Objective: The goal of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a scoring system called 'morbidity index'(MI) consisting of a combination of grades of electronic foetal heart rate patterns, five-minute Apgar scores and cord arterial base deficit to predict death before discharge in neonatal period. Design: This was a prospective, analytic cohort study. Subject & Methods: 985 live born infants irrespective of gestational age and birth weight were enrolled. A relevant obstetric history was recorded for each case. FHR, umbilical cord (arterial) blood base deficit (BD)values and 5 minute Apgar scores of all babies were collected and graded as per Portman(1990) criteria ( Grades (GR)of Foetal Heart Rate patterns: GR 0 - Normal tracings, GR I-Variable decelerations, GR II -Severe Variable / Late decelerations, GR III Prolonged bradycardia; 5 minute Apgar score grades: GR 0 - > 6, GR I - 5 - 6, GR II 3 - 4, GR III 0 - 2; Cord blood BD grades: GR 0 BD - <10mEq/L, GR I BD 10 -14 mEq/L, GR II BD 15 -19 mEq/L, GR III BD ≥ 20 mEq/L.) All the grades were added up to form the MI for each baby (MI = FHR GR + Apgar Score GR + Cord BD GR). The MI was then analyzed statistically for its efficacy in predicting neonatal mortality. Results: Larger MI values were found to predict neonatal mortality with better specificity than the three predictors taken individually. However sensitivity of MI was relatively low. Conclusion: Morbidity index, as compared to the three individual predictors under study, is a better predictor of neonatal mortality. This is easy to do and the score provides more information than the traditional Apgar score.


Mandates of universities in east, central and southern Africa have considerably changed from their traditional teaching and research roles, to greater active involvement in the development agenda of their countries, a phenomenon referred to as the 'third mission'. This has necessitated a change in national laws to better anchor the third mission. For example in Kenya, a new Universities Act (2012) was enacted, which demands universities to play a more active role in national development over and above their traditional teaching and research roles. Universities hold probably the highest concentrated pools of highly trained manpower in virtually all key disciplines essential for diverse facets of national development but which has hirtherto been underutilized. In agricultural sciences, universities have played pivotal role in the development of improved crop varieties, seed production, dissemination and impact creation in the last two decades. A review of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L), pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan Millsp), onion (Allium cepa L.) and runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus L) improvement activities in Kenya from 1985 to date showed that University of Nairobi breeders developed and released eight dry bush bean varieties, three pigeonpea varieties including Africa's first short duration pigeonpea variety NPP 670, four bulb onion varieties, Kenya's first three climbing bean varieties with high yield potential and market preferred grain types; the first biofortified bean varieties (four bush and three climbing bean types) in Kenya and eastern Africa. The first locally developed snap bean and canning bean varieties in eastern Africa are being validated by the regulatory authority and are expected to be released in 2014/2015. The first locally short-day vegetable and dry grain runner bean lines are in advanced yield tests. Bean germplasm developed at the University of Nairobi was distributed to more than 32 countries in six continents between 2000 and 2013. Dry bean and snap bean lines have been in released in several countries in east, central, southern and west Africa. A wider impact strategy and market led breeding strategy developed by the institution and its partners has been adopted in more than 25 African countries and helped to reach more than 5million households with bean based technologies between 2003 and 2010.


Background Lipid metabolism has been proved to be related to the prognosis of breast cancer patients in previous studies, and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) plays an important role in tumorigenesis and development, but the dynamic regulation of these is still a challenge. Material/Methods This study used lipid metabolism-related pathways to score the gene expression of 980 breast cancer patients in the TCGA database. We used 4 pathways in HALLMARK related to lipid metabolism to score the genes in the database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were further analyzed through survival analysis and Cox regression analysis, and MS4A1, which is associated with better prognosis, was finally determined to be a predictor. In-depth analysis found that MS4A1 was negatively correlated with patient age, clinical stage, tumor size, and distant metastasis. In the MS4A1 high-expression group, most genes were enriched in immune-related pathways, and CIBERSORT analysis found that MS4A1 expression was positively correlated with the abundance of 10 kinds of immune cells, such as CD8+T cells, which are related to the active immune status. Results Our results suggest that MS4A1 expression can indicate the situation of lipid metabolism in breast cancer patients and reflect the status of the immune microenvironment. Conclusions MS4A1 has the potential to be an independent indicator of prognosis. Since the expression of MS4A1 is also related to the immune checkpoint mutation burden, detecting its expression level can also provide guidance for choosing treatment options.


Background A study by Poddubnyy et al. showed that a high NSAIDs intake over 2 years is associated with retarded radiographic spinal progression in AS [1] suggesting that NSAIDs might prevent new bone formation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Objectives In order to determine prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) expression at sites of bone remodeling we performed an immunohistochemical study analyzing PGE2 expressing cells in zygapophyseal joints of AS patients in comparison to autopsy controls and patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods PGE2 was determined in zygapophyseal joints from 13 AS, 11 OA patients and 10 controls (autopsies without spinal diseases). Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect PGE2+ cells per total cell number at four different sites: within hyaline cartilage, subchondral bone plate, trabecular bone and fibrous tissue replacing subchondral bone marrow. Results About 50 percent of the chondrocytes expressed prostaglandin E2 in autopsy controls. While PGE2 expression in chondrocytes of OA patients was significantly increased compared to controls (p=0.0015), a trend towards increased numbers of PGE2+ chondrocytes was also found in AS patients (p=0.1095). For osteocytes within the subchondral bone plate and the trabecular bone a similar trend was seen: more osteocytes were PGE2 positive in joints of AS patients (41.80±16.42%; 41.16±21.15%) and OA patients (44.82±15.47%; 49.25±16.32%) patients than in controls (20.33±16.69%; 32.18±18.88%). Fibrous tissue, replacing the subchondral bone marrow and invading the subchondral bone plate, is a typical feature of AS and OA joints, but not seen in controls. Here we found that more than 80 percent of the cells expressed PGE2 (AS 84.82±9.00%; OA 87.88±13.38%), without differences between AS and OA patients (p=0.1902). Conclusions PGE2 is highly expressed within zygapophyseal joints, including the cells of cartilagineous and bony regions. However also within the fibrous tissue high expression rates were detected suggesting that PGE2 is expressed by many cell types within joints which could be potentially targeted by a NSAID therapy. In spite of the knowledge that NSAIDs are highly effective in reduction of symptoms such as pain and therefore represent a first-line therapy in AS and OA [2, 3], further studies are required to determine the impact of PGE2 on the function and differentiation of cells potentially involved in aberrant new bone formation in AS and OA. References Poddubnyy D, Rudwaleit M, Haibel H, Listing J, Marker-Hermann E, Zeidler H, et al. Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on radiographic spinal progression in patients with axial spondyloarthritis: results from the German Spondyloarthritis Inception Cohort. Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2012 Oct; 71(10):1616-1622. Poddubnyy D, van der Heijde D. Therapeutic controversies in spondyloarthritis: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Rheumatic diseases clinics of North America. 2012 Aug; 38(3):601-611. Stam W, Jansen J, Taylor S. Efficacy of etoricoxib, celecoxib, lumiracoxib, non-selective NSAIDs, and acetaminophen in osteoarthritis: a mixed treatment comparison. The open rheumatology journal. 2012; 6:6-20. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The effect of magnesium sulphate in releasing calcium emission from interference by phosphate and sulphate has been investigated. Samples were diluted in 10 mM MgSO4, 2 mM NaCl, giving final calcium concentrations of about 0·05 to 0·10 mM. In this diluent, galvanometer readings were proportional to calcium concentrations up to 0·4 mM. The magnesium sulphate released calcium emission from depression by phosphate and sulphate. The excess sodium chloride eliminated enhancement of calcium emission by added sodium and potassium in the sample. Subtraction of background readings excluded direct interference. A 3% correction was made for the effect of the viscosity of 1: 50 plasma dilutions. Satisfactory recoveries of added calcium were obtained from plasma, urine, and faeces using the diluent described above. Results on urine and faeces correlated closely with those obtained by an EDTA titration method. Results on plasma were consistently 2% higher by flame photometry than by EDTA titration. Other methods of calcium determination, depending on the use of radiation buffers or standard addition, were found to be unsatisfactory because of variable interference by phosphate at different calcium levels.


Abstract Prediction of solute transport based on the laboratory measurement of radionuclide/sediment sorption parameters has been compared with field tracer tests involving the release of 85Sr and a conservative tracer 131I into a radially divergent flow field around a recharge well in a confined glacial sand aquifer. Tracer breakthrough was monitored in multi-level sampling installations. Two tests at different imposed rates of groundwater flow were conducted. At average flows up to 5 m day−1, the retardation of 85Sr at a given sampling point was lower than that observed with an average flow rate of 0.5 m day−1, suggesting a kinetic control on sorption. Sequential selective leaching was also undertaken to study the geochemical phases responsible for sorption. In a core consisting predominantly of medium sand, approximately 80% of the 85Sr was present in ion exchange sites, with 12% in the carbonate phase. The remaining 8% was recovered easily by extraction with distilled water. Kinetic data for Sr sorption on sand and silt core material suggested a two-stage process which could be fitted by two empirical sorption/desorption rate constants. These were used to simulate the effect of kinetics of sorption on the breakthrough curves for strontium. The retardation of 85Sr at the lower flow rate was in relatively good agreement with laboratory values derived from batch sorption experiments lasting several days. At the high flow rate, longitudinal dispersivity αL for 85Sr was larger than that for 131I, but this discrepancy reduced at the lower flow rate where some convergence to the 85Sr values was observed. A possible explanation is that at the high flow the opportunity for 131I diffusion into relatively static porewater was limited; whereas with solutes moving at a lower rate there was a greater opportunity for diffusion into 'dead end' pores.


Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a novel cytokine and belongs to IL-1 family expressed in a wide range of organs and cells. IL-33 is a dual-functional molecule: as a classical cytokine it induces immune response and it also regulates gene transcription in the nucleus. Altered expression of IL-33 has been observed in various human diseases such as inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and virus infection. The article reviews advances on immune function of IL-33 and its relation to a variety of human diseases.


The formation tracking problem for multiple spacecraft in the framework of networked control systems (NCSs) is investigated. A reference trajectory is generated by the force-free linearized equations of the relative motion (known as Hill's equations). A sampled-data representation of the NCS is considered for the tracking control of relative motion between the leader and follower spacecraft in the presence of variable communication delays and bounded external disturbances. By adding a buffer which is longer than the worst case delay and augmenting the system model to include past values of system input as additional states, a new discrete time-invariant model is formulated, and a digital controller is developed to guarantee the exponentially uniformly ultimate boundedness (UUB) of the tracking errors and to ensure desired formation objectives. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controller. The proposed controller is successful in establishing projected circular formation with the maximum magnitude of the steady-state tracking error 0.056 and the control forces remain bounded within 50 mN.


The fragmentation dynamics of imidazole molecules following excitation at 193.3 nm and at many wavelengths in the range of 210< or =lambda(phot)< or =240 nm have been investigated by H Rydberg atom photofragment translational spectroscopy. Long wavelength excitation within this range results in population of the 1 (1)A(")((1)pisigma(*)) excited state, but the 2 (1)A(')<--X (1)A(')(pi(*)<--pi) transition becomes the dominant absorption once lambda(phot)< or =220 nm. The measured energy disposals show parallels with those found in recent studies of the UV photolysis of pyrrole [Cronin et al., Phys Chem. Chem. Phys. 6, 5031 (2004)]. The total kinetic energy release (TKER) spectra display a "fast" feature, centred at TKER approximately 9200 cm(-1). The analysis of the structure evident in the fast feature reveals the selective population of specific in-plane stretching vibrational levels of the imidazolyl cofragment; these fragments are deduced to carry only modest amounts of rotational excitation. Comparison with calculated normal mode vibrational frequencies allows the assignment of the populated levels and a precise determination of the N-H bond strength in imidazole: D(0)=33,240+/-40 cm(-1). The observed energy disposal can be rationalized using Franck-Condon arguments, assuming that the potential energy surface (PES) for the 1 (1)A(")((1)pisigma(*)) state has a topology similar to that of the corresponding (1)pisigma(*) state of pyrrole. As in pyrrole, photoexcitation populates skeletal motions in the S(1) state (in-plane motions in the present case) that are only weakly coupled to the N-H dissociation coordinate and thus map through into the corresponding product vibrations. A second, "slow" feature is increasingly evident in TKER spectra recorded at shorter lambda(phot). This component, which exhibits no recoil anisotropy, is attributed to H atoms formed by the "statistical" decay of highly vibrationally excited ground state molecules. The form of the TKER spectra observed at short lambda(phot) is rationalized by assuming two possible decay routes for imidazole molecules excited to the 2 (1)A(')((1)pipi(*)) state. One involves fast 2 (1)A(')((1)pipi(*)) right arrow-wavy 1 (1)A(")((1)pisigma(*)) radiationless transfer and subsequent fragmentation on the 1 (1)A(')((1)pisigma(*)) PES, yielding fast H atoms (and imidazolyl cofragments)-reminiscent of behavior seen at longer excitation wavelengths where the 1 (1)A(")((1)pisigma(*)) PES is accessed directly. The second is assumed to involve radiationless transfer to the ground state, most probably by successive 2 (1)A(') right arrow-wavy 1 (1)A(") right arrow-wavy X (1)A(') couplings, mediated by conical intersections between the relevant PESs and the subsequent unimolecular decay of the resulting highly vibrationally excited ground state molecules yielding slow H atoms.


BACKGROUND
Brain damage (myelinolysis) develops in hyponatraemia after a large increase in serum sodium regardless of the currently available methods of correction. However, a preliminary study suggests that treatment of hyponatraemia with urea limits the risks of brain lesions in rats. Benefits of sustained high blood levels of urea and mechanisms of protection remain hypothetical.

METHODS
In the first part of the study, hyponatraemic rats received repeated (i.p.) doses of urea (2 g/kg b.w./6 h) leading to sustained blood levels (urea+/-230 mg/dl). Neurologic outcome was compared to correction of hyponatraemia by water diuresis. In the second part of the study, we analysed the adaptative response of the brain to correction of hyponatraemia with either urea or water diuresis, by measurement of cerebral osmolyte contents.

RESULTS
Despite a large correction of the serum sodium (mean Delta SNa=32 mEq/l/24 h), mortality rate (13%) and neurological symptoms were low in the urea-treated group contrary to control groups treated by water diuresis (mortality: 87%). This shows with stronger evidence the protective effect of urea against brain myelinolysis. In the second part, analysis of brain composition shows that, in the urea groups, 24 h after correction, intracerebral hyperionization (NaCl) was avoided and brain water contents remained normal. No significant changes of the major brain organic osmolyte composition were observed after urea administration except reaccumulation of betaine. No difference in brain composition was noted regarding concomitant plasma urea levels (>or<150 mg/dl). In rats treated by water diuresis, the brain remained also significantly depleted in organic osmolytes 24 h after correction, but contrary to administration of urea, this treatment was associated with a high mortality rate.

CONCLUSIONS
These comparative results suggest a specific brain-protective effect of urea itself against myelinolysis.


Ultrasonography was used to evaluate splenic size in normal patients as well as in patients with various clinical conditions. To express splenic size, a splenic volumetric index (SVI) was used. By grading the SVI on the basis of age and sex in normal patients, and in various diseases, characteristic distributions of SVI were obtained. Obtaining the SVI by the use of ultrasound appears to be a significant supplemental aid for evaluating spleen size, especially in patients whose spleens are not palpable.


This paper studies the robustness properties of the constant modulus (CM) criterion specifically when the fractionally-spaced equalizer time span is less than that of the channel. Hence, there necessarily exists an error in the equalized signal. Noiseless, binary signalling is considered. The change in CM cost from a perfect equalization setting is derived for two cases: (i) perturbations to the channel outside the time span of the equalizer, and (ii) equalizer truncation. This CM cost is related to the mean squared error (MSE) cost and a design guideline for length selection is proposed. This guideline is shown by example to be robust when noisy, multi-level complex signalling is considered.


The total concentration of ethosuximide varied between 80 and 770 mumol/L in plasma samples obtained from 33 patients on long-term treatment with the racemic drug. The ratios between the two enantiomers measured by chiral gas chromatography in the same samples were close to unity (mean +/- SD = 1.06 +/- 0.14; range = 0.76-1.39). This suggests that the disposition of ethosuximide in humans is not stereoselective and that the measurement of total concentrations of ethosuximide is sufficient for therapeutic monitoring.


The study explores and identifies the employees' job motivation impacting on loyalty in small and medium enterprises in Dong Nai province from June 2019 to June 2020. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that there are five factors including the following elements: relationships in the organization; interesting job; Salary, bonus, and benefits; Training and promotion and assessment of job performance affects the working motivation of employees and the employees' job motivation impacting on loyalty in small and medium-sized enterprises in Dong Nai province with the significance of 5%. In addBesidesstudy results were processed from SPSS 20.0, Amos software. Based on the fivefactor test results, the author proposed the priority governance implications that the author suggested in order of priority, respectively, interesting work, performance evaluation, organization, salary, bonus and welfare regime, and training and promotion.


Quantitative evaluation of human sensibility, that is, "Kansei" in Japanese, has recently attracted much attention. Kansei engineering is an approach to connect the human sensibility with engineering applications. We have investigated a relationship between the visual impressions of black fabrics and their image features from the viewpoint of Kansei engineering. In this paper, the two-dimensional Fourier transformation was applied for analyzing an image of black fabric in order to connect with formality, which is one of evaluation items for the visual impression of the fabrics. Sensory vision test was carried out to several typical kinds of black fabrics while Fourier spectrum features were extracted from the fabric images. Amplitudes of the Fourier spectrum were classified by k-means method, which is a cluster analysis method, and were discussed to analyze the visual impression. As the results, this study has found that differences of formality in the visual impressions of texture characteristics are derived from the features of the classified amplitudes of Fourier spectrum.


Background Osteoarthritis (OA) can be manifested in structural changes occurring at the joint level, like joint space narrowing (JSN) and osteophyte formation. Preliminary findings of the Osteoarthritis Initiative after 10 years suggest possibly different mechanisms in structural changes for JSN and osteophyte formation.1 It is proposed that formation of osteophytes should be considered as an early feature of OA.2 Objectives This study focuses on the heterogenic expression of osteophyte formation and aims to identify subgroups of participants with homogeneous patterns of osteophyte formation over time (trajectories), and to describe the prognostic factors of the different subgroups. Methods Longitudinal data of quantitative osteophyte formation, calculated as total area of mm2, over a period of five years follow-up of the early OA cohort CHECK (Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee) was used. Latent Class Growth Analysis identified homogenous subgroups with distinct trajectories of osteophyte formation. Multinomial regression analysis was used to examine the prognostic factors of the different subgroups. Results In data of 5 years follow-up of 929 participants, three subgroups were identified: an "osteophyte increase" subgroup (n=32) with an increase in osteophyte formation, "mild osteophyte" subgroup (n=181) with minimal increase, and "no osteophyte" subgroup (n=716) without increase in osteophyte formation. Being older, a BMI above 25, the existence of local clinical signs at baseline (crepitus, warmth, bony tenderness, enlargement and effusion), and radiographic characteristics (initial osteophyte formation, narrowing of JSW) suggested a higher probability of a (mild) increase in osteophyte formation. Conclusions In participants with early symptomatic OA the common course of osteophyte formation over a period of 5 years is relatively flat. However, in a small subpopulation there was a remarkable increase in osteophyte formation. Identifying which patients will develop structural changes may in the future lead to specific treatment of these patients. References Eckstein F, Kwoh CK, Link TM. Imaging research results from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI): a review and lessons learned 10 years after start of enrolment. Ann Rheum Dis 2014;73:1289-300 Hart DJ, Spector TD. Kellgren & Lawrence grade 1 osteophytes in the knee – doubtful or definite? Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2003;11:149-50. Acknowledgements CHECK-cohort study is initiated by the Dutch Arthritis Foundation and performed within; Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam; Kennemer Gasthuis Haarlem; Leiden University Medical Center; Maastricht University Medical Center; Martini Hospital Groningen /Allied Health Care Center for Rheum. and Rehabilitation Groningen; Medical Spectrum Twente Enschede /Ziekenhuisgroep Twente Almelo; Reade, formerly Jan van Breemen Institute/ VU Medical Center Amsterdam; St.Maartens-kliniek Nijmegen; University Medical Center Utrecht and Wilhelmina Hospital Assen. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Pseudorandom built-in self-test (BIST) is an attractive means of testing DSP datapath structures as long as the delay and area overhead can be kept low. One obstacle to low-overhead BIST is random-pattern test-resistant datapath structures. We examine the causes of this resistance in some typical DSP datapaths, and introduce variance mismatch as an analytical tool for identifying these test problems. By understanding the mechanisms behind random-pattern test resistance, it is possible to make design decisions that are compatible with pseudorandom BIST, resulting in reduced test length and higher fault coverage. Variance matching theory is applied to the design of two large FIR filters, resulting in an 88% reduction in the number of missed faults for a fixed test length, and two orders-of-magnitude reduction in test length for a specific fault coverage target.


Recently in Korea, automatic discharge measurement system which calculates the river discharge using velocity measured byUVM(Ultrasonic Velocity Meter) and ADVM(Acoustic Doppler Velocity Meter) is actively being introduced. There are IVM(IndexVelocity Method) and VPM(Velocity Profile Method) in the method of calculating river discharge. IVM is the method of calculatingmean velocity of the entire cross-section by establishing the relationship between index velocity and mean velocity and VPM is themethod of calculating velocity distribution of the entire cross-section by establishing the relationship between index velocity andvelocity distribution. Chiu(1988)'s 2-D velocity distribution using VPM, it is necessary to adjust a lot of shape parameter and it is dif-ficult to obtain the exact isovel distribution except for the rectangular flow cross-section. In this study, we proposed the VPM by a the-oretical review of the Poisson equation in order to improve the disadvantages of Chiu's method and verified the applicability byutilizing the velocity data of the automatic discharge measurement system, Wuman, Hangangdaegyo in the Han river and Daecheon inthe Mangyung river.


New metal particle (MP) media was developed for use with giant magnetoresistive (GMR) heads. We confirmed the capability of constructing a helical scan magnetic recording system exceeding 3 Gb/in/sup 2/ recording density, because of sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) under test conditions at 6.74 Gb/in/sup 2/ of read-track-base calculations with the media (magneticlayerthickness=50 nm, magneticparticlesize=45 nm, and surfaceroughness Ra=1.8 nm). Low media partial-abrasive properties are incorporated to avoid excessive head gap material wear.


The synthesis of n-phthalimidoalkylthiols from phthalimide and n,mdibromoalkane was demonstrated as a general approach to short and medium chain (x = 1 to 12) functional alkylthiols in an undergraduate laboratory setting. The reaction conditions were demonstrated to be mild enough to directly synthesize nphthalimidoalkylthiols with a carbon chain containing either double or triple bonds. The syntheses of each of these alkylthiols can be completed in less than 24 h (over a few laboratory periods) with at least a 50% overall yield. Reactivity of n,mdibromoalkane with phthalimide was monitored with 1H-NMR to determine the length of time needed for the reaction to reach completion avoiding the inaccurate use of thin layer chromatography. Based on this result, reaction times were reduced by two-thirds from those previously reported in the literature, which was necessary to prepare a method that will accommodate the duration of second year introductory organic or organic spectroscopy courses.


PURPOSE
This study focuses on the clinical characteristics of patients with osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaws and on the relation between the extent of the ORN and the field of irradiation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The study group consisted of 80 patients referred for treatment of ORN. Charts of the extent of ORN, based on panoramic radiographs, were drawn by the clinical investigator and compared with charts of the field of irradiation drawn by the oncologists. Also recorded was diagnosis of the lesion, stage, location, treatment schedule, and period and dose of irradiation. Also documented were various potential initiating factors for ORN.

RESULTS
Smoking habits of ORN patients were similar to those of other patients with head and neck cancer. A new primary tumor or a recurrence was diagnosed in 10% of the patients at the time of ORN. Only 3 patients had received accumulated doses of less than 60 Gy. More than half of the cases were initiated by removal of teeth; however, one third occurred spontaneously. ORN developed within the first 3 years in 74%; but ORN can emerge on a traumatic basis for an infinite number of years after radiation therapy. Widespread ORN may be symptomless apart from a discrete dehiscense of the oral mucosa. The predilection site for ORN is the mandibular molar region. All cases of ORN but 1 were found in the field of radiation.

CONCLUSION
Because many ORN case are symptomless, more focus on mucosal dehiscence in the follow-up after radiation therapy is advocated in an effort to detect ORN at an early stage. The consequence of practically all ORN cases being located in the field of irradiation, together with tooth removal frequently being the initiating factor, should lead to a more aggressive preirradiation approach to dental pathology located within the field of radiation.


Laser powder-bed fusion (L-PBF) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process that enables fabrication of functional metal parts with near-net-shape geometries. The drawback to L-PBF is its lack of precision as well as the formation of defects due to process randomness and irregularities associated with laser powder fusion. Over the past two decades much research has been conducted to control laser powder fusion in order to provide parts of higher quality.This paper addresses online quality monitoring in AM by in-situ automated visual inspection of each layer which is aimed to geometric objects and defects from high-resolution visual images. A scheme for online defect detection system is presented that consists of three levels of processing: low-level, intermediate-level, and high-level processing. Each level is described and appropriately divided to several stages, when insightful. Techniques that are feasible in each level for successful defect detection and classification are identified and described. Requirements and specifications of the measurement data to achieve desired performance of the online defect detection system are stated.Image processing algorithms are developed for first level of processing and implemented for segmentation of geometric objects. Due to the large variation of intensities within the powder region and fused regions, and also the non-multi-modal nature of the image, the basic segmentation algorithms such as thresholding do not produce appropriate results. In this work, morphological operations are effectively designed and implemented following thresholding to achieve the desired object segmentation. Examples of implementations are given. The paper provides the results of object segmentation which is the initial stage of development of an in-situ automated visual inspection for L-PBF process.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


The concepts developed by resilience engineering allow the understanding and monitoring the functioning of organizations and, particularly, to map the role of human activities, in success or in failure, enabling a better comprehension about how people make decisions in unexpected situations. The capture of information about human activities in the various organization levels gives managers a deeper real-time understanding of what is influencing the people performance, providing awareness of the factors that influence positively or negatively the organizational goals initially projected. The monitoring is important because the correct functioning of complex systems depends on the knowledge that people have to perform their activities and how the system environment provides tools that actually support the human performance. Therefore, organizations should look forward through precursors in operating signals to identify possible problems or solutions in the structure of tasks and activities, safety, quality, schedule, rework, and maintenance. We apply the concepts of resilience engineering to understand the organization by the analysis of cognitive tasks and activities. The aim is the development of a computerized system to monitor human activities to produce indicators to access system resilience. The validation of the approach was made in a real organization and the results show the successful applicability of the system. Based on findings obtained after the experiment of the system in a real organization, and managers and workers opinions, it was possible to show that the use of system provided an anticipated (real-time) perception about how activities are effectively being performed, allowing managers and workers to make decisions more consistent with daily problems, and also to anticipate solutions to cope with unexpected situations.


How humans got their goats Little is known regarding the location and mode of the early domestication of animals such as goats for husbandry. To investigate the history of the goat, Daly et al. sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear sequences from ancient specimens ranging from hundreds to thousands of years in age. Multiple wild populations contributed to the origin of modern goats during the Neolithic. Over time, one mitochondrial type spread and became dominant worldwide. However, at the whole-genome level, modern goat populations are a mix of goats from different sources and provide evidence for a multilocus process of domestication in the Near East. Furthermore, the patterns described support the idea of multiple dispersal routes out of the Fertile Crescent region by domesticated animals and their human counterparts. Science, this issue p. 85 Ancient goat genomes elucidate a dispersed domestication process across the Near East. Current genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or was a singular process. We generated genomic data from 83 ancient goats (51 with genome-wide coverage) from Paleolithic to Medieval contexts throughout the Near East. Our findings demonstrate that multiple divergent ancient wild goat sources were domesticated in a dispersed process that resulted in genetically and geographically distinct Neolithic goat populations, echoing contemporaneous human divergence across the region. These early goat populations contributed differently to modern goats in Asia, Africa, and Europe. We also detect early selection for pigmentation, stature, reproduction, milking, and response to dietary change, providing 8000-year-old evidence for human agency in molding genome variation within a partner species.


An important step on the journey towards desistance involves the reintegration of ex-offenders into their communities. In order to desist fully, individuals must gain access to new social resources, overcome existing problems and 'knife off' their criminal pasts. They must also find ways to make amends for the harm they have caused. Yet, the reality is that many ex-offenders continue to experience high levels of social marginalization and low levels of life success at least when measured using conventional indicators. Appropriate social policies can encourage desistance and improve the life chances of ex-offenders, for example by increasing their social and human capital or addressing obstacles to change.

The Irish Probation Service offers a useful site for exploring the nexus between social and criminal justice policies. Irish probation officers use a welfare-oriented, casework approach and endeavour to assist probationers with personal and social problems. The new penology has yet to make substantial inroads in this jurisdiction and the signs that indicate a shift in this direction, such as a focus on risk management, punishment and cognitive behavioural work, are not entrenched.

Drawing on the results of a prospective study of desistance among adult men on probation, this article examines the extent to which probation policy and practice support the desistance process. In particular, it explores participants' perceptions of the state response to their desistance attempt and whether this response enhanced or impeded their efforts to change. Finally, it proposes policy recommendations that would help to promote desistance.


Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a model-based technique, where a model is built up to reconstruct a musical piece. This model is generated by linearly combining a limited set of known note structures at each point in time. This technique can help us to achieve automatic transcription, where note information is extracted from a musical recording. For example, if a C and D note are played in the original musical piece, we hope that the matrix factorization process uses the structure of a C and D note to reconstruct this part of the musical piece. If this is indeed the case, because we know that these structures belong to certain notes, we can tell which notes were played in the musical piece a process known as automatic transcription. In this project, we examine the performance of NMF for the tasks of estimating the frequencies that are active in a musical piece, which is closely related to the pitch values of notes that are played. We find that it is trivial for several NMF variations to obtain high recall, where correct notes are detected and returned. This result does however come at the cost of some noise in the returned values, therefore we consider several postprocessing steps to reduce the number of incorrect frequencies that are returned. We find that this task is complex and deserves more attention in future research. The same NMF technique was also applied to the task of instrument recognition, where we attempt to derive the instrument that was used to play a recorded note. Algorithms designed for this task are still challenged by recordings of musical pieces where several instruments and notes are sounding at the same time. We believe that NMF may be able to extract notes from such a recording that are of high enough quality to be able to derive the instrument from these extracted notes. Results in our experiments were inconclusive but promising. Combining the results of music information retrieval tasks such as those we have discussed above, and involving more temporal information by thinking in notes instead of individual timesteps, should lead to improved overall performance for all of the tasks that are involved.


OBJECTIVES
To test whether staged, progressive, monitored, dynamic tissue expansion is possible in the larynx and to evaluate its effectiveness in dilating and augmenting constricting cicatricial lesions.

DESIGN
Animal study.

SETTING
Research facility, tertiary care medical center.

SUBJECTS
Thirteen dogs, 3 with laryngotracheal stenosis.

INTERVENTIONS
Dogs underwent laryngeal splits, tracheostomy, and insertion of inflatable stents. In 7 normal dogs, stents were progressively inflated by air in predetermined increments during 11 days. In 3 normal dogs and 3 with laryngotracheal stenosis, stents were gradually expanded by water. Stents were kept in place for 21 days. After removal, dogs were observed for 25 days. Five died of complications of tracheostomy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Airway diameter measured by endoscopy before the induction of stenosis, before the laryngeal splitting procedure, after stent removal, and before euthanasia.

RESULTS
The lumen increased, then shrank somewhat after stent removal. In 2 surviving dogs with laryngotracheal stenosis and water-expanded stents, the lumen was 82.5% larger than baseline at stent removal and 71.0% larger at euthanasia. In 2 surviving normal dogs with water-expanded stents, lumen size increased by 50.0% at stent removal, and in 1 dog surviving to day 46, it was 17.0% larger. In 5 surviving dogs with air-inflated stents, lumen size was 39.0% larger at stent removal and 8.0% larger at day 46. Histologically, fibrous tissue developed in the gaps between the splayed margins of the laryngeal cartilages.

CONCLUSIONS
The larynx may be dynamically expanded. Although the maximal diameter is not maintained, final cross-sectional areas are larger.


The stock market plays a crucial role in the growth of industry and trade, which eventually affects the economy. This paper studies the determinants of stock market development in Jordan using yearly time-series data (1978–2019). The autoregressive distributed lag approach is applied to examine co-integration, while the vector error correction model is employed to estimate (long-run and short-run) causal relationships. The results show that macroeconomic determinants such as gross domestic product, gross domestic savings, investment rate, credit to the private sector, broadest money supply, stock market liquidity, and inflation rate are important determinants of stock market development. These findings provide vital implications for policymakers in developed and emerging stock markets. First, economic development plays an imperative role in stock market development. Second, developing the banking sector is mandatory because it can significantly promote stock market development. Third, domestic investment is a significant determinant of stock market development, especially in emerging countries. However, it is vital to launch policies that lead to encourage investment and promote stock market development, and this could be done through (1) encouraging competition, (2) improving the institutional framework, and (3) removing trade blocks by establishing a mutual connection between foreign private investment entities and government authorities. to supply,


Intrathecal administration of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) induces long-term potentiation (LTP) and generates long-lasting central sensitization in spinal cord thus mimicking chronic pain, but the relevance of these observations to chronic pain mechanisms is uncertain. Since C-fiber activation by a high-frequency subcutaneous electrical stimulation (SES) protocol causes spinal release of BDNF and induces spinal cord LTP, we propose that application of such protocol would be a sufficient condition for generating long-lasting BDNF-mediated central sensitization. Results showed that application of burst-like SES to rat toes produced (i) rapid induction of hyperalgesia that lasted for more than 3 weeks, (ii) early increase of C-reflex activity followed by increased wind-up scores lasting for more than 1 week, and (iii) early increase followed by late decrease in BDNF protein levels and phosphorylated TrkB that lasted for more than 1 week. These changes were prevented by the TrkB antagonist cyclotraxin-B administered shortly before SES, while hyperalgesia was reversed by cyclotraxin-B administered 3 days after SES. Results suggest that mechanisms underlying central sensitization first involve BDNF release of probably neuronal origin, followed by brief increased expression of likely glial BDNF and pTrkB that could switch early phase sensitization into late one.


As the world's population ages, neurodegenerative disorders are poised to become the commonest cause of death. Despite this, they remain essentially untreatable. Characterized pathologically both by the aggregation of disease-specific misfolded proteins and by changes in cellular stress responses, to date, therapeutic approaches have focused almost exclusively on reducing misfolded protein load-notably amyloid beta (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease. The repeated failure of clinical trials has led to despondency over the possibility that these disorders will ever be treated. We argue that this is in fact a time for optimism: Targeting various generic stress responses is emerging as an increasingly promising means of modifying disease progression across these disorders. New treatments are approaching clinical trials, while novel means of targeting aggregates could eventually act preventively in early disease.


Abstract:In this paper, Levinas's concept of fraternity is shown to rely upon an exclusion of beings deemed "faceless" and open for appropriation. By limiting ethics to humans, Levinas established nonhumans as that which could be given to the Other without questioning the justification of this appropriation. By looking at the use of kinship in recent ethnography, we find an alternative that posits nonhumans as valuable while maintaining the necessity of appropriation. Instead of solving the problem of appropriation by positing beings outside ethics, the kinship system shows us ways of establishing limits and allowances in a world that includes nonhuman Others.


We show that any bijection between two root systems that preserves angles (but not necessarily lengths) gives rise to inequalities relating tensor product multiplicities for the corresponding complex semisimple Lie groups (or Lie algebras). We explain the inequalities in two ways: combinatorially, using Littelmann's Path Model, and geometrically, using isogenies between algebraic groups defined over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic.


Ovarian cancer is characterized by poor early detection and serves as an excellent model system to develop potential markers for early diagnosis. Osteopontin is a glycophosphoprotein known to demonstrate multiple functions including mediation of cellular adhesion, suppression of macrophage interleukin production, prevention of angiogenesis, apoptosis, and inhibition of anchorage-dependent growth. Studies of Osteopontin in ovarian cancer have described increased expression and a role as a candidate biomarker. Secretion of Osteopontin into the extra cellular matrix is reported to facilitate metastasis and has been reported to be inhibited by the presence of cytoplasmic Homeobox proteins (HOX). The HOX family of genes encodes transcription factors involved in basic developmental processes and has been linked to oncogenesis. Dysregulation of HOX genes may be an early event in malignant transformation making the HOX gene family appealing for biomarker investigation. In this study we characterize HOX gene expression in malignant tumors of the ovary compared to Osteopontin, a known biomarker for ovarian cancer. Methods: Microarray analysis of mRNA from human ovarian tissues was performed on samples of normal, benign, and malignant ovarian tissues. These samples were analyzed using the Affymetrix Human Genome Focus GeneChip (HG-Focus) microarray to distinguish the differential pattern of mRNA expression between the three types of samples. Immunohistochemistry staining of ovarian tissue samples was utilized to analyze confirmatory protein expression of the microarray findings. Results: Microarray analysis demonstrated up-regulation of HOXB2, HOXB7, and Osteopontin genes in malignant ovarian tumor samples compared to normal ovarian tissue controls. Conversely, HOXC6 was down-regulated in malignant tissue samples. Immunohistochemistry was performed for HOXB2, HOXC6 and Osteopontin on OCT embedded tissues samples. Similarly, increased protein expression was shown for HOXB2 and Osteopontin in malignant samples and increased HOXC6 in non-cancerous samples. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate multiple HOX genes to be up-regulated in ovarian cancer. Increased expression of HOXB2 and HOXB7, correlated with increased Osteopontin expression found in malignant ovarian tissue samples. HOXC6 demonstrated an inverse relationship with Osteopontin in non-cancerous ovarian tissue samples. The association of these HOX genes with Osteopontin expression warrants further investigation into the role of HOX genes as candidate biomarkers for ovarian cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4188. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4188


Introduction Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) have been widely proposed to have predictive value for the patient prognosis of many malignancies, including bladder cancer. However, the predictive value of their combination in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is unclear. Methods Cases of NMIBC patients who underwent transurethral resection of the bladder tumor were recruited from two tertiary public medical centers. A systemic inflammatory marker (SIM) score was calculated based on comprehensive consideration of NLR, PLR, and LMR. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The Log rank test was used to compare differences between the groups. Cox regression was used to screen risk factors affecting RFS and PFS. Nomogram models were established and validated, and patients were stratified based on the model scores. Results The study dataset was grouped according to a 7:3 randomization, with the training cohort consisting of 292 cases and the validation cohort consisting of 124 cases. Cox regression analysis showed that SIM score is an independent predictor of RFS and PFS in NMIBC patients. The novel models were established based on the SIM score and other statistically significant clinicopathological features. The area under the curve (AUC) for predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year RFS was 0.667, 0.689, and 0.713, respectively. The AUC for predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year PFS was 0.807, 0.775, and 0.862, respectively. Based on the risk stratification, patients at high risk of recurrence and progression could be accurately identified. The established models were applied to the patient evaluation of the validation cohort, which proved the great performance of the novel models. Conclusion The novel models based on the SIM score and clinicopathological characteristics can accurately predict the survival prognosis of NMIBC patients, and the models can be used by clinicians for individualized patient assessment and to assist in clinical decision-making.


The computation of integrals in higher dimensions and on general domains, when no explicit cubature rules are known, can be "easily" addressed by means of the quasi-Monte Carlo method. The method, simple in its formulation, becomes computationally inefficient when the space dimension is growing and the integration domain is particularly complex. In this paper we present two new approaches to the quasi-Monte Carlo method for cubature based on nonnegative least squares and approximate Fekete points. The main idea is to use less points and especially good points for solving the system of the moments. Good points are here intended as points with good interpolation properties, due to the strict connection between interpolation and cubature. Numerical experiments show that, in average, just a tenth of the points should be used mantaining the same approximation order of the quasi-Monte Carlo method. The method has been satisfactory applied to 2 and 3-dimensional problems on quite complex domains.


BACKGROUND
Preclinical research suggests that interleukin-10 (IL-10) is associated with susceptibility to and severity of systemic lupus erythematosus. Chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus is thought to be immunogenetically different from systemic lupus erythematosus. We hypothesized that high innate production of IL-10 underlies systemic but not chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

METHODS
IL-10 production was determined after endotoxin stimulation of whole-blood samples. In whole-blood samples, disease activity and medication influence the IL-10 production in patients. Therefore, healthy first-degree relatives of patients were evaluated. One hundred sixty-six first-degree relatives of patients with systemic lupus, 50 first-degree relatives of patients with chronic cutaneous lupus, and 133 control persons were studied. Innate IL-10 production of the patient was estimated as the mean IL-10 production of the unaffected relatives. Polymorphisms located -1082, -819, and -592 base pairs relative to the IL-10 gene were typed by allele-specific oligohybridization of polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA fragments.

RESULTS
IL-10 production was higher in the families of patients with systemic lupus than in the control families (1517 +/- 94 vs 1180 +/- 59 pg/mL; P = 0.003). IL-10 production in the families of patients with chronic cutaneous lupus was similar to that in control families (1216 +/- 82 vs 1180 +/- 59 pg/ml; P = 0.74). IL-10 production was also similar in families of patients with severe compared with nonsevere systemic lupus (P = 1.0). The frequency of -1082/-819/-592 haplotypes GCC, ACC, and ATA was similar among patients and compared with the control persons (P = 0.29).

CONCLUSIONS
High innate IL-10 production underlies susceptibility for systemic lupus erythematosus but not the severity of the disease. It is not related to chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus.


Cellulose is the most abundant biomass material in nature. Extracted from natural fibers, its hierarchical and multi-level organization allows different kinds of nanoscaled cellulosic fillers—called cellulose nanocrystals or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC)—to be obtained. Recently, such cellulose nanoparticles have been the focus of an exponentially increasing number of works or reviews devoted to understanding such materials and their applications. Major studies over the last decades have shown that cellulose nanoparticles could be used as fillers to improve mechanical and barrier properties of biocomposites. Their use for industrial packaging is being investigated, with continuous studies to find innovative solutions for efficient and sustainable systems. Processing is more and more important and different systems are detailed in this paper depending on the polymer solubility, i.e., (i) hydrosoluble systems, (ii) non-hydrosoluble systems, and (iii) emulsion systems. This paper intends to give a clear overview of cellulose nanoparticles reinforced composites with more than 150 references by describing their preparation, characterization, properties and applications.


Electrosynthesis has made a revival in the field of organic chemistry and, in particular, radical-mediated reactions. Herein, we report a simple directed, electrochemical C-H fluorination method. Employing a dabconium mediator, commercially available Selectfluor, and RVC electrodes, we provide a range of steroid-based substrates with competent regioselective directing groups, including enones, ketones, and hydroxy groups, as well as never reported before lactams, imides, lactones, and esters.


Abstract Secondary effects of prestressing develop in statically indeterminate structures (e.g., continuous beams) due to the restraint of deformations imposed by hyperstatic restraints. These effects may significantly influence internal forces and stresses in prestressed structures. Secondary effects are influenced by the redundancy of a structural system, which raises the question of whether they will remain constant after a change in the structural system, e.g., due to the development of plastic hinge(s) in a critical cross-section(s) or after the development of a kinematic mechanism, or if they will disappear when the structure changes into a sequence of simply supported beams. The paper deals with an investigation of the behavior of continuous post-tensioned beams subjected to an ultimate load with significant secondary effects from prestressing. A total of 6 two-span beams prestressed by tendons with different bonds were tested in a laboratory with a load that changed their structural system into a kinematic mechanism. The internal forces and secondary effects of the prestressing were controlled through measurements of the reactions in all the supports. The results revealed that the secondary effects remained as a permanent part of the action on the experimental beams, even after the development of the kinematic mechanism. The results obtained confirmed that secondary effects should be included in all combinations of actions for verifications of ultimate limit states (ULS).


In this paper, we presented a Design-for-Secure-Test (DFST) technique for pipelined AES to guarantee both the security and the test quality during testing. Unlike previous works, the proposed method can keep all the secrets inside and provide high test quality and fault diagnosis ability as well. Furthermore, the proposed DFST technique can significantly reduce test application time, test data volume, and test generation effort as additional benefits.


IMPORTANCE
Second primary cancers (SPCs) are common in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, while the incidence and risk factors of SPC in patients with salivary gland cancers (SGCs) are largely unknown. This study aimed to examine the incidence of and risk factors for SPC in patients with SGC.

OBJECTIVE
To report the risk factors and incidence of SPC in patients with SGC and compare them with the values of newly developed cancers (NDCs) in a healthy population.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A retrospective case-control study conducted at a university teaching hospital. The study population comprised 184 patients with SGC, without a history of cancer, who were treated between 2000 and 2010 and followed up for at least 2 years, and 200 healthy individuals (control group) who underwent medical examinations in health promotion programs during the same period.

INTERVENTIONS
All individuals received the diagnostic scrutiny including endoscopic and radiological examinations at initial staging and at follow-up. Individuals suspected of having SPC or NDC underwent histological confirmation.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Risk factors of SPC development and cumulative incidence of SPC (or NDC) in each group.

RESULTS
The cumulative 2-, 5-, and 10-year rates of SPC were 4.4%, 8.3%, and 12.4%, respectively, and those of NDC were 1.1%, 3.4%, and 10.5%, respectively (P = .29). Except for the thyroid gland, SPC and NDC were located outside the head and neck region. Univariate analysis was unable to identify any variable significantly predictive of SPC or NDC.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
In the present study, there was no statistical difference in the SPC cumulative incidence between the SGC and control groups, which might result from the possible limitation of a small sample size.


In some areas of sex research, we note room for methodological improvement of research practices. In particular, in the field of hypersexuality research, where societal norms have been influential, methodological improvement might advance goals of objectivity in research. We propose that hypersexuality research should: firstly, take into account relevant subpopulations; secondly, use Item Response Theory (IRT) to construct item banks for measurement instruments; and, thirdly, measure sexual desire and related important constructs where and how they play out—in daily life, changing from moment to moment. We show that comparing relevant subpopulations can lead to depathologizing normative, but highly frequent, sexual behavior. Using IRT can lead to more precise measurement instruments by assessment of characteristics of individual items. Measuring sexual desire as an inherently fluctuating process in everyday life, and as part of emotion regulation processes, can direct research towards relevant associations other research methods might miss. Bringing into practice our three proposals for improvement can procure a number of advantages. We illustrate these advantages mainly for the field of hypersexuality research, but our suggestions might also be beneficial for sex research in general.


Problems appear when triptans are taken orally. For example, the bioavailability of triptan is reduced by the digestive system, and the drug level in the blood reduces rapidly over time; there is also a possibility of gastrointestinal disorder. To improve side effects, a transdermal patch has been prepared in hydrogel form. The polymer matrix that makes up the hydrogel uses PVA; PEG is used as an additive to induce inter/intra hydrogen bonding of the PVA and almotriptan drug is added. In addition, to accelerate micro-phase separation between PVA chains, liquid nitrogen is used. In FT-IR analysis, the absorption bands of PVA, PEG, and almotriptan were found. The degree of crystallinity, the water uptake ability and tensile strength were increased with increasing PEG content. In drug release tests, the amount of drug released increased depending on the PEG content. In this study, hydrogels with 10 wt% PEG showed better performance in drug release. Approximately 60% of the total drug amount was released in 2 hr, and the drug continued to release for 1 day. Thus, the prepared hydrogel patch is suitable as a transdermal formulation for the second dose administration of triptans to patients who require recurrent migraine treatment within 24 hr after the first administration.


Copy number variations (CNVs) have effects on phenotypes by altering transcription levels of genes and may have major impacts on protein sequence, structure and function. Therefore, CNV screening and analysis focused on the identification of CNV-genetic disease relations are actively progressing. CNVs can be detected and analyzed by various methodologies at the genome-wide and locus-specific levels. The genome-wide analysis of CNVs has been enhanced by bioinformatic tools for long-range sequence analysis, and comparative genome hybridization using microarrays containing either single nucleotide polymorphisms or bacterial artificial chromosome clones that represent the whole genome. RFLP followed by Southern blot analysis, quantitative real-time PCR, pyrosequencing, ligation detection reaction and the invader assay have become the main tools for locus-specific analysis so far. In this review, we present a brief principle, application history, and strengths and weaknesses of the methods used to detect CNVs at the genome-wide and locus-specific levels.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Studies in gastrin-deficient mice have demonstrated critical roles for gastrin peptides in the regulation of gastric acid secretion, but the relative contributions of amidated (G-17) and glycine-extended (G17-Gly) gastrin remain unclear. We examined the effects of these 2 forms of gastrin on acid secretion in gastrin-deficient mice.

METHODS
Sixty gastrin-deficient mice received infusions of saline, or 1, 6, or 14 days of amidated gastrin 17 (G-17), G17-Gly, or both G-17 and G17-Gly at 10 nmol. kg(-1). h(-1). Twenty-four gastrin-deficient mice were then infused for 14 days with 1, 2, or 5 nmol. kg(-1). h(-1) of G-17 or G-17 and G17-Gly. Acid secretion was determined 4 hours after pyloric ligation, and gastric tissue was processed for histology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy.

RESULTS
Infusion of G-17 increased acid secretion in a dose-dependent manner with a peak at 5 nmol. kg(-1). h(-1) and a subsequent decrease in acid secretion at higher doses. Infusion of G17-Gly alone had no effect on acid secretion, but coinfusion with G-17 resulted in significantly higher levels of acid secretion at all doses examined than infusion with G-17 alone. The potentiating effect of G17-Gly on G-17-induced acid secretion was associated with increased parietal cell activation but was independent of changes in parietal and enterochromaffin-like cell number, fundic proliferation rates, and H(+),K(+)-adenine triphosphatase expression. G17-Gly also prevented the formation of vacuolar canaliculi and lipofuscin bodies in the parietal cells induced by G-17.

CONCLUSIONS
G17-Gly appears to synergize with G-17 to up-regulate acid secretion and prevent parietal cell degradation. These results suggest that G17-Gly plays an important role in parietal cell function.


Abstract Studies in the area of natural products have been developed with the biomonitoring of their plant extracts, a fact that improves research on bioactive substances of economic interest. Therefore, there is a demand for scientific studies involving plants with biological activity, so that such practice should be encouraged, forming a promising and effective path for the discovery of new drugs. These new products can bring foreign exchange, besides offering opportunities for job creation along the production chain, not only in the urban area, but, above all, in the rural area, contributing to the deconcentration of income and, therefore, to the internalization of the development of the Amazon (SILVA, 2013).


Yeast are used as workhorses to convert hopped wort into beer. Conventionally, such yeasts belong to the genus Saccharomyces and most research on fermentation of wort for the production of beer has focussed on the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus. Recently, there is an increasing interest in unravelling features of non-conventional yeast species for beer innovation. In this thesis, features of yeast isolates belonging to the species: Cyberlindnera fabianii, Pichia kudriavzevii and S. cerevisiae (all isolated from fermented masau (Ziziphus mauritiana) fruits in Zimbabwe), were studied with focus on aroma production. Additionally, a novel approach was used to apply these yeasts in co-cultivation with Brewers' yeast (S. cerevisiae) for beer innovation. The characteristics and quality of the beer are mainly determined by aroma compounds in the final product such as esters, alcohols, aldehydes and acids. Yeast use various metabolic pathways such as glycolysis, the fermentative pathway, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the Ehrlich pathway to produce aroma compounds or the precursors for the synthesis thereof (Chapter 1). Among the aroma compounds, esters are of major importance, especially since they are perceived by the human olfactory system at very low concentrations. In general, esters are desirable compounds in beers due to their fruity flavour. Examples are isoamyl acetate (banana), isobutyl acetate (fruity, sweet), phenylethyl acetate (rose, apple, honey), ethyl acetate (sweet pear), ethyl hexanoate (apple, aniseed) and ethyl octanoate (sour apple). Together with an extensive range of other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) these compounds were previously profiled using headspace solid-phase-micro-extraction gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GCMS). Interestingly, comparative profiling of aromas showed that C. fabianii produces significantly higher amounts of isoamyl acetate and ethyl acetate compared to S. cerevisiae. It has been suggested in literature that products of the Ehrlich pathway, so called "fusel alcohols", can function as signalling molecules for invasive growth upon nitrogen limitation. This suggested that nutrient limitation could affect growth performance and production of aroma compounds. Therefore, in Chapter 2, the metabolic and morphological response of S. cerevisiae, C. fabianii and P. kudriavzevii was analysed upon nitrogen and/or glucose limitation on semi-solid (agar) media. All three yeasts showed a change in growth mode upon nitrogen and/or glucose limitation. Scanning electron microscopy was used to unravel the cell organisation of C. fabianii and P. kudriavzevii grown under nitrogen limitation. This revealed the power of cell-cell adhesion for penetrative growth and the formation of meta-filaments or pseudo-hyphae to extend the cell surface area. Such changes in growth mode may be of relevance for solid-state fermentation processes, such as fruit fermentations, by enhanced substrate penetration of yeast. Notably, a significant increase in the production of esters (ethyl acetate, ethyl propanoate, isobutyl acetate and isopentyl acetate) by C. fabianii and P. kudriavzevii was found under conditions of nitrogen limitation. Understanding the relationship between nitrogen limitation and ester formation gives more insight into the ability to steer ester formation by nutrient availability in wort fermentations. The amount and type of esters are important determinants of the final flavour characteristics of the beer. Therefore, the diversity in ester production between the three yeast species was investigated by studying enzymatic reactions involved in the production (synthesis) of esters and their degradation (hydrolysis) and to link this to volatile organic compound profiles (Chapter 3). The amount and type of esters depends on substrate availability and a combination of enzyme activities supporting the synthesis and hydrolysis of the different esters formed. Esters are generally formed by a condensation reaction of an alcohol with ac(et)yl CoA by a so-called alcohol acetyltranferase (AATse). The products formed can generally be subdivided into two groups; acetate esters and medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) esters. Alcohols are formed by reduction of aldehydes by alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) using either the fermentative or Ehrlich pathway. Comparative analysis of the specific ADHs and acetate ester hydrolysing activity and subsequently linking these data with the distinct aroma profiles of the three yeasts revealed that the acetate ester hydrolysing activity is a key step in determining the final pool size of acetate esters found in the fermentation broths (Chapter 3). Under the experimental conditions, C. fabianii showed the lowest acetate ester hydrolysing activity correlating with higher extracellular levels of acetate esters indicating the suitability of this yeast for use in co-cultures with brewers' yeast with the objective to enable the enrichment of acetate esters in the fermentation process (Chapters 4 and 5). Nowadays, there is large interest of consumers in specialty beers such as beers low in alcohol (health awareness) and/or richer is fruity flavours (specialty beers), and this has significantly stimulated the quest for new methods, practices and yeast strains to produce such beers. In chapter 4 an innovative approach is described using co-cultivations of brewers' yeast and C. fabianii to steer wort fermentation performance. Various ratios of brewers' yeast over C. fabianii were inoculated in wort. A dose response relationship was observed, where a higher initial dose of C. fabianii leads to lower alcohol production and a more complex aroma bouquet. Interestingly, specific esters, i.e. ethyl acetate (sweet pear), ethyl octanoate (sour apple), ethyl decanoate (waxy, sweet apple), ethyl 9-decenoate (fruity, fatty) and ethyl dodecanoate (fruity, waxy), were found in higher levels in co-cultivation compared to both mono-cultivations indicating metabolic interactions. The reduced ethanol production in the co-culture could be explained by inhibition of Brewers' yeast performance by C. fabianii in the co-cultivations. Further investigations revealed that this growth inhibition is caused by competition for oxygen between brewers' yeast and C. fabianii. Depletion of oxygen caused inhibition of growth of brewers' yeast since it needs oxygen to synthesize ergosterol that is required for cell membrane synthesis under anaerobic conditions (Chapter 4). The interaction between brewers' yeast and C. fabianii in co-cultivation can be described using dynamic modelling (Chapter 5). A dynamic model was developed based on brewers' yeast and C. fabianii in mono-cultivation and fitted to experimental data. The two models were combined and the same parameter settings were used to predict the fermentation outcome of brewers' yeast and C. fabianii in co-cultivation. The model was experimentally validated using inoculation ratios of 1:10 and 1:100 brewers' yeast over C. fabianii. Additionally, the use of dynamic modelling supported the hypothesis that competition for oxygen between brewers' yeast and C. fabianii results in inhibition of brewers' yeast fermentation performance. Interestingly, prediction of aroma formation in co-cultivation, especially that of specific esters, appeared to be more challenging due to metabolic interactions resulting in MCFA-esters contributing to fruity aromas, and this aspect requires further study. The results and findings obtained in the experimental chapters (Chapter 2-5) are further discussed in Chapter 6. Unravelling features of non-conventional yeast generates novel opportunities for beer innovation. Application of C. fabianii in co-cultivation with brewers' yeast in wort fermentation offers a novel approach in product innovation resulting in low alcohol beers with enriched aroma bouquet . Finally, the developed dynamic model may be used to predict fermentation outcomes of brewers' yeast with other non-conventional yeast species.


Twenty pregnant diabetics with proliferative diabetic retinopathy are described. Out of a total of 37 eyes, 18 were coagulated during pregnancy. Coagulation treatment before pregnancy was performed in 14 eyes. The morphologic aspect of the fundi at the end of pregnancy was unchanged or even better in 31 of the 37 eyes, as compared with the time before pregnancy. The best results were obtained in eyes which were sufficiently coagulated before pregnancy. Visual acuity at the end of pregnancy in 35 eyes was much the same as during pregnancy. It is concluded that from a ophthalmological point of view the inindication for therapeutic abortion in diabetics with dication for therapeutic abortion in diabetics with proliferative diabetic retinopathy is no longer tenable.


Power system reliability assessment methods can be categorized either analytical or as Monte Carlo simulation. Analytical methods represent the power system by a mathematical model and assess the reliability performance indices from the model utilizing mathematical solutions. On the other hand, Monte Carlo simulation methods, compute the reliability indices by simulating the actual process and random behavior of the power system, and can include any system effects or system processes which may have to be approximated in analytical methods. This paper describes a Monte Carlo simulation tool, which has been developed by General Electric (GE) Company for the reliability analysis of multi-area generation systems with explicit recognition of those unit and system operating considerations, rules, and constraints that influence system reliability indices. The basic features, capabilities and applications of the Monte Carlo simulation model are illustrated using the mid-continent area power pool (MAPP) inter connected system reserve capacity obligation (RCO) study in this paper


This study examined how supine-to-stand (STS) performance is related to process and product assessment of motor competence (MC) in children. Ninety-one children aged 5–9 years were assessed for process and product MC (10 m running speed and standing long jump) as well as process and product measures of STS. Tertiles were created for STS process and STS product scores to create 3 groups reflecting low, medium, and high STS competency. ANCOVA analysis, controlling for age, for process STS, indicated that process MC was significantly higher in children, classified as medium STS (p = 0.048) and high STS (p = 0.011) competence, and that 10 m run speed was slower for low STS compared to medium (p = 0.019) and high STS (p = 0.004). For product STS tertiles, process MC was significantly higher for children in the lowest (fastest) STS tertile compared to those in the medium highest (slowest) tertile (p = 0.01).


The objective of this study was to improve student learning outcomes through the application of the Project Based Learning model. The type of research is classroom action research (CAR). The CAR model used was the C. Kemmis & Mc Taggart spiral model which was carried out in 2 cycles. Data collection techniques are test techniques and non-test techniques. The research instrument using questions and observation sheets. The data analysis technique used is comparative descriptive. Based on the results of the study, it was shown that the cognitive domain of mathematics learning outcomes based on the percentage of completeness of pre-cycle, first and second cycle learning outcomes was 40.7%; 70.4%; 88.9%.


AlloDerm (LifeCell Corp., Branchburg, NJ) is commonly employed for reconstruction of ablative soft tissue and mucosal defects following surgical resections. Although devoid of growth factors, AlloDerm may serve as an adhesive matrix for binding of growth factors, increasing local angiogenesis, and wound healing. We hypothesized that AlloDerm would enhance angiogenesis and might be altered with autologous blood products to enhance initiation of the angiogenic response.


A national survey of staff development (SD) departments of hospitals was conducted to determine the organizational models (centralized, decentralized, or combination) used. The survey asked about departmental organization, instructor role, staff title, core responsibilities, percentage of work for various departments, SD department head and staff educational preparation, and demographic data. This article discusses the data obtained from the 48 responses (41%) that pertain to the organizational model (26 or 54% used combination model) and staff preparation (master's degree was most prevalent). The data and survey approach could be used by a SD department when choosing an organizational model.


We demonstrate the sensitivity of transverse-field muon spin rotation (TF-muSR) to static charge-density-wave (CDW) order in the bulk of 2H-NbSe2. In the presence of CDW order the quadrupolar interaction of the 93Nb nuclei with the local electric-field gradient is modified, and this in turn affects the magnetic dipolar coupling of the positive muon to these nuclei. For a weak magnetic field applied parallel to the c-axis, we observe a small enhancement of the muon depolarization rate at temperatures below the established CDW phase transition. Aligning the applied field perpendicular to the c-axis, we observe a sensivity to static CDW order in regions of the sample extending up to nearly 3 times the CDW transition temperature. The results suggest that the muon is mobile over the temperature range explored above the superconducting transition temperature (Tc), and becomes trapped in the vicinity of defects.


The oral contraceptive marketplace has undergone evolutionary changes over the years. Early oral contraceptive formulations contained higher doses of estrogen and progestin, which were associated with several safety concerns. Consequently, scientists returned to the laboratories to develop lower-dose formulations that would minimize risk without compromising efficacy. To date, numerous formulations have entered the marketplace that allow for tailored dosing to meet a woman's clinical and individual needs. In order to provide additional treatment options and create more convenient oral contraceptive regimens, monophasic, multiphasic, extended-cycle, progestin-only, and chewable regimens have emerged. This article will review the main health risks and benefits of oral contraceptives, the concept of extended-cycle regimens, and the financial implications associated with oral contraceptive use.


Image captioning is to generate textual descriptions for a given image by analyzing its visual semantics. It can be applied for numerous applications such as surveillance, where generating descriptions of images enables a more efficient workflow. However, accurate descriptions require to formulate the interactions among visual objects and semantics, which have not been adequately exploited yet. Therefore, a novel architecture is proposed, namely topic-guided local-global graph neural network, to address the interactions in a two-level scheme. Local information is characterized through visual objects and semantic graphs are introduced to formulate their relations. Global information is characterized with a topic graph to analyze captioning context and guides the semantic graphs for captioning. Particularly, graph convolutions and graph transformers with a connection between the adjacency matrices are explored. Experimental results on MS-COCO dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.


Abstract : The Knowledge Base Acceleration track in TREC 2012 focused on a single task: filter a time-ordered corpus for documents that are highly relevant to a predefined list of entities. KBA differs from previous filtering evaluations in two primary ways: the stream corpus is 100x larger than previous filtering collections, and the use of entities as topics enables systems to incorporate structured knowledge bases (KB), such as Wikipedia, as external data sources. A successful KBA system must do more than resolve the meaning of entity mentions by linking documents to the KB: it must also distinguish centrally relevant documents that are worth citing in the entity's WP article. This combines thinking from natural language processing (NLP) and information retrieval (IR). Filtering tracks in TREC have typically used queries based on topics described by a set of keyword queries or short descriptions, and annotators have generated relevance judgments based on their personal interpretation of the topic. For TREC 2012, we selected a set of filter topics based on Wikipedia entities: 27 people and 2 organizations. Such named entities are more familiar in NLP than IR. We also constructed an entirely new stream corpus spanning 4,973 consecutive hours from October 2011 through April 2012. It contains over 400M documents, which we augmented with named entity classification tagging for the 40% of the documents identified as English. Each document has a timestamp that places it in the stream. The 29 target entities were mentioned infrequently enough in the corpus that NIST assessors could judge the relevance of most of the mentioning documents (91%). Judgments for documents from before January 2012 were provided to TREC teams as training data for filtering documents from the remaining hours. Run submissions were evaluated against the assessor-generated list of citation-worthy documents. We present peak F_1 scores averaged across the entities for all run submissions. High scoring system


Model-driven and component-based approaches, such as the IEC 61499 standard, allow us to apply analysis to systems in early stages of development. When applied to embedded systems, early analysis can help guide the development process of both the software and the hardware platform, and thus reduce the time and cost of the development. In this paper we present a method for early analysis of device utilization for IEC 61499 systems. The method is based on determining device-specific worst-case execution time of each activity in the application. For this, we use timing information for individual algorithms together with IEC 61499 software and platform models. We provide a prototype implementation integrated in an open-source development environment.


New York, New YorkHIV typically spreads more readily between people who share needles than in sexual networks, which means a large community of injecting drug users (IDUs) can mark the emergence of an epidemic with great precision. New York City, a dense city of about 8 million residents, had an estimated 200,000 IDUs in the late 1970s, more than any city in the world. A retrospective analysis of blood samples taken from users in 1978 found that 10% were already infected with HIV. By 1981, the prevalence had jumped to 50%, which helped make the Big Apple the center of the country's AIDS epidemic. Today, studies have shown that the incidence of HIV in New York City IDUs is 1%. Although the city's IDU population has dwindled to an estimated 100,000, that doesn't explain the steep drop in incidence. The main reason is that users stopped sharing needles.


ABSTRACT Lu, H., 2020. Analysis of economic benefit of e-commerce business in oceangoing enterprises. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 217–220. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With a unique geographical advantage in the sea area, China's oceangoing enterprises have developed rapidly. They have gradually formed industrial activities with regional characteristics according to regional resources or economic models, contributing many economic benefits to regional economic development. This paper explores the economic benefits of the e-commerce business in oceangoing enterprises based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) calculation model. To this end, this research integrates the internet thinking mode and studies the improvement of the industrial chain in oceangoing enterprises. The research results show that oceangoing enterprises relying on e-commerce have formed a modern logistics operation mode and expanded the application of e-commerce and electronic trade in foreign trade. By weakening the relationship between analysis variables, the DEA model can help to calculate the potential output, actual economic growth rate, and potential economic growth rate of multiple decision-making units in oceangoing enterprises. The DEA model shows that the potential economic benefits increase year by year, and the potential economic benefits can predict the actual economic growth. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for calculating the economic benefits of e-commerce business in oceangoing enterprises.


Quality system management adapted by small and medium enterprises in Kangwon province to enhance the competitiveness was studied. Variance analysis on several questionnaire answers was performed. Motives for acquiring the accreditation, such as product export, adjustment to international trend, enhancement of brand/product recognition, CEO's mind change, and management innovation, have been changed significantly among business types. Mind changes after the accreditations were setting company's first priority on quality, enhanced recognition on compliance of in-house standards and regulations, employee's performance with the recognition of quality. Amongst service problems to maintain the accreditations were difficulties in maintaining the recognition of the company's quality management, labor increase to maintain the ISO 9000 enforcement team, and financial burden to keep the accreditation. Quality recognition after the accreditations was significantly improved in setting company's first priority on quality, enhanced recognition on compliance of in-house standards and regulations, employee's performance with the recognition of quality.


Sixteen yearling male buffalo calves weighing 160 kg were assigned to 2x2 factorial designs. Each four calf group was subjected to either long (16L:8D) or short (8L:16D) photoperiods and housed in individual or group system. The four groups were fed CFM and wheat straw. Feed intake and residual were recorded daily. Samples of feces and food ration were collected for analysis. Digestion coefficients, nutritive values and feed efficiency were calculated. Animals were weighed biweekly. Blood samples were collected monthly to determine total protein, albumin, globulin, ALT/GPT, AST/GOT and total cholesterol. Housing systems did not have any significant effects on calf body weight and growth rate while; photoperiod had significant effect (P≤0.01) on them. Housing systems did not have any significant effects on the digestion coefficients and nutritive values, while, photoperiod systems had highly significant (P≤0.01) effect on digestibility coefficients and nutritive values of buffalo calves. Calves exposed to long photoperiod (16L:8D) and housed in group pens were more efficient in converting feed to gain than calves exposed to short photoperiod (8L:16D) and housed in individual pens. Total protein (P≤0.05), albumin (P≤0.01) and ALT/GPT (P≤0.05) was significantly affected by the housing system. All blood parameters were not significantly affected except cholesterol level was significantly (P≤0.01) affected by photoperiod. The interaction between housing systems and photoperiods did not have any significant differences on growth performance, feed conversion efficiency or metabolic response. It could be concluded that rearing buffalo calves individually with increasing illumination period to 16 hours/ day may improve feed efficiency and growth performance without compromising the physiological status of the calves during the fattening period.


ABSTRACT Little is known about the horse health management practices of Australian horse caregivers (owners). This article presents findings from a convenience sample of 505 horse owners who participated in an online survey. No large-scale welfare issues were identified, but there were some areas of potential concern, including owners who did not regularly deworm their horses (4%), a lack of strategic parasite control (3.1%), and a lack of regular dental care (11%). Several participants did not have their horse's hooves regularly shod or trimmed (2%), and 14% had an unqualified person maintain their horse's hooves. One in five owners (19%) did not vaccinate their horses against tetanus. The findings are discussed in relation to current Australian horse health guidelines and traditional sources of horse health information, together with recommendations for providing horse owners with relevant information in relevant forms.


The continuous rise of global carbon emissions demands the utilization of fossil fuels in a sustainable way. Owing to various forms of emissions, our environment conditions might be affected, necessitating more focus of scientists and researchers to upgrade oil processing to more efficient manner. Gasification is a potential technology that can convert fossil fuels to produce clean and environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel in an economical manner. Therefore, this study analyzed and examined it critically. In this study, two different routes for the produc-tion of high-purity hydrogen from vacuum residue while minimizing the carbon emissions were proposed. The first route (Case I) studied the gasification of heavy vacuum residue (VR) in series with dry methane reforming (DMR). The second route studied the gasification of VR in parallel integration with DMR (Case II). After investigating both processes, a brief comparison was made between the two routes of hydrogen production in terms of their CO2 emissions, en-ergy efficiency, energy consumption, and environmental and economic impacts. In this study, the two vacuum-residue-to-hydrogen (VRTH) processes were simulated using Aspen Plus for a hydrogen production capacity of 50 t/h with 99.9 wt.% purity. The results showed that Case II offered a process energy efficiency of 57.8%, which was slightly higher than that of Case I. The unit cost of the hydrogen product for Case II was USD 15.95 per metric ton of hydrogen, which was almost 9% lower than that of Case I. In terms of the environmental analysis, both cases had comparably low carbon emissions of around 8.3 kg of CO2/kg of hydrogen produced; with such high purity, the hydrogen could be used for production of other products further downstream or for industrial applications.


This book constitutes the Proceedings of the conference "Chemical Structures: The International Laniguage of Chemistry", Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, May 31-June 4, 1987. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Chemical Structure Association, the American Chemical Society Divi- sion of Chemical Information, and the Chemical Information Groups of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the German Chemical Society. The purpose of the conference was to bring together experts to discuss and to further basic and applied research and development in the proicessing, storage, retrieval and use of chemical structures, to further basic and applied research and development in the processing,sto- rage, retrieval and use of chemical structures, to foster co-operation among major chemical information organisations in North America and Europe. Subjects covered included integrated in-house databases, substructure searching methodology, spectral databanks, new technologies (microcom- puters, CD-ROM, parallel processing and expert systems) and chemical reactions.


Recently, mobile terminals such as smartphones have come into widespread use. Most of such mobile terminals store several types of important data, such as personal information. Therefore, it is necessary to lock and unlock terminals using a personal authentication method such as personal identification numbers (PINs) in order to prevent data theft. However, most existing authentication methods have a common problem referred to here as "shoulder-surfing", in which authentication information is covertly obtained by a person watching "over-the-shoulder" of a user as he/she completes the authentication sequence. In the present paper, a new icon-based authentication method that is simple but sufficiently secure even when the authentication sequence is being watched is proposed. The proposed method is implemented on a mobile data terminal and is evaluated through experiments and questionnaire surveys.


Online examinations are exams that take place through an electronic medium – normally the Internet. The limited or even absence of human supervision in the online-based exams poses various integrity vulnerabilities. Most important of which is impersonation, which is a source of concern by the academic community. In this paper, we propose the combination of steganography and biometric fingerprint technique to further strengthen the security of the online exam: The examinee is multiply authenticated anywhere, before being admitted for the examination.


Aristotle's Rhetoric defines fear as a kind of pain (lypē) or disturbance (tarachē) and pity as a kind of pain (2.5.1382 a 21 and 2.8.1385 b 13). In his Poetics, however, pity and fear are associated with pleasure: ' The poet must provide the pleasure that comes from pity and fear by means of imitation' (τ⋯ν ⋯π⋯ ⋯λέου κα⋯ ɸόβου δι⋯ μιμήσεως δεῖ ⋯δον⋯ν παρασκευάζειν 14.1453 b 12–13). The question of the relationship between pleasure and pain in Aristotle's aesthetics has been studied primarily in connection with catharsis. Catharsis, however, raises more problems than it solves. Aristotle says nothing at all about the tragic catharsis in the Poetics except to state that tragedy accomplishes it. Though he gives a more complete account of catharsis in the Politics, the context of this passage is so different from that of the Poetics that its relevance is questionable. A more promising, but largely neglected, approach to Aristotle's theory of tragic pleasure and pain is through a study of his psychological works. Here, Aristotle describes a number of emotional and cognitive responses to kinds of objects that include works of art. These descriptions support an interpretation of the Poetics according to which (1) a tragedy is pleasurable in one respect and painful in another, and (2) pity and fear, though painful and not in themselves productive of pleasure, are nevertheless essential to the production of the oikeia hēdonē, 'proper pleasure', of tragedy. This interpretation has the advantage of not depending on a particular view of catharsis. It also makes much better sense than alternative views, once its seemingly paradoxical aspects are explained with the help of the psychological works.


The controversy still exists about the biological activity of carboxyl (C)-terminal PTH fragments. The present study was performed to examine the effect of C-terminal PTH fragments on osteoclast-like cell formation and bone-resorbing activity. In contrast to human (h) PTH-(1-34) or hPTH-(1-84), any C-terminal fragments examined [hPTH-(35-84), hPTH-(53-84), and hPTH-(69-84)] did not affect cellular cAMP production and intracellular calcium in osteoblastic UMR-106 cells. Although hPTH-(1-84) caused an increase in cAMP production and intracellular calcium less effectively than hPTH-(1-34) in UMR-106 cells, the former caused a stimulation of osteoclast-like cell formation in osteoblast-containing mouse bone cell cultures more effectively than the latter. All of the C-terminal fragments significantly stimulated osteoclast-like cell formation, and their effectiveness seemed to depend on the amino acid length of the fragments. The conditioned medium from UMR-106 cells pretreated with C-terminal PTH as well as amino-terminal PTH significantly stimulated osteoclast-like cell formation from mouse hemopoietic blast cells supported by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Moreover, all of the C-terminal fragments stimulated osteoclast-like cell formation from hemopoietic blast cells even in the absence of osteoblasts, and their effectiveness seemed to depend on the length of fragments. As for bone-resorbing activity by mature osteoclasts, all of the C-terminal fragments stimulated bone resorption in osteoblast-containing mouse bone cell cultures, whereas these fragments did not affect the bone-resorbing activity of isolated rabbit osteoclasts. The present study first indicates that C-terminal PTH fragments stimulate osteoclast-like cell formation as well as bone-resorbing activity by mature osteoclasts in the presence of osteoblasts and accelerate osteoclast-like cell formation from hemopoietic blast cells in the absence of osteoblasts.