulatory molecule markers in T cells, B cells, monocytes and NK cells defined in previous report [1]. Results Twenty-seven patients were monotherapy and 12 patients were combination therapy with MTX (8.0±0.4 mg/week). Mean disease duration was 4.7±3.3 years and CDAI was 19.6±9.3 at baseline. The proportions of cell populations were not correlated with age, disease duration and CDAI at baseline. After 52 weeks treatment, the rate of CDAI remission was achieved in up to 53.9%. The proportions of CD4+CD25+CD127low regulatory T cell (Treg) in CD4+ cells and HLA-DR+ activated Treg in Treg cells were significantly increased from baseline (Treg: p<0.0001, activated Treg: p=0.0008 by Wilcoxon rank test) over the treatment with TCZ, whereas Th17 cells defined by CD4+CD45RO+CD161+CCR6+ cells was not changed at all. The proportions of CD20+CD27+ memory B cells, HLA-DR+CD14+ activated monocytes, CD69+CD14+ activated monocytes and CD16+CD14+ non-classical monocytes were significantly decreased from baseline (memory B cell: p<0.0001, HLA-DR+ activated monocytes: p=0.0006, CD69+ activated monocytes: p<0.0001, non-classical monocytes: p<0.0001). There were no significant differences between monotherapy and combination therapy. Among Treg, activated Treg, memory B cells, activated monocytes and non-classical monocytes, only the change of Treg from baseline to 52 weeks after treatment was correlated with the change of CDAI from baseline after 52 weeks treatment with TCZ (rho=-0.40, p=0.0111 by spearman comparison test). The most dynamic change of Treg was observed in CDAI remission group after 52 weeks treatment with TCZ (p=0.0016 by Wilcoxon rank test). Conclusions This study demonstrates that TCZ showed differential effects on the proportions of circulating immune cells in RA patients. And the proportion of CD4+CD25highCD127low regulatory T cells in CD4+ cells was significantly correlated with clinical response and would be a useful surrogate marker of clinical response to TCZ therapy. References Holden T. Maecker. et al. Standardizing immunophenotyping for Human Immunology Project. Nat Rev Immunol 2012;12:191-200. Disclosure of Interest M. Hashizume: None declared, J. Kikuchi: None declared, K. Izumi: None declared, Y. Kaneko: None declared, K. Yoshimoto: None declared, T. Takeuchi Grant/research support: Abbott Japan Co., Ltd., Astellas Pharma Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., Eisai Co., Ltd., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Co., Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Pfizer Japan Inc., Sanofi-Aventis K.K., Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Teijin Pharma Ltd., Consultant for: Astra Zeneca K.K., Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Novartis Pharma K.K., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Co., and Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd. DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.3999


Sleep wake cycles are frequently disturbed in patients with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders. We hypothesized that the origin of the sleep problems may be the consequence of an abnormal circadian clock setting regulated by the melatonin pathway. Here, we sequenced all the genes of the melatonin pathway AA-NAT, ASMT, MTNR1A, MTNR1B and GPR50 in 328 individuals from Sweden including 108 patients with ADHD and 220 from the general population. Non-synonymous mutations were identified in all genes at a similar frequency in patients with ADHD and in controls. Among the functional variations, a splice site mutation (IVS5+2T>C) in ASMT and one stop mutation (Y170X) in MTNR1A were only detected in patients with ADHD. Biochemical analyses indicated that these mutations abolish the activity of ASMT and MTNR1A. We also identified clusters of SNPs within MTNR1B showing significant difference in the allelic frequency between ADHD patients and control (maximum signal at rs10830961 P=0.0002). Taken together, these genetic and functional results shed light on one new compelling candidate pathway for susceptibility to circadian rhythms alterations that could help clinicians for providing better treatments of patients with ADHD and sleep problems.


Klainedoxa gabonensis Pierre ex Engl. is a plant that traditional Congolese therapists use for treating many diseases.- It is particularly used for a disease locally known as "mwandza" dermatitis, for which modern treatments are still unsuccessful. A pharmacological screening revealed antibacterial and antitumoral activities. The chemical analysis of an organic extract isolated the methyl gallate.


Augmented Reality systems that run interactively and in real time, using high quality graphical displays and sensational cues, can create the illusion of virtual objects appearing to be real. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of BurnAR, a novel demonstration which enables users to experience the illusion of seeing their own hands burning, which we achieve by overlaying virtual flames and smoke on their hands. Surprisingly, some users reported an involuntary warming sensation of their hands. Based on these comments, we hypothesized that stimulation of multiple sensory modalities presented in this AR environment can induce an involuntary experience in an additional sensory pathway: observation of virtual flames resulting in a heat sensation. This cross-modal transfer, known as virtual synesthesia, is a temporary experience which affects some people who are not synesthetes and only lasts for a short time during the illusory experience. To verify our hypothesis, we conducted an exploratory study where participants experienced the BurnAR demonstration under controlled conditions.


A mathematical model has been developed which describes the evaporation and trajectories of fuel droplets during their flight in the inlet manifold of port-injected gasoline engines. Based on the model, a computer simulation program was developed, and sample results of this program are given in this paper. Extensive results obtained using the simulation program are described in a companion paper. The simulation program can be used as a tool to improve understanding of mixture preparation in port injected engines. Such effects as: engine load and speed, air and fuel temperature, fuel type, fuel injection velocity, injection timing, and spray droplet size can be investigated.


Abstract The Phtf1 gene encodes a membrane protein abundantly expressed in male germinal cells. Using a two-hybrid screening procedure we have identified FEM1B, an ortholog of the C. elegans feminization factor 1 (FEM-1), as a binding partner for PHTF1. We studied FEM1B expression in the rodent testis and found that Fem1b mRNA is present at high levels during meiosis and after, during spermiogenesis, in a similar manner to Phtf1 mRNA. Accordingly, Western blot and immunofluorescence revealed the presence of PHTF1 and FEM1B in the same cell types, and by coimmunoprecipitation we demonstrated the association between these proteins. We characterized some aspects of this interaction and showed that the ANK domain of FEM1B is necessary for the interaction with the amino extremity of PHTF1. Next, we found that FEM1B can bind several intracellular organelles and demonstrated that PHTF1 would recruit FEM1B to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Previous in vitro experiments had suggested that the human FEM1B was involved in apoptosis. After comparing expression profiles of FEM1B and PHTF1 with apoptotic events occurring in the normal seminiferous tubules, we suggest that neither FEM1B nor PHTF1 are directly implicated in apoptosis in this tissue.


OBJECTIVE
To study the expressions of β-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue, adjacent cirrhotic liver tissue and hemangioma-surrounding liver tissue to understand whether their difference in expression will influence on the prognosis and to study the relationship between Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and HNF-1α expression.

METHODS
50 specimens of HCC, 50 specimens of adjacent cirrhotic liver tissue and 7 specimens of hemangioma-surrounding liver tissue were used to detect the differences in the expression of β-catenin and HNF-1α in them by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
The expression rate of β-catenin was 74.0% (37/50) in the HCC tissue, 18.0% (9/50) in cirrhotic liver tissue, and 14.3% (1/7) in hemangioma-surrounding liver tissue. The expression rate of β-catenin in HCC tissue was significantly higher than that in the hemangioma-surrounding liver tissue (P = 0.002) and cirrhotic liver tissue (P < 0.001). The patients with abnormal expression had worse prognosis. Among the 50 HCC cases, the expression of HNF-1α was negative in 20.0% (10/50), weak positive in 40.0% (20/50), moderately positive in 26.0% (13/50), and strong positive in 14.0% (7/50). Among the 50 adjacent cirrhotic liver tissues, the expression of HNF-1α was negative in 12.0% (6/50), weak positive in 20.0% (10/50), moderately positive in 52.0% (26/50) and strong positive in 16.0% (8/50). In the 7 cases of hemangioma-surrounding liver tissue, the expression of HNF-1α was negative in 0(0/7), weak positive in 14.3% (1/7), moderately positive in 28.6% (2/7) and strong positive in 57.1% (4/7). The positive expression rate of HNF-1α in the HCC tissue was significantly lower than that in the hemangioma-surrounding liver tissues (P = 0.029) and adjacent cirrhotic liver tissues (P = 0.008). The patients with positive HNF-1α expression had a better prognosis. The abnormal expression of β-catenin was negatively correlated with positive HNF-1α expression (r = -0.673, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
The occurrence and development of HCC is related to the abnormal β-catenin expression. There is a negative correlation between Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and HNF-1α expression.


The ecology and distribution of thirty‐seven Melastomataceae species found on 29 inselbergs in the rain forest of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Cameroon are described. The relative contributions of climatic determinism, and stochastic and historical processes to the present distribution of the species amongst the study sites are investigated. Inselbergs are rock outcrops enduring very harsh edaphic and microclimatic conditions, forming "xeric islands" in the rain forest, where natural grasslands develop. For each Melastomataceae species, the habitats where they were collected on the inselbergs and in other biotopes were listed, and their phytogeographical distribution was established. Three species are restricted to rock outcrops. Most species are distributed inside the Guineo‐Congolian Region. Three species have disjunct distributions on rain forest inselbergs and have their main distribution area outside the forested zone. The distribution of the species amongst the inselbergs is correlated to the altitude and the annual rainfall of the sites, and to inselberg geographical location. This correlation of the species distribution with the geographical location of the inselberg is attributed to the spatial autocorrelation of environmental variables and to the combined effects of the history of past vegetation changes due to climatic fluctuations and dispersal limitation.


Two cloned derivatives of the Kc cell line of Drosophila were shown to produce DOPA decarboxylase following administration of the steroid moulting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone. In the continuous presence of the hormone at a concentration of 2 X 10(-7) M, DOPA decarboxylase activity first appeared between 48 and 72 h. Because of this lag, the tissue culture system promises to serve as a useful model for those in vivo situations where increases in the hormone titre precede increases in DOPA decarboxylase activity. In clone 7C4, after maximal enzyme activity was achieved at 144 h, the enzyme activity per cell decreased as the cells resumed division following the hormone-induced division arrest. In clone 7E10, cell division never resumed in the presence of 20-hydroxyecdysone and DOPA decarboxylase activity per cell increased continuously from the time it first appeared. When line 7E10 was exposed to a 6-h pulse of the steroid, enzyme activity appeared about 18 h earlier than in the presence of continuous hormone and, further, the cells were released from division arrest. Enzyme activity per cell then declined from an early 96-h maximum. The enzyme produced by the cell lines was immunologically distinct from the enzyme produced in vivo and ion-exchange column chromatography resolved the enzyme from cells and intact organisms into two species.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Among patients affected by Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer (LARC), 15–20% ultimately reveal a complete pathological response to the neo-adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy nCRT), which might render the surgical resection no longer necessary. However, the possibility to adopt alternative management options, such as a "wait and see" strategy, is hampered by the lack of reliable indicators of complete responsiveness to nCRT. Our hypothesis is that the composition of LARC-associated microbiome and immune contexture may predict the responsiveness to nCRT. We therefore proceed to a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of gut microbiome composition and immune contexture in LARC bioptic tissues and we then comparatively evaluated those markers in complete responders (Tumor regression grade, TRG,1) versus others (TRG2-3-4).

 FFPE (Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded) LARC tissues from diagnostic biopsies and corresponding resections from patients treated at our hospital from 2012 to December 2019 were collected. Following sample deparaffinization, n. 71 genomic DNA (gDNA) and total cellular RNA were extracted. DNA used for microbiome analysis, upon amplification and sequencing of the hypervariable V3-V4 region of 16S gene. Expression of immune cell genes was evaluated by the Nanostring PanCancer Immune profiling panel on extracted RNA.

 Regarding the Microbiome profile we found no difference in terms of biodiversity between complete responders and others. However, we found some species significantly disregulated, in particular an over-expression of Alloprevotella Rava and down-expression of Porphyromonas Asaccharolytica, Turicibacter Sanguinis, Leptotrichia Trevisanii, Fusobacterium Nucleatum. The immune contexture analysis revealead a significant disregulation of 41 genes.

 FFPE tissues from diagnostic biopsies proved suitable for the analysis of LARC-associated microbiome and immune contexture.
 A specific microbiome signature appears to be associated with responsiveness to neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Defined immune related genes, in particular those associated with IFN-gamma response, are up-regulated in tumors exhibiting complete response. A possible associations between the bacterial species significantly disregulated and this favorable immune contexture is currently under investigation.


This thesis investigates the dynamics of accretion disk of SU Ursae Majoris systems and their correlation with the superhump phenomena.
The various aspects of the disk eccentricity will be described through a 2D model, which considers the contribution of binary potential, the presence of a Linblad resonance and the viscosity of the disk.
After the derivation of the final equation for eccentricity in 2D disks, the computational results will be analysed, these will be compared with the superhump observational evidences and the pros and cons of the model developed will be highlighted.


1. Bäcklund AB, Perzanowski MS, PlattsMills T, Sandström T, Lundbäck B, Rönmark E. Asthma during the primary school ages – prevalence, remission and the impact of allergic sensitization. Allergy 2006;61:549–555. 2. Dusser D, Montani D, Chanez P, de Blic J, Delacourt C, Deschildre A et al. Mild asthma: an expert review on epidemiology, clinical characteristics and treatment recommendations. Allergy 2007;62:591– 604. Allergy 2007: 62: 968 2007 The Authors Journal compilation 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard


Authors : Kerim Emre Oksuz, Mehmet Cevik, A. Enbiya Bozdag, Ali Ozer, Mehmet Şimsir Abstract : Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have gained a considerable interest in the last three decades. Conventional powder metallurgy production route often involves the addition of reinforcing phases into the metal matrix directly, which leads to poor wetting behavior between ceramic phase and metal matrix and the segregation of reinforcements. The commonly used elements for ceramic phase formation in iron based MMCs are Ti, Nb, Mo, W, V and C, B. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the effect of sintering temperature and V-B addition on densification, phase development, microstructure, and hardness of Fe–V-B composites (Fe-(5-10) wt. %B – 25 wt. %V alloys) prepared by powder metallurgy process. Metal powder mixes were pressed uniaxial and sintered at different temperatures (ranging from 1300 to 1400oC) for 1h. The microstructure of the (V, B) Fe composites was studied with the help of high magnification optical microscope and XRD. Experimental results show that (V, B) Fe composites can be produced by conventional powder metallurgy route.


The present paper is devoted to some applications of the notion of L-Dunford-Pettis sets to several classes of operators on Banach lattices. More precisely, we establish some characterizations of weak Dunford-Pettis, Dunford-Pettis completely continuous, and weak almost Dunford-Pettis operators. Next, we study the relationships between LDunford-Pettis, and Dunford-Pettis (relatively compact) sets in topological dual Banach spaces.


For over 35 years hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) due to RhD has been effectively prevented by anti‐RhD antibodies obtained from alloimmunized women or deliberately immunized men. However, due to the reduced number of immunized women and for ethical reasons it is foreseen that other sources of anti‐RhD will be needed. One such source is recombinant human antibodies. Here we describe the construction of plasmids encoding two subclasses (IgG1 and IgG3) of an anti‐RhD antibody, their transient expression in COS cells, and subsequent functional characterization of the antibodies with regard to specificity and ability to mediate a respiratory burst. The recombinant anti‐RhD antibodies were specific for the RhD antigen and were able to mediate a respiratory burst. Thus these antibodies might be of use as future rhesus prophylaxis.


Prothrombin levels in the fetal and newborn lamb follow a gestational age-related pattern of development. The changes in activity are reflected by similar changes in prothrombin antigen concentration. Our investigations indicate that these changes in prothrombin antigen and activity levels are paralleled by changes in the levels of prothrombin messenger RNA present in liver samples from fetuses of various gestational ages.


CD13 receptors are abundantly overexpressed in tumor cells as well as in neovasculature. The polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) as the nanomodules for anticancer drug carriers are well known. Nowadays, targeted delivery options are becoming a fascinating approach, so CD13 receptors was selected as a targeted site and NPs as a delivery system. By combining all the issue, a cyclic NGR (cNGR) peptide as a ligand was coupled on the terminal end of polyethylene glycol-b-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PEG-b-PLGA) and prepared the dual targeted polymeric NPs (cNGR-PEG-PTX-NPs) in order to enhance the intracellular delivery of anticancer drug to the tumor cells and tumor endothelial cells via ligand-receptor interaction. In-vitro cytotoxicity studies confirmed that the presence of cNGR enhanced the cytotoxic efficiency by 2.8 folds in human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells, while cytotoxicity was improved by 2.6 folds in human fibrosarcoma (HT-1080) cells as compared to non-specific stealth NPs. Compared with other tested NPs, cNGR-PEG-PTX-NPs revealed more cytotoxicity by inducing more apoptosis, higher cell uptake and more G2/M phase arrest. The tumor volume inhibition rate was 59.7% in case of cNGR-PEG-PTX-NPs that was comparatively more with other formulations, indicating that cNGR-PEG-PTX-NPs could more effectively inhibit tumor growth. As a consequence, the cNGR-PEG-PTX-NPs play a key role in enhancing tumor therapeutic efficiency for treatment of CD13 receptor specific solid tumor. Citation Format: Dr. Madhu Gupta, Sr., Dr. Vikas Sharma, Prof. G.P. Agrawal, Prof. S.P. Vyas. Cyclic NGR peptide functionalized PEG-PLGA nanoparticles as dual-targeting carrier for site specific antitumor drug delivery. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Brain Cancer Research; May 27-30, 2015; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(23 Suppl):Abstract nr A31.


Introduction: Colorectal carcinoma is the major tumor (incidence) in the Italian population, with almost 52,000 diagnoses estimated for 2012: almost 20,000 deaths were recorded for colorectal cancer (of which 55% among men), neoplasm in second place in mortality due to cancer (11% in males, 12% in females) and between second and third place in the various ages of life. The aim of the present study is that through the analysis of the results obtained to seek further indications for the surgical treatment of early neoplasm. Materials and methods: From January 2010 to December 2017 consulted the database of the AOU Polyclinic University of Catania were observed in 37 cases of neoplasm in the seat in the sigma-rectum, the patients selected for this analysis had a mean age of 72 years (range 74-70). On the clinical examination there was blood in the stool accompanied or not by diarrhea and constipation, asthenia, malaise, rapid weight loss and anemia. The surgical technique of the intervention included the removal of the neoplasm and the surrounding tissue that circumscribes it for at least 1 cm.fig (1, 2) the position of the sick gynecologic with more pronounced trendeleburg if the site of the neoplasm was in most cases or posterior or laterally. Results: The neoplasm was located on average between 4 and 10 cm from the anal rhyme, such neoplasm had a max diameter of between 3-5 cm, the macroscopic appearance of the tumors was 70% vegetative and polypoid or pedunculate and sessile for the remaining 30%. The definitive histological examination confirmed the ultrasound diagnosis with a demonstrated sensitivity of 95% .The microscopic investigation showed an extension of the neoplasm limited to the superficial layers of the wall in 11% for T1 tumors and 37% for T2 tumors. In these cases in which this extension was present, relapses occurred after local resection and lymphatic and venous invasion and under mucosa were present on the anatomical piece. Discussion: Local excision is an appropriate method for T1 rectal tumors without high risk characteristics and was performed by trans-anal excision or a transanal endoscopic microsurgical approach. The operation included the removal of the neoplasm. In depth the resection involved the mucosa and under mucosa involving the entire posterior and lateral wall until reaching the rectal fat. This radicality was aimed at histological purposes to have histological elements of absence of lymphatic invasion and vascular. . Genetic profiles performed with liquid biopsy to identify specific disease recovery markers still in the study phase provided the first responses identifying specific tumor genetic alterations. Conclusions The local root resection offers the advantages of a surgery without all the complications involved in a major resection. Currently this surgical method is indicated in a limited series of cases, although the percentage of clinical observations of early diagnosis is increasing in cost.


We present a detailed history matching and process optimization of a CO2 WAG pilot at the West Ranch Field, Texas. The Petra Nova, a 50/50 joint venture between NRG and JX Nippon, operates a commercial scale post-combustion carbon capture facility at NRG's WA Parish generating station southwest of Houston. The industrially sourced CO2 is utilized for EOR in the West Ranch field, which is operated by Hilcorp Energy. A CO2 pilot was conducted to examine the potential for tertiary oil recovery by pattern-scale CO2 flooding and to better understand how pattern flooding will work in the fluvial geology of the reservoir. This paper discusses detailed modeling and history matching of the CO2 EOR pilot at the West Ranch field to understand the CO2 plume movement and optimize the flood design parameters.
 For history matching the CO2 WAG pilot, we started by initializing the pilot sector model and imposing multiphase boundary fluxes generated from full-field compositional simulation. The pilot model calibration followed a hierarchical two-step approach. First, we performed a large-scale update of the model permeability distribution by integrating bottomhole pressure and multiphase production data. Next, streamline-based local updates were used to further calibrate the permeability field to match CO2 breakthrough times at the producers. Sensitivity studies were conducted using the calibrated pilot model to evaluate the effects of WAG ratio, CO2 Pore Volume Injected (PVI), number of WAG cycles and Voidage Replacement Ratio (VRR) on the oil recovery efficiency and CO2 utilization factor. Finally, we carried out a multiobjective optimization of the CO2 WAG process based on the influential operational parameters. With this strategy, multiple scenarios that consider the trade-off between the oil recovery efficiency and CO2 utilization factor were generated.
 The history matched models capture the major trends observed in the producing Gas-Oil Ratio (GOR), oil production rate and CO2 mole fraction history at the wells. The updated models were independently validated in two ways. First, the models showed good agreement with reservoir saturation logs at two observation wells. Second, the models reproduced the CO2 recovery as a fraction of the injected CO2. These results imply that the history matched models are able to adequately capture the CO2 sweep profile in the pilot area. Sensitivity studies indicate CO2PVI and VRR (Voidage Replacement Ratio) as dominant parameters impacting oil recovery efficiency. The VRR and WAG ratio play a significant role in determining the CO2 utilization factor. A set of optimal operational parameters that utilize these decision variables was generated using a Design of Experiments (DOE) based multiobjective optimization workflow. This work presents, for the first time, modeling and optimization of a field-scale post-combustion CO2 WAG process.


We used aerial survey and corresponding digital land cover data to develop species-habitat models to describe breeding-ground distributions and landscape-level habitat associations of greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), Canada (Branta canadensis) and cackling geese (B. hutchinsii), tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus), king eiders (Somateria spectabilis), and long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis). We then used habitat associations in the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary and the Rasmussen Lowlands, Nunavut, Canada, in models to predict distributions of focal species in each study area. We used the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) method and the area-under-the-curve (AUC) metric to evaluate predictive accuracy (hereafter, quality) of models. In the Queen Maud Gulf, AUC values suggested reasonable model discrimination for white-fronted geese, Canada geese, and tundra swans (i.e., AUC > 0.7). Quality of species-habitat models for king eiders and long-tailed ducks was less than other species considered, but these models still predicted encounters and non-encounters significantly better than the null model. For all species, quality of species-habitat models was lesser for the Rasmussen Lowlands than for the Queen Maud Gulf, although discrimination ability for Rasmussen Lowland distributions remained significantly better than corresponding null models for geese and swans, but not for seaducks. Our research suggested that species' distributions modeled with landscape-level habitat data is a tractable method to 1) identify habitat associations, 2) determine key habitats and regions, and 3) predict probable summer distributions of some waterfowl species over relatively large areas of the arctic from satellite imagery. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.


The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore race and gender intersectionality and the role it plays in the viability of Black women as politicians and candidates. The aim of the study was to create an informative account of the Black female experience in American politics and to specifically explore how race and gender intersectionality influenced their political experiences. A qualitative phenomenological method was selected to better understand the lived experiences of Black women participants in the study, particularly as it relates to their intersectional identities. Findings suggest that the intersectionality of race and gender plays both a positive and a negative role in the viability of Black women in politics. Positive themes: Sense of Responsibility to Act; Confidence, Belief, and Experience; and Encouragement and Support were identified as assets and portended that Black women bring positive attributes to politics that help them thrive and succeed. Liability or negative themes: Lack of Respect, Lack of Time and Energy, and Lack of Financial Support reflect how Black women's identities can be a hardship to their success in politics. These hardships provide insight into the underlying issues behind the lack of Black women in politics. The proposed solution is to create the Sisters' Political Action Network (SPAN), a leadership training, support, and enrichment program for Black women at all stages of the political pipeline. SPAN would use the knowledge obtained from this study as a roadmap to provide explicit and intentional training modules and resources designed to mitigate the issues that contribute to the lack of Black women in American politics.|Keywords: Black women, American politics, intersectionality, servant leadership


AbstractThe rise of locative, social, and mobile media in the form of smartphones has been as uneven as it has been dynamic. Given recent debates in global media about surveillance and location-based media, this paper provides some nuanced examples of how everyday smartphone users are reflecting upon location-based services within the smartphone convergence. In particular, this paper considers how the unique ways location-based services are, and are not, being taken up within a context once lauded for its new media uptake, South Korea. I consider some of the resistances to services such as geo-tagging that are partly informed by issues around corporate (Samsung) surveillance and also partly about a more prosaic view to sharing details via social mobile media.


In this thesis we experimentally investigate quantum nonlocality: entangled states of spatially separated objects. Entanglement is one of the most striking consequences of the quantum formalism developed in the 1920's; the predicted outcomes of independent measurements on entangled objects reveal strong correlations that cannot be explained by classical physics. Early on, such predictions led physicists to doubt the validity and completeness of quantum theory. At the same time, entanglement is a key resource for applications in quantum information processing and a pre-requisite for many tasks in quantum communication and computation. This thesis attempts to answer two application driven questions: Firstly, can we generate useful entangled states of solid state spins for applications in quantum information processing? Secondly, can we use such entangled states as a resource to teleport an unknown quantum state? Finally, we ask a foundational question: Are our entangled states indeed inconsistent with the classical notions of free choice, locality and realism? Can we prove this experimentally, under the minimal assumptions of a loophole-free Bell test? To answer these questions we use single spins in ultra-pure diamonds. In particular, we use the electronic and nuclear spins associated with single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects. The NV centre is a point defect in diamond, consisting of a substitutional nitrogen (N) atom and a neighbouring missing carbon atom (vacancy, V). The NV centre possesses bound electronic states, whose energy levels lie well within the bandgap of the diamond host and whose spin degree of freedom can be used as a quantum bit (qubit). Because of the large diamond bandgap and the 99% spin free carbon-12 environment, the electronic spin qubit has exceptional coherence properties even at room temperature. Optical and microwave fields allow control of the electronic spin, which in turn allows control of nearby nuclear spins (the host nitrogen nuclear spin, and nearby carbon-13 spins). At liquid helium temperatures, spin-preserving optical transitions provide a powerful optical interface to the electronic spin, allowing, for example, projective readout of the spin state. By employing a protocol where entanglement is heralded by the detection of a single photon from each of two NV centres in diamonds separated by three metres, we find we can answer the first question in the affirmative. We show for the first time heralded entanglement between solid state quantum systems separated by a human-scale distance. Then, by combining the heralded entanglement with a deterministic local Bell state measurement and fast feed-forward, we show for the first time unconditional quantum teleportation over human-scale distances. We teleport an unknown quantum state from a nuclear spin in one diamond to an electronic spin in a diamond three meters away. Finally, by employing techniques from the previous experiments, we implement the first loophole-free Bell test. We separate two diamonds by 1.3 kilometres and optimize all operational fidelities, collection efficiencies and rates. This allows us to generate heralded entanglement between them approximately once an hour. The distance provides us with time to read out the electronic spin state in each diamond, faster than any lightlike signal could travel between them. The high-fidelity entangled state preparation and spin readout are sufficient to violate the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell-inequality. Combined with fast random number generators and a robust statistical analysis, we find a significant rejection of the local-realist hypothesis, without requiring additional experimental assumptions. The results in this thesis open the door to various applications in quantum information processing. In particular, a remote photonic entangling operation may enable future quantum networks. In such a network the nodes would be formed by the NV centre's combined electronic and nuclear spin register. The nodes would be linked by photonic entanglement operations. Such a network could be used for long distance secure communication, provide a connection between separated quantum computers, or form the basis of a fault tolerant quantum computer by itself. Furthermore, a loophole-free Bell test demonstrates the possibility to do device independent randomness generation and key distribution, that could form the basis for future secure communication channels.


This study aimed at applying electronic archiving using the language (Microsoft Visual Studio 2013) and building a database using the system (SQL Server 2012), and to achieve this goal, the study has followed a descriptive method. the writers have designed a main questionnaire as the instrument to collect the data from the study sample consisting of (20) questions. The sample of the study consisted of (84) employees in the monitoring of health services and its combined clinics in the municipality of Kufra, Libya who were randomly selected. The results revealed that the paramount importance in the success of these systems is the human resources used for these systems more than software and hardware. The results also indicated that the electronic archiving system has a positive impact in the field of administrative work, by facilitating the archiving of documents to reduce the time and effort expended in the process of searching for files, and the ease of sharing documents through a network based on (client / server) to link health services control departments and grouped clinics. In the light of the results of the study, the researchers recommended the need to focus on identifying the increase in the commitment of the Kufrah health services monitor to move towards electronic archiving. They also recommended the importance of training employees on automated documentation and electronic archiving processes, with the dissemination of the electronic archiving experience among government agencies and auditors as a starting point for the application of e-government.


Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) is a member of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide positivity-dependent class III deacetylase sirtuin family. The present study aimed to explore the expression and function of SIRT6 in colon cancer. Furthermore, the partial mechanism underlying the dysregulation of SIRT6 was investigated. The results of immunohistochemistry demonstrated that SIRT6 was markedly downregulated in colon cancer tissues, and patients with high SIRT6 expression had a better prognosis than those who did not. The proliferation and apoptotic assays demonstrated that SIRT6 was able to suppress colon cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis via the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are important non-coding RNAs, which have a critical role in the negative regulation of their target genes. Through bioinformatics analysis and further experiments, the results demonstrated that miR-34c-5p was not only dysregulated in colon cancer tissues but may also regulate SIRT6 expression via interaction with the 3′-untranslated region of SIRT6 mRNA. The proliferation and apoptotic assays indicated that miR-34c-5p could directly promote cell growth and inhibit apoptosis via activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, which was similar to silencing SIRT6. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that miR-34c-5p promoted colon cancer cell proliferation by targeting SIRT6 via activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. It may be hypothesized that SIRT6 is a potential biomarker for colon cancer prognosis, and the miR-34c-5p/SIRT6/JAK2/STAT3 axis may provide novel insights into colon cancer treatment.