Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is commonly associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). Simultaneous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) under cardiac arrest and AAA repair may be considerably invasive. Recently CABG under the beating heart without CPB has been reported as a less invasive method. We report the combined operation of CABG on a beating heart and AAA repair for AAA patients with CAD, and compare it with a separate operation. A retrospective review of the records of consecutive patients who underwent elective combined procedure or single operation for CABG on a beating heart and/or repair of the AAA between May 1999 and October 2001 was carried out. Ten patients underwent combined procedures. A single operation, CABG on a beating heart or repair of AAA, were performed in 27 or 19 patients. There were no significant differences with regard to intraoperative blood loss, transfusion and postoperative intubation time among the three groups. There was no operative mortality for any of the three groups. All cases were discharged without severe complications and with patent coronary bypass grafts. There was a decrease in mean total hospital costs for the combined operation group compared with the CABG group plus AAA repair group (3.34 million versus 5.87 million yen). Combined CABG on a beating heart and AAA repair on a one-step approach appears to be a safe and useful therapeutic strategy for AAA patients with CAD.


Social mobility is a central topic of interest within sociology and whilst it has been theoretically linked to spatial mobility, there is still little empirical research on the interplay between the two. Using a subsample of highly educated family migrants from a German mixed-methods project, this study qualitatively analyses the impact of geographical mobility on objective social position and on its subjective perception. Six qualitative interviews are analysed and supplemented with descriptive quantitative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to firstly, reconstruct the spatial mobility trajectories of the individuals and secondly, determine their social position in Germany and ascertain whether they experienced occupational downgrading. These two analyses are integrated to explore how respondents experienced their change in social position. Across the board, respondents migrated as young adults, before or shortly after labour market entry. Five of the participants experienced occupational downgrading. Strikingly, this objective downgrading, whilst acknowledged, was not perceived negatively. The participants constructed a narrative that employed three legitimation strategies to cast their current social position in a positive light: (1) emphasising the rights, stability and security that they experience in Germany, (2) drawing attention to the economic improvement that they experienced and (3) displaying an inner attitude that is marked by modest life aspirations and a high regard for leisure time. By drawing on multinational frames of reference and thus drawing comparisons between their home country and Germany, participants highlighted the experienced benefits.


Groups of mice were briefly exposed to a one-octave band of noise at 14, 18, 28, 38, or 58 days of age. Five days later the groups were divided, and some mice were behaviorally tested for audiogenic seizures by reexposing them to the same sound. The round window cochlear microphonic potential was measured in the remaining animals and compared with that observed in unprimed control subjects. Seizure behavior occurred in all animals primed on Day 18 but rarely for subjects in the other age groups. Cochlear microphonic threshold curves in mice primed on Day 18 showed a 30-dB loss in sensitivity, while all other primed groups showed little change. These data were discussed in terms of the "disuse-supersensitivity" hypothesis previously proposed to account for the physiological effects of priming in mice.


The apical organ of a typical serpulid trochophore (Spirobranchus) and of the more complex trochophore larva of Phyllodoce are described on the basis of ultrastructural surveys and three-dimensional reconstructions. A plexus-like structure formed by vesicle-filled processes from certain of the apical cells is shown to be an integral part of the apical organ in both genera, persisting in Phyllodoce long after the regression of the external apical tuft. Because of its central position and early development, the plexus may play an important role in the development and functioning of the larval nervous system as a whole. With regard to its developmental role, morphological evidence supports the hypothesis that the plexus serves as an initial target for growing neurites responsible in part for establishing the path along which the cerebral commissure later develops. The constituent cells of the apical organ in Spirobranchus are catalogued as to type and position, including cells associated with the entry of nerves into the apical plexus. Constancy from larva to larva is shown to be greatest for the eight most apical cells, comprising two ciliated cells, one of which is responsible for the apical tuft, three plexus cells, and three capsular cells. There are clear parallels between Spirobranchus and Phyllodoce in the arrangement of apical cells, suggestive of a common plan, and the probable origin of this arrangement in terms of cell lineage is discussed.


Ultrafast laser sources operating in the mid-infrared spectral region, where many molecules and their functional groups have vibrational and rotational resonances, are very important tools for studying novel regimes of non-linear optics and strong field physics. Next to optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) based on ZnGeP2 (ZGP) crystals which, on the one hand, allow generation of energetic ultrashort mid-IR pulses at a mJ energy level, but, on the other, rely on complex and immature holmium pump lasers [1], a difference frequency generation (DFG) in AGS or GaSe crystals starting from a single broadband near-infrared (NIR) pulse [2] or via cascaded two-stage parametric down-conversion [3] is an alternative way to generate mid-IR pulses above 4-μm wavelength. In the later case more conventional Ytterbium, Neodymium or Ti:Saphire lasers are used to pump the frequency conversion stages. The use of a longer-wavelength 1.03 μm Ytterbium laser as compared to Ti:Sapphire pump sources yields an improved phase matching bandwidth, lower group velocity miss-match, as well as a lack of three-photon absorption, which reduces detrimental photo-darkening in AGS.


Background: The effect of gender on the prognosis of bladder cancer (BCa) in different metastatic sites is insufficiently understood. We aimed to assess the impact and potential mechanisms of a combination of gender dimorphism and BCa metastasis sites on the risk of death. Methods: Independent predictors of overall survival and cancer-specific survival were analyzed after stratification by gender and metastasis sites from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Furthermore, gender-differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and function-enriched annotations for patients with lymph node metastasis (LNM) were identified from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A gender-associated signature was constructed in TCGA and validated in the IMvigor210 trial, and the magnetic resonance imaging-based radiomics signature was developed in our center to predict the gender-associated signature. Results: In patients with metastatic BCa, the most common site of metastasis is bone in men and lung in women. Moreover, stratified by sex, LNM had a better prognosis in men than visceral metastasis, which was not observed in female. Similarly, stratified by the metastasis site, the prognosis of men in patients with LNM is better than that of women, which was not observed in visceral metastasis patients. Enrichment of DEGs between sexes in patients with LNM may be related to metastasis and tumor immunity, especially the role of neutrophils. Moreover, the gender-associated signature is related to the clinicopathological characteristics of patients, and patients in the high-risk group had worse survival outcomes, and higher susceptibility to cisplatin, docetaxel, camptothecin, and paclitaxel. A nomogram combined with the signature and clinical staging showed significant predictive power in survival prediction. Furthermore, patients with high radiomics scores had a strong tendency for high-risk group. Conclusion: These results may improve the understanding of the differences in tumor biology between sexes and thus provide additional evidence for individualized treatment in BCa.


La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 samples prepared by polymeric precursor route method are investigated using the thermogravimetric, differential thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscope, infrared spectroscopy and magnetic measurements. The unit cell parameters and grain size for all the samples are refined using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. It is observed that the IR bands at about 400 cm-1 is are most likely due to Mn–O–Mn bending mode and the band at 600 cm-1 is the result of the in plane Mn–O stretching mode. Magnetization measurements indicated that the Curie temperature increases from 241.3 K for the sample sintered at 600°C to 268.86 K for the sample sintered at 1000°C as a function of sintering temperature. The magnetic entropy change reaches the maximum value of about 4.8J/kg·K for the sample sintered at 1150°C at an applied field of 1 T.


Tolerance and pharmacokinetics of a combination of phenylbutazone and prednisolone (tablets) were studied in Beagle dogs. For two weeks, the drug was administered orally (3.33 mg/kg phenylbutazone combined with 0.1 mg/kg prednisolone and 6.66 mg/kg phenylbutazone combined with 0.3 mg/kg prednisolone twice daily). The dosage was reduced to 50 per cent after one week. No signs of intolerance were found. After treatment with 3.33 mg/kg phenylbutazone, a plasma concentration of 10 micrograms/ml was reached within 1 to 2 hours. No prednisolone concentration above 2 ng/kg was measured. Additionally, a synergistic antiinflammatory effect of the two ingredients was obvious (hind paw dextran edema in rats). In addition to results of ENGELKE et al. (1995) who studied the clinical efficacy of the combination, the presented data demonstrate a good tolerance.


Although both beta-blocker treatment and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) have been established as the standard therapeutic strategy to achieve left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR) and improve prognosis in heart failure (HF) patients with systolic LV dysfunction, some patients do not respond to such treatments. We here report a HF patient with left bundle branch block due to nonischemic cardiomyopathy who did not respond to 20 mg/day of carvedilol in terms of LVRR. Subsequent CRT only achieved insufficient LVRR, and we further titrated carvedilol up to 40 mg/day. Marked LVRR was accomplished at a fixed 70 bpm heart rate under CRT, and therefore it was considered as heart rate-independent. Up-titration of beta-blocker after CRT may be necessary to induce optimal LVRR in some populations.


BACKGROUND
The goal of this study was to examine the impact of body mass index (BMI) and age on the outcome of the IVF process.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a retrospective case-control study, of all patients undergoing IVF from 2008-2010 in the Re-Medika IVF Centre. A total of 1238 fresh, non-donor IVF cycles were analyzed, but to minimize the bias, only the first cycle for each patient in that period was analysed (N-920). The patients underwent standard protocols for COH and embryology treatment. In all retrieved oocytes, or in 100% of the cases, the process of fertilization was realized with the method of intracytoplasmic sperm insemination (ICSI). The primary end-point assessed was clinical pregnancy rate. Patients were initially grouped into four BMI categories. The data are presented as frequencies (qualitative data) and as mean±SD (quantitative data). Preliminary comparisons between groups with different BMI were made by the Chi-square and one-way ANOVA test. Because fertility declines with age, there is a Pearson-correlation coefficient to see if BMI depends on age, and the resulting value r=0.15 (p<0.05) showed that BMI is age-dependent, the relationship between them showed multicollinearity. However, the calculated error tolerance of 0.9 indicates stability of the model. Furthermore, to adjust the known fertility decline with age, every response or outcome is analysed by the method of multiple linear (continuous data) or logistic (qualitative data) regression, where the independent variables are taken: BMI, age and BMI interaction×age.

RESULTS
Increased BMI significantly reduces the chance of clinical pregnancy (normal weight vs. overweight: clinical pregnancy rate: 49.2%, vs. 34.3%). Age, analysed as a single factor, significantly reduces clinical pregnancy rate. Interaction of BMI and age significantly affects clinical pregnancy rate. (BMI vs. BMI×Age vs. Age-p 0,01 vs. 0,001 vs. <0,0001).

CONCLUSION
Increased body mass of patients entering IVF has a negative impact on the final outcome and certainly reduces the success of the process resulting in reduced clinical pregnancy. Interaction of BMI and age showed a strong significant impact on the outcome of IVF seen through the achievement of clinical pregnancy.


Septal deviation is often associated with hypertrophy of the contralateral inferior turbinate. Failure to reduce the size of the turbinate at the time of septal reconstruction may result in persistent nasal obstruction. The authors present their experience with 408 patients who underwent one of four turbinate procedures over a 6-year period. Most patients underwent unilateral turbinate surgery, although bilateral procedures were undertaken in 7 percent of patients. A graduated surgical approach was taken that varied according to the amount of turbinate enlargement and the degree to which mucosa and bone were involved. Full-thickness excision of the anterior third to half of the inferior turbinate (turbinectomy) became a favored procedure. Relief of nasal obstruction was obtained in greater than 90 percent of patients. Healing was satisfactory regardless of the method, and complications, including hemorrhage and infection, were few. Long-term follow-up revealed no untoward sequelae, and no patient developed atrophic rhinitis. The authors conclude that turbinate surgery, particularly when unilateral, in the carefully selected patient with nasal obstruction is a useful adjunct to septal surgery.


ABSTRACT Objective: Dissociative disorders are characterized by disturbances in several neuropsychological domains, especially attention, memory, and consciousness. As a tendency to dissociate can also be observed in healthy individuals, and may be a risk factor for the development of dissociative disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we were interested in the neuropsychological characteristics of these participants. Method: We examined attention, memory, and executive control functions in 17 high and 17 low dissociators without any psychiatric or neurological disorder and without prior experiences of trauma. Results: High dissociators showed relative performance deficiencies in tasks of memory for associative, context-dependent verbal material, visuospatial working memory, and executive control functions in terms of a heightened perseveration tendency and false positive errors. Conclusion: These cognitive deficits are consistent with models of dissociative disorders and dissociation in PTSD assuming a hippocampal and prefrontal dysfunction as a core factor. Mild cognitive impairments in otherwise healthy high dissociators may constitute a risk factor for the development of later PTSD or dissociative disorders.


Industries characterized by differentiated products are important contributors of greenhouse gases and currently subject to market-based policies such as emission taxes. In the context of developing countries, fears about foreign investment leaving the country are often used as an argument not to address industry emissions through emission taxes. This paper develops a Cournot model with product differentiation in the presence of abatement efforts where host and foreign firms are subject to an emission tax. The analysis indicates that abatement efforts and differences in pollution intensity coefficients across firms may play a significant role in the characterization of optimal policy. The analysis also suggests that the government may opt to encourage foreign, less pollution-intensive firms via higher taxation. Additionally, this paper examines how an optimal emission tax may be adjusted as products become more differentiated; industry emissions may fall/rise as a result of more differentiated products. One important contribution of this paper is that it emphasizes the role of abatement efforts, product differentiation, and differences in pollution intensity coefficients across firms in the characterization of the optimal emission tax.


One of the most important challenges of this decade is the Internet of Things (IoT), which aims to enable things to be connected anytime, anyplace, with anything and anyone, ideally using any path/network and any service. IoT systems are usually composed of heterogeneous and interconnected lightweight devices that support applications that are subject to change in their external environment and in the functioning of these devices. The management of the variability of these changes, autonomously, is a challenge in the development of these systems. Agents are a good option for developing self-managed IoT systems due to their distributed nature, context-awareness and self-adaptation. Our goal is to enhance the development of IoT applications using agents and software product lines (SPL). Specifically, we propose to use Self-StarMASMAS, multi-agent system) agents and to define an SPL process using the Common Variability Language. In this contribution, we propose an SPL process for Self-StarMAS, paying particular attention to agents embedded in sensor motes.


This article presents the use of a computer-based decision support system for hospital bed assignment. The specific computer application discussed involves the development of an expert system, which mimics the decision-making process typically used by experts in a field. Expert systems are useful as consultants for problems that are best approached from the perspective of an expert. The prototype expert system presented in this article can be used to efficiently assign hospital beds to specific patients at the time of hospital admission or during the hospital stay. This assignment is based on a matching process by the expert system of patient needs and hospital bed characteristics. Data needed for this assignment are routinely collected at admission and updated during the patient's stay in the hospital. Use of this computer-based decision support system in conjunction with existing hospital information systems will result in more effective management of physical and human resources. As may be expected, any improvement in efficiency of use of resources will have an associated reduction in cost. Implications of using expert systems for future practice are also discussed.


Abstract Background With declining interest in infectious disease (ID) noted among internal medicine (IM) residents, national attention has been directed at methods to recruit more prospective ID applicants. The factors driving the recent decline in ID fellowship applications have thus far only been evaluated in survey studies. Since 2008 at our institution, all IM interns were required to complete a 4-week inpatient ID rotation. We evaluated this rotation to determine if any experiential factors could be linked to future ID interest. Methods Categorical IM interns rotating on the mandatory ID rotation at our institution between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2015, were included. Interns were grouped by eventual application to ID fellowship (IDA) and nonapplication (non-IDA). Consult numbers and types and characteristics of team members during the rotation were compared. Results Between July 2008 and June 2015, 143 IM interns met inclusion criteria. Ten (7%) were IDA. There was no difference in number of consults seen, intern, team member, faculty, or fellow characteristics among groups. However, 90% of IDA compared with 46% of non-IDA rotated during the first 6 months of internship (P = .01). Conclusions During a 7-year period, those interns randomly assigned to rotate on ID in the first 6 months of their intern year were more likely to become future ID applicants. This supports prior self-reported survey data that early exposure to the field may impact future career choice and suggests that incorporating ID early into the intern experience may increase recruitment.


Purpose: This study determined the relative importance of risk factors for Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and assessed their independent and joint contributions.
Methods: A prospective study of patients with type 2 diabetes was conducted in a tertiary eye hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Patients underwent a comprehensive eye examination and completed standardized administered questionnaires. Blood samples were assessed for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c); fasting blood glucose; and serum lipids. Dilated fundus photographs were obtained and graded for DR and DME. The relative importance of the risk factors was determined by the independent and common variance explained in DR and DME using Commonality analysis.
Results: A total of 497 patients with type 2 diabetes were included in this analysis. The key risk factors accounted for 44.6% and 19.5% of total variances in DR and DME, respectively. The most important risk factor for any DR was duration of diabetes (16.5% of total explained variance), followed by insulin use (13.1%), HbA1c (8.5%), age (3.7%) and gender (2.8%). The most important risk factor for any DME was HbA1c (9.45%); followed by age (5.75%); duration of diabetes (3.92%) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (0.36%). Sixty-one percent of the total explained variance in DR was due to common variance among these risk factors, compared to only 31% of the in DME.
Conclusion: The total, independent and joint contributions of the key risk factors for DR and DME differ in patients with type 2 diabetes, which suggest that may require specific prevention and intervention strategies for these two diabetic complications.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES
Oxidative stress is incriminated to play a central role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Oxidative stress, to which neurons are highly susceptible, is also known to induce oxidative changes in human red blood cells (RBCs), in vivo and in vitro. Earlier studies on oxidative stress in RBCs in patients with PD have yielded controversial results claiming unaltered activity to reduced activity. Using RBC as a model, we have undertaken this study to ascertain the possibility of oxidative damage to the RBCs in PD by measuring the cytosolic antioxidant enzymes viz., superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) glutathione peroxidase (G-Px) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD).

METHODS
Activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured in erythrocytes of 115 PD patients and 37 normal age-matched healthy persons as controls. Enzymes activities were correlated with age of patients, age of onset of disease, duration of disease, United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and Hoehn and Yahr stage.

RESULTS
The SOD, CAT, G-Px and G6PD activities were significantly lower in patients with PD compared to the control. A significant (P<0.05) negative correlation of enzyme activities with Hoehn and Yahr stage of the disease and also with UPDRS score was found.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION
Results of the present study showed involvement of oxidative stress as one of the risk factors, which can initiate and/or promote neurodegeneration in PD and was correlated to the severity of the disease.


Heart Attack is a term that assigns a large number of medical conditions related to heart. The key to Heart (Cardiovascular) diseases to evaluate large scores of data sets, compare information that can be used to predict, Prevent, Manage such as Heart attacks. Heart Disease is mainly because of stress, family backgrounds, High blood Pressure, etc... Data analytics is used to incorporate world for its valuable use to controlling, contrasting and manage a large data set. It can be applied with an much success to predict, prevent, Managing a cardiovascular disease. To solve this, we aim to implement the Data Analytics based on SVM and Genetic Algorithm to diagnosis of heart diseases. This result reveals the Genetic Algorithm as best optimized Prediction Models. Index Terms Machine learning (ML), support vector machines (SVM), supervised learning.


Rural areas often face limited services when working with clients who are Deaf and hard of hearing. Some of these limitations may include a lack of interpreters, lack of social resources, and a lack of cultural, language, and legal understanding on the part of the service provider. These limitations are addressed and possible answers are explored through the use of the Utah Deaf Videoconferencing Model. Through the use of modern videoconferencing technology, Utah has begun to find some answers that may prove helpful to the client, practioner, educator, rehabilitation counselor, administrator, and policy maker, when approaching and dealing with clients who are Deaf. The importance of using technology in this arena is captured in this statement from The U.S. Department of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, "For people without disabilities, technology makes things convenient, whereas for people with disabilities, it makes things possible" (Heumann, 2000). Literature Review There has been much written about the use of technology to enhance services to clients in the general or "hearing" population. Professionals in business, education, vocational rehabilitation, medicine, government, defense, and social work to name a few have explored and used technology to serve remote or distance needs (e.g., Augustine, et. al. 1998; Cain, et. al., 200l; Frase-Blunt, 1998; Lee, et. al. 2000; Patterson, 2000). Use of technology in these environments may range from simple e-mail exchanges, internet support groups in rehabilitation, and desk top camera interactions to more complicated uses such as the space program sending and receiving messages and images outside of our earth's atmosphere (e.g., see Patterson, 2000; South Carolina Department of Mental Health, 2002). Some of the uses of distance technology that the Utah Model takes advantage of include: tele health, tele medicine, and tele education. Tele medicine is described as "the use of electronic communications and information technology or support clinical care at a distance" (Tellda, 2002). Tele health is, "the use of telecommunications and information technology to provide access to health assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, education and information across distance (Tellda, 2002). Mental health counseling falls under the tele health umbrella of care (Lamarche, 2002). Petracchi defines defines distance education as "all types of formal instruction conducted when teachers and students are located a geographic distance from one another" (2000). Studies of technology being used by the Deaf population seem to have followed the patterns of the general or "hearing" population (e.g., see, Harkins, 2002; South Carolina Department of Mental Health, 2002). The Deaf population has used some unique applications in technology that are not used by the hearing population. These include technology such as video relay phone service (VRS), a pilot program in Minnesota using video remote interpreters to facilitate State Department of Workforce Services interactions with Deaf clients, and distance education including specialized online instruction for students who are Deaf (e.g., Harkins, 2002; Latz, et. al., 2002; Mallory & Rizzo, 2002, Rabelo & Carnahan, 2002). Another unique application of videoconferencing technology in the field of deafness is in South Carolina. Deaf telepsychiatry has been in existence since approximately 1994 in South Carolina. The program was innovated as the one sign language proficient psychiatrist in the state became confined to her home due to a pregnancy. She was unable to continue to drive long miles across the rural parts of the state to provide psychiatry services to the identified 300 clients who are Deaf and mentally ill. The state established a videoconferencing network from the psychiatrist's home to several sites in the state and she continued her practice from her home. The application has been so successful in South Carolina that the psychiatrist "now reports seeing three times the previous number of clients in only sixty percent of the time. …


The key challenge in kernel based learning algorithms is the choice of an appropriate kernel and its optimal parameters. Selecting the optimal degree of a polynomial kernel is critical to ensure good generalisation of the resulting support vector machine model. In this paper we propose Bayesian and Laplace approximation methods to estimate the polynomial degree. A rule based meta-learning approach is then proposed for automatic polynomial kernel and its optimal degree selection. The new approach is constructed and tested on different sizes of 112 datasets with binary class as well as multi class classification problems. An extensive computational evaluation of these methods is conducted, and rules are generated to determine when these approximation methods are appropriate.


The methodology used to achieve a suitable computer network design for a chip manufacturing plant is discussed. The requirements of computer networking for a typical plant are described. Based on these requirements, various alternative solutions are generated. These alternatives are discussed in view of performance criteria and cost effectiveness. A suitable solution is derived to achieve high reliability and fast response time. It is based on the installation of various LAN segments conforming to IEEE 802.3 standards, and interconnected to each other by means of fiber-optic bridges/repeaters and fiber-optic cable.<<ETX>>


AIM
The main aim of the trial is to determine the frequency of respiratory distress syndrome / RDS/ and disorders of coagulation in infants of mothers with thrombophilia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In 51 newborns of mothers with thrombophilia were evaluated the presence of respiratory distress and maternal-fetal infection /MFI/. The children were divided in two groups: Group I--16 newborns of mothers with thrombophilia and Group II--15 healthy children. We analyzed Hb, Ht, Er, Thr, prothrombin index /INR/, activated partial thromboplastin time /aPTT/ in both groups.

RESULTS
The analysis of Hb, Ht, Er, Thr showed no evidence of anemia or coagulopathy with platelet consumption. In 64.7% of children was observed respiratory distress syndrome during the first days, 21.5% had severe respiratory distress /RD/, that required intubation and assisted ventilation. Only in 10/19.6%/ children with RDS there were data proving MFI/high CRP and positive microbiological samples/. There was no significant difference in the INR value in Group I/1.5 +/- 0.3/ and group II/1.6 +/- 0.1/. The children of mothers with thrombophilia had significantly more shortened aPTT/35, 1s +/- 4.2/ compared with the control group: aPTT/43.9 +/- 4,4/.

CONCLUSION
The high incidence of RDS and shortened aPTT indicate that maternal thrombophilia is a risk factor for thrombosis in newborns. MFI that are accompanied with activated PAI also lead to thrombosis, especially in children in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. These results point out that there should be prevention of other risk factors for thrombosis such as dehydration and placement of central venous catheters.


Aim and Objective of the Study: The aim and objective of this study were to do a prospective study on patients with Elizabethkingia meningoseptica infection at AIG Hospitals and to identify the possible source of E. meningoseptica in our hospital. Materials and Methods: Outbreak of infection with E. meningoseptica was identified in intensive care units (ICUs) in February 2021. A prospective study was taken up and environmental surveillance swab cultures were collected along with clinical data from case sheets using a pro forma to identify the possible risk factors associated with E. meningoseptica infection. Interventional strategies were planned by infection control team along with hospital administration. Results: A total of 10 E. meningoseptica bacteraemia and pneumonia cases were documented between March 2021 and May 2021. It was more common among patients with COVID-19, with prolonged ICU stay, and on multiple antibiotics and was associated with poor outcomes. Surveillance swab cultures collected from various sources showed growth of E. meningoseptica in the tap water of some ICUs. Conclusion: Considering that E. meningoseptica are usually resistant to multiple antibiotics and that inappropriate antimicrobial therapy is an independent risk factor for mortality, early diagnosis and adequate antibiotic treatment are vital for patients with E. meningoseptica infection.


Over the past several years the medical approach to cancer patients has made important steps forward both in the field of novel, selective, antiproliferative agents and more effective supportive therapies. A greater understanding of the molecular pathways regulating cell proliferation and metastasis has led to the identification of a range of targets specifically inhibited by these new drugs. The clinical development of these compounds (the so called "targeted therapies") has shown distinctive adverse effects with respect to standard chemotherapeutic agents but the potential increasing risk of venous thromboembolism remains unvaried. In fact, the incidence of this potentially life-threatening complication in patients receiving standard chemotherapy ranges from about 11% to 20% and even more depending on the type of drug administered and on the possible association with other anti-neoplastic and supportive therapies. In this paper we reviewed all the available evidences concerning the increasing risk of venous thromboembolism in cancer patients during treatment with new agents currently used in medical oncology together with data concerning the clinical value of a concomitant prophylactic anticoagulation. At present, additional information concerning safety in terms of thromboembolic risk of novel biological and molecular therapies should be collected from specifically designed original basic science studies and clinical trials in order to optimize their use in current oncology practice.


Sleep spindles benefit declarative memory consolidation and are considered to be a biological marker for general cognitive abilities. However, the impact of sexual hormones and hormonal oral contraceptives (OCs) on these relationships are less clear. Thus, we here investigated the influence of endogenous progesterone levels of naturally cycling women and women using OCs on nocturnal sleep and overnight memory consolidation. Nineteen healthy women using OCs (MAge = 21.4, SD = 2.1 years) were compared to 43 healthy women with a natural menstrual cycle (follicular phase: n = 16, MAge = 21.4, SD = 3.1 years; luteal phase: n = 27, MAge = 22.5, SD = 3.6 years). Sleep spindle density and salivary progesterone were measured during an adaptation and an experimental night. A word pair association task preceding the experimental night followed by two recalls (pre‐sleep and post‐sleep) was performed to test declarative memory performance. We found that memory performance improved overnight in all women. Interestingly, women using OCs (characterized by a low endogenous progesterone level but with very potent synthetic progestins) and naturally cycling women during the luteal phase (characterized by a high endogenous progesterone level) had a higher fast sleep spindle density compared to naturally cycling women during the follicular phase (characterized by a low endogenous progesterone level). Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation between endogenous progesterone level and fast spindle density in women during the luteal phase. Results suggest that the use of OCs and the menstrual cycle phase affects sleep spindles and therefore should be considered in further studies investigating sleep spindles and cognitive performance.


Recognizing the needs of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the federal government passed legislation in 1972, establishing medicare coverage for 92 per cent of tge diseased victims regardless of age. However, federal health plannners did not in many areas, take into account what was already being accomplishcd on the state and local level. As a result, the implemention of the provision has created complications of its own.This case study of new Jersey illustrates that until existent informal health delivery networks are incorporated into federal health planning, tlic taxpayer and health care consumer will not get the most mileage lor his or her dollar.


Nocturnal enuresis (NE) can result from an interaction of unstable detrusor contractions, delayed arousal from sleep, and nocturnal polyuria. Some children with NE can hold urine well for several hours during the day and have isolated nocturnal enuresis, while others manifest diurnal voiding symptoms (DVS) as well, including urinary frequency, urgency, urge incontinence, and pelvic withholding. The pathogenesis of NE in patients with isolated NE may be different than in those with NE and DVS. In children with NE and DVS, detrusor instability may play a major role in the causation of their voiding problems, whereas delayed arousal from sleep in response to a full bladder may be a major contributor to NE in patients with isolated NE. The treatment should address the underlying pathogenic factors. The commonly used treatment regimens are described. Motivation and efforts of the child in training the bladder are vital to achieving cure of enuresis.


Access to pasture has advantages for cows such as reduced lameness and improved udder health, but also may expose cows to stressors such as extreme heat. The objective of this study was to understand how portable shade affected physiological and behavioral responses of pastured dairy cows in a Canadian summer. Over 8wk, a total of 24 lactating Holstein cows were separated into 2 treatments, one with access to shade and a control without access to shade. The cows were pastured in groups of 4, with 3 field sections per treatment. Instantaneous scan sampling of behaviors (drinking, lying, grazing, other) performed in the shade or not were recorded every 5min for 3h/d during the hottest part of the day (peak hours: 1130-1530h) 3d/wk. Ambient temperature, humidity, and vaginal temperature were recorded at 10-min intervals. Daily milk production was also recorded. Differences between treatments by week were analyzed using the generalized linear mixed model with group as random effect and treatment as fixed effect. Cows with shade access were observed at the water trough up to 6.42 times less and lying down up to 1.75 times more. Cows with shade access grazed up to 1.5 times more but only when the temperature-humidity index was above their comfort threshold (≥72) during the hottest part of the day (wk 2). Cows sought shade when it was made available, but spent less than half of their time observed (%) in the shade (40.8±4.67) with the exception of wk 2 when most of the time was spent under the shade (74.3±4.77). Daily lying time was highest during peak hours for cows with shade access. However, no overall difference in total lying time between the 2 treatments was observed. No differences were found in vaginal temperature or milk production between treatments with the exception of wk 1 for daily milk production, which was higher for cows in the control treatment. In conclusion, cows sought shade when it was provided at pasture, whereas cows without access to shade seemed to alter their behavior to cope with heat stress, as seen from the lack of physiological differences between treatments. The results indicate that providing cows with access to pasture under a temperate climate does not seem to have any detrimental physiological or production effects and providing them with shade can potentially decrease production costs and help with water conservation strategies as fewer cows were observed at the water when shade was provided.


Pressures build in Middle Eastern and Arabic-speaking societies to diversify economies and democratize social relations. Educators and scholars, contributing to these shifts, have experimented with classroom reforms that aim to advance higher-order thinking skills and the social agility of students. This article reviews 52 empirical studies of such reforms, work that meets methodological standards and gauges effects from an innovative classroom model. Classroom reforms within Arabic-speaking societies focused on various aspects of the technical core, including (1) structured exercises to advance analytic or problem-solving skills, (2) cooperative activities that demand interaction, or (3) projects aiming to advance complex cognition, often drawing on digital technologies. We find consistent evidence that the press for analytic skills or active participation in classrooms yields significant gains in learning. Pedagogical and classroom-reform models typically originate in the West, although local educators and scholars animate them with varying sensitivity to cultural or institutional contexts. Building research capacity in the region, however, would ensure greater rigor in quantitative and qualitative studies, along with deeper theorization of cultural context.


It would be hard to invent the story that has unfolded around the Serpentine pavilion's chosen superstars for 2012, Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, and their proposal to excavate and interpret the lost foundations of the previous dozen pavilions. The discovery that the previous pavilions lacked foundations—or that the foundations had been removed—means that the designers are free to make up their own story about the previous structures. And the idea that their structure will be a disc upon which people can reflect their own desires—through dance or whatever—perfectly reflects the disengagement between the architecture of spectacle and meaning. One suspects that the story is playing out just as Ai Weiwei would have liked.


Purpose – This study has two purposes. The first is to identify the determinants influencing the selection of a container number recognition system via a quantitative method to thereby establish an evaluation structure. The second purpose is to conduct an empirical study to determine the weights of the criteria and alternatives. Design/methodology/approach – The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to determine the evaluation structure and weights of the criteria and alternatives, respectively. Findings – An empirical study based on a dedicated terminal at Keelung Port is conducted. The result demonstrates that the radio-frequency identification (RFID) system is a suitable system for the terminal under consideration in this study. Originality/value – The value of this study is twofold. First, EFA was applied to extract common factors from a wide questionnaire survey, thereby establishing a hierarchical analysis structure. This method and comprehensive evaluation structure are useful references for both practitioners and researchers to deal with problems of gate automation. Second, fuzzy AHP was used to decide the weights of the hierarchical structure. The weights obtained by this method are more objective and rational as the imprecision expressions in returned samples have been considered and dealt with.


As the size of models and datasets grows, it has become increasingly common to train models in parallel. However, existing distributed stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms suffer from insufficient utilization of computational resources and poor convergence in heterogeneous clusters. In this paper, we propose a delayed synchronous SGD algorithm with adaptive batch size (ABS-SGD) for heterogeneous GPU clusters. In ABS-SGD, workers perform global synchronization to accumulate delayed gradients and use the accumulated delayed gradients to update parameters. While workers are performing global synchronization for delayed gradients, they perform the computation of the next batch without specifying batch size in advance, which lasts until the next global synchronization starts, realizing the full utilization of computational resources. Since the gradient delay is only one iteration, the stale gradient problem can be alleviated. We theoretically prove the convergence of ABS-SGD in heterogeneous clusters. Extensive experiments in three types of heterogeneous clusters demonstrate that ABS-SGD can make full use of computational resources and accelerate model convergence: When training ResNet18 network with 4 workers, ABS-SGD increases the convergence speed by 1.30x on average compared with the best baseline algorithm.


Abstract The aim of this contribution is to quantify the influence of selected methods on elimination of value added tax gap in the Czech Republic within the researched period 2015–2016. To find a possible share of influence of the VAT control statement on tax fraud following priority methods were set: VAT control statement invitation, initiatives from pairing check reports, tax checking and procedures for doubt removal. By quantifying these methods, the values of theoretical benefits are measured and further compared with value added tax gap within the researched period. To set the VAT gap estimation a method was used that calculates via cleaning gross domestic product based on the database of national accounts. By using this approach it was found out that with the influence of selected methods of financial administration there was a tax gap decrease in 2015 by 5.54% and for 2016 by 4.00%.


An analysis of the results of the candidates undertaking the Part 1 F.R.A.C.S. examination between February 1973 and February 1975 inclusive is presented. Particular attention is paid to those who failed the examination at the first attempt, and their subsequent progress has been related to their performance at this time. The analysis forms the basis for the information which is now given to unsuccessful candidates and their clinical supervisors.


Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is a health problem in Indonesia. The entire region of Indonesia at risk of contracting dengue disease. The study aims to prove the effect of modifications ovitrap rekattidiri on the density of larvae (HI: House Index, CI: Container Index and BI: Breteu Index) as well as comparing the differences between the mean larvae trapped between ovitrap Rekattidiri with standard ovitrap. Using a quasi experimental design, time series experimental design with Control group. Population subjects were Aedes aegypti at the endemic sites in Pontianak, West Borneo. The results showed larval density index in the intervention area decreased each ie HI from 26% to 3%, CI of 6.95% to 2.19 %, and BI from 29% to 13%. The number of larvae trapped in ovitrap rekattidiri ie 70% (12,770 larvae) more than the standard ovitrap in the control and intervention, namely: 17% (3,057 larvae) and 13% (2,334 larvae). It is concluded that there are significant modifications Rekattidiri ovitrap against larval density index (HI p-value: 0.025, CI p-value: 0.052, BI value of p: 0.04) and there are differences between the mean larvae trapped in ovitrap Rekattidiri and standard ovitrap with p value: 0.001.


Notwithstanding lineage-specific variations, the number and type of protein-coding genes remain relatively static across the animal kingdom. By contrast there has been a massive expansion in the extent of genomic non-protein-coding sequences with increasing developmental complexity. These non-coding sequences are, in fact, transcribed in a regulated manner to produce large numbers of large and small non-protein-coding RNAs that control gene expression at many levels including chromatin architecture, post-transcriptional processing and translation. Moreover, many RNAs are edited, especially in the nervous system, which may be the basis of epigenome-environment interactions and the function of the brain.


BACKGROUND
Mucin-1 (MUC1) is a promising antigen for the development of tumor vaccines. We evaluated the frequency of MUC1 expression and its impact on therapy response and survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Pre-treatment core biopsies of patients from the GeparTrio neoadjuvant trial (NCT 00544765) were evaluated for MUC1 by immunohistochemistry (IHC; N = 691) and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR; N = 286) from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples.

RESULTS
MUC1 protein and mRNA was detectable in the majority of cases and was associated with hormone-receptor-positive status (P < 0.001). High MUC1 protein and mRNA expression were associated with lower probability of pathologic complete response (P = 0.017 and P < 0.001) and with longer patient survival (P = 0.03 and P < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, MUC1 protein and mRNA expression were independently predictive (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001). MUC1 protein and mRNA expression were independently prognostic for overall survival (P = 0.029 and P = 0.015).

CONCLUSIONS
MUC1 is frequently expressed in breast cancer and detectable on mRNA and protein level from FFPE tissue. It provides independent predictive information for therapy response and survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In clinical immunotherapy trials, MUC1 expression may serve as a predictive marker.


The study investigates the trade off between liquidity and profitability in the five sectors of Pakistan (Chemical, Fuel & Energy, Paper-Board & Products, Food (Sugar) Sector & Cement Sectors). The central objective is to understand the relationship between liquidity and Profitability in a profit driven Business to the nature and extent of the relationship between them. Further, to find the balance of the conflicting objectives of liquidity and profitability and to determine whether a functional relationship exists between Liquidity & Profitability and then estimate whether or not both reinforce each other or not. Liquidity measures are Current, Quick, Interest Coverage, and Debt to Equity, Creditors, and Stock & Receivables Turnover while the profitability measure was the Return on Assets. Investigation and quantitative analysis methods were used for the study. Analysis is based on data extracted from BSA and the accounts of the companies for the relevant period. Correlation and Panel regression analysis, respectively, are employed to examine the nature and extent of the relationship between the variables and determine whether any cause and effect relationship between them. An Econometric model of perceived functional relationship is specified, estimated and evaluated. Evaluation is based on relevant statistics of Panel regression result. The results show that all the measures of liquidity except Debtors Turnover and Debt to Equity Ratio are contributing positively towards the profitability of the firms. So all these things show that if the firm has sound liquidity, then it will ultimately lead towards the profitability because by this the company would be able to generate the spontaneous financing. However, the findings of this paper are based on a study conducted on the selected company only. Hence, the results are not generalizable to other companies. Secondly, the sample comprises the five sectors. Therefore, the results are valid for those Sectors only.


PROLOGUE Otitis Media (OM), one of the most common diagnoses made by pediatricians and family medicine physicians, is second only to the common cold among infectious disease diagnoses in children. Otitis media is not a single disease entity but a continuum of chronic and acute manifestations that can have long term sequelae for the child. Long term sequelae of OM include: hearing loss, impaired cognitive development, tympanic membrane perforation, facial paralysis, meningitis, and brain abscess. Antimicrobial therapy is the mainstay of therapy in various types of OM. Antimicrobial resistance and noncompliance play an important role in regimen failure. Viral etiologies of OM account for an increasing number of episodes. In 1986, the annual cost estimates for OM treatment in the United States alone, exceeded 3.5 billion dollars. As antibiotics continue to be the mainstay of therapy, the perception is that they have accounted for a large portion of the total treatment expense. However, other costs such as clinic visit, laboratory fees, parent lost time from work, travel costs, etc., are rarely measured. This paper will focus on the antimicrobial treatment of various forms of OM and discuss the appropriateness of adjunctive treatment of this disorder.


There is an entirely new look in comics and animation today, characterized by ultra-cartoon-y, retro, and highly stylised drawing style. This is the new face of cartooning as seen in such popular TV shows as Sponge-Bob Squarepants, Dexter's Lab, Kim Possible, and The Fairly Odd Parents. Millions of fans of these popular TV shows watch them avidly, often solely for their zingy, stylised look and hip visual jokes. Now there's a drawing book just right for everyone who admires that quirky style, CARTOON COOL. Top-selling author Christopher Hart shows beginning cartoonists, retro fans, and all other hipsters how to get that almost-1950s look in their drawings. His trademark step-by-step drawings and crystal-clear text are sure to make Saturday mornings more creative!


This thesis discusses the electronic compressibility of two representative three dimensional topological insulators: Strained mercury telluride (HgTe) and bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3).I present low temperature phase-sensitive electron admittance data over a broad frequency range. This allows to extract the quantum capacitance related to the density of states and the resistivity of the investigated materials.We show that the response of an intrinsic topological insulator is dominated by topological surface states over a large energy range exceeding the bulk material's transport gap. This regime, named "Dirac screening" is characterized by an electron compressibility proportional to the surface Fermi level and a high mobility.Subsequently, we investigate the limits of this regime. At high energy and large perpendicular electric fields we observe the population of excited massive surface states. Experimentally, these manifest themselves in multiple signatures: A drop in the electronic diffusion constant, a peak in the conductivity, appearance of a second carrier type in magneto-transport and meta-stability in the charge-voltage relation.A theoretical model based on a quasi-relativistic treatment of the surface Hamiltonian is presented. It allows to identify the electric field and energy dependence of the massive surface states.This thesis is complemented by experimental results on Bi2Se3 grown on boron nitride, where we demonstrate the importance of clean surfaces for the study of electronic properties in topological insulators.


We have established empirical limits for the circular dichroism spectra appropriate for aqueous solutions of the B, C, and A forms of calf-thymus DNA and have analyzed DNA conformations in biological structures. The circular dichroism spectrum above 250 nm of purified calf-thymus chromatin can be satisfactorily accounted for as a linear combination of contributions of the B and C reference spectra without invoking higher-order structures such as supercoils. The amount of A contribution, if any, is below the limit of detection (</=4%). The fraction of bases in the B conformation depends on the method of isolation of nucleohistone, and ranges from 30-50%. The B content of a given preparation is increased by addition of a chelating agent and decreased by addition of divalent ions. More radical increases ensue upon protein removal. Nuclease treatment results in a dramatic decrease in B content. The fraction of bases melting out in the lower transitions of the complex melting profile of a given chromatin preparation corresponds to its B content. We propose a model for chromatin structure in which part of the DNA duplex is exposed or accessible to the solvent and is in the B conformation. The remainder of the base pairs and ribophosphate backbone are protected from interaction with the solvent by efficient histone coverage and are in the C conformation. Divalent ions modulate the distribution of bases between these two conformations.


Abstract: The horizontal machine tool has an automatic exchange table, which can be combined with a flexible manufacturing system for automatic processing and production. Therefore, it requires higher performance stability than other machines. This study analyzes the static and dynamic characteristics of a horizontal machine tool structure. The finite element analysis (FEA) method is generally used to analyze the whole machine structure and improve the deformation and resonance of the horizontal machine tool. In this study, FEA was applied to the design process of the machine tool, including static deformation analysis, modal analysis, transient analysis, and harmonic analysis of the machine. The deformation of the whole machine due to acceleration of gravity and cutting force was analyzed. The modal shapes generated by the first and third modes directly affected the machining process of the machine tool. To further analyze the influence of vibration signal processing on processing quality, transient response analysis was carried out on the effect of axial cutting force during machining. Spectrum analysis of the machine was also carried out. This study is expected to help the structural design of a horizontal machine tool to improve the dynamic characteristics and stability of the horizontal machining system.


A data reduction technique is adopted to identify the critical determinants of effective monitoring and evaluation in the construction industry. The views of randomly selected construction professionals from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa were collected through a questionnaire survey. Adopting a quantitative research approach for the study, extant literature was conducted to identify monitoring and evaluation determining factors. Subsequently, a five-point Likert scale was drawn for respondents to rank the factors. A Cronbach's alpha value of 0.953 was achieved based on standardised items. Similarly, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's test of sphericity was conducted before the data were subjected to principal component analysis. The study provides a new contribution to knowledge by introducing three new variables of uncorrelated determinants that better explain effective monitoring and evaluation. These variables are described as M&E management and human relation, M&E participation and information and M&E implementation and approach. The study, therefore, recommends consideration of these factors by project managers to ensure M&E is effective and delivers successful construction project.


The Handbook of Drug Therapy in Psychiatry is one of many recently published textbooks on drug therapy for patients with psychiatric disorders. The author's goals are: (I) to pre~ent a co~ prehensive discussion of the application of pharmacologic agents I.n the treatment of psychiatric patients, (2) to relate the SCIentIfIC knowledge on these drugs' mechanism of action to clinical practice, and (3) to relate his research experiences to the care of psychiatric patients. He is successful in achieving his goals. The book contains 12 chapters: (I) "Medicating the Psychiatric Patient," (2) "Antianxiety Agents and Hypnotics," (3) "Antipsychotic Drugs," (4) "Tricyclic and Tetracyclic Antidepressants.' " (5) "Monamine Oxidase Inhibitors," (6) "Electroconvulsive Therapy," (7) "Lithium," (8) "Geriatric Psychopharmacology," (9) "Medical Complications of Psychotropic Drugs," (10) "Movement Disorders and Neurologic Aspects of Psychotropic Drugs," (II) "Psychiatric Side Effects and Psychiatric Uses of NonPsychotropic Drugs," and (12) "The Self-Medicated Patient: Recreational Drug Use and Addiction." An Appendix discusses the psychopharmacology literature and contains tables of gen<:ric and.trade names of psychotropic drugs. Twenty-two tables summanze key information throughout the text. The information in each chapter is documented with literature citations; the author adds his clinical experience where appropriate. I found the book readable and complete, without information that is useless for the clinician. A helpful feature is the "Overview" presented at the beginning of each chapter in which the author summarizes some principles of drug therapy for the topic covered in the chapter. These are practical and "use-oriented" and effectively communicate the most important points in the chapter. One of the most useful tables is "Differentiating Tremors Induced by Lithium from Other Common Tremors." The chapter on electroconvulsive therapy is unusual to find in a psychotropic drug therapy book, but is a welcome inclusion as an additional somatic treatment option for the severely depressed patient. There are some statements with which I do not agree: (1) that meprobamate should be used in the elderly to reduce sleep latency. Should we be using meprobamate for anything in 1984? (2) that amoxapine is classed as a rapidly acting antidepressant. Although the premarketing studies suggest this, I have not seen this effect clinically, and (3) that postural hypotension is least likely to occur with maprotiline, doxepin, or amoxapine. Nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor) probably causes the least amount of orthostat!c effects and this shoul.d have been mentioned. The use of alprazolam in the treatment of pamc attacks was not mentioned, and no mention of triazolam (Halcion) was made in the discussion of hypnotics. The inclusion of structures of drugs is useful, but their placement in the text appears to be random. On balance, the book is a useful text or reference for psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, medical and pharmacy students, clinical pharmacists, and nurse practitioners who need information about the clinical use of psychotropic drugs. It is readable, well-indexed, and complete in its scope. At $25, it is reasonably priced. I highly recommend the book for any pharmacist who is involved with the treatment of psychiatric patients.


In this paper we introduce a framework for analyzing BGP connectivity, and evaluate a number of new complexity measures for a union of core backbone BGP tables. Sensitive to engineering resource limitations of router memory and CPU cycles, we focus on techniques to estimate redundancy of the merged tables, in particular how many entries are essential for complete and correct routing. We introduced the notion of policy atoms [BC01b] as part of a calculus in routing table analysis. We found that the number of atoms and individual counts of atoms with a given number of prefixes properly scale with the Internet's growth and with filtering of prefixes by length. We show that the use of atoms can potentially reduce the number of route announcements by a factor of two, with all routing policies being preserved. Atoms thus represent Internet properties in an accurate way, yet with much smaller complexity. Several of our analysis results suggest that commonly held Internet engineering beliefs require re-consideration. We find that more specific routes had a relatively constant share of routes in backbone tables across 2000/2001. On the other hand, the churn of more specific routes was much larger than that of top prefixes. We also find that deaggregation of existing announcements is a second major source (beyond announcement of recently allocated address space) of new top (least specific) prefixes in global BGP tables. We also provide examples of misconfiguration and noise in BGP data, including multi-origin prefixes, AS paths with apparent routing loops (some of them due to typographical errors, other actual loops undetected by local BGP speakers), inadvertent transit through customer ASes.


Visual intelligence at the edge is becoming a growing necessity for low latency applications and situations where real-time decision is vital. Object detection, the first step in visual data analytics, has enjoyed significant improvements in terms of state-of-the-art accuracy due to the emergence of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Deep Learning. However, such complex paradigms intrude increasing computational demands and hence prevent their deployment on resource-constrained devices. In this work, we propose a hierarchical framework that enables to detect objects in high-resolution video frames, and maintain the accuracy of state-of-the-art CNN-based object detectors while outperforming existing works in terms of processing speed when targeting a low-power embedded processor using an intelligent data reduction mechanism. Moreover, a use-case for pedestrian detection from Unmanned-Areal-Vehicle (UAV) is presented showing the impact that the proposed approach has on sensitivity, average processing time and power consumption when is implemented on different platforms. Using the proposed selection process our framework manages to reduce the processed data by 100x leading to under 4W power consumption on different edge devices.


Introduction. Quinazoline derivatives have a wide range of pharmacological properties, which makes this group quite unique among other classes of heterocyclic compounds. Substance VMA-10-18, which has cerebrovasodilating, antidepressant, anxiolytic and nootropic properties, may become a promising new drug. In this regard, an urgent task is to develop methods for standardizing this substance.Aim. Development of a method for the quantitation of related impurities of a new biologically active substance VMA-10-18 (Quinazophene) by HPLC with subsequent statistical processing of the results.Materials and methods. To develop the conditions for chromatographic analysis, was used a highly purified substance 3-[2-(4-methoxyphenylamino)-2-oxoethyl]-quinazolin-4(3H)-one, as well as its related impurities: impurity I (unsubstituted quinazolin-4(3H)-one) and impurity II (4-methoxychloroacetanilide). Test solutions were prepared using volumetric glassware of accuracy class 1. Ethyl alcohol 95 % was used as a solvent. Chromatography was performed using a Dionex UltiMate 3000 system (Dionex, United States) with a spectrophotometric detector. The analysis was carried out at a wavelength of 231 nm. Data collection and processing was carried out using the Chromeleon v.7 system. A mixture of acetonitrile and orthophosphoric acid was used as a mobile phase. The analysis was performed in an isocratic mode. The validation of the developed method was carried out taking into account the requirements of the State Pharmacopeia of Russian Federation XIV edition and the recommendations of the ICH.Results and discussion. The optimal conditions for chromatography of the VMA-10-18 substance and its impurities have been developed. It was found that for a clear separation of the peaks of the substance and impurities among themselves, the mobile phase should contain acetonitrile and orthophosphoric acid in a ratio of 80 : 20. The specificity of the method was determined by chromatography of ethyl alcohol in order to exclude its influence on the analysis results. The linearity and correctness of the method were determined at 7 levels of concentration of impurities of the substance. The correlation coefficient has exceeded 0.99. Also, the free term of the linear dependence equation (a) for both impurities was less than its confidence interval (Δа), which proves the absence of a systematic error of the method. When determining the "Convergence" indicator, the calculated relative standard deviation did not exceed 2 %. When determining the intralaboratory precision, Student's t-test and Fisher's F-test were calculated. Both indicators met the stated requirements.Conclusion. A method for the quantitative determination of impurities in the VMA-10-18 substance by HPLC has been developed and validated.


Measurement of solution conductance is a classical electroanalytical technique that finds application in a variety of chemical and biochemical studies . Because solvents are used by chemists to carry out chemical reactions or observe chemical and biological phenomena, more specific measures of solvent effects are required. In the present investigation, the equivalent conductivity of acetic acid in methanol-water mixtures has been determined.. Equivalent conductivity of acetic acid is found to decrease with increasing percentage of methanol. The effect of solvent properties like dielectric constant and viscosity on equivalent conductivity of KBr has also been studied using different solvents.


A Mach-Zehnder interferometer system is used to measure time-dependent index of refraction profiles in liquid photopolymer and in the solid formed during photopolymerization. The system required that the data be collected at a two- dimensional spatial array with a resolution of at least 25 μm. A miniature interferometer was assembled (Fig. 1) permitting imaging lenses to be placed close to the sample and providing the needed image size, and the data image was recorded with a video camera (CCD). The data (Fig. 2) are then transferred to a computer for capture and analysis.


We used historical Landsat imagery to monitor forest degradation from charcoal production in the main supplying region of the Mozambican capital, Maputo, during a ten-year period (2008–2018). We applied a change detection method that exploits temporal NDVI dynamics associated with charcoal production. This forest degradation temporal sequence exposes the magnitude and the spatial and temporal dynamics of charcoal production, which is the main forest degradation driver in sub-Saharan Africa. The annual area under charcoal production has been steadily increasing since 2008 and reached 11 673 ha in 2018. The total forest degraded extent in the study area during the 10-year study period covered 79 630 ha, which represents 68% of the available mopane woodlands in 2008. Only 5% of the available mopane woodlands area remain undisturbed in the study area. Total gross carbon emissions associated charcoal production during this 10-year period were estimated in 1.13 Mt. These results mark forest degradation from charcoal production as the main driver of forest cover change in southern Mozambique. They also denote that, while charcoal production may be relatively localized in space, its implications for forest cover change and carbon emissions in a sub-Saharan African context are relevant at larger geographical scales. This study represents a proof of concept of the feasibility of medium resolution Earth observation data to monitor forest degradation from charcoal production in the context of the growing urban energy demand. It also highlights the potential opportunities to improve REDD+ monitoring, reporting and verification efforts in sub-Saharan Africa as a first step toward designing effective management and policy interventions.


As global cellular networks converge to 5G, one question lingers: Are we ready for the 5G challenge? A growing con-cern surrounds how well do existing congestion control algorithms perform in diverse 5G networks. Given that 5G networks are not yet widely deployed, assessing the performance of existing congestion control algorithms in realistic 5G settings presents several challenges. Moreover, existing network simulation and emulation environments are also not ideally suited to address the unique challenges of 5G network environments. Therefore, building a simple and easily accessi-ble platform becomes crucial to allow testing and comparison of congestion control algorithms under different testing conditions. This paper makes two main contributions. First, we present Zeus , an open-source testbed that emulates 5G channels to evaluate congestion control algorithms in a repeatable and reproducible manner. Second, we assess and characterize ten of today's state-of-the-art congestion control algorithms under different 5G environments and show the difficulties of these solutions to achieve high performance under highly varying 5G channel conditions. In addition, we also utilize the recently proposed harm metric to characterize the detriment done by such algorithms to TCP Cubic cross traffic in 5G environments.


This paper, focusing on Europe and based on two sets of questionnaire and interviews dated 2009 and 2011, confirms the growing importance of the Nigerian Diaspora in those countries and the strategic position of the UK in the current building of a European network, as evidenced by the creation of 'Nigerians in Diaspora Europe' (NIDOE) and other groups. It examines the individual and corporate consumption of Nigerian video films by diasporic communities, considers its social, linguistic and economic impact among both first generation migrants and British youth of Nigerian descent, and reasons behind the success of Nollywood among resettled Nigerians. It highlights the premium given to the cultural aspect of these films by viewers, and its link to individual and collective memory and moral values, while showing a gradual shift in interest from the older generation to that of British-born youth. Given viewers' insistence on the educational value of these films, considered by the majority as a fair reflection of the current Nigerian scene, the paper posits that producers should pay more attention to the content of their films and to their possible impact on other Diaspora-linked factors such as the attitude of Nigerians towards their home country and its wellbeing.


Aim: The study explored oesophageal cancer (EC) patients' experiences before the start of treatment and the process of participation in treatment decisions. Background: EC is a serious and potentially lethal disease. Surgery and perioperative chemotherapy is the established treatment, which results in a treatment course of 6 to 8 months. No studies have explored how patients with EC experience the diagnosis, the time before the diagnosis and start of treatment and how they experience participating in treatment decisions. Design: The study was a qualitative study employing a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Methods: Sixteen patients with EC participated. Data collection was carried out using participant observations and semistructured interviews. Data were analysed with inspiration from Ricœur's theory of interpretation. Results: The study showed that patients struggle to gain control of the new life situation and alternate between doubt and hope for the future. Maintaining everyday life activities is of importance and helps the patients deal with the diagnosis and forthcoming treatment. Patients acknowledged that the experts made decisions, yet they were aware that experts assessed their capability to access treatment. Patients experienced the time from diagnosis to the start of treatment as being in 'no man's land'. Conclusions: EC patients encountered an alien world of disease and treatment and are struggling to gain control of their new life situation. Health professionals tend not to focus on patient expressions of everyday life and patients are not actively invited to participate in decisions.


A method of processing a user interface component is provided and includes receiving one or more user interface components that can be communicated to a wireless device. A component risk level for each of the one or more user interface components is determined and assigned to each of the one or more user interface components. Each of the one or more user interface components can be digitally signed using an embedded risk code that indicates the assigned risk level. Further, the component risk level can be selected from a plurality of component risk levels. In a particular embodiment, the component risk level can be determined based on the type of the user interface component. Further, the component risk level can be determined based on a developer of the user interface component.


Internal models serve sensory processing, sensorimotor integration and motor control. They could be a way to construct and update a sense of verticality, by combining vestibular and somatosensory graviception. We tested this hypothesis by investigating self-orientation relative to gravity in 39 normal subjects and in subjects with various somatosensory losses showing either a complete deafferentation of trunk and lower limbs (14 paraplegic patients after complete traumatic spinal cord injury) or a gradient in the degree of a hemibody sensory loss (23 hemiplegic patients after stroke). We asked subjects to estimate, in the dark, the direction of the Earth vertical in two postural conditions-upright and at lateral whole body tilt. For upright conditions, verticality estimates were not different from the direction of the Earth vertical in normal (0.24° ± 1; P = 0.42) and paraplegic subjects (0.87° ± 0.9; P = 0.14). The within-subject variability was much greater in hemiplegic than in normal subjects (2.05° ± 1.15 versus 1.06° ± 0.4; P < 0.01) and greater in paraplegic than in normal subjects (1.13° ± 0.4 versus 0.72° ± 0.4; P < 0.01). These findings indicate that, even if vestibular graviception is intact, somaesthetic graviception contributes to the sense of verticality, leading to a more robust judgement about the direction of verticality when vestibular and somaesthetic graviception yield congruent information. As expected, when normal subjects were tilted, their verticality estimates were biased in the direction of the body tilt (5.55° ± 3.9). This normal modulation of verticality perception (Aubert effect), was preserved in hemiplegics on the side of the normoaesthetic hemibody (ipsilesional) (6.09° ± 6.3), and abolished both in paraplegics (1.06° ± 2.5) and in hemiplegics (0.04° ± 6.7) on the side of hypoaesthetic hemibody (contralesional). This incongruence did not exist in deafferented paraplegics who exclusively used vestibular graviception with a similar efficacy no matter what the lateral body position. The Aubert effect was not an on-off phenomenon since the degree of hemiplegics' somatosensory loss correlated with the modulation of verticality perception when they were tilted to the side of hypoaesthetic hemibody (r = -0.55; P < 0.01). The analysis of anatomical correlates showed that the Aubert effect required the integrity of the posterolateral thalamus. This study reveals the existence of a synthesis of vestibular and somaesthetic graviception for which the posterolateral thalamus plays a major role. This corresponds to a primary property of internal models and yields the neural bases of the Aubert effect. We conclude that humans construct and update internal models of verticality in which somatosensory information plays an important role.


Due to rapid growth in population and industrialization, worldwide ethanol demand is increasing continuously lignocellulosic biomass are most abundant and renewable sources of the world they can act as a promising source for bioethanol production. The major objective of the work was to evaluate the effect of acid and steam pretreatment On Ipomoea carnea for improved yield of bioethanol production by using cellulase producing bacteria isolated from Deer and Cow dung and optimization of condition required for maximum activity of cellulase enzyme. Cellulase producing bacteria isolated from Deer and Cow dung screened by congo red test. Cellulase activity was measured by DNS method. From the present study it is concluded that bacteria isolated from deer and cow dung was producing maximum amount of cellulase enzyme after 60 hours (DDB) and after 70 hours (CDB). Cellulase enzyme produced by bacteria isolated from deer and cow dung was found to have pH around 3, temperature 50°C for DDB and 60°C for CDB. Activity of Cellulase enzyme produced by bacteria isolated from deer and cow dung was found to be increased by the addition of 5 mM MnSO4 ( both DDB and CDB). It Possible to produce lignocellulosic bioethanol (5.52%) from Ipomoea carnea after steam and acid pretreatment by using Cellulase for Saccharification (72 hours) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae for fermentation (72 hours). Bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass is a globally accepted alternative fuel. The production of ethanol from Ipomoea carnea would have the dual advantage of producing energy and serving as an effective method of weed management


Thirty-nine infants, previously examined as neonates, were re-examined at 1 year of age with continuous wide-band noise acoustic rhinometry using a specific probe optimized for infants, to determine the dimensional growth and maturation of nasal airway geometry in otherwise healthy infants. During the first year of life, the acoustically determined dimensions of the nasal airways increased significantly. The total minimal cross-sectional area increased by 67% (0.21 cm2-->0.35 cm2), the volume of the anterior 4 cm of the nasal airway by 36% (1.80 cm3-->2.44 cm3) and the distance to the minimum cross-sectional area by 19% (0.78 cm-->0.93 cm). The rhinometric values of male infants were significantly larger than those of females. However, after adjusting for the significantly larger anthropometric values of males, the difference disappeared, indicating that it was mainly due to body size and not directly to gender. A highly significant correlation (r=0.44, p < 0.006) was observed between the minimum cross-sectional area and head circumference, which anatomically are the most closely related rhinometric and anthropometric values. Furthermore, when differentiating between infants with or without signs of nasal congestion during the fortnight preceding the rhinometric evaluation, a reduction in the total volume of the anterior 4 cm (17% p <0.02) and minimum cross-sectional area (12%, ns) was observed after adjustment. We conclude that the optimized acoustic rhinometric probe is a useful investigative modality, permitting studies of upper airway physiology of healthy and diseased infants.


This article explains how to find required criteria to prevent the liquefaction phenomenon for soil improvement in the Shahid Rajaee Port Project, Bandar Abbas, Iran. The site investigation shows some loose to medium dense sandy layers in different depths. Having low fines content, these layers are susceptible to be liquefied. Liquefaction of the soil behind the quay wall can cause large pressure and thus large deformations that might not be tolerable with the wall. Therefore the occurrence of liquefaction should be prevented by soil improvement. The soil improvement can help the quay wall to reduce the lateral movement and the applied pressure back the wall. In this paper, the liquefaction assessment of the ground layers behind the wall is performed using the ground investigation in-situ SPT and CPTu tests and finally the depth, thickness of liquefiable layer and the ground settlement are calculated. Based on these calculations, it is concluded that there are good agreements between these two procedures. Finally, a criterion based on SPT procedure is presented not to allow the soil be liquefied, which is dependent on the fines content of the soil. In other words, the soil layer should be so improved that the mentioned criterion will be satisfied. It is noted that it is not necessary to improve the deep liquefiable layers according to in-situ surcharge effect based on Ishihara criterion (1985), which is explained in the paper.


Across the world, any activity associated with the nuclear fuel cycle such as nuclear facility operation and decommissioning that produces radioactive materials generates ultramodern civilian radioactive waste, which is quite hazardous to human health and the ecosystem. Therefore, the development of effectual and commanding management is the need of the hour to make certain the sustainability of the nuclear industries. During the management process of waste, its immobilization is one of the key activities conducted with a view to producing a durable waste form which can perform with sustainability for longer time frames. The cementation of radioactive waste is a widespread move towards its encapsulation, solidification, and finally disposal. Conventionally, Portland cement (PC) is expansively employed as an encapsulant material for storage, transportation and, more significantly, as a radiation safeguard to vigorous several radioactive waste streams. Cement solidification/stabilization (S/S) is the most widely employed treatment technique for radioactive wastes due to its superb structural strength and shielding effects. On the other hand, the eye-catching pros of cement such as the higher mechanical strength of the resulting solidified waste form, trouble-free operation and cost-effectiveness have attracted researchers to employ it most commonly for the immobilization of radionuclides. In the interest to boost the solidified waste performances, such as their mechanical properties, durability, and reduction in the leaching of radionuclides, vast attempts have been made in the past to enhance the cementation technology. Additionally, special types of cement were developed based on Portland cement to solidify these perilous radioactive wastes. The present paper reviews not only the solidification/stabilization technology of radioactive wastes using cement but also addresses the challenges that stand in the path of the design of durable cementitious waste forms for these problematical functioning wastes. In addition, the manuscript presents a review of modern cement technologies for the S/S of radioactive waste, taking into consideration the engineering attributes and chemistry of pure cement, cement incorporated with SCM, calcium sulpho–aluminate-based cement, magnesium-based cement, along with their applications in the S/S of hazardous radioactive wastes.


Homogeneous and isotropic cosmologies of the Planck era before the classical Einstein equations become valid are studied taking quantum gravitational effects into account. The cosmological evolution equations are renormalization group improved by including the scale dependence of Newton's constant and of the cosmological constant as it is given by the flow equation of the effective average action for gravity. It is argued that the Planck regime can be treated reliably in this framework because gravity is found to become asymptotically free at short distances. The epoch immediately after the initial singularity of the Universe is described by an attractor solution of the improved equations which is a direct manifestation of an ultraviolet attractive renormalization group fixed point. It is shown that quantum gravity effects in the very early Universe might provide a resolution to the horizon and flatness problems of standard cosmology, and could generate a scale-free spectrum of primordial density fluctuations.


Objectives:We investigated the parenting stress and depressive mood of mothers with developmentally-delayed children and the effects of participation in a mother-child development promotion program on same. Methods:Subjects were the mothers of 20 developmentally-delayed children. The severity of the mothers' parenting stress was evaluated via the Korean version of the Parenting Stress Index, Short Form (K-PSI-SF) and the severity of their depressive symptoms were evalueted by the Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory (K-BDI). Results:The mean K-PSI-SF score and mean K-BDI score for these mothers were 93.35 (SD=10.47) and 23.25 (SD=10.42), respectively. These scores correspond to high parenting stress and moderate depression. The mothers who participated in a mother-child attachment- promotion program showed significant decreases in their K-PSI-SF and KBDI scores. Conclusion:Our data suggest that a mother-child attachment promotion program with emphasis on child development is effective in reducing parenting stress and depressive mood in mothers of developmentally-delayed children.


Approximately 1 in 3 women experience low sexual desire. Despite this being a common concern, many women never seek professional help for their difficulties and will instead turn to online resources for information. We sought to address this need for digitally-accessible, evidence-based information on low sexual desire by creating a social media Knowledge Translation (KT) campaign called #DebunkingDesire. Our team led a 10 month social media campaign where our primary outcomes for the campaign were impressions, reach, and engagement. We generated over 300,000 social media impressions; appeared on 11 different podcasts that were listened to/downloaded 154,700 times; hosted and participated in eight online events; and attracted website users from 110 different countries. Over the course of the campaign we compiled lessons learned on what worked for disseminating our key messages and the importance of creating community for this population. These findings point to the utility of using social media as part of KT campaigns in sexual health, and to the importance of collaborating with patient partners and considering social media ads and podcasts to meet reach goals.


PURPOSE
To investigate ontogenic expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha in female rat corneas, as part of basic studies to elucidate the mechanism of estrogenic effects on the corneas.

METHODS
The expression and localization of ERalpha were determined using quantitative reverse transcribed-polymerase chain reaction methodology and immunohistochemistry in the corneas of female rats on day 14 of gestation and postnatal days (PNDs) 0, 21, and 60.

RESULTS
Quantitative analysis of ERalpha mRNA revealed that ERalpha gene expression increased approximately 4 times on PND 21 and about 10 times on PND 60, as compared with expression levels detected on PND 0. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that expression of ERalpha protein was evident only in nuclei of the corneal epithelial cells from PND 21 onward.

CONCLUSION
Ontogenic expression of ERalpha occurred in female rat corneas.


Microspherical cavities coupled with polarization-maintained tapered optical fibers were developed towards realization of quantum optical devices. We achieved fine tuning of resonant frequency and control of cavity beta-factor. We also succeeded in observation of Fano-effect on peak shape and electrodynamic effect on energy transfer process in microspheres.


Abstract Tri(8-quinolinolato)iron complex immobilized onto SBA-15 catalyst has been synthesized through a stepwise procedure. The characterization results indicated that the BET surface area, total pore volume and average pore width decrease after stepwise modification of SBA-15, while the structure keeps intact. Catalytic tests showed that FeQ3-SBA-15 catalyzes the oxidation reaction well with 34.8% conversion of benzyl alcohol and 74.7% selectivity to benzaldehyde when water is used as the solvent after 1 h reaction. In addition, homogeneous catalyst tri(8-quinolinolato)iron exhibits very bad catalytic behavior using water as the solvent.


This paper deals with measurement methodologies for establishing indicators and metrics in order to assess the performance of vibration energy scavengers. The measurement method proposed here is based on the analysis of the flow of energy through several sections of the harvester, which sometime can include complex architectures and nonlinear phenomena. It is worth noting that the proposed solution is applicable not only to linear transducers in presence of periodic vibration source, as mainly proposed in the literature, but also to nonlinear harvester with its conditioning architectures/circuits and in presence of both stochastic and periodic sources. In this context, all the features have been studied from a generalized point of view which can be applied to study a wide range of Lead Zirconate Titanate-based architectures also exploring the effect of parameters variation, transducer architecture, and its consequence in terms of output performance as function of the kinetic input energy parameters. In particular, we outline a new metric addressing the limits of current solutions which the focus on a specific prototype composed of a single transduction element. This paper develops, from theory, a metric for analyzing the implementation of a performance measurement strategy and, in order to experimentally validate this methodology, considers four case studies, which represent the most popular architectures of scavengers proposed in the literature. The metric is first introduced, than the principle of the transducers under analysis is presented, analytical models have been developed, then, numerical analyses have been performed and the obtained behaviors have been validated from an experimental point of view, including characterization and performance evaluation; a comparison as respect the current figure of merits, applied in a specific device, has also been accomplished highlighting the suitability of the proposed methodology.


DNA mutations are identified by techniques that use the knowledge of the wild‐type DNA sequence and its mutated variant. The involved analytic methods must be accurate, rapid, and sustainable, if a clinical application is pursued. High‐performance liquid chromatography under denaturing conditions is a useful technique to screen mutations. Denaturing high‐performance liquid chromatography resultant chromatograms are suitable for feature extraction analysis with multivariate methods such as principal component analysis. In this work, principal component analysis was applied to analyze the chromatograms from 3 different genes. Fragments with verified wild‐type sequence were used as reference and samples with sequence unknown were tested. A statistical characterization based on Tukey's boxplot equation of principal component scores allowed us to analyze the distance distribution between reference and sample clusters to establish a classification criterion: an outlier could represent a mutated sample, and a typical value could be a wild‐type sample. Identified outliers were further analyzed by sequencing and proved to carry a mutation. From 72 datasets with a total of 4258 injections, we successfully assessed the classification criterion, identifying mutated samples in lymphoma and breast cancer patients with ratio of prediction Gmean = [0.89, 1.00]. Compared with sequencing analysis, this procedure reduced time and costs.


In an attempt to stop the rampant suburbanization, which countries experienced after World War II, a 'new town' policy was enrolled. As a major objective, and related to its origins, new towns were effective in attracting low and medium income households. Nowadays, cities and municipalities experience an increased accountability in which incentives are provided by 'naming and shaming'. This paper focuses on an issue where both historical and local policy come together: early school leaving. Using an iterative matching analysis, it suggests how to account for differences in population and regional characteristics. In other words, how to compare and interpret early school leaving in new towns in a more `fair' way. The results point out that (statistically) mitigating historical differences is necessary, even though this does not necessarily means that 'naming' is replaced by 'shaming'.


differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells into immature dendritic stromal induced pluripotent stem cells, embryonal carcinoma stem cells, hemangioblasts, lymphoid progenitor cells, Abstract The latest achievements in the field of pancreas transplantation and stem cell therapy require an effort by the scientific community to clarify the ethical implications of pioneering treatments, often characterized by high complexity from a surgical point of view, due to transplantation of multiple organs at the same time or at different times, and from an immunological point of view for stem cell therapy. The fundamental value in the field of organ transplants is, of course, a solidarity principle, namely that of protecting the health and life of people for whom transplantation is a condition of functional recovery, or even of survival. The nature of this value is that of a concept to which the legal discipline of transplants entrusts its own ethical dignity and for which it has ensured a constitutional recognition in different systems. The general principle of respect for human life, both of the donor and of the recipient, evokes the need not to put oneself and one's neighbor in dangerous conditions. The present ethical reflection aims to find a balance between the latest therapeutic advances and several concepts including the idea of the person, the respect due to the dead, the voluntary nature of the donation and the consent to the same, the gratuitousness of the donation, the scientific progress and the development of surgical techniques, and the policies of health promotion. Core Tip: Recent research in pancreatic transplantation is involving many branches of medicine. The objective is represented by the achievement of euglycemia and the anatomo-functional restoration of the β-cells, avoiding exogenous insulin administration. Transplantation of the pancreas or pancreatic islets (eventually associated with renal transplantation) and stem cell therapy constitute the new frontiers in this field. However, such rapid scientific growth must be followed by an extensive discussion on the ethical implications to make experimental and clinical practices adequate and sustainable. and ethical