Wet weights of vas deferens, seminal vesicle and coagulating gland were reduced by almost 80 to 90% 10 weeks after castration. Endogenous norepinephrine content and dopamine-beta-hydroxylas activity of these tissues were also reduced to the same degree. One week after castration there was approximately a 50% loss in the weight of all three organs. However, this was accompanied by an equal reduction in norepinephrine content and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity only in the vas deferens. Two weeks later the degree of reductions in wet weight, norepinephrine content and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity was almost identical for all three organs. Treatment of 40-day castrate rats with testosterone (10 mg/kg s.c.) not only restored the wet weights of the internal sex organs to normal but their norepinephrine content and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity as well. Castration of immature rats (10-14 days old) resulted in retardation of growth of the vas deferens and seminal vesicle by 90-95%, and similar reductions in norepinephrin content and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity, when compared to the tissues of control littermates on the 90th postoperative day. Histological examination of normal and castrate rats indicated that, along with a reduction in epithelial cells, the smooth muscle cells of the vas deferens, seminal vesicle and coagulating gland was markedly reduce in size as well. Administration of testosterone completely reversed these changes. Furthermore, deoxyribonucleic acid content of the seminal vesicle and coagulating gland was reduced by 50% after castration and then restored to control level after testosterone treatment. Taken together, it seems that atrophy of the internal sex organs following castration is a combined effect of reduction in size and number of smooth muscle cells. Therefore, it is concluded that any alteration in the size of smooth muscle cells or loss of such cells of the internal sex organs indirectly influences their sympathetic nerves in such a manner that norepinephrine concentrations, and thereby the density of innervation, are maintained at normal levels.


Between 1993 and 1996 there was a large number of business establishment starts in smaller and larger communities in Canada, indicating significant business establishment development in the post recessionary period of the 1990s. Between 1993 and 1996 smaller communities had a larger ratio of smaller establishments (under 10 employees) to population than larger communities. In today's economy, new establishments tend to have fewer employees (under 10 employees) and are located in the service and construction sectors of the economy.


Acceptance research of system focuses on elements relating to usage, system
characteristics and task oriented fiinctions. This research analyses the factors
influencing user acceptance of Online Certificate Injection System (OCIS) and
uses multivariate analysis to develop a technology acceptance model. Nowadays,
internet security becomes crucial issues as there are rampant instances where false
impersonations of individuals and websites have occurred online, and the problem
appears to be on the rise. The protection upon to this problem can be overcome
with the use of Digital Certificate which is using a cryptographic system. To
implement this certificate, OCIS was developed by Digicert Sdn.Bhd to request
the certificate from CCM server and then inject the certificate into the smart card.
The smart card contains two certificate. Digital Signature certificate and Non
repudiation certificate and can be used to make a secured online transaction.
There is a need to understand the users' perspective and their acceptance of OCIS
System. Technology acceptance model (TAM) was used as a theoretical basis to
understand individual acceptance of users. In this study, five external variables
are used to explore individual user acceptance of an OCIS system. It also
identifies perceived ease-of-use and perceived usefulness which in turn have a
significant effect on individual user acceptance


The fluctuations of the current and voltage of the quantized unit cell equivalent circuit in loss-less mesoscopic left-handed transmission lines (LH TL)are deduced by thermal field dynamics (TFD) theory. And the fluctuations dependent of negative refractive index (NRI) of mesoscopic LH TL is discussed further in thermal Fock state. The results indicate that the quantum fluctuations show linear increasing dependent of NRI, while the frequency within the microwave frequency band and thermal photons show destructive dependent of NRI at some temperature. When the unit cell equivalent circuit operates at the rising temperature, the NRI is decreasing. The results demonstrates that the lower frequency and temperature, little thermal photons are more conducive to NRI of the mesoscopic LH TL, which is significant for the miniaturizing applications of LH TL.


This document presents a brief overview of who are the primary school teachers in Latin America and identifies the principle problems faced by human resources policy in the Latin American countries in their efforts to improve learning of all their children and youth, the only vehicle for adapting themselves to the society of the near future. The document also proposes three potential areas for immediate intervention: Pre-service training of teachers and their participation in a continuous learning process, Working and learning environment in the school, and The institutional framework for development of the teaching profession.


Ram suspension-feeding fishes are a taxonomically diverse group that is both economically and ecologically important. However, many questions remain pertaining to how they feed, including the types of prey they are capable of capturing, the metabolic costs associated with feeding, and the process of manipulating and transporting food around the oral cavity. Recent research has shown that the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) employs vortical crossstep filtration, in which vortices that form posterior to the branchial arches organize crossflow filtration processes into a spatial structure across the gill rakers. Potential temporal organization of filtration mechanisms in ram suspension-feeding fish has not been studied previously. Because ram suspension feeders swim forward with their mouths open to capture prey, we investigated the effect of the locomotor kinematics associated with undulatory swimming on intra-oral flow patterns and food particle transport. We constructed a mechanized model to simulate the swimming of suspension-feeding paddlefish, and recorded fluctuations of flow speed and pressure within the model. We also showed that swimming kinematics aided the transport of food particles from the gill rakers to the posterior margins of the gill slots. These findings suggest strong integration between locomotor and feeding systems in ram suspension-feeding fishes.


We reported 3 cases of severe tuberculous pneumonia associated with irreversible exacerbation and sequential death appeared after each intensive antitubercular chemotherapy containing INH, RFP, EB and SM. Acute tuberculous pneumonia probably represents an exudative hypersensitivity reaction to tuberculoprotein, rather than actual inflammation caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis organism. Mechanisms of the reversible roentgenographic progression are considered to be also similar to those of acute tuberculous pneumonia regarding the involvement of an exudative hypersensitivity reaction to tuberculoprotein. Our cases indicate that the involvement of reversible roentgenographic progression in patients with severe tuberculous pneumonia may result in the development of acute respiratory failure or adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), resulting from the acceleration of exudative hypersensitivity reactions by the intensive antitubercular chemotherapy. In the present report, relationships between tuberculous pneumonia, reversible roentgenographic progression and the appearance of acute respiratory failure (or ARDS) were discussed. Furthermore, the use of steroids is discussed.


Two main types of glassy fragmental rocks formed along the Proto-Macquarie Spreading Ridge: (i) hyaloclastite breccia; and (ii) pillow-fragment breccia. Examples now exposed on Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, were largely sourced from proximal pillow lavas. In each of seven samples examined, hyaloclasts (basaltic glass grains) have a narrow major- and trace-element geochemical range, consistent with derivation of each sample from a single volcanic eruption event. Moreover, every sample analysed within the one stratigraphic section (at three sites) displays distinctive major- and trace-element geochemistry compared with the other two sections. This suggests that hyaloclasts at each site represent discrete magma batches. A single source for these glassy fragmental rocks contrasts with the dominant fault-scarp-derived polymict sedimentary rocks on Macquarie Island. We suggest that the hyaloclasts analysed in this study were deposited in small basins between the slopes of growing pillow cones along the mid-ocean ridge. The geochemical analyses presented here encompass (weakly) fractionated (e.g. Bauer Bay) to near-primitive (e.g. Pyramid Peak) compositions. All samples presented here lie within the range of the enriched- to normal-MORB suites previously reported for the island that include the least fractionated MORB melts known globally. The interpretation of geochemically distinct magma batches over the small area of the island suggests very limited magma mixing consistent with an immature or waning magmatic system. We relate these geochemical characteristics to: (i) volcanism near a very long offset transform; and (ii) genesis of magmas during the waning stages of slow seafloor spreading within a very narrow (<50 km-wide) spreading corridor.


The most difficult problem in the domain of privacy is the one of extended data protection, which consists in ensuring that a piece of information is not processed in an unauthorized fashion by a distant agent. We analyze the existing works trying to address this issue with respect to the level of trust they can bring to users, the ultimate level being represented by the strong guarantees provided by Trusted Computing techniques. This technology being paradoxally dangerous for the users' liberties, we suggest three criteria for evaluating whether a TC-based architecture is fruitful or threatening to the user. On this basis, we propose a new TC-based architecture, ensuring both a high level of trust and an absence of risk for the user.


Introduction: Beyond the Mainstream Part 1: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship Can Corporations Be Civil? Opening Minds Ethical Futures Breaking the Trust Barrier Civil Regulation Framing the Business Case The Future of the Civil Regulators The New Civil Governance Part 2: The Civil Corporation Foundations of Sustainability Sustainability as the Art of the Possible Civil Learning Part 3: Building the Civil Corporation Building Civil Corporations How Much is Enough? Useful Measures Conversational Corporations Professionalizing Credibility Part 4: Conclusions How Civil Can Corporations Be?


We study the problem of characterizing the effective (homogenized) properties of materials whose diffusive properties are modeled with random fields. Focusing on elliptic PDEs with stationary and ergodic random coefficient functions, we provide a gentle introduction to the mathematical theory of homogenization of random media. We also present numerical examples to elucidate the theoretical concepts and results.


ATP sulfurylase, the first enzyme in the sulfate assimilation pathway of plants, catalyzes the formation of adenosine phosphosulfate from ATP and sulfate. Here we report the cloning of a cDNA encoding ATP sulfurylase (APS1) from Arabidopsis thaliana. APSl was isolated by its ability to alleviate the methionine requirement of an ATP sulfurylase mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast). Expression of APSl correlated with the presence of ATP sulfurylase enzyme activity in cell extracts. APSl is a 1748-bp cDNA with an open reading frame predided to encode a 463amino acid, 51,372-D protein. l h e predicted amino acid sequence of APSl is similar to ATP sulfurylase of S. cerevisiae, with which it is 25% identical. Two lines of evidence indicate that APSl encodes a chloroplast form of ATP sulfurylase. Its predided amino-terminal sequence resembles a chloroplast transit peptide; and the APSl polypeptide, synthesized in vitro, is capable of entering isolated intact chloroplasts. Severa1 genomic DNA fragments that hybridize with the APSl probe were identified. l h e APSl cDNA hybridizes to three species of mRNA in leaves (1.85, 1.60, and 1.20 kb) and to a single species of mRNA in roots (1.85 kb).


Mesoscale eddies are one of the dominant sources of variability in the world's oceans. With eddy-resolving global ocean models, it becomes important to assimilate observations of mesoscale eddies to correctly represent the state of the mesoscale. Here, we investigate strategies for assimilating a reduced number of sea-surface height observations by focusing on the coherent mesoscale eddies. The study is carried out in an idealized perfect-model framework using two-layer forced quasigeostrophic dynamics, which captures the dominant dynamics of ocean mesoscale eddies. We study errors in state-estimation as well as error growth in forecasts and find that as fewer observations are assimilated, assimilating at vortex locations results in reduced state estimation and forecast errors.


Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the nutritional intake of the infants
through nasogastric (NG) feeding and the associated complications.
Methods: Ten infants (mean age=17.3± 9.3 days, mean wt=2.1± 0.5 Kg) were included in the
study. Nutrients and energy were calculated from the NG feed using food composition
tables. Monitoring protocol and complications were observed.
Results: The mean total energy intake was 114.62 ± 9.48 Kcal/day (47% of RDA). The mean
protein intake was 1.25 ± 0.07 g/day, fulfilling only 27 % of the requirements. The mean per
day intakes of Ca, P, Zn, Fe, and Mg and mean per day intake of vitamins A, D, E, B6, B12,
folate, thiamin, and ascorbic acid from NG tube were much lower than RDA. Aspiration,
reflux, tube blockage, tube displacement, gut infection and diarrhea were noted. Monitoring
of NG feed was satisfactory.
Conclusion: The intake of protein and energy and frequency of most of complications is an
issue of concern. Stress must be placed to increase the energy and nutrients intake
(particularly protein), further strengthening monitoring and to minimize associated
complications of NG feeding in neonates. (Rawal Med J 2006;31:25-28)


Content of cadmium, lead and mercury in the tissues of game animals Summary The objective of the present study was to assess the accumulation of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) in the tissues of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) from selected major industrial areas in Poland: the PiotrkUw-Be‡chatow Industrial Region, the Bogatynia-TuroszUw Coal Basin, the Upper Silesian Industrial Region (vicinity of the Miasteczko al"skie Zinc Smelter) and the Legnica-G‡ogUw Copper Basin. The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship was selected as a reference area. Kidney, liver and muscle samples from 176 animals from all areas were collected by local hunting authorities in 2011-2012. The samples were homogenized, ashed in a muffle furnace at 450"C and digested in nitric acid. The content of Cd and Pb was determined by GF-AAS. The Hg content was determined by the AAS method with an AMA 254 mercury analyzer. A high concentration of lead found in muscle tissues may be a residue of lead bullets used for hunting. The actual maximum level for lead in meat was exceeded in 21% of samples analyzed. A high concentration of cadmium was determined in kidneys (above the maximum level of 1 mg/kg in 88% of samples). The highest concentration of toxic elements was found in roe deer and wild boar from the Upper Silesia Region, which indicates a high contamination of the environment compared to other areas. The overall conclusion is that the concentration of toxic elements in the tissues of game animals may be a useful source of information on the quality of ecosystems in which they live.


In recent years, it has been found that kisspeptin plays some key roles in the physiological processes of the brain, such as gender differentiation, positive and negative feedback of sex hormones, onset of puberty, and transduction of energy signals in the body, which suggests that kisspeptin may be a key molecule for the maturation and regulation of female reproductive function. In addition to the systemic roles of the kisspeptin, its local roles in reproductive organs are constantly being discovered. With the discovery that kisspeptin is involved in the pathological process of reproductive endocrine diseases such as isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), premature ovarian failure (POF) and pathological hyperprolactinemia, exogenous application of kisspeptin to solve reproductive problems has become a new hot topic. The review focuses on the research progress of kisspeptin in the female reproductive system, especially on its application in assisted reproduction.


Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) apoptosis and failure of optic nerve (ON) axon regeneration contribute to profound visual loss after traumatic optic neuropathy (TON), for which clinically effective treatments are lacking. Experimental manipulations of cellular signalling have identified phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and its downstream mediators mTOR and GSK3\(\beta\) as important regulators of neuronal survival and axon regeneration in an animal model of TON, using targeted siRNA to knock-down key negative regulators of cellular signalling, and to investigate underlying mechanisms using retinal cultures. Intravitreal treatment with siRNA targeting RTP801, a stress-induced inhibitor of mTOR, promoted RGC survival and axon elongation after ON crush (ONC), and potentiated reactive gliosis. In vitro, siRTP801- induced neuroprotection was direct, but required GFAP\(^+\) activated retinal glia to stimulate neurite elongation. siRTP801 also potentiated levels of glial-derived Trk-dependent neurotrophic factors. Knock-down of the axon growth cone/apoptosis regulator GSK3\(\beta\) was also neuroprotective, promoted modest axon elongation after ONC, and increased neurite sprouting in vitro. GSK3\(\beta\) suppression counteracted neurite growth-inhibition induced by CNS myelin-derived Nogo. Combined treatment with siRTP801/siGSK3\(\beta\) augmented axon regeneration after ONC. These findings support a clinically translatable siRNA approach targeting PI3K/mTOR signalling as the basis for development of novel neuroprotective/axogenic therapies.


The difficulties of futurological statement about the role of psychotherapy in the medical care system are seen (1) in the problemacy to define the object, (2) to assess the present state of the situation of psychotherapeutic care, (3) to recognize the environmental conditions of the role of psychotherapy is paramount. The futurological hypotheses are centred on the supposition that psychotherapy is more and more tending not be fixed at medical professional roles.


We have investigated whether a reduced MCR of GH in women will account for their higher serum GH concentrations premenopausally compared with those in men. To this end, we directly compared the half-life (t 1/2) of GH and its volume of distribution (Vo) in 13 young men and 6 comparably aged women, each evaluated at three stages of the normal menstrual cycle (viz. the early follicular, late follicular, and midluteal phases). To estimate nonequilibrium GH kinetics, each subject received octreotide pretreatment to suppress endogenous GH release and then 3 randomly ordered iv bolus doses of recombinant human GH (1, 2, and 4 microg/kg). The resultant peak serum GH concentrations were 18 +/- 4, 36+/-8, and 70+/-9 microg/L in six women and 17+/-2, 30+/-4, and 84+/-25 microg/L in six men (P = NS, gender contrast). Corresponding Vo values were 66+/-1, 71+/-1, and 60+/-1 mL/kg in women and 69+/-1, 78+/-1, and 73+/-1 mL/kg in men (P = NS). Matching monoexponential GH t1/2 values were 7.6+/-0.3, 8.2+/-0.4, and 8.8+/-0.7 min in women and 9.8+/-0.8, 10+/-1, and 9.5+/-1 min in men (average 1.7 min longer in men). Regression analysis disclosed no relationship between serum estradiol concentrations and peak serum GH levels, GH t 1/2, or Vo. GH t 1/2 values were also invariant of menstrual cycle stage, e.g. t 1/2 values of 8.1+/-0.5, 9.1+/-1.0, and 8.1+/-0.4 min for the early follicular, late follicular, and midluteal phases, respectively. Corresponding normalized MCRs were 319+/-39 (early follicular), 340+/-48 (late follicular), and 340+/-71 (midluteal) L/m2 x day in women and 336+/-50 L/m2 x day in men (P = NS). In parallel equilibrium infusion studies in men, we administered GH by constant iv infusions for 240 min during octreotide suppression. At doses of 0.5, 1.5, and 4.5 microg/kg x min, steady state GH t 1/2 values were 9+/-1, 12+/-1, and 15+/-1 min (at respective steady state serum GH concentrations of 0.5+/-0.05, 2.1+/-0.2, and 7.5+/-0.5 microg/L). In a third analysis in the same volunteers, stopping the constant iv infusions revealed t 1/2 values of GH decay from equilibrium of 26+/-5 and 23+/-2.3 min for the two higher GH infusion rates. In a fourth paradigm, endogenous GH t 1/2 values, as assessed in the same individuals by deconvolution analysis of overnight (10-min sampled) serum GH concentration profiles, averaged 18+/-1.3 min. This value was intermediate between that of poststeady state decay and iv bolus elimination of GH. In summary, the foregoing clinical experiments in healthy men and women indicate that 1) the nonequilibrium GH t 1/2, (body surface area-normalized) Vo, and MCR are independent of GH dose, sex, menstrual cycle stage, and serum estradiol concentrations; 2) the GH t 1/2 calculated after iv bolus injection is significantly (50%) shorter than that assessed during or after steady-state GH infusions or endogenously (overnight) by deconvolution analysis; and 3) the descending rank order of GH t 1/2 values in healthy volunteers is approximately: decay from steady state (23+/-2.3 min) > endogenously secreted GH (18+/-1.3 min) > during equilibrium infusion (15+/-1 min) > after bolus infusion (9.8+/-0.8 min). We thus conclude that for any given body surface area, the elimination properties of GH in men and women reflect predominantly the time mode of hormone entry into the circulation, rather than gender, menstrual cycle stage, or prevailing serum estradiol concentration. Accordingly, differences in serum GH concentrations in premenopausal women compared to those in young men and across the normal menstrual cycle reflect commensurate differences in pituitary GH secretion rates.


Field and laboratory measurements were made to test the validity of methods for calculating radon-flux attenuation through earthen covers as described in A Handbook for the Determination of Radon Attenuation Through Cover Materials, NUREG/CR-3533. Radon flux was measured at several sites on two, different, earthen-cover systems over uranium-mill tailings. Afterwards, the underlying materials were removed; and their properties which govern radon diffusion were measured. The validity of the diffusion equations presented in the handbook was established by the generally good agreement between the measured radon flux and the flux predicted when measured values of soil properties were used in these equations. Also, approximate values presented in the handbook for various soil properties were compared with those measured on samples collected at the test sites and were generally found to agree within a factor of four. When these approximate values were used in the diffusion equations, the predicted fluxes were larger than the measured values by factors of up to 31. This implies that the diffusion equations will overestimate the depth of cover soil required to attenuate radon flux to a prescribed level if these approximate values are used. However, investigation of the theoretical relationship between the radon flux from anmore » earth-covered tailings pile and the thickness of that cover indicated that the latter would only be overestimated by a factor of up to 1.5 at field sites similar to those examined in this study. In addition, measurements of radon flux over the drill holes indicated that these cover defects, penetrating the entire thickness of the cover but accounting for only 0.07% of its surface area, had negligible effect on the average flux from the cover system. 13 references, 1 figure, 12 tables.« less


In Mt. Fuji, self-disposal toilets installed at mountain huts by subsidy are facing difficulties in securing operation and maintenance funds. We examined whether self-disposal toilets in Mt. Fuji were installed appropriately in consideration of local conditions, the pay for these toilets was fairly priced and collected adequately, through developing the scoring method for selecting the type of self-disposal toilets, estimating optimum usage fee by PSM analysis, and exploring the feasibility of the introduction of entrance fee in Mt. Fuji. The results lead to the conclusion that applying the scoring method for the selection of the type of toilets and the introduction of entrance fee system contribute to solving the problem in Mt. Fuji. 富士山の山小屋が補助金を受けて設置した自己処理型トイレの維持管理コスト確保が困難な状況に陥っている。本研究では,総合パフォーマンス評価による自己処理型トイレの評価,PSM 分析を用いた適正トイレ使用料金の推定,CVM による入山料に対するWTP の推定を通じ,設置場所の環境に適した屎尿処理装置が導入されているか,協力金の設定金額は妥当であるか,入山料徴収制度の実現可能性について検討した。その結果,総合パフォーマンス評価を用いた屎尿処理装置の選定および入山料徴収制度の導入が,富士山における山小屋トイレ維持管理費確保問題の解決に寄与しうることが確認された。


This research examines the nexus of shareholding structure on intellectual capital disclosure. The shareholding structure consists of management, institutions, government, and foreigners. Furthermore, this research investigates the moderating role of the quality of the audit committee in this relationship. This research design uses quantitative methods. The population consists of banking firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange in 2016-2020. The selection of samples employing the purposive sampling method obtained 159 observations. The output of hypothesis testing using moderated regression analysis (MRA) shows that managerial and institutional ownership negatively impacts the disclosure of intellectual capital. The conclusion of this research is that shareholders tend to reduce the amount of intellectual capital disclosed. The test results also prove that share ownership by management, institutions, and the government can function as a management control mechanism if a qualified audit committee supports it. The findings serve as input for the Financial Services Authority; as the party that drafts regulations related to the formation and implementation guidelines of the audit committee's work. Therefore, managers should integrate intellectual capital information with financial information; so that it is more useful for users of information for decision making. Practical implications of this research are that banking companies in Indonesia can improve the quality of their audit committees so that there is an increase in intellectual capital disclosure.


Before he studied medicine, Philip John Kingston was in the navy and served on an aircraft carrier. This is presumably where he was exposed to asbestos, which resulted in the mesothelioma which eventually killed him.

Philip's career in haematology began at St Thomas' Hospital, where he was appointed as senior lecturer in 1975. In 1978 he was appointed as the first consultant haematologist in Gloucestershire, at what was then Gloucester Royal Hospital. He set up both the laboratory and clinical services. His prodigious energy and attention to detail were outstanding. He had extremely high standards and expected the same from those who worked with him. When clinical pathology accreditation inspections at laboratories started, these qualities were invaluable and woe betide anybody who had not done what was required of them. The inspectors rarely found anything negative to say about …


We propose a demonstration of Cayuga, a complex event monitoring system for high speed data streams. Our demonstration will show Cayuga applied to monitoring Web feeds; the demo will illustrate the expressiveness of the Cayuga query language, the scalability of its query processing engine to high stream rates, and a visualization of the internals of the query processing engine.


During the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19, the need for remote communication between doctors and patients has increased around the world. Objective : remote interaction between rheumatologist and patients using "ASpine" technology in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects and methods . Within the framework of the scientific project, the information technology "ASpine" was used, which consists of two parts. The first is directly a mobile application for patients with a diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis and the second is a program for a personal computer that is used by a rheumatologist. In the "ASpine" application, patients fill out BASDAI, ASDAS-CRP, BASFI questionnaires, enter data from various studies, and control the performance of daily exercise therapy. Also, the program has the ability to contact the attending physician via text messages. The paper presents the experience of one rheumatologist with the information technology "ASpine" during the COVID-19 pandemic from April to June 2020. Results . From January 1 to June 6, 2020, the total number of downloads of "ASpine" applications from the AppStore and GooglePlay was 1778, most of all during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, a rheumatologist using "ASpine" remotely observed 71 patients with axial spondyloarthritis. 47 (66.1%) of them were attached from April to June 2020. As of June 1, 2020, the average BASDAI in the observed values of patients was 4.7±2.3, BASFI -3.5±2.7, ASDAS-CRP - 3.1±1.1. During a pandemic, messages from patients came in daily from 1 to 16. Their review and preparation of a response by a doctor per call took an average of 5 minutes; usually it took no more than 30 minutes to answer each day. Conclusion . The "ASpine" program for patients with axial spondyloarthritis during a difficult situation in the country caused by restrictive means of preventing COVID-19 provided real help as an alternative method of communication with the attending physician. In turn, the technology allows a rheumatologist to remotely monitor the health status of a large number of time expenditures (no more than 30 minutes per day for 71 patients).


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common complication in liver cirrhosis. The integrin alpha6 beta1, a receptor for the laminin family of extracellular matrix proteins, has been found to be overexpressed in hepatocarcinoma. In an effort to further characterize the involvement of alpha6 beta1-integrin in hepatocarcinoma progression and to study alpha6 beta1-mediated functions, a human hepatocarcinoma cell line, HepG2, that express high surface levels of alpha6 beta1 and uses only this integrin to mediate adhesion on laminin was identified.

METHODS
To assess the role of alpha6 beta1 in these cells, a cytoplasmic domain deletion mutant of the beta4-integrin subunit by complementary DNA transfection was expressed. The expression of the mutant beta4 subunit in association with endogenous alpha6 showed a dominant-negative effect on alpha6 beta1 expression.

RESULTS
Stable transfectants of HepG2 that expressed the mutant beta4 subunit showed a reduced ability to adhere and migrate on laminin matrices and to invade Matrigel. Furthermore, transfected cells showed significantly lower growth rates and reduced anchorage-independent growth compared with mock-transfected cells.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings on the expression and function of alpha6 beta1 in hepatocarcinoma cells emphasize the potential contribution of this laminin receptor in the neoplastic transformation of hepatocytes.


Finding a document or resource in an unstructured peer-to-peer network can be an exceedingly difficult problem. In this paper we propose a dynamic query routing approach that accounts for arbitrary overlay topologies, nodes with heterogeneous processing capacity and heterogenous class-based likelihoods of query resolution at nodes, reflecting the query loads and manner in which files/resources are distributed across the network. Finite processing capacity at nodes, e.g., reflecting their degree of altruism, can indeed limit the stabilizable load into the system. Our approach is shown to be throughput optimal subject to a grade of service constraint, i.e., it stabilizes the query load subject to a guarantee that queries' routes meet pre-specified class-based bounds on their associated a priori probability of query resolution. Numerical and simulation results show significant improvement in capacity region and performance benefits, in terms of mean delay, over random walk based searches. Additional aspects associated with reducing complexity, learning, and adaptation to class-based query resolution probabilities and traffic loads are studied.


The paper compares an investment policy of the Government of Novosibirsk Oblast and the recommendations included in the model program on improving investment climates in RF subjects and developed on the base of the best sub-federal practices. The paper analyses problems of the socio-economic and investment development and proposes the ways and mechanisms to improve the investment policy in this region.


Intercostal artery aneurysms can be of congenital, posttraumatic, or mycotic type. Intercostal arterial aneurysmal bleeding can be brisk enough to lead into shock or sudden death. Bleeding through chest tubes has been reported due to various causes; it is commonly due to injury to intercostal or pulmonary vessels and is occasionally due to leaking aortic aneurysms. We describe a patient who had development of repeated episodes of brisk bleeding through an empyema chest tube leading to shock episodes requiring resuscitations. After extensive search, the bleeding source was found to be an intercostal artery aneurysm. Transcatheter embolization of that intercostal artery with absorbable gelatin sponge (Gelfoam) was successful in obliterating the blood flow to the aneurysm and in preventing further bleeding.


This thesis examines the major ethical issues experienced by UK sports journalists in the
course of their practice in the modern digital media landscape, with a particular focus on selfcensorship.
In tandem, it captures the lived professional experience of sports journalists in
the digital era. My own professional experience is considered alongside the experiences of
interviewees and diary-keepers. Initially, an exploratory case study of the work of
investigative journalist David Walsh is used to highlight key ethical issues affecting sports
journalism. A Kantian deontological theoretical perspective is articulated and developed.
Qualitative approaches, specifically Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and
autoethnography, are then used to provide an original analysis of the research objectives,
enhanced by philosophical analysis. Ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews are conducted
with a homogeneous sample of UK sports journalists, while diaries kept by three different
journalists provide another seam of data. Reflective logs of my own work as a sports journalist
provide the basis for autoethnographic data. The main log runs for two-and-half years (2016-
19) with a separate additional log covering the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. The semistructured
interviews, diaries, autoethnography and case study are synthesized. The thesis
explores how social media has introduced a host of ethical issues for sports journalists, not
least the handling of abuse directed at them. Social media emerges as a double-edged sword.
One of its most positive functions is to raise the standard of some journalists' output due to
the greater scrutiny that reporters feel they are under in the digital era, but at its worst it can
be a platform for grotesque distortion and for corrupting sports journalists' decision-making
processes. Self-censorship of both facts and opinions emerges as a pervasive factor in sports
journalism, a phenomenon that has been intensified by the advent of social media. Sports
journalists show low engagement with codes of conduct, with the research suggesting that
participants are on occasion more readily influenced by self-policing dynamics. This project
captures vividly sports journalists' personal involvement and emotional investment in their
work, and reconsiders the 'toy department'-versus-watchdog classification of sports
journalists. The thesis concludes with recommendations for industry, including the
introduction of formal support for sports journalists affected by online abuse.


Current software interfaces fail to incorporate historical data from user interaction into their design. While some systems exhibit a minimalist use of history in the form of undo and redo, selective menu items, and other static elements, there has been a lack of use of history in the dynamic elements of interaction. We propose a more widespread use of historical data from user-software interaction to augment the desktop and application environment. We believe the use of historical data can improve the user's experience at many different levels. Our approach begins by assuming that everything the user is doing on the desktop is important to them, and that it will be important again in the future.


The third generation of bioethanol production, bioethanol converted from biomass of microalgae. Our reserach aimed to produce bioethanol from substrate microalgae Oscillatoria sp . as substrate has been conducted. Oscillatoria sp. cultured in two media namely Bold Basal and Blue Green 11. microalgae Oscillatoria sp . were cultivated in Bold Basal and Blue Green 11 media hydrolyzed substrate, 0.143 mL/g and 0.496 mL/g, respectively. Unhyrolysate microalgae generated 0.018 mL/g and 3.59 mL/g of reduced sugar, respectively. Biomass obtained from Blue Green 11 media and Bold Basal media were 0.676 g and 0.482 g, respectively. Based on HPLC analysis, Oscillatoria sp. biomass contained maltose. Biomass were hydrolyzed by autoclaving in 121°C for 15 minutes. Bioethanol production was conducted by fermentation process using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a microbial agent which applied in hydrolysate and non-hydrolysate of microalgae. Ethanol generated from fermentation was analyzed using gas chromatography. Based on gass chromatography data resulted that hydrolysate of microalgae biomass cultivated in Bold Basal medium and in Blue Green 11 medium produced 7% and 23% ethanol, respectively.


An important step in the process of interpreting a New Testament epistle is to ascertain the communicative contents which the epistle had for the first readers. Only then is it justified and valid to determine the implication of that contents for the present situation. The importance of historical facts (among which cultural situation) for the determination of the first communication situation of a New Testament book has long been generally acknowledged. The importance of grammatical facts (both diachronic and synchronic) has also enjoyed acknowledgement for some time. In addition to the usage of historical and grammatical data, the necessity to take careful cognizance of the literary conventions contemporary to the time of the specific New Testament book, has recently started gaining acknowledgement. The aim of this article is to exploit some of the recent research results in epistolography. The value of these results will be used, firstly for the interpretation of 1 Peter, and secondly and more specifically, for the determination of the relationship between indicative and paraclesis in this letter In this article it is also attempted to give an overview of recent developments in Petrine studies.


To assure a leak free scenario when a valve packing is utilized, tests have been developed in order to monitor a group of parameters when service conditions are simulated. These tests enable valve manufactures to have an improved design, and guide end users on efficient packing selection. This paper presents valve packing test devices that provide developers with tools to evaluate properties such as; installation stress, relaxation, stem torque, number of rings and thermal expansion effects. Details of each device are shown, along with typical results of each property evaluated.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


Water scarcity in the world is a problem diagnosed especially in countries with large semi-arid regions such as Brazil. Research has been conducted with a view to making use of saline waters as an input for cultivation, particularly in hydroponics, with especial focus on lettuce, the most prominent leafy vegetable in Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the development of lettuce in a semi-hydroponic system fertigated with saline water and under foliar fertilization with biofertilizer. The present study was carried out in a greenhouse located in the experimental area of the Department of Environmental and Technological Sciences (DCAT) of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid Region, in the municipality of Mossoro, RN, Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design, with treatments arranged in a 2 x 4 factorial scheme, with 4 replicates, two salinity levels of the water used to prepare the nutrient solution (0.5 and 3.5 dS m-1) and four biofertilizer concentrations (0, 20, 40 and 60%) applied by foliar spraying. The evaluated characteristics were: shoot diameter, stem diameter, number of leaves, fresh mass, dry mass, leaf succulence, leaf area and specific leaf area. The use of saline water to prepare the nutrient solution reduces fresh mass and dry mass production in the lettuce crop. The biofertilizer can be applied through the leaves at concentration of up to 20%, promoting greater plant growth.


The wide diversity of applications of thiosemicarbazones and bis(thiosemicarbazones) has seen them used as anticancer and antitubercular agents, and as ligands in metal complexes designed to act as site-specific radiopharmaceuticals. Molecules of 1,1'-({[(ethane-1,2-diyl)dioxy](1,2-phenylene)}bis(methanylylidene))bis(thiosemicarbazide) {alternative name: 2,2'-[ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy)]dibenzaldehyde bis(thiosemicarbazide)}, C18H20N6O2S2, (I), lie across twofold rotation axes in the space group C2/c, with an O-C-C-O torsion angle of -59.62 (13)° and a trans-planar arrangement of the thiosemicarbazide fragments relative to the adjacent aryl rings. The molecules of (I) are linked by N-H...S hydrogen bonds to form sheets containing R(2)4(38) rings and two types of R(2)2(8) ring. In the N,N-dimethylformamide disolvate, C18H20N6O2S2·2C3H7NO, (II), the independent molecular components all lie in general positions, but one of the solvent molecules is disordered over two sets of atomic sites having occupancies of 0.839 (3) and 0.161 (3). The O-C-C-O torsion angle in the ArOCH2CH2OAr component is -75.91 (14)° and the independent thiosemicarbazide fragments both adopt a cis-planar arrangement relative to the adjacent aryl rings. The ArOCH2CH2OAr components in (II) are linked by N-H...S hydrogen bonds to form deeply puckered sheets containing R(2)2(8), R(2)4(8) and two types of R(2)2(38) rings, and which contain cavities which accommodate all of the solvent molecules in the interior of the sheets. Comparisons are made with some related compounds.


We investigate the unjamming response of disordered packings of frictional hard disks with the help of computer simulations. First, we generate jammed configurations of the disks and then force them to move again by local perturbations. We study the spatial distribution of the stress and displacement response and find long range effects of the perturbation in both cases. We record the penetration depth of the displacements and the critical force that is needed to make the system yield. These quantities are tested in two types of systems: in ideal homogeneous packings in zero gravity and in packings settled under gravity. The penetration depth and the critical force are sensitive to the interparticle friction coefficient. Qualitatively, the same nonmonotonic friction dependence is found both with and without gravity, however the location of the extrema are at different friction values. We discuss the role of the connectivity of the contact network and of the pressure gradient in the unjamming response.


This paper offers descriptive analyses of two staff-student educational partnership programs of the Teaching and Learning Initiative (TLI) at Bryn Mawr College. The focal programs partner college employees with undergraduate students in unique, reciprocal learning partnerships and student-mentored introductory staff computing courses. While community engagement traditionally focuses attention beyond the campus and identifies off-campus community members as beneficiaries of college students' efforts, these programs focus on students' relationships with people whose labor sustains the campus in egalitarian, collaborative, educational experiences. In focusing this argument on the educational benefits of such experiences to students, I explore the connections to liberal education. I also argue that intra-campus community engagement enhances students' understandings and capacities to challenge limiting hierarchies and divisions. I further argue that this kind of engagement enables students to learn within and across diversity, while developing as people and leaders of campus-based civic initiatives.


In this work, niobium carbide coatings were deposited on AISI M2, H13, and D2 tool steels by thermoreactive deposition/diffusion. The carbides were obtained using salt baths composed of molten borax, aluminum, and ferroniobium at a temperature of 1020 °C for 4 hours. The coatings were observed via scanning electron microscopy. The phases were determined using X-ray diffraction, and Vickers indentation was used to determine the hardness. The electrochemical behavior was studied via potentiodynamic polarization curves to determine the rate of corrosion and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine the resistance to polarization. The results were compared with the properties of the substrate without a coating, and in general, greater hardness and better corrosion resistance were observed with the coatings.


Blind source separation (BSS) is an emerging statistical and data processing technique which aims to recover unobservable source signals from the observed mixtures. Second-order blind identification (SOBI) is one BSS algorithm that relies on stationary second-order statistics based on joint diagonalization of a set of covariance matrices. In simulations, the use of multiple covariance matrices computed with different time delays, /spl tau/s, was beneficial for source separation, particularly when the underlying sources had highly overlapping spectra. Given the spectral overlap between actual brain sources, we experimented with different sets of temporal delays to empirically determine their effects on the isolation of electrical signals arising from a temporally and spatially well characterized brain location, the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). Using EEG data collected during median nerve stimulation, we found that the successful isolation of left and right SI activity required the use of a range of time delays and that the best separation was observed when the largest range of /spl tau/s from 1 up to 300 ms was used.


The clinical presentation of bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (PMG) is highly variable, including oromotor dysfunction, epilepsy, intellectual disability, and pyramidal signs. Extrapyramidal features are extremely rare. We present four apparently unrelated patients with a unique association of PMG with dystonia. The clinical, genetic, and radiologic features are described and possible mechanisms of dystonia are discussed. All patients were female and two were born to consanguineous families. All presented with early childhood onset dystonia. Other neurologic symptoms and signs classically seen in bilateral perisylvian PMG were observed, including oromotor dysfunction and speech abnormalities ranging from dysarthria to anarthria (4/4), pyramidal signs (3/4), hypotonia (3/4), postnatal microcephaly (1/4), and seizures (1/4). Neuroimaging showed a unique pattern of bilateral PMG with an infolded cortex originating primarily from the perisylvian region in three out of four patients. Whole exome sequencing was performed in two out of four patients and did not reveal pathogenic variants in known genes for cortical malformations or movement disorders. The dystonia seen in our patients is not described in bilateral PMG and suggests an underlying mechanism of impaired connectivity within the motor network or compromised cortical inhibition. The association of bilateral PMG with dystonia in our patients may represent a new neurogenetic disorder.


The micro-domain provides excellent conditions for performing biological experiments on small populations of cells and has given rise to the proliferation of so-called lab-on-a-chip devices. In order to fully utilize the benefits of cell assays, means of retaining cells at defined locations over time are required. Here, the creation of scale-like cantilevers, inspired by biomimetics, on planar silicon nitride (Si3N4) film using focused ion beam machining is described. Using SEM imaging, regular tilting of the cantilever with almost no warping of the cantilever was uncovered. Finite element analysis showed that the scale-like cantilever was best at limiting stress concentration without difficulty in manufacture and having stresses more evenly distributed along the edge. It also had a major advantage in that the degree of deflection could be simply altered by changing the central angle. From a piling simulation conducted, it was found that a random delivery of simulated particles on to the scale-like obstacle should create a triangular collection. In the experimental trapping of polystyrene beads in suspension, the basic triangular piling structure was observed, but with extended tails and a fanning out around the obstacle. This was attributed to the aggregation tendency of polystyrene beads that acted on top of the piling behavior. In the experiment with bacterial cells, triangular pile up behind the cantilever was absent and the bacteria cells were able to slip inside the cantilever's opening despite the size of the bacteria being larger than the gap. Overall, the fabricated scale-like cantilever architectures offer a viable way to trap small populations of material in suspension.


101/EXHIBIT is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition Birds of America Explorations of Audubon, a celebration of the gallery's representational relationship with the Larry Rivers Foundation. The exhibition consists of a survey of works by Rivers, inspired by John James Audubon's book Birds of America exhibited alongside works by contemporary artists who have been asked to create his or her own interpretation of a plate of their choice from the book.


OBJECTIVE
To study the differences in ultrastructural findings between prostatic carcinoma and benign prostatic hypertrophy, and the various ultrastructural features seen in moderately to poorly differentiated prostatic carcinoma.

METHODS
Utrasound-guided needle biopsies were carried out in 50 clinically suspicious cases of prostatic carcinoma. For each case, one additional core was sampled from the most suspicious area, fixed in glutaraldehyde and examined under electron microscopy.

RESULTS
In the 50 cases of prostatic needle biopsies studied, there were a total of 42 cases with histologic findings of prostatic carcinoma. Thirty-one cases showed features corresponding to Gleason's score 3 to 5. In contrast to that seen in benign prostatic hypertrophy, the ultrastructural findings of the tumor cells commonly seen in prostatic carcinoma included the centrally located giant nucleoli, a direct contact with stroma, and formation of cytoplasmic microcyst. Occasionaly, there were mitotic figures seen, accompanying with fibromyxoid change of the peritumoural stroma. Amongst the 31 cases of Gleason's score 3 to 5 prostatic carcinoma, 29 cases (93.5%) demonstrated cytoplasmic prostasomes and storage vesicles. Similar to their counterparts in benign prostatic cells, prostasomes and storage vesicles in prostatic carcinoma cells were formed in the Golgi apparatus and released into the lumen by apocrine excretion and exocytosis.

CONCLUSIONS
Electron microscopy is helpful in distinguishing between benign and malignant prostatic lesions. Because of the high yield of prostasomes in moderately to poorly differentiated prostatic carcinoma, prostasomes may become a potential target for cancer immunotherapy and one of the useful diagnostic indices for delineating the prostatic origin of metastatic carcinoma.


Species barriers, expressed as hybrid inviability and sterility, are often due to epistatic interactions between divergent loci from two lineages. Theoretical models indicate that the strength, direction, and complexity of these genetic interactions can strongly affect the expression of interspecific reproductive isolation and the rates at which new species evolve. Nonetheless, empirical analyses have not quantified the frequency with which loci are involved in interactions affecting hybrid fitness, and whether these loci predominantly interact synergistically or antagonistically, or preferentially involve loci that have strong individual effects on hybrid fitness. We systematically examined the prevalence of interactions between pairs of short chromosomal regions from one species (Solanum habrochaites) co-introgressed into a heterospecific genetic background (Solanum lycopersicum). We used lines containing pairwise combinations of 15 chromosomal segments from S. habrochaites crossed into the background of S. lycopersicum (i.e., 95 double introgression lines). We compared the strength of hybrid incompatibility (either pollen sterility or seed sterility) expressed in each double introgression line to the expected additive effect of its two component single introgressions. We found that: epistasis was common among co-introgressed regions; epistastic effects for hybrid dysfunction were overwhelmingly antagonistic (i.e., double hybrids were less unfit than expected from additive single introgression effects); and, epistasis was substantially more prevalent in pollen fertility compared to seed fertility phenotypes. Together, these results indicate that higher-order interactions frequently contribute to postzygotic sterility barriers in these species. This pervasive epistasis leads to the decoupling of the patterns of accumulation of isolation loci and isolation phenotypes, and is expected to attenuate the rate of accumulation of hybrid infertility among lineages over time (i.e., giving diminishing returns as more reproductive isolation loci accumulate). This decoupling effect might also explain observed differences between pollen and seed fertility in their fit to theoretical predictions of the accumulation of isolation loci, including the 'snowball' effect. AUTHOR SUMMARY A characteristic feature of new species is their inability to produce fertile or viable hybrids with other lineages. This post-zygotic reproductive isolation is caused by dysfunctional interactions between genes that have newly evolved changes in the diverging lineages. Whether these interactions occur between pairs of divergent alleles, or involve more complex networks of genes, can have strong effects on how rapidly reproductive isolation—and therefore new species—evolve. The complexity of these interactions, however, is poorly understood in empirical systems. We examined the fertility of hybrids that carried one or two chromosomal regions from a close relative, finding that hybrids with two of these heterospecific regions were frequently less sterile than would be expected from the joint fitness of hybrids that have the same regions singly. This 'less-than-additive' effect on hybrid sterility was widespread (observed in 20% of pairwise combinations), and especially pronounced for male sterility. We infer that genes contributing to male sterility form a more tightly connected network than previously thought, implying that reproductive isolation is evolving by incremental dysfunction of complex interactions rather than by independent pairwise incompatibilities. We use simulations to illustrate these expected patterns of accumulation of reproductive isolation when it involves highly interconnected gene networks.


The study aims to determine students' perceptions on activities related to their learning experiences and the correlation to their grades. For that purpose questionnaires were distributed to students to elicit their responses to a variety of learning experiences. The study samples consisted of 67 students from group W who took the instructional design and technology course for semester 2, 2009/2010 at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris. The result shows that students responded positively to the learning experiences. The study also finds that there was a significant correlation between students' acceptance of a variety of learning experiences and their achievements in meeting the learning outcomes of the course. The implication of the study shows that students' positive response to the diversity of their learning experiences was crucial to their successful achievement in accomplishing intended learning outcomes. In conclusion, there is a need for a variety of instructional activities in conducting the instructional design and technology course in order to achieve the intended learning outcomes.


The mechanisms leading to muscle dysfunction in COPD have not been elucidated. One hypothesis is the exhausted muscle regenerative capacity of satellite cells, which would compromise muscle mass maintenance, but the capacity of satellite cells to proliferate and differentiate properly in COPD is unknown. The objective was to compare the characteristics of satellite cells derived from COPD patients and healthy subjects, in terms of proliferative and differentiation capacities, morphological phenotype, and oxidative stress status. Therefore, we purified and cultivated satellite cells from frozen quadriceps biopsies of 8 COPD patients and 8 healthy controls. We examined proliferation parameters, the myogenic fusion index, myotube diameter, cell susceptibility to oxidative stress, antioxidant enzyme expression, protein carbonylation, and lipid peroxidation in cultured myoblasts and/or myotubes. The myogenic fusion index was similar in myotubes from controls and COPD patients. Myotube diameter was significantly smaller in COPD patients. Significant correlations were observed between the cultured myotube diameter and fiber cross sectional area as well as muscle voluntary contraction. Furthermore, myoblasts from COPD patients were significantly more susceptible to H2O2-induced oxidative stress than those from control subjects, and oxidative stress damage, like protein carbonylation and lipid peroxidation, was higher in COPD myoblasts and/or myotubes. In conclusion, cultured satellite cells from COPD patients display characteristics of atrophy and oxidative stress similar to those in in vivo COPD limb muscles, suggesting that we have developed a cellular model for the study of muscle dysfunction in COPD.


Little is known about the concrete historical sources for the use of neopositivist operational criteria by the DSM-III. This paper suggests that distinct sources operated implicitly. The current usefulness of the operational approach is questioned. It is shown that: (a) in epistemology, neopositivism has been replaced by more adequate accounts; (b) psychologists rejected operational definitions because these were unable to define the majority of mental phenomena; (c) mental symptoms cannot be directly described as such, because they already make part of the psychiatric diagnosis to which they belong. In conclusion, diagnosing is based on the hermeneutical co-construction of mental symptoms. The failure of the neopositivist programme suggests that it is time to reconcile scientific formalization and semiotic activity.


For the quantitative measurement of immunoglobulin A in human saliva, an immunobead enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was investigated in detail. The method proved to be fast and sensitive, and it gave reproducible results. There was a strong correlation with results obtained by a single radial immunodiffusion method. The immunobead method gave 1.8 times higher values than the single radial immunodiffusion method with a lower correction factor for low-immunoglobulin A saliva and a higher factor for immunoglobulin A-rich saliva.


Following the significant investment made by education systems and individual schools to introduce computer-based technologies to teaching and learning, the emphasis on online learning has appeared as a new wave of priority. Online learning practice is an emerging area, characterised by rapid growth, and driven by political, commercial and 'inevitability' pressures, both locally and internationally. Much is promised in terms of cost savings, collaborative benefits and flexible course provision, beyond even the promises surrounding the integration of computer-based technologies in general. The paper presents an appraisal of the developing range of practices occurring in NSW and at a national level, set against the emerging trends in recent literature from school-based studies.


The effect of hypercapnia on brain cell membrane structure and function was studied in anesthetized newborn piglets. Lipid peroxidation products (conjugated dienes and fluorescent compounds), Na+,K+‐ATPase activity and enzyme affinity to ATP (substrate), K+ and Na+ ions (activators), and strophanthidin (inhibitor) were measured in three groups of animals: controls, those exposed to 90 minutes of Paco2 > 80 mmHg (hypercapnia) and those exposed the same way, following restoration of normal Paco2, (recovery). Enzyme activity was unchanged by hypercapnia, but enzyme affinity was altered as indicated by an increase in ATP affinity. Affinities to Na+, K+, and strophanthidin were unchanged. Restoration of normal Paco2 resulted in an increase in conjugated dienes. The data demonstrate that hypercapnia followed by restoration of normal Paco2 in healthy term newborn piglets is associated with mild modification of brain cell membrane Na+, K+‐ATPase, possibly due to lipid peroxidation.Pediatr Pulmonal. 1994;18:81–88. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The CRP department recognizes the importance of sketching as graphic thinking and a means to learn from what we see. Filipa Antunes, a renowned urban sketcher and artist who recently exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, presents some thoughts on how she approaches sketching as both a rational and an emotional process. All illustrations in this article are by the author. Follow Filipa's work at https://www.facebook.com/DesenhoFilipaOliveiraAntunes/


This paper describes the results of static compression and tension load tests performed on three-instrumented large-diameter continuous flight auger piles installed in Dublin Boulder Clay. The piles developed very high shaft resistance and, in contrast to piles driven into Boulder Clay that exhibit friction fatigue, the shaft distribution was uniform along the pile shaft. This resulted in the normalised average shear resistance being mobilised by a bored pile exceeding that of a pile driven in similar ground conditions. In contrast, the base resistance of the test piles was significantly lower than that of a pile driven in similar ground conditions.


Hyperbranched polyglycerols (hbPGs) were investigated as nanocarriers to encapsulate and deliver guest molecules. 1H NMR titration and 1H–1H NOESY and fluorescence experiments were performed to study molecular interactions between hbPGs and Rhodamine B (RB). The results show that RB is entrapped in hbPGs by electrostatic interactions with hbPG etheric chains. Hydrogen bonds between etheric chains and the carboxyl group of RB induce the rotation of the phenyl vs. xanthene ring, further stabilizing the complex. hbPGs and RB interactions in water were also evaluated and compared to the interaction in d6-DMSO. The results reveal that the terminal glycerol units of hbPGs form a tight shell outside the interior parts in aqueous solution. 1H–1H NOESY studies of hbPGs with 5-Fu using surface modification suggest that this layer might be a main factor affecting the encapsulation and release of guest molecules.


Abstracts: AACR Special Conference: Advances in Breast Cancer; October 17-20, 2015; Bellevue, WA

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) have a worse prognosis relative to other breast cancer subtypes, underscoring the urgent need for identification of driver molecules or pathways for targeted therapies. Breast tumor kinase (Brk) is a soluble tyrosine kinase that is aberrantly elevated and active in 86% of breast cancers. Our lab has shown Brk to be a potent driver of basal-type mammary tumors. Mechanisms through which Brk overexpression is acquired in breast cancer cells are largely unknown. We recently reported that Brk is a direct target gene of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1alpha) and HIF-2alpha, activated in response to cellular stresses such as hypoxia, low glucose, or nutrient starvation. It is becoming increasingly evident that the stress sensing hormone, cortisol, via activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), leads to cell survival and chemoresistance in tumors of epithelial origin, such as breast cancer. In fact, GR expression in TNBC predicts poor outcome. Herein, we sought to investigate crosstalk between cell stress pathways and GR signaling that may influence expression of Brk in TNBC. An explant model of primary human TNBC demonstrated robust induction of Brk mRNA and protein with the GR ligand, dexamethasone (dex). Brk mRNA and protein were also induced in response to dex in TNBC cell line models. MDA-MB-231 cells with HIF-1a/2a knockdown (DKD), failed to induce Brk expression following dex treatment, suggesting that GR regulation of Brk requires HIF-1a/2a. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays showed HIF and GR co-recruitment to the Brk promoter in response to either hypoxia or dex, indicating that Brk is a direct GR/HIF target gene. HIF-2a mRNA and protein were also directly regulated by GR in response to dex treatment. Notably, expression of Proline, glutamate and leucine rich protein 1 (PELP1), an important steroid receptor coactivator, was significantly induced by hypoxic cell stress, while DKD cells (lacking HIFs) exhibited markedly reduced PELP1 protein levels relative to control cells. Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) assays showed that PELP1 and GR interact basally and in response to dex treatment in multiple TNBC cell lines. Moreover, PELP1 was recruited to the Brk promoter with HIF2a and GR following dex treatment. Inhibition of PELP1 with the peptidomemtic, D2, blocked dex induction of Brk mRNA. Physiologic cell stress resulted in phosphorylation of GR at serine 134 (S134) and this event was required for the GR and PELP1 interaction. Enhanced phosphorylation at this site via H2O2 treatment increased GR recruitment to the Brk promoter, while blockade of this site via the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 diminished GR recruitment to the Brk promoter and blocked Brk induction. Notably, mutant GR in which S134 was mutated to an alanine (S134A) was not recruited to the Brk promoter basally or in response to dex treatment, highlighting the importance of this phosphorylation event in the GR regulation of Brk expression. Our data show that GR initiates a feed-forward signaling loop leading to upregulation of Brk in TNBC and reveal molecular linkage between cell stress and stress hormone signaling in driving aggressive phenotypes in breast cancer. Collectively, our studies suggest that GR, HIF, PELP1 cross talk may promote aggressive tumor behavior, in part via upregulation of Brk. Breast cancer patients are routinely given high doses of dex to alleviate the inflammatory side effects of chemotherapy. This treatment may inadvertently promote chemoresistance and tumor progression via robust induction of Brk expression. Targeting the GR/HIF/PELP1 complex may provide a means of blocking Brk-dependent tumor progression and metastasis in patients with TNBC.

Citation Format: Tarah M. Regan Anderson, Shihong Ma, Ganesh V. Raj, Carol A. Lange. Regulation of breast tumor kinase (Brk) expression in triple-negative breast cancer integrates cellular (HIF-2alpha) and hormonal (cortisol) stress signaling. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research; Oct 17-20, 2015; Bellevue, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(2_Suppl):Abstract nr A56.


This thesis work introduces the control of the coordinates of PSS and STATCOM to damp the inter-field oscillations of the multi-machine system. In previous eras, PSS was used as a local controller in multi-machine systems to dampen such oscillations between fields. Reactive FACTS devices, such as synchronous static compensators (STATCOM) are taken into account and evaluated for their design of a damping controller. STATCOM is a reactive power compensator based on a voltage source converter that uses electronic power devices with stop capacity as switching devices. Its main function is to support the voltage of the bus from which it is connected to the system by providing a quick response to the delivery or absorption of reactive power. In order to dampen the power oscillations, the power oscillation damping function (POD) must be used, in which its output is summed with the voltage reference at the input of STATCOM.


The European public debate on Turkey's EU accession either emphasizes Turkey's political (in)competence for EU membership, or marks its cultural difference. Based on the discourse analysis of this debate in the German mass media, this paper questions the dominant European perspective, by placing emphasis on how and where the symbolic borders of an imagined Europe become visible. I will argue that the debate surrounding Turkey's accession to the EU reveals an ambivalent discursive process as it places the construction of the self-definition of Europe at the frontier of its Turkish-Islamic "Other."


The excessive use of energy in industrial sectors necessitates the decision maker to always question on how the energy is being used efficiently. Energy used for air-conditioning and lighting in a medium industry counts for almost 60% of the total energy used. The small percentage of energy use reduction relates to the lower product cost and higher profit margins. Therefore, it is important to the decision makers of an industry to have a proper method to audit the building plant and to come up with the practical actions needed in optimizing the use of energy, while at the same time to improve the comfort and product quality. This paper shows the data mining web application for energy audit that can be used in a typical industrial site.


Remote identification is a device used to search, find, collect, research, record data and information from an object for remote field needs. One of the long-distance identification applications can be done on the tides and tides. The identification of currents and tides is needed by fishermen so that they can be seen and observed about the state of the sea before the fishermen go sailing. Most fishermen see the situation and condition of the sea only through the eyes of the mainland. Utilization of this technological advancement is in the form of a wireless long-distance identification system which is expected to be able to know firsthand about the current condition of the ocean using Radio Frequency which was tested in Buru District, Tanjung Balai Karimun Regency. The purpose of this study is to design a system of identification of currents and tides for traditional fishermen. This study uses Infrared sensors and ultrasonic sensors to identify currents and tides that communicate between data collection devices and data processors through the 3DR Radio Telemetry Module, each of which is processed by Arduino. The results of the study were carried out 10 times in the Sea Buru District, Tanjung Balai Karimun Regency, it was obtained that the data identification of currents and tides can be sent at a distance of 0 - 300 m. The design of a system for identifying currents and tides for fishermen works according to the research objectives.


This paper presents a suite of algorithms for detecting and localizing attacks in cyber-physical systems, and performing improved resilient state estimation through a pruning algorithm. High performance rates for the underlying detection and localization algorithms are achieved by generating training data that cover large region of the attack space. An unsupervised generative model trained by physics-based discriminators is designed to generate successful false data injection attacks. Then the generated adversarial examples are used to train a multi-class deep neural network which detects and localizes the attacks on measurements. Next, a pruning algorithm is included to improve the precision of localization result and provide performance guarantees for the resulting resilient observer. The performance of the proposed method is validated using the numerical simulation of a water distribution cyber-physical system.


Abstract To determine whether seeds of the weedy shrub Wigandia urens, from the Valley of Mexico, undergo natural priming when buried in soil, comparative experiments were performed with seeds: (1) harvested directly from the plants; (2) buried in three natural habitat conditions; and (3) laboratory primed with polyethylene glycol. Seeds were sown in a growth chamber and in a shade house. Final germination percentages, emergence, germination and emergence rates, survival and initial growth were determined. Burial and priming enhanced the germination and emergence parameters evaluated in the laboratory and in the shade house. Effects of treatments on survival were not significantly different. Nevertheless, burial improved emergence and mean survival, and induced differences in specific leaf area of seedlings that could have ecological significance. Heat-stable proteins were extracted and electrophoresed. Proteins formed in W. urens seeds during burial had molecular weights (14–21 kDa) similar to those reported for late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins induced by priming in other species. Nevertheless, the presence and abundance of proteins expressed (14–23, 36 and more than 45 kDa) differed among control, primed and buried seeds. During soil burial, molecular and physiological responses were induced that were similar to the effects of priming.


Of eight young women, seven had a diagnosis of well-differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma and one had atypical endometrial hyperplasia. The average age was 40.1 years, with 6.04 years of dimethisterone-ethinyl estradiol (Oracon) sequential contraceptive use. The patients were not typical of those in whom endometrial carcinoma develops. Although these cases do not prove that long-term administration of dimethisterone-ethinyl estradiol causes endometrial adenocarcinoma or atypia, they indicate that it may do so.


We have investigated the structural, magnetic, and ferroelectric properties of magnetically frustrated multiferroic YMnO3 single crystals. The ferroelectric domain structures of YMnO3 samples were studied by piezoresponse force microscopy. Instead of domain vortex structure in stoichiometric crystals, YMnO3−δ exhibits a random domain configuration with straight domain walls. In magnetic measurements, the YMnO3−δ crystal shows typical antiferromagnetic behavior with higher Neel temperature and lower magnetization compared to the stoichiometric sample. The ordered oxygen vacancies dominate multiferroicity through tailoring the domain wall structure.


This study was designed to investigate the independent and combined effects of clothing, sex of subject, money spent, type of date, and perceived similarity of female subjects to the victim on attributions made about a victim and a perpetrator of a date rape. A convenience sample of 703 college students participated (females = 518; males = 177; information missing = 8). Subjects were asked to read a vignette describing a date rape and to view a photograph of the victim. They were asked to make attributions concerning both the victim and the perpetrator. Males indicated to a greater extent than females that the victim wanted to have sexual intercourse. Males indicated to a greater extent than females that the victim led on the perpetrator. Subjects indicated a rape occurred to a lesser extent when the date was planned as compared to unplanned. Subjects indicated the perpetrator behaved violently to a greater extent when the date was unplanned as compared to planned. Females who indicated they were either like or not like the victim rated the victim higher on being able to do something to prevent the incident than did the females who were neutral. Females who indicated they were not like the victim indicated that the victim led the perpetrator on to a greater extent than those females who indicated they were neutral or like the victim. There were no significant findings related to clothing or money spent.


The human fibroblast growth factor/fibroblast growth factor-receptor (FGF/FGFR) axis deregulation is largely involved in supporting the pathogenesis of hematologic malignancies, including Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia (WM). Therefore, novel therapeutics designed to specifically target deregulated signaling pathways in WM are required. We investigated the role of FGF/FGFR system blockade in WM by using a pan-FGF trap molecule, NSC12, a small molecule identified using pharmacophore modeling of the interaction of a minimal PTX3-derived FGF-binding pentapeptide with FGF2.
 By interrogating the transcriptome signature of patients' BM-derived CD19-positive cells (GEO9656, GEO6691), we found a significant enrichment of FGF/FGFR-driven signaling cascades, including PI3K-AKT, MAPK and STAT3 pathways (FDR<0.25; P<0.05); coupled with higher expression of FGFs (FGF2, FGF7, FGF12, FGF18; P<0.05) in WM cells as compared to their normal cellular counterpart. FGFRs are also shown to be overexpressed in WM. We performed transcriptome profiling of NSC12-treated WM cells, confirming the blockade of the FGFR-signaling blockade; and, importantly, we discovered the efficacious silencing of MYD88 and MYD88-dopwnstream target HCK in WM cells. These findings were confirmed at protein level, showing inhibition of MYD88-driven pathways, such as BTK-, and SYK-phosphorylation. As a further demonstration of the functional impact of NSC12-dependent targeting of MYD88, we could confirm the inhibition of both canonical and non-canonical NF-kB in NSC12-treated WM cells, as assessed at nuclear protein level by WB and by using the NFkB activity assay.
 In addition, the NSC12-dependent inhibition of MYD88 resulted in silencing of the MAPK-ERK signaling cascade, thus leading to NSC12-induced Myc-silencing in WM cells. We next confirmed the efficacy of NSC12 in silencing bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC)-induced FGFR3 phosphorylation; paralleled by inhibition of of pro-survival pathways, including pAKT, the AKT-downstream pGSK3β; p-ERK; and p-STAT3. Functional sequelae of the FGF/FGFR blockade in WM cells were studied, demonstrating inhibition of WM cell growth, induction of apoptosis, enhanced ER stress and initiation of UPR. Of note, anti-WM activity of NSC12 was also documented using primary bone marrow-derived CD19+ cells isolated from patients with WM. In contrast, NSC12 did not show cytotoxicity on PBMC-derived CD19+ cells isolated from healthy donors.
 The anti-WM activity exerted by NSC12 was confirmed also within the context of the supportive bone marrow milieu, as shown both in vitro and in vivo. BCWM.1, MWCL1 cells were cultured with NSC12 in the presence or absence of primary WM BMSCs: adherence of WM cells to BMSCs triggered a significant increase in the proliferation, which was inhibited by NSC12in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). Using a disseminated humanized WM model, BCWM.1 M-Cherry-Luc tumor-bearing mice were treated with either NSC12 or vehicle control. NSC12-treated mice presented with a significant inhibition of WM tumor growth as demonstrated by bioluminescence imaging analysis. NSC12-dependent reduction of WM tumor cell BM infiltration was confirmed by IHC performed on harvested femurs, in comparison to vehicle-treated mice. Importantly, we assessed MYD88-mRNA expression using harvested bone marrow femurs; and found a significant reduction of MYD88- and MYD88-downstream target HCK in NSC12-treated mice was confirmed ex vivo (P<0.05).
 Overall, our studies are reporting on the use of NSC12, as a novel potential therapeutic strategy to specifically halt the FGF/FGFR axis in WM; and demonstrate how the observed anti-WM activity exerted by NSC12 may be driven, at least in part, by inhibition of MYD88.

 Motta: Roche: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria. Rossi:Alexion: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Other: Advisory board; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astellas: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Roccaro:Amgen: Other; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; Celgene: Other; Janssen: Other; Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC): Research Funding; Transcan2-ERANET: Research Funding; European Hematology Association: Research Funding.


The antibody responses of hospital staff volunteers to polyvalent influenza vaccines containing either intact virus or SPEE virus antigens were compared.
 Significant increases in HI antibody against each virus strain in both vaccines were observed. Furthermore, postvaccination antibody titers against three of the four strains were significantly greater in the group receiving the SPEE antigens than were those in the group given intact virus.
 Evidence that the SPEE antigens may be more efficient antibody stimulators than their intact counterparts is presented and discussed.


Discontinuation of mechanical ventilation is a challenging task that involves a number of subtle clinical issues. The gradual removal of the respiratory support (referred to as weaning) should be performed as soon as autonomous respiration can be sustained. However, the prediction rate of successful extubation is still below 25% based on previous studies. Construction of an automatic system that provides information on extubation readiness is thus desirable. Recent works have demonstrated that the breathing pattern variability is a useful extubation readiness indicator, with improving performance when multiple respiratory signals are jointly processed. However, the existing methods for predictor extraction present several drawbacks when length-limited time series are to be processed in heterogeneous groups of patients. In this paper, we propose a model-based methodology for automatic readiness prediction. It is intended to deal with multichannel, nonstationary, short records of the breathing pattern. Results on experimental data yield an 87.27% of successful readiness prediction, which is in line with the best figures reported in the literature. A comparative analysis shows that our methodology overcomes the shortcomings of so far proposed methods when applied to length-limited records on heterogeneous groups of patients.


Administration of nicotinamide (NA) is followed by a pronounced hypoglycemic effect with a simultaneous decrease of glucose content in the lens, sciatic nerve and aorta at manifest streptozotocin-induced diabetes and also by a complete normalization of parameters of the intraperitoneal glucose-tolerance test in rats with a "diabetic" type of glucose tolerance. A 14-day NA treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus results in the improvement of the glycemic profile, a decrease of glucosuria and the blood serum level of protein-bound hexoses as well as positive shifts in the condition of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.


On the basis of analyzing the Multiple-source events correlation in the Distributed Intrusion Detection,we introduce a framework of real-time events gathering and correlation analyzing, which is based on the Multiple Dis- tributed Intrusion Detection's Sensors. Using Bayesian correlation arithmetic,we process the events such as filtering, reducing,and formatting them. At last,we provide the unified formatted evidences based on IDMEF to upper level model to deduce whether attack is true. The framework has been applied in our item projected by science and technol- ogy key project of National ministry of education.


My purpose is to solve nowadays' segregation and inanimate living circumstances with purpose diversity of living spaces in order to create several kinds of social and physical intersection and connections in-between inhabitants, between people and nature, between living and working, etc. In this way, I hope this community could gain more communication occasions and better living qualities. A renovation should be concerned about present situations and municipality's plan. I expected to find the problems and explore the potentials of this area to contribute one community balanced, dynamic and promising. To gain the vitality, I am tracing about-How do different type's inhabitants and families live in one community.-How could inhabitants get variety spaces with hierarchy from private to public characters.-How do inhabitants get good communication in a neighborhood.


Cities are responsible for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, so they can significantly contribute to emission mitigation. Since cities are sociotechnical systems, reducing emissions requires a combination of technological innovations, social engagement and institutional arrangements. In this study, we take a common pool resource (CPR) perspective to analyse cities as sociotechnical systems that can reduce emissions. As a case study, we take Buiksloterham (BSH), a neighbourhood in Amsterdam, which is known as an experimental lab to test future plans towards being a smart, sustainable and circular neighbourhood. Electricity and water are two major interconnected CPRs in BSH that play an important role in the liveability and sustainability of the neighbourhood. Managing these resources can be treated as a collective action problem that is highly dependent on the level of citizen participation. BSH has a well-specified action plan and future vision, which mainly focuses on the technological developments of the neighbourhood, but lacks plans regarding social engagement and institutional arrangements. We used Ostrom's Social Ecological System framework to analyse the two CPRs in BSH in order to study social engagement scenarios and to propose new institutional arrangements. We designed and formalized the institutions in the system using ADICO grammar of institutions [Crawford and Ostrom, 1995]. Widespread institutions like monitoring and sanctioning are costly mechanisms for avoiding free-rider behavior in collective action situations like BSH. They are also morally contested; we therefore do not consider them to be a preferred strategy for BSH. We propose to use a "grouping system" instead. Grouping is an institutional arrangement that gives households an opportunity to choose a colour-label based on their level of contribution to the system. Our grouping system is based on 1) the mechanism of assortative matching [Gunnthorsdottir et al., 2010] in voluntary contribution game and 2) motivation factor of "glory" in collective action [Malone et al., 2009]. We suggest grouping as a potential strategy that can tackle free-riding while also promoting citizen participation.


PURPOSE
This study aimed to determine the influence of mandibular free-end partial edentulism and use of conventional or implant-supported removable dental prostheses in the partially edentulous area on the load exerted on the maxillary anterior teeth.

METHODS
A jaw model with mandibular free-end missing teeth was used, and a distal extension, removable partial dental prosthesis was fabricated to replace the missing posterior teeth. Four experimental conditions were set up: 1) without prosthesis, 2) with a conventional removable partial dental prosthesis, 3) with an implant-supported removable partial dental prosthesis, and 4) with a complete dental arch. Strain gauges were attached to the root surface of the maxillary left central incisor, canine, first premolar, and first molar. The load exerted on them was calculated based on the calibration coefficient. An occlusal load of 49 N was applied, and the forces were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05).

RESULTS
The load exerted on the maxillary anterior teeth increased significantly with no prosthesis, decreased significantly with a conventional removable partial dental prosthesis, and decreased even more significantly with an implant-supported removable partial dental prosthesis.

CONCLUSIONS
The burden on the maxillary anterior teeth decreased with the use of a removable partial dental prosthesis and decreased even further with the use of an implant-supported dental prosthesis. The use of an implant to support a distal extension removable partial dental prosthesis is potentially effective in preserving the remaining teeth and tissues by reducing excessive stress in patients with mandibular free-end partial edentulism.


Context: Premedication is an integral part of anaesthetic management. An ideal premedicant drug is anxiolytic, analgesic, sedative and amnestic. It should fulfill the aims of premedication, be safe for the patient and be easily administered.
Aims: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate lollipop and intranasal midazolam spray as a premedication in children by a non-invasive route and to evaluate post-operative sedation score.
Settings and design: Our study was conducted in Government Medical College, Jammu, J&K. It was a comparative clinical trial done in 3 groups (40 subjects in each). The study was approved by the Ethical committee of the Institute.
Methods and material: Children aged 5 to 10 years undergoing surgery in general anaesthesia were included in our study. Informed written consent was obtained from the parents of each child before adding the child in the study.
Statistical analysis used: Data was collected on 120 children. Variables were reported as mean and standard deviation. The difference in mean values across the groups was assessed by One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Statistical significance of qualitative variables was assessed with the use of chi-square test. Intergroup comparisons were made post-hoc by Bonferroni's t-test.
Results: Children who were given oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (15 μgm/kg) were better sedated in the preoperative period, had less apprehension at venipuncture, had better mask acceptance, were calmer at emergence and post-operative period, as compared to those who were given nasal transmucosal midazolam spray (0.2 mg/kg) or nasal saline spray.
Conclusions: It was concluded that oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate, in the dose of 15 μg/kg, is superior to nasal transmucosal midazolam spray (0.2 mg/kg) in providing preoperative sedation, decreasing anxiety at the time of placement of anaesthesia mask and intravenous cannulation and lowering the level of agitation at emergence.


A facile and environment-friendly sonochemical route to fabricate well-defined Fe3O4/Pt and γ-Fe2O3/Pt composite microspheres under mild conditions has been reported. The structure and morphology of the synthetic spherical-shaped Fe3O4/Pt and γ-Fe2O3/Pt products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The results revealed that the composites were spherical with diameter in the range of 50–80 nm and had an ordered face-centered cubic (fcc) structure of platinum. These nanocomposites with platinum-coated iron oxide can be applied in a variety of areas, including medicine, photonics, new functional device assemblies and catalysis especially for fabricating some magnetic-responsive catalyst.


Commonly prescribed therapy for dogs presenting DCM consists of vasodilators, positive inotropic drugs (digitalics), diuretics, low-sodium diet and, when necessary, anti-arrhythmics. Carvedilol is a third generation non-selective β-blocker which blocks equally and competitively (β1, β2 and α1) receptors. Produces an evident peripheral vasodilation, exerts anti-oxidative effects, removing free radicals of oxygen and preventing lipidic peroxydation of cardiac membranes, and the loss of myocytes and arrhythmias, as well as reducing mortality rate in human patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate by physical examination, electrocardiography, radiography, and echocardiography the evolution of dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) treated by conventional therapy associated to carvedilol. Forty-nine dogs with DCM were divided in two groups: group NT: treated with conventional therapy, and group T: treated with conventional therapy associated to carvedilol. The animals were submitted to clinical and complementary examinations during one year. The results demonstrated that carvedilol therapy presented good tolerability on the dose of 0.3mg kg-1 each 12 hours, prolonged lifetime of the dogs in 30.9%, did not alter systolic or diastolic pressure, reduced heart frequency after three weeks of treatment, significantly enhanced shortening and ejection fractions after six months of treatment, did not promote radiographic or E-septum distance alterations, decreased patients letality, as demonstrated by improvement of clinical score and functional class (heart failure according to NYHA) of the animals, obtained three weeks after the beginning of cavedilol therapy.


In this paper we propose two algorithms for efficient data-centric storage in wireless sensor networks without the support of any location information system. These algorithms are intended to be applied in environments with large number of sensors where the scalability of the network has great issue. During the first algorithm, each sensor obtains a unique temporary address according to its current relative location in the network. The second algorithm is used to route data from one sensor to another, this routing algorithm only depends on the sensor's neighborhood, i.e. in order to implement the routing table each sensor needs only to exchange local information with its first hop neighbors. The forwarding process used in this algorithm resembles the one found in Pastry peer-to-peer protocol.


In this work, glucose fuel cells (GFCs) employing two types of novel composite bioanodes, including polyaniline (PANI)/vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF)/glucose oxidase (GOx) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)/VGCF/GOx, were reported for the first time. Considering the relatively high cost and toxicity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used in enzymatic composites, VGCF was investigated here, which has merits of low cost, less toxic characteristics and excellent electrical and mechanical properties. It was found that VGCF mixed very well with PANI and AuNPs could be attached onto VGCF. Both PANI/VGCF and AuNPs/VGCF showed good thermal stability, which were better than CNTs. The electron transfer rate constant (ks) of the AuNPs/VGCF/GOx bioanode was also measured, which was high (3.2 s−1) due to its good electrocatalytic activity. Investigation of their performance in GFCs showed that the maximum power density of a GFC using the PANI/VGCF/GOx bioanode was 22.26 μW cm−2, which was 1.7% higher than that of a GFC with PANI/CNT/GOx under the same experimental conditions. Moreover, the GFC with AuNPs/VGCF/GOx had a higher maximum power density (26.04 μW cm−2) than that of a PANI/VGCF/GOx based GFC. Hence, VGCF could be a promising and ideal substitute for CNTs in GFC applications.


Bacteriophagy was discovered by the French scientist D'Herelle in 1917. According to D'Herelle's view of the bacteriophage as a living body, its main features are as follows: (1) It is capable of bringing about profound changes in the microbial cell leading to its entire dissolution; (2) it is capable of propagation while affecting bacteria and (3) it can exert its action in the presence of a living cell. D'Herelle's phenomenon is detected by microscopic examination of cultures on nutritive mediums. On fluid mediums bacteriologic cultures become clear in eight hours after inoculation in the presence of a phage. On solid nutritive mediums the bacteriophage is detected by the formation of so-called sterile spots ( taches vierges ), or "negative" colonies. For this purpose the tested filtrate and the culture are mixed and then inoculated in agar cups at various intervals. In from eighteen to twenty-four hours at 37 C. either incomplete growth