Our study group consisted of 29 patients who underwent endovascular treatment for the presence of pial AVMs. The patients were treated with various embolization methods including "-free flow" embolization (2 cases); embolization with suture threads (2 mm long micro-emboli: 17 cases) and embolization with acrylic glue (10 cases). There were significant angio-architectural and AVM location differences between the pediatric and the adult patient groups. In pediatric patients, the more frequent AVMs were of the mono or few-pedunculated type, then simple direct fistulas and high-flow fistulous-plexiform AVMs and giant infra-tentorial or deep-seated malformations. In mono or few-pedunculated AVMs, the elected treatment was acrylic glue followed by radio-surgery achieving definitive cure in 3 cases. In direct AVFs and elevated flow AVMs, embolization with suture and acrylic glue offered definitive results. Treatment for infra-tentorial and deep-seated AVMs presented the greatest difficulty in pediatric patients. In two of them, embolization with glue enabled radiosurgery (giant cerebellar AVMs). Our experience did not confirm that current endovascular techniques provide definitive treatment in extensive, deep-seated AVMs. Each treatment, in children more so than in adults, requires a risk/benefit evaluation of the method taking into account the natural history data.


Background: Objectives: 1. To evaluate the magnitude of ocular manifestations in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis 2. To establish a statistical significance of age of patients to duration of disease 3. To establish a statistical significance of duration of disease to frequency of ocular manifestations Method: Study Design: Cross sectional observational study. Sample Size: 144 Duration of Study: 18 months Case control was not required in this study. Investigations: Slit lamp biomicroscopy with 90 D Volk lens was done for anterior and posterior segment examination. Gonioscopy, Applanation Tonometry, Automated Perimetry and Indirect Ophthalmoscopy were done. Dry eye evaluation was done. Statistical Analysis: SPSS version 20 was used with a p value of less than 0.05 taken as significant. Result: Out of 144 patients, females (118) dominated. Ocular manifestations were seen in 53(36.8%) patients, bilateral in 35 (66%) patients and multiple in 32 (60.4%) patients. Dry eye was the most common ocular manifestation (30.5%). The duration of disease was statistically significant (p=0.001) with respect to ocular manifestations and also age groups (p=0.000). Conclusion: Dry eye was the most common ocular manifestation. The duration of disease was statistically significant with respect to ocular manifestations. The duration of disease was statistically significant when co related with age groups. Ocular manifestations are common in Rheumatoid Arthritis and should be evaluated urgently. Earlier diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis helps in reducing ocular morbidity and ophthalmologists should be trained to look for ocular as well as other extra articular manifestations in Rheumatoid Arthritis.


The European Consortium for Ocean Drilling Program (ECORD), the Canadian Consortium for Ocean Drilling (CCOD), the Network of the Universites du Quebec (UQ), the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) and GEOTOP sponsored, in 2010, a summer school entitled 'Ocean and climate changes in polar and sub-polar environments'. This summer school took place from 27 June to 12 July in Rimouski, Quebec city and Montreal (Quebec, Canada) and was attended by nineteen students and postdoctoral fellows from seven countries: Canada, France, Germany, UK, Serbia, Portugal and the USA. Lectures, hands-on laboratory exercises and laboratory visits were conducted at the Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski (ISMER), Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Centre Eau Terre Environnement (INRS-ETE) and UQAM, in addition to two field trips and a short geological and geophysical cruise on board the R/V Coriolis II in the St Lawrence Estuary and Saguenay Fjord. During the summer school, more than twenty researchers gave lectures on the use of several paleoceanographic and geophysical techniques to reconstruct ocean and climate changes in polar and sub-polar environments. Some of these lectures are presented as short review papers in this volume. They are intended to portray a brief, but state-of-the-art overview of an array of techniques applied to Arctic and sub-Arctic environments, as well as the geological background information needed by the summer school participants to put the scientific expedition and fieldwork into context. The volume begins with a view on the great challenges and key issues to be addressed in the Arctic Ocean (Stein) in the forthcoming years and is followed by a review (O'Regan) on Late Cenozoic paleoceanography of the Central Arctic. The two subsequent papers (St-Onge et al and de Vernal et al) deal with the oceanographic, paleoceanographic and geological context of the Saguenay Fjord, and St Lawrence Estuary and Gulf. The subsequent set of papers review the use of planktonic foraminifers (Eynaud), diatoms (Crosta) and dinocysts (de Vernal and Rochon) in polar or sub-polar environments. These articles are followed by a paper on transfer functions (Guiot) summarizing the different approaches used to reconstruct past environmental conditions from micropaleontological proxy data. Two papers on geochemical and isotopic proxies are then presented and related to either foraminifera isotopic records (Hillaire-Marcel) in high northern latitudes or changes in ocean circulation and weathering inputs derived from radiogenic isotopes (Frank). The volume concludes with a paper on the application of visible/near infrared derivative spectroscopy to Arctic sediments (Ortiz). All the papers published in this volume benefited from the reviews of at least two reviewers, whom we thank for their valuable time and comments. We also thank the crew of the Coriolis II, and the many scientists, participants and volunteers who contributed to the summer school and made it a great success. In addition to GEOTOP and UQAM, the following institutions contributed to the organization of the summer school: ISMER, INRS-ETE, the Geological Survey of Canada, and REFORMAR. Finally, we thank Helene Gaonac'h (UQAM) for coordinating the summer school and Anne de Vernal (UQAM) for her leadership throughout the summer school. Editors Guillaume St-Onge Canada Research Chair in Marine Geology, Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski (ISMER) & GEOTOP Research Center, 310 allee des Ursulines, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada, G5L 3A1 Cristina Veiga-Pires FCMA - CIMA, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8000-117 Faro, Portugal Sandrine Solignac GEOTOP, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, PO Box 8888, succursale 'centre ville' Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8 Canada Scientists who contributed to the summer school: Hans Asnong (UQAM/GEOTOP, Canada) Gilles Bellefleur (Geological Survey of Canada-Ottawa, Canada) Anne de Vernal (UQAM/GEOTOP, Canada) Mathieu Duchesne (Geological Survey of Canada-Quebec, Canada) Frederique Eynaud (EPOC/Universite Bordeaux I, France) Pierre Francus (INRS-ETE/GEOTOP, Canada) Martin Frank (IFM-GEOMAR, Germany) Yves Gelinas (Concordia/GEOTOP, Canada) Joel Guiot (CEREGE, France) Claude Hillaire-Marcel (UQAM/GEOTOP, Canada) Patrick Lajeunesse (University Laval, Canada) Jean-Francois Lemieux (Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, USA) Guillaume Masse (LOCEAN/Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, France) Matt O'Regan (Cardiff University, UK) Joseph Ortiz (Kent State University, USA) Frank Rack (University Nebraska-Lincoln, USA/ANDRILL Science Management Office) Taoufik Radi (UQAM/GEOTOP, Canada) Andre Rochon (ISMER-UQAR/GEOTOP, Canada) Ruediger Stein (Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany) Guillaume St-Onge (ISMER-UQAR/GEOTOP, Canada) Bjorn Sundby (ISMER-UQAR, Canada)


Rich 3D animated explanations can have a powerful impact on students interacting with immersive knowledge-based learning environments. By generating 3D animated explanations in realtime, a learning environment can create engaging explanations that are tailored to individual students. This paper presents the immersive explanation planning framework for generating pedagogically-customized 3D animated explanations in realtime. In this framework, an explanation system selects 3D models and their relevant behaviors, creates camera shots that most clearly depict complex phenomena, constructs a temporal organization that synchronizes narrative utterances with visual elements, plans the movement of the virtual camera that "films" the explanation, and incorporates specialized visual effects to focus students' attention on the most salient concepts. The framework has been implemented in RAPID, an explanation system that plans and renders customized 3D animated explanations of dynamic phenomena in realtime. Results of a focus group evaluation of RAPID are encouraging.


Abstract.  We study the Jeffreys prior and its properties for the shape parameter of univariate skew‐t distributions with linear and nonlinear Student's t skewing functions. In both cases, we show that the resulting priors for the shape parameter are symmetric around zero and proper. Moreover, we propose a Student's t approximation of the Jeffreys prior that makes an objective Bayesian analysis easy to perform. We carry out a Monte Carlo simulation study that demonstrates an overall better behaviour of the maximum a posteriori estimator compared with the maximum likelihood estimator. We also compare the frequentist coverage of the credible intervals based on the Jeffreys prior and its approximation and show that they are similar. We further discuss location‐scale models under scale mixtures of skew‐normal distributions and show some conditions for the existence of the posterior distribution and its moments. Finally, we present three numerical examples to illustrate the implications of our results on inference for skew‐t distributions.


A conventional concept for the deposition of some Precambrian Banded Iron Formations (BIF) proceeds on the assumption that ferrous iron [Fe(II)] upwelling from hydrothermal sources in the Precambrian ocean was oxidized by molecular oxygen [O2] produced by cyanobacteria. The oldest BIFs, deposited prior to the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at about 2.4 billion years (Gy) ago, could have formed by direct oxidation of Fe(II) by anoxygenic photoferrotrophs under anoxic conditions. As a method for testing the geochemical and mineralogical patterns that develop under different biological scenarios, we designed a 40 cm long vertical flow-through column to simulate an anoxic Fe(II)-rich marine upwelling system representative of an ancient ocean on a lab scale. The cylinder was packed with a porous glass bead matrix to stabilize the geochemical gradients, and liquid samples for iron quantification could be taken throughout the water column. Dissolved oxygen was detected non-invasively via optodes from the outside. Results from biotic experiments that involved upwelling fluxes of Fe(II) from the bottom, a distinct light gradient from top, and cyanobacteria present in the water column, show clear evidence for the formation of Fe(III) mineral precipitates and development of a chemocline between Fe(II) and O2. This column allows us to test hypotheses for the formation of the BIFs by culturing cyanobacteria (and in the future photoferrotrophs) under simulated marine Precambrian conditions. Furthermore we hypothesize that our column concept allows for the simulation of various chemical and physical environments - including shallow marine or lacustrine sediments.


COVID-19 is a new infection with clinically severe manifestations, including death Given the dramatic increase in cases, a series of measures are being set in motion to slow the speed of transmission The prioritized procedures have not yet been defined for care in the area of urology Uro-oncologic procedures are the first priority because they have a high risk for complications


This paper analyzes the cyclical characteristics of China's economic growth and inflation since reform and opening-up, and explores the intrinsic link between the two.The study will be a guideline to keep a good balance between economic growth and inflation.


This paper proposes a method for power flow control between utility and microgrid through back-to-back converters, which facilitates desired real and reactive power flow between utility and microgrid. In the proposed control strategy, the system can run in two different modes depending on the power requirement in the microgrid. In mode-1, specified amount of real and reactive power are shared between the utility and the microgrid through the back-to-back converters. Mode-2 is invoked when the power that can be supplied by the distributed generators (DGs) in the microgrid reaches its maximum limit. In such a case, the rest of the power demand of the microgrid has to be supplied by the utility. An arrangement between DGs in the microgrid is proposed to achieve load sharing in both grid connected and islanded modes. The back-to-back converters also provide total frequency isolation between the utility and the microgrid. It is shown that the voltage or frequency fluctuation in the utility side has no impact on voltage or power in microgrid side. Proper relay-breaker operation coordination is proposed during fault along with the blocking of the back-to-back converters for seamless resynchronization. Both impedance and motor type loads are considered to verify the system stability. The impact of dc side voltage fluctuation of the DGs and DG tripping on power sharing is also investigated. The efficacy of the proposed control arrangement has been validated through simulation for various operating conditions. The model of the microgrid power system is simulated in PSCAD.


A towering figure in the literary landscape for five decades, and one of the most astute and influential critics of the twentieth century, Cyril Connolly was infamous for his straight-talking, continuously engaging and utterly individual style. The Modern Movement is the first of two volumes of Cyril Connolly's Selected Works, edited by his son, Matthew. Featuring the best of his critical essays, it charts the whole of his career, spanning his early thoughts on film, through an analysis of the impact of war on literature, to his writings on the Modernists, including Auden, Camus, Dylan Thomas and Beckett. A sparkling collection, The Modern Movement exemplifies the penetrating mind, the questioning spirit and the provocative views of a man who lived a life in letters and held a place at the very heart of the literary world that his work described. 'An extraordinary stylist, and one who has aged remarkably well. You connect instantly, and with a bark of laughter' Daily Telegraph 'Crammed with his moaning and yearning, with a restless staring into the world and a gloomy relish at nearly all he sees' New Statesman 'Connolly may again prove to be salutary reading, now, in the bleak, mad days of this new century' Spectator 'Connolly's humour is mordant, self-lacerating and occasionally brave' Independent


This paper describes the application of bioluminescence stimulating agents on a genetically engineered microorganism, Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206, to monitor toluene analogs using in groundwater samples from petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites. The maximum bioluminescent response with pure chemicals followed in the order: m-methyl benzyl alchohol > m-toluate > toluene > m-xylene > benzoate > p-xylene > o-xylene. Generally, the bioluminescence production of strain mixed with groundwater samples was de- pendent on the contaminated total inducer concentrations. However, few samples showed opposite results, where these phenomena may be caused by the complexicity of environmental samples. Two chemicals, SL(sodium lactate) and KNO3, were tested to determine a better bioluminescence stimulant. Both chemicals stimulate the bioluminescence activity of strain KG1206, however, a slightly high biolumi- nescence was observed with nitrogen chemical. This selected stimulant was then tested on samples collected from contaminated ground- water samples. The bioluminescence activity of all samples mixed with the strain was stimulated with KNO3 amendment. This suggests that the low bioluminescence activity exhibited by the environmental groundwater samples can be stimulated by amending the culture with a proper agent, such as nitrogen compound. These findings would be useful, especially, when strain was used to monitor the ground- water samples contaminated with low inducer contaminants. Overall, the results of this study found the ability of bioluminescence produ- cing bacteria to biosensor a specific group of environmental contaminants, and suggest the potential for more efficient preliminary application of this engineered strain in a field-ready bioassay.


High-resolution (0.05 cm-1) FTIR spectroscopy in the temperature range 9-320 K has been used to monitor the narrow line absorption spectra, induced by the stretching modes of OH and OD impurities in as-grown and in-deuterated samples of BSO, BGO, mixed (1-x)BSO.xBGO, and BTO sillenite single crystals (i.e. Bi12MeO20 with Me=Si, Ge and Ti). The model of the anharmonic oscillator in the Morse potential was applied to interpret the observed spectra and the anharmonicity parameter xe determined. For the line peaking at 3442.84 cm-1 in BSO both the fundamental and the first overtone transitions were detected: in this way the complete set of the Morse parameters could be determined. A model for the OH centre is proposed on the basis of the dependence of the line position against lattice constant in all the systems examined. The phonon coupling of the stretching modes observed was studied by analysing the detailed temperature dependence of the line position and width. In the framework of weak coupling theory the frequencies of coupled phonons were determined and found to be in agreement with those obtained by reflectance, Raman scattering measurements and theoretical calculations.


Abstract Objective: To evaluate radiologic findings and outcomes of cerebellar injuries in fetuses with severe anemia due to RhD alloimmunization undergoing intrauterine transfusions. Methods: Imaging of multiplanar neurosonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were reviewed. Pregnancy outcomes were recorded. Results: Cerebellar injuries were identified after the first intravascular transfusion in four fetuses. Two of these cases were previously reported. The median hemoglobin concentration was 2.1 g/dL. Prenatal neurosonography identified an echogenic collection involving the cerebellum suggestive for hemorrhage in three cases. A progressive hypoplasia of a hemisphere was demonstrated at follow-up examination in one of these cases. Hypoplasia of a cerebellar hemisphere was seen in the fourth fetus. Ultrasound diagnosis was confirmed by prenatal MRI in two cases. In the third case, the postnatal MRI showed as additional finding vermian involvement. One pregnancy was terminated and autopsy confirmed the presence of infratentorial hemorrhage. The remaining infants were delivered alive. At time of writing, a truncal ataxia was diagnosed in the child with vermian hypoplasia, while the other children have met all age-appropriate milestones. Conclusions: A severe anemia seems to put the fetus at risk of cerebellar damage, despite successful intravascular transfusion.


Socket shield technique (SST) and subepithelial connective tissue graft (SCTG) following immediate implant placement with provisionalization (IIPP) had been advocated for peri-implant facial contour and gingival architecture preservation. This case report used the 3D volumetric analysis to longitudinally assess the peri-implant facial contour change before and after these procedures. The results demonstrated a comparable and acceptable preservation of peri-implant facial contour between the 2 procedures after 2 years of function.


REPORT OF A CASE A 77-year-old retired businessman noted an asymptomatic lesion on his right lower eyelid. He was an avid golfer and had been treated for numerous actinic keratoses and a basal cell carcinoma of the right nasolabial fold in the past. His medical history also included treated pulmonary tuberculosis, carcinoma of the prostate treated with radioactive iodine in 1978, and multifocal transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, which led to a radical cystectomy in 1981. Examination showed a morpheic plaque on the right lower eyelid margin, extending onto the skin of the eyelid (Fig 1). A skin biopsy specimen showed a normal epidermis with nests of epithelial cells filling the dermis and extending into the underlying muscle of the eyelid (Fig 2). Nuclear atypia was present, and occasional mitotic figures were seen. Some of the nests showed cells with foamy vacuolated cytoplasm (Fig 3). What is your diagnosis?


Voacanga Africana stapf (Apocynaceae) leaves is being used in herbal medicine to treat leprosy, diarrhoea, generalized oedema and convulsion in children as an infant tonic and the present study was aimed at its toxicological evaluation in wistar rats. The sub-acute toxicity was evaluated after administering daily oral doses of Voacanga Africana stapf (100, 400 and 800 mg/kg) for 28 days after which the effect on anthropometric, haematological and histopathological parameters were assessed. There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in the pattern of weight gain in the female albino rats and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) but no significant difference in the organ weight index in all selected organs. There were no gross abnormalities or histopathological changes observed among any the groups treated. The results suggest that the aqueous leaf extract of  Voacanga africana can be considered relatively safe on chronic administration to rats and may cause reduction in weight gain in female rats probably due to changes in female hormones. Keywords: Voacanga africana , toxicity, weight gain, haematology


The article is dedicated to the history of the Moscow Art Theater productions in 1913–1914 based on F.M. Dostoevsky's novels The Brothers Karamazov and The Devils, and to the fierce controversy that surrounded them. It analyzes the problem of finding an adequate stage form for the two novels, and the story of the birth of the so-called "Dostoevsky theater" and the Director's theater, now dominating the stage. Despite Dostoevsky's great interest in theater and his brother's witness that the future novelist's literary activity began with three (unfortunately lost) dramatic works, the writer himself was far from being confident that theatrical productions of his novels could be a success. The founders of the Moscow Art Theater challenged this opinion and proved that Dostoevsky's novels could write a new page in the history of Russian theater. The article analyzes in detail newspaper and magazine reviews of the performances directed by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.


Peer-to-peer applications are emerging into mobile devices. However, resource limitations of these devices introduce new challenges for P2P technologies. For instance, there is a need for incentive mechanisms, which address the free riding problem but do not waste devices' battery or communication resources. A centralized and user-identity based incentive mechanism enables mobile users to contribute with any device and receive P2P services with mobile devices. We explore security issues related to a centralized incentive mechanism by analyzing and classifying threats and potential security mechanisms. We propose a privacy preserving security architecture. The architecture is based on authentication, software tamper protection, and misbehavior detection mechanisms. Further, we provide a discussion on potential security compromises, not jeopardizing sufficient security level, and describe a prototype implementation for mobile BitTorrent file sharing peers.


The article presents a case study of tourism networking in the regional destination Swedish Lapland, exploring how 'place innovation' can be used as a new scientific and practical concept to study co-innovative development of attractive and sustainable places. Drawing upon previous studies of inclusive innovation, place innovation and tourism destination development, it is distinguished how the networking among the involved entrepreneurs, designers, architects, destination management organisations, business promoters, municipalities, researchers etc., is characterised by negotiations in relation to the main components, target groups and innovation forms of place innovation. These encompass the components of configuration, content and communication, the target groups of visitors, residents and businesses, as well as the innovation forms of service innovation, user-driven innovation and social innovation. The specific set of interacting actors in the studied network made the negotiations result in a prioritisation of the commercial content over the public and civil content, of visitors over residents and businesses, and of service innovation and social innovation over user-driven innovation, affecting the prospects of attaining attractive and sustainable regional destinations.


Cloud and Edge computing paradigms provide storage and computing services to traditional and internet of Things devices. One computing platform is not suitable to fulfill the requirements of all ioT devices because of their heterogeneity. in this regard, a federation of various computing paradigms has been emerging, in which a user (first party) with an account on one computing platform (second party) can access the services provided by another computing platform (third party federated with the first computing platform). The user needs to authenticate itself with the third-party computing platform which does not have user credentials. This work proposes a transparent and standard-compliant proxy-based federated authentication for solving the third-party authentication problem in federated cloud and edge computing paradigms. Transparency allows cloud and edge operators to deploy this proxy without having to change the existing authentication protocols. Experimental results illustrate that, as compared with the concatenation of authentication protocols in cloud and edge, proxy-based federated authentication of edge-to-cloud and cloud-to-edge can reduce the authentication delay time by 27.7 percent and 37.9 percent, respectively, and it is also standard compliant.


Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays essential roles in various developmental processes, and its aberrant regulation results in genetic disorders or malignancies in various tissues. Hyperactivation of Hh signaling is associated with lung cancer development, and there have been extensive efforts to investigate how to control Hh signaling pathway and regulate cancer cell proliferation. In this study we investigated a role of CDO, an Hh co-receptor, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Inhibition of Hh signaling by SANT-1 or siCDO in lung cancer cells reduced proliferation and tumorigenicity, along with the decrease in the expression of the Hh components. Histological analysis with NSCLC mouse tissue demonstrated that CDO was expressed in advanced grade of the cancer, and precisely co-localized with GLI1. These data suggest that CDO is required for proliferation and survival of lung cancer cells via Hh signaling.


Soil is an essential natural resource for humans and an important part of the environment. However, soil is often used and managed inappropriately, causing its erosion and degradation, with concomitantly negative social, political and economic impacts. This study aimed to discuss sustainable development; and losses and problems caused by soil erosion, and to suggest a model for assessing erosion costs. The relevance of economic models for costing soil erosion is stressed. Based on an economic theory, it presents a procedure for assessing economic costs of soil erosion, centered on the on-site and off-site costs that are generated. The physical processes of soil erosion are described and their economic effects reviewed, drawing on theoretical and empirical sources. Limited data and information is available on the economic losses resulting from erosion, which hampers assessment and valuation.


Korea's elevator industry is one of the world's eighth-largest industrial sectors and the third largest in the world by new installations. This year, the number of elevators has exceeded 700,000, and the number of new installations is 30,000-40,000 every year. However, the news of elevator-related accidents is reported continuously through the media and the accident rate is not decreasing. In particular, among the recent accidents related to elevators, accidents related to elevator workers are increasing, causing social problems. This year, the National Assembly's Environmental Labor Relations Commission's National Auditors lost five lives a year and 12 elevator workers were killed in fall and stenosis accidents during the installation, maintenance and replacement of the elevators for about two years since 2018. It took place to adopt the representatives of four domestic elevator companies as witnesses. An elevator worker is a collective term for workers involved in the design, manufacturing, installation, replacement, maintenance, inspection, management, and supervision related to the elevator industry, and the related accidents are called elevator worker accidents. Analysis of elevator-related accidents in the past has shown that the fault of the user accounted for 70% of the total, and the fault of the worker accounted for about 2.5%, and the accident occurred to the user or the user due to carelessness of the worker during the lift-related work. Currently, elevator-related accidents are reported by the Korea Elevator Safety Agency under Article 48 of the Elevator Safety Management Act under the Ministry of Interior and Safety. If deemed necessary for the prevention and prevention of recurrence of an elevator accident, the cause and condition of the elevator accident may be investigated. However, the current draft law is limited only to elevators after installation inspection, and is separated from the Ministry of Employment and Labor's data on accidents occurring in the manufacturing and installation stages related to the elevator industry. This study analyzes the recent safety accidents of elevator workers and prepares safety measures to prevent them through the risk analysis, and also draws out the problems and improvements of the current elevator worker accident investigation to find the elevator worker accident rate that is on the increase trend.


Introduction and importance: Meningiomas are intracranial extracerebral tumors derived from arachnoid cells of the neural crest. They represent ∼20% of primary intracranial tumors and are seen as more common in elderly patients and women. Recurrence of meningioma can be observed during the early years after surgical treatment, but their occurrence within 10 years is rare. Case presentation: In this report, the authors discuss a case of a 75-year-old patient with a recurrence of a frontal meningioma after 10 years of successful surgical resection. Our patient was a female who presented amnesia and memory lapses associated with several weeks of progressive heaviness of the lower limbs accompanied by speech heaviness, intense headaches, asthenia, consciousness disorder, and tonic–clonic convulsive seizures for 10 days. The patient had previously been treated for a benign meningioma by surgical excision. Imaging was performed, and recurrent frontal meningioma was retained as a final diagnosis. The patient underwent a successful total resection of her frontal tumor. Clinical discussion: Recurrent tumors after complete surgical removal of meningiomas are rare and may be associated with microscopic residues. The more radical the surgery, the lower the risk of observing a recurrence. Adjuvant radiotherapy can be proposed, but the evidence is still lacking. Careful follow-up of all patients with or without complete surgical resection is therefore recommended. Conclusion: This case illustrates the importance of suspecting recurrence of meningioma in adult patients after successful surgical excision, even after 10 years of free disease. Clinicians should be aware of long-term meningioma recurrence in this population, and imaging is key for a positive diagnosis.


Modern analytical models for anti-monopoly laws are a core element of the application of those laws. Since the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China was promulgated in 2008, law enforcement and judicial authorities have applied different analytical models, leading to divergent legal and regulatory outcomes as similar cases receive different verdicts. To select a suitable analytical model for China's Anti-Monopoly Law, we need to consider the possible contribution of both economic analysis and legal formalism and to learn from the mature systems and experience of foreign countries. It is also necessary to take into account such binding constraints as the current composition of China's anti-monopoly legal system, the ability of implementing agencies and the supply of economic analysis, in order to ensure complementarity between the analytical model chosen and the complexity of economic analysis and between the professionalism of implementing agencies and the cost of compliance for participants in economic activities. In terms of institutional design, the models should provide a considered explanation of the legislative aims of the law's provisions. It is necessary, therefore, to establish a processing model of behavioral classification that is based on China's national conditions, applies analytical models using normative comprehensive analysis, makes use of the distribution rule of burden of proof, improves supporting systems related to analytical models and enhances the ability of public authorities to implement the law.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Background: Short sleep duration was associated with an increased risk of colorectal adenomas in a recent report. To date, no data are available on the relationship between sleep duration and colorectal cancer risk. Method: We prospectively followed 76,368 women aged 40 to 73 years in the Nurses' Health Study and 28,676 men aged 41 to 79 years in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who reported their habitual sleep duration in the mid-1980s. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate multivariable relative risks (MV RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusting for known risk factors (dietary and non-dietary) for colorectal cancer. Results: A total of 1,925 incident colorectal cancer cases (1,264 in women and 661 in men) were documented during up to 22 years of follow-up. The median of sleep duration was 7 hours in both cohorts and was used as the reference group. In both age-adjusted and the multivariate models, long sleep duration (i.e., at least 9 hours of sleep) was significantly positively associated with risk of colorectal cancer in men (MV RR=1.49; 95%CI: 1.10, 2.03) but not in women (MV RR=1.10; 95%CI: 0.85, 1.43). However, for the same comparison (i.e., at least 9 hours vs. 7 hours of sleep), among overweight (body mass index at least 25 kg/m2) individuals, we found significant positive associations for both men (MV RR=2.66; 95%CI: 1.81, 3.90) and women (MV RR=1.42; 95%CI: 1.01, 1.99). Short sleep duration (i.e., 5 hours or less of sleep) was not associated with colorectal cancer risk in either men (MV RR=0.65; 95%CI: 0.33, 1.28) or women (MV RR=1.14; 95%CI: 0.88, 1.48). Results were essentially unchanged when we excluded cases occurred in the first 4 years of follow-up. In addition, the association was not significantly modified by physical activity, alcohol consumption, endoscopy screening, family history of colorectal cancer, menopausal status, or shift work (women only). Conclusion: These prospective data from two large cohorts suggest that overweight men and women with a sleep duration of 9 or longer hours had a significantly increased risk of developing colorectal cancer when compared to those with 7 hours of sleep, which cannot be explained by known risk factors or reverse causality. The potential mechanisms behind this association deserve further investigation.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-323. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-323


Copper-containing, binary, Zn-phosphate glasses were melted under reductive conditions. The profile of their optical spectra and their color change drastically when the ZnO content of the host is modified. An increase in the host's ZnO concentration tilts the copper oxidation state's equilibria toward the reduced species Cu+ and Cu0. In hosts containing more than 52 mol% ZnO, the Cu0 aggregates precipitate upon melt cooling to form ruby glasses. The ruby color also appears in glasses including 50 mol% ZnO, after thermal treatments. The effect of ZnO increase, in the composition of binary Zn-phosphate glasses, on the redox equilibria of a copper dopant, is inverse to that caused by increase of Na2O content in the case of Na-phosphate hosts.


The present study examined the statutory regulations governing the disposal of dead animal carcasses in Nigeria. A detailed literature review of the criminal code (Cap 77 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990), Animal Diseases (control) Act [Cap 18 LFN1990 and a structured interview of 120 livestock farmers in Enugu State of Nigeria was carried out. The Criminal Code and Animal Diseases (control) Act have numerous provisions that offer protection to live animals from being deliberately infested with disease and in the case of death strictly specifies the manner in which such dead animal carcass shall be disposed. Results obtained from the structured interview shows that 87% of farmers interviewed dispose dead young/immature animal carcasses by burning their carcass, whereas 13% resort to burying. The carcasses of matured dead animals are offered to the unsuspecting consumer as meat. Enforcement of the relevant provision of the statutes mentioned above is practically not in place. No prosecution of any offender of the provisions of these statues is known. It is concluded that whereas there are enabling statutory provisions that clearly stipulates the manner in which dead animal carcass shall be disposed in Nigeria, what is obtainable in practice is totally in contrast with the provisions of the statutes.


Purpose. To assess the warming and humidifying effect and ocular safety of the Blephasteam® eyelid-warming device vs. warm and moist compresses in healthy volunteers. Methods. Twenty subjects (8 females, 12 males; mean age 39.2 years) were included in the study. Temperature and relative humidity were measured over a period of 10 min at the lower eyelid margin of one randomly selected eye during application of the Blephasteam device and, 1 h later, during application of warm compresses (in a randomized order). Ocular signs and visual acuity were assessed before and after each application. Results. The mean duration of warming (temperature ≥38°C) was significantly longer with Blephasteam than with compresses (7.5 vs. 1.0 min; p < 0.01). There was no significant difference between treatments in the duration of 100% relative humidity. Compared with pretreatment values, visual acuity significantly improved after Blephasteam treatment (p < 0.05) but significantly decreased after treatment with compresses (p < 0.05). Limbal redness, eyelid redness, and corneal staining scores all improved significantly after Blephasteam treatment (p < 0.05 for all). Ocular signs did not change after compress treatment except conjunctival redness, which was significantly increased (p = 0.01 vs. pretreatment). Conclusions. The Blephasteam eyelid-warming device appeared to provide more effective warming than warm and moist compresses in a group of healthy volunteers. Visual acuity, limbal redness, and eyelid redness were improved after Blephasteam use but not after treatment with compresses.


Abstract A dengue fever outbreak in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, in 2014 resulted in ∼37,000 cases and five deaths. Insecticides were sprayed to control the vector of this outbreak, Aedes albopictus (Skuse), a species of mosquito. Aedes albopictus specimens collected from Huadu District (HD), Huangpu District (HP), Luogang District (LG), and Nansha District (NS) in Guangzhou were evaluated using WHO-recommended bioassays for both larvae and adult mosquitoes to determine population resistance to deltamethrin, beta-cypermethrin, cypermethrin, permethrin, dichlorvos, temephos, propoxur, and DDT. Compared with a susceptible laboratory strain of Ae. albopictus (S-lab), all populations showed decreased sensitivities to the eight insecticides, with resistance ratios (RRs) ranging from 2.2 to 275. The RRs were 6.8–275 for pyrethroids, 2.2–4.4 for organophosphates, 5.7–9.0 for carbamates, and 5.3–94.3 for organochlorines. For adult mosquitoes, all populations were sensitive to dichlorvos with 100% mortalities. Mosquitoes from HP, LG, and NS were also sensitive to propoxur. But for other tested insecticides, different degrees of resistance (mortality rate ranging from 11.7% to 94.7%) were observed. Among the four field populations, the resistance levels are presented as follows in descending order: HP > HD > NS > LG. The levels among insecticides classes were pyrethroids > organochlorines > carbamates > organophosphates.


A large and established body of literature on nation building in post-socialist spaces has initially put emphasis on state-centred construction of identity references and markers such as language, education or institutions and governance. In contrast, a recent stream of scholarship has attempted to bring agency into identity debates to propose new tools and approaches that can be used in the study of identity construction. This article is a further exploration of the latter position. It looks at the way identities are constructed, and renegotiated, at the everyday level, by ordinary people, by illustrating the competition between Russian and Ukrainian languages in Odessa, a Ukrainian city on the Black sea, to look at the synergy generated by the competition between local and national narratives.


Forms. In California, the majority of court activities require forms. These forms were designed with lawyers and legal professionals in mind (Hough 2010) and are accordingly understood best by them. As a result of the legal training I have received through JusticeCorps and my resulting experience fielding questions from self-represented litigants, I have learned first-hand the extent to which the paperwork, the terms and conditions of the procedure, the names of judicial categories, even the method of stapling and presenting documents before the court, are all done in very specific ways. In part, this specificity is an outcome of bureaucratic pressures to standardize and to facilitate communication across all levels of judicial functions. However, the question remains: In a system meant to administer and facilitate something as crucial as justice for the people, why is the process so starkly inaccessible? Surely, the aim of a justice system is not comprehensibility solely for an elite, specialized few, even in moments when more comprehensibility is an option.


Plitvice Lakes represent a unique phenomenon of karst hydrography and are one of the most beautiful wonders in Europe. In a karst river basin of limestone and dolomite, between high forested mountains Kapela and Pljesivica, lies a series of sixteen beautiful lakes of a crystal blue-green colour fed by many small streams and brooks descending by runoff from the mountains over a distance of some eight km, aligned in a south-north direction. The lakes are situated at 44°51N 15°37E in central Croatia in the eastern part of the mountainous region of Lika-Senj County. The whole area has been proclaimed in 1949 as National Park and as such inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979. The National Park, ranging in altitude from 1279 m to 367 m, has an area of 298 km2, out of which 223 km2 are forests (74.8%), 69.6 km2 are meadows (23.3%) and about 2 km2 (0.72%) are water areas (lakes) (http://en.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/). The lakes are divided into the Upper and Lower Lakes. Twelve upper lakes lie in a dolomite valley and are surrounded by thick forests and interlinked by numerous waterfalls, while four lower lakes, smaller and shallower, lie on the limestone bedrock canyon and are surrounded only by sparse underbrush. The lakes spill over from an altitude of 636 to 503 m into each other in foaming cascades and thundering waterfalls separated by the natural dams of tufa, calcium carbonate deposited from water by the action of moss, algae and bacteria. Tufa barriers grow at the average rate of about 1 cm per year. A mountain type of continental climate prevails in the region of Lika and the Dinaric Alps. The main characteristics of the climate are pleasant and sunny summers and relatively long, severe and snow-rich winters. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is heavily forested by mixed stands of beech and fir at higher levels and pure stands of beech at lower altitudes. It has a notably wide variety of plant communities, due to its range of microclimates, differing soils and varying levels of altitude. The area is fauna-rich and is home to an wide variety of animal species such as about 50 species of mammals (e.g. European brown bear, wolf, lynx, bats), 12 amphibian and some species of reptiles, as well as about 150 bird species (e.g. wood grouses, eagle owl), most of them breeding there. The Plitvice Lakes are today one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in Croatia. Total capacity of the park today is about 800 beds in hotels, 100 beds in camp, as well as about 800 beds in family houses in the area. During their stay tourists express the most interest for touring around the lakes in the central zone of the National Park, riding the panoramic train, rowing, biking or hiking. Scientific research on Plitvice lakes date almost 160 years back starting in 1860 with limnological measurements of lake depths, followed by first geological, botanical and zoological investigations. Systematic scientific investigation of the phenomenon of Plitvice Lakes started after the World War I by speleologist Josip Poljak and botanist Ivo Pevalek (1938), who noticed a very complex biodynamics of tufa forming and barriers growth processes. Systematic hydrological, limnological, chemical and hydrobiological investigations were performed in 1951, and they became a multidisciplinary research organized and sponsored by the National Park authorities, which included comprehensive geological, hydrogeological and meteorological studies, as well as investigation of aquatic and forest ecosystem and fauna in order to protect the National Park natural values. In collaboration with the Institute of Biology of the University of Zagreb the Biological Station "Plitvice Lakes" was founded in 1961 with the aim to coordinate scientific research in the area of the National Park. With the change of name and location, and brief interruptions, this station operates in a new building until today as the Scientific Research Centre "Academician Ivo Pevalek".


on the climate engine of the planet, the average global temperature is rising, sea ice is melting, and rainfall is increasing across some land areas (IPCC, 2007a, b). In temperate regions of the globe, Canada included, climate change predictions in-clude increases in the number of frost-free days, increases in long-term average tem-peratures during growing seasons, and increases in long-term average winter temperatures (Qian


Purpose: To establish a novel panel of cancer-specific methylated genes for cancer detection and prognostic stratification of early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Experimental Design: Identification of differentially methylated regions (DMR) was performed with bumphunter on "The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)" dataset, and clinical utility was assessed using quantitative methylation-specific PCR assay in multiple sets of primary NSCLC and body fluids that included serum, pleural effusion, and ascites samples. Results: A methylation panel of 6 genes (CDO1, HOXA9, AJAP1, PTGDR, UNCX, and MARCH11) was selected from TCGA dataset. Promoter methylation of the gene panel was detected in 92.2% (83/90) of the training cohort with a specificity of 72.0% (18/25) and in 93.0% (40/43) of an independent cohort of stage IA primary NSCLC. In serum samples from the later 43 stage IA subjects and population-matched 42 control subjects, the gene panel yielded a sensitivity of 72.1% (31/41) and specificity of 71.4% (30/42). Similar diagnostic accuracy was observed in pleural effusion and ascites samples. A prognostic risk category based on the methylation status of CDO1, HOXA9, PTGDR, and AJAP1 refined the risk stratification for outcomes as an independent prognostic factor for an early-stage disease. Moreover, the paralog group for HOXA9, predominantly overexpressed in subjects with HOXA9 methylation, showed poor outcomes. Conclusions: Promoter methylation of a panel of 6 genes has potential for use as a biomarker for early cancer detection and to predict prognosis at the time of diagnosis. Clin Cancer Res; 23(22); 7141–52. ©2017 AACR.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the value of venous pressure gradient [D(c-i)VP] between central venous pressure (CVP) and iliac vein pressure (IVP) in assessing the responsiveness to volume resuscitation in hypovolemic patient undergoing mechanical ventilation.

METHODS
Thirty hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, with maintenance of similar ventilation conditions, graded volume loading was performed with 250 ml Ringer lactate solution (LR) for each infusion in hypovolemic patients, until mean arterial pressure (MAP) ≥65 mm Hg(1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa), CVP≥8 mm Hg, strong pulse, perfusion improvement (recovery in the end) were reached. Before infusion, 10 minutes after infusion, and at the end of recovery, the heart rate (HR), MAP, CVP, IVP, stroke volume (SV), thoracic fluid content (TFC) and D(c-i)VP were measured and recorded, the correlations between D(c-i)VP and TFC, SV before and after infusion were analyzed.

RESULTS
Before infusion, 10 minutes after infusion, and at the end of recovery, no significant difference was found in HR, MAP, CVP, and IVP,while D(c-i)VP (mm Hg) was obviously lowered (4.89 ± 1.70, 2.80 ± 1.44, 2.10 ± 1.30, respectively), and SV (ml) and TFC (ml) were significantly increased (SV was 42.0 ± 10.5, 49.0 ± 8.3, 58.0 ± 12.1, respectively; TFC was 30.0 ± 9.6, 38.0 ± 8.6, 43.0 ± 11.1, respectively), with statistical differences (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Negative correlations were found between D(c-i)VP and TFC, SV [r(1)=-0.580, P(1)=0.004; r(2)=-0.462, P(2) =0.017].

CONCLUSIONS
In the course of fluid resuscitation in hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, the D(c-i)VP was significantly reduced with fluid resuscitation. At the same time, significant correlations between D(c-i)VP, TFC and SV were demonstrated. The measurement of D(c-i)VP could help guide fluid resuscitation in hypovolemic patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.


Abstract Chromospheric activity on the secondary stars of cataclysmic variables (CVs) is a key ingredient for angular momentum loss from the system via magnetic braking. This effect is thought to drive the evolution of the system and is invoked to explain a number of observed properties of CV light curves, such as long-term modulations and high/low states. However, obtaining observational support for magnetic activity has proven difficult. We present a new method of studying chromospheric activity on the secondary stars of CVs, using near-IR spectral features. We discuss in particular the magnetic CV AM Herculis, in which satellites to the H-alpha emission line are interpreted as arising from magnetically confined gas streams (prominences). This phenomenon provides a new technique for mapping magnetic structures on CV secondaries, and advances our understanding of the nature of magnetic structures and activity on CV secondaries.


A number of claims in the media assert that America is falling behind in broadband, that Americans pay more for broadband of less quality than people of many countries, and that broadband providers don't compete, innovate or invest. The EU, Japan and South Korea are said to be leading these aspects of broadband. This paper investigates whether there is evidence for those claims. Taking "The Whole Picture: Where America's Broadband Networks Really Stand" (Bennet 2013) from TPRC41 as a departure point, this paper expands the investigation into key innovations in fixed and wireless networks, capex investment of broadband, intermodal competition for DSL, cable, 4G/LTE and FTTH in the US and EU, and measures of how the US has leveraged broadband to develop its digital economy. The paper also provides microeconomic analysis of municipal broadband and wireless networks. Some key discoveries include that OECD broadband prices for EU countries do not include compulsory media license fees or value added taxes which can add up to $80 per subscription per month. Adjusting for these real costs, American broadband prices are lower. The broadband innovation discussion includes a review of broadband providers' newest developments, particularly with G.fast and neighborhood wifi. It reviews the role of mobile in stimulating consumer adoption, the domestic digital economy and digital exports. It also highlights how over the top (OTT) services create competition on and for networks. With a comparison to EU, the analysis shows that the level of technology development, not the number of the competitors, drives competition. This is evidenced by 74 percent of broadband subscriptions in the EU being DSL, while broadband subscriptions in the US are more evenly distributed amongst different broadband network technologies. As the EU Digital Agenda Scoreboard and America's National Broadband Map reports, the US has a higher deployment of next generation networks, twice as much FTTH and nearly 4 times at much LTE. Almost all Americans are covered by LTE, 97 percent, while only 26 percent of Europeans are covered. The US-EU comparisons also test whether there is a telco-cable duopoly in the US. The Infonetics database of communications contains capital expenditure numbers for global private providers for the last decade that was then segmented for each country and per capita. The results show that while the US has just 4% of world's population, it enjoys nearly one quarter of the world's broadband investment. A decade ago the EU accounted for more than one-third of the world's broadband investment; today it is less than one-fifth. This paper is novel in its attempt to attribute the role of broadband to the larger digital economy. It reviews leading studies of the digital economy, including the OECD, ITU, Boston Consulting Group, the United States International Trade Council and the Cisco Visual Networking Index.Lastly, the paper provides policy suggestions based on the conclusions of the analysis. It makes a number of suggestions on how to improve the business case for FTTH, how to improve broadband coverage in rural areas, particularly by accelerating the deployment of wireless infrastructure, and whether the government should support broadband adoption or deployment.This paper is developed expressly for TPRC and has not been presented or published before.


Furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a widely advocated renewable substitute for terephthalic acid (TA). Preparation of high molecular weight FDCA based polyesters by an industrially common combination of melt polymerization and subsequent solid state post condensation is described. Ultimately, poly(ethylene 2,5-furanoate) (PEF) with absolute Mn = 83,000 g mol−1 is obtained, determined by triple detection Size Exclusion Chromatography. The bulk polymer properties of FDCA based polyesters, necessary to evaluate their industrial potential were determined the Young's modulus of PEF is determined to be 2450 ± 220 MPa and the maximum stress 35 ± 8 MPa. The influence of crystallinity on the mechanical properties as function of temperature was determined by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. A detailed differential scanning calorimetry study on the crystallization behavior of high molecular weight PEF allowed to calculate the equilibrium melting temperature (Tm0) of 239.3 and 239.7 °C for the first and second melting peak, respectively. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 4191–4199


The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) is a valid and widely used instrument for the assessment of osteoarthritis patients. In this study, data was obtained from the out-patients with painful osteoarthritis of the knee. One hundred-three out-patients were interviewed by physical therapists. In an exploratory way, a Korean version of the KWOMAC was analyzed for unidimensionality, item separation, and item difficulty using the Winsteps programs. Ninety-five patients with osteoarthritis of the knee over 65 years were analyzed for Rash analysis. In the analysis several functional items poorly fit to the model. These items included "heavy domestic duties" and "standing". In the pain domain, one item ("at night while in bed") did not fit the model. In the stiffness domain one item ("after sitting, lying, or resting later in the day") did not fit the model. Although 4 items from the 3 domains (pain, stiffness, function domain) do not fit well, the KWOMAC domains were confirmed by Rasch analysis. Thus the KWOMAC needs to be further examined before it can be used to properly determine the health status of the elderly with OA.


Secure operation of the evolving power systems, characterised by more renewable energy sources and increasingly variable consumption, will require enhanced monitoring and more automatic control actions. One example is the need for fast detection and control actions to avoid loss of synchronism or grid islanding caused by transient instability. In this paper, we present a method suitable for on-line transient stability assessment of power systems, based on Lyapunov's second method for stability analysis of dynamical systems. The method uses Sum-of-Squares optimization to algorithmically construct a Polynomial Lyapunov Function and estimate the Region-of-Attraction for a given stable operating state. The main benefit of the method is that it obviates the painstaking process of finding a suitable Lyapunov function. Our approach includes a robust handling of the truncation error in the Taylor series expansion of the system model, and thereby ensures that the estimate of the region of attraction around an operating point is inside the actual region of attraction. Using a single-machine-infinite-bus system, we demonstrate the application of the method in this paper.


To study how different times of laser shocks affect the micro-dimple, surface residual stress and microstructure of E690 high-strength steel, the finite element software ABAQUS was used to simulate the surface evolution process of the sample. E690 high-strength steel specimens were impacted by pulsed laser with a power density of 7.96 GW/cm. Threedimensional surface morphology was measured by an optical profiler. The surface residual stress and FWHM values of lasershocked zone were measured by an X-ray diffraction residual stress tester, and the microstructure and morphology of the impacted area were characterzal by using TEM. Results show that when pulse laser with a power density of 7.96 GW/cm impacts 1−4 times, the resultant depths present an increasing trend between 10 and 40 μm. A comparison of the simulated and measured results of three-dimensional surface topography in depth-wise direction suggests that the error rate falls within a reasonable range. When pulse laser impacts 2 times and more, test values of residual compressive stress of the specimens tend to be consistent in all directions. FWHM values gradually increase and tended to be equal with the impact being performed 4 and 3 times. TEM images and electron diffraction patterns of specimens that has been impacted by pulse laser for 2 times show nanocrystals forming on the surface of the micro-dimple.


Despite more than 25 years of research on the processes and outcomes of information systems development in organizations, deficiencies exist in our knowledge about the effective management of complex systems development processes. Although individual studies have generated a wealth of findings, there is a need for a cumulative framework that facilitates interpretation of what has been learned and what needs to be learned about the process of information systems development. This paper reviews prior research on ISD processes and identifies the different types of contributions that have been made to our growing knowledge. More important, it generates a cumulative framework for understanding the process of ISD that could provide a valuable template for future research and practice.


Abstract An effective implementation of District Metered Areas (DMAs) in water distribution systems requires the analysis and cost comparison of various feasible solutions, which differ both in the number and the boundaries of the districts and provide different levels of benefits. The evaluation of the benefits provided by alternative DMA layouts (in terms of reduction of leakage, burst frequency, water and energy consumption) allows practitioners to make sensible decisions and create functional and efficient DMAs. This paper shows an analysis of the costs and benefits following the introduction of DMAs to water distribution systems, providing a framework for assessing the economic performance of DMAs, comparing different possible DMA layouts, and identifying the best solution among different options. A real water distribution network is considered as a case study, various DMA layouts are identified and ranked on the basis of the total benefit provided. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of CCWI 2015.


The impact of the bias condition during irradiation on the total-dose response of a bipolar voltage comparator is investigated. Experimental results obtained with input pins biased asymmetrically during irradiation exhibit completely different total-dose response compared to irradiation with all pins grounded. Circuit analysis shows that asymmetrical biasing of the input stage creates a mismatch of the gain degradation in the transistors constituting the differential pair


Providing nursing students with quality clinical experience in intensive care units (ICUs) is a major concern for nursing educators in Egypt. Understanding nursing students' perception of their critical care experience is important in future planning of successful clinical placements in ICUs. The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate nursing students' perception of their clinical practice in ICUs. The study involved 306 nursing students who were registered in critical care nursing course. Data were collected using a self-administered survey which addressed nursing students' perception of three domains including clinical practice environment, clinical teaching and learning and factors hindering clinical practice in intensive care setting. The results illustrated that the majority of students enjoyed their clinical experience in ICUs. However, students highlighted many factors that hindered their clinical practice such as the stressful intensive care setting, fear of making mistakes, complex patients' conditions, theory-practice gap, overburdening with documentation and lack of coordination between clinical placements. Supportive learning environment is needed to enhance students' clinical learning, improve collaboration between students, demonstrators and critical care nursing staff, and reduce theory-practice gap.


Changes to bat distribution and habitat associations at the local to sub-landscape scale in the post white-nose syndrome (WNS) environment have received little attention to date despite being critical information for managers. To better understand the spatial nature of bat population declines, we modelled both activity patterns and occupancy from acoustic surveys for the Myotis lucifugus (little brown bat) on Fort Drum Military Installation in New York, USA over 15 summers (2003–2017) that span the pre-WNS, WNS-advent (2008) and post-WNS periods, using a set of generalized linear mixed models and geospatial analysis. Our best supported model indicated significant differences between years with significant declines in activity post-WNS. M. lucifugus activity was most closely associated with woody wetland habitats over the study period, however, the spatial patterns of high activity areas were variable over years, with the areal extent of these high activity areas decreasing post-WNS. Our best supported occupancy model varied by year. However, the null occupancy model [Ψ(.)] was either competing (within 2 ΔAIC units) or was the best supported model. Meaning that none of our environmental variables seemed to impact occupancy, and when they did, these differences were not significant. There was high disagreement between our relative activity models and predictions compared to our occupancy models, suggesting that geographic spatial scale and the resolution of the data impacts model outcome. Our results indicate that continued acoustic monitoring of bat species in the Northeast to assess ongoing temporal and spatial changes in habitat associations and to provide direction for future mist-netting studies should rely more on relative activity as the metric of choice rather than site occupancy.


Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online's data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. In this paper, we discuss work in progress into the design of a mobile academic peer support system that enables 11-to-14 year old children to request and provide academic help to each other. Our proposed system was designed based on background research into the areas of peer learning, child development, help-seeking and academic motivation. Several methods, such as focus groups, interviews and Wizard of Oz, were used during the requirements gathering and initial testing stages. The proposed system is currently under development and will be tested in a study with school-pupils, over an extended period of time, in the next few months.


In order to display the main characteristics of a well-known flat system, an interactive 3D simulation of SpiderCrane has been developed using Ejs(Easy Java Simulations) and Matlab/Simulink. The application allows users to set up different trajectories and introduce disturbances in a very visual and attractive way.


Surface electromyography (SEMG) measurement technique for the signal was produced through the contraction of muscles in a human body. The surface electrode is connected on the skin of the muscle. This paper presents an off-line design for the estimation of the actual joint angle of a human leg obtained in performing flexion-extension of the leg at slow and high speeds movement. The design is composed of two phases. The first is measurement of real EMG signal of human leg performance by using SEMG technique and processing this signal with filtering, amplification and then normalized with maximum amplitude. The second phase is to design an artificial neural network (ANN) and train it to predict the joint angle from the parameters extracted from the SEMG signal. Three main parameters of EMG signal are used in the prediction process: Number of turns in a specific time period, duration of signal repetition and amplitude of signal. The design of ANN includes the identification of a performing human leg EMG signal with two speed levels (slow-fast) and estimation of knee joint angle by recognition process depending on the parameters of real measured EMG signal. The real EMG signal is measured from full leg-extension to full leg-flexion by (3 sec) with slow motion and (1 sec) at fast motion. Root mean square (RMS) errors were calculated between the actual angle (measured by the trigonometric formula was applied with any human leg gives real EMG signal measurement) and the angle predicted by the neural network design. This design is simulated by using MATLAB Ver. R2010a, and satisfying results are obtained. That explains the ability of estimation of joint angle for human leg, where the RMS errors are obtained from (0.065) to (0.015) at fast speed leg flexion -extension and from (0.018) to (0.0026) at slow speed leg flexion-extension.


The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis is beginning the selection process for the next Editor(s)-in-Chief of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Editor-inChief is an elected office of the Society with a single, six-year term. The six-year term of the new editor(s) will begin January 1, 2013. Applicants should have a deep and comprehensive knowledge of both clinical investigation and basic research in thrombosis and hemostasis. In addition candidates should have a distinguished research and publication record, high standing among peers, and have served on the editorial board of a scientific publication in the past. Candidates are invited to submit CVs and a covering letter describing their interests and qualifications for the Editorship alongwith a vision of future plans for the Journal. The deadline for submission is May 1, 2011. Materials should be sent to: ISTH Publications Committee, Pieter Reitsma, Chairman, c/o ISTH Headquarters, 610 Jones Ferry Rd., Suite 205, Carrboro, NC 27510, USA. Fax: + 1 919 929 3935; Email: email@example.com.


Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) receptors (provisional nomenclature as recommended by NC-IUPHAR [32]) are activated by an endogenous nonadecameric cyclic peptide identical in humans and rats (DFDMLRCMLGRVYRPCWQV; mammalian MCH) generated from a precursor (PMCH, P20382), which also produces neuropeptide EI and neuropeptide GE.


Interspecific testicular germ cell (TGC) transplantation was investigated in two commercial flatfish species. Testes from donor species (Senegalese sole) were evaluated using classical histological techniques (haematoxylin-eosin staining and haematoxylin-light green-orange G-acid fuchsine staining), in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemical analysis. Both Ssvasa1-2 mRNAs and SsVasa protein allowed the characterisation of TGCs, confirming the usefulness of the vasa gene in the detection of Senegalese sole TGCs. Xenogenic transplants were carried out using TGCs from one-year-old Senegalese sole into turbot larvae. Propidium iodide-SYBR-14 and 4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining showed that 87.98% of the extracted testicular cells were viable for microinjection and that 15.63% of the total recovered cells were spermatogonia. The vasa gene was characterised in turbot recipients using cDNA cloning. Smvasa mRNA was confirmed as a germ cell-specific molecular marker in this species. Smvasa expression analysis during turbot ontogeny was carried out before Senegalese sole TGC transplants into turbot larvae. Turbot larvae at 18 days after hatching (DAH) proved to be susceptible to manipulation procedures. High survival rates (83.75±15.90-100%) were obtained for turbot larvae at 27, 34 and 42 DAH. These data highlight the huge potential of this species for transplantation studies. Quantitative PCR was employed to detect Senegalese sole vasa mRNAs (Ssvasa1-2) in the recipient turbot larvae. The Ssvasa mRNAs showed a significant increase in relative expression in 42-DAH microinjected larvae three weeks after treatment, showing the proliferation of Senegalese sole spermatogonia in transplanted turbot larvae.


A study was undertaken to determine the relative association of lipid and apolipoproteins among lipoproteins produced during lipolysis of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) in perfused rat heart. Human VLDL was perfused through beating rat hearts along with various combinations of albumin (0.5%), HDL2, the infranatant of d greater than 1.08 g/ml of serum, and labeled sucrose. The products were resolved by gel filtration, ultracentrifugation, and hydroxylapatite chromatography. The composition of the lipoprotein products was assessed by analysis of total lipid profiles by gas-liquid chromatography and immunoassay of apolipoproteins. A vesicle particle, which trapped and retained 1-2% of medium sucrose, co-isolated with VLDL and VLDL remnants by gel filtration chromatography but primarily with the low density lipoprotein (LDL) fraction when isolated by ultracentrifugation. The vesicle was resolved from apoB-containing LDL lipolysis products by hydroxylapatite chromatography of the lipoproteins. The vesicle lipoprotein contained unesterified cholesterol (34%), phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin (50%), cholesteryl ester (6%), triacylglycerol (5%), and apolipoprotein (5%). The apolipoprotein consisted of apoC-II (7%), apoC-III (93%), and trace amounts of apoE (1%). When viewed by electron microscopy the vesicles appeared as rouleaux structures with a diameter of 453 A, and a periodicity of 51.7 A. The mass represented by the vesicle particle in terms of the initial amount in VLDL was: cholesterol (5%), phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin (3%), apoC-II (0.5%), apoC-III (2.2%). The majority of the apoC and E released from apoB-containing lipoproteins was associated with neutral-lipid core lipoproteins proteins which possessed size characteristics of HDL. The vesicles were also formed in the presence of HDL and serum and were not disrupted by serum HDL. It is concluded that lipolysis of VLDL in vitro results in the production of VLDL remnants and LDL apoB-containing lipoproteins, as well as HDL-like lipoproteins. A vesicular lipoprotein which has many characteristics of lipoprotein X found in cholestasis, lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency, and during Intralipid infusion is also formed. The majority of apolipoprotein C and E released from apoB-containing lipoproteins is associated with the HDL-like lipoprotein. It is suggested that the formation and stability of the vesicle lipoprotein may be related to the high ratio of cholesterol/phospholipid in this particle.


This study aims to assess the effectiveness of employee mutations and placements applied to several institutions in Indonesia. This study uses the meta-synthesis method by conducting a review of 31 previous studies listed in the research media. The results of the study found that government agencies in Indonesia had implemented mutation policies based on applicable regulations ranging from the law to local regulations on several factors, the value of improving performance and productivity, career development and promotion, to filling vacant positions. However, several studies have found that there is still corruption, collusion and nepotism, political affiliation, family connections, and close relations with superiors which causes a mismatch between the placement of employees and their competencies. Transfer of employees based on a merit system is indicated to improve performance including public services in providing information to create public sector accountability. Career development and promotion can also expand knowledge and experience to produce creative and innovative employees to support the achievement of organizational goals.


This study aims to examine the influence of several factors of Internal Control Systems (control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring) on the quality of local government financial statements. The population in this study are all working in SKPD Manokwari. The sample in this study is the head of department and the staff/employees of the financial part. Our sample are 45 respondents. The samples were selected by using a probability sampling method. Data was collected by distributing questionnaire to the respondents directly concerned. The results show that all independent variables of Internal Control System has a significant effect on the quality of local government financial statements. It then can be concluded that all element factor of Internal Control System is the most effective.


Although research has explained how plant roots mechanically stabilize soils, in this article we explore how root systems create networks of preferential flow and thus influence water pressures in soils to trigger landslides. Root systems may alter subsurface flow: Hydrological mechanisms that promote lower pore-water pressures in soils are beneficial to slope stability, whereas those increasing pore pressure are adverse. Preferential flow of water occurs in the following types of root channels: (a) channels formed by dead or decaying roots, (b) channels formed by decayed roots that are newly occupied by living roots, and (c) channels formed around live roots. The architectural analysis of root systems improves our understanding of how roots grow initially, develop, die, and interconnect. Conceptual examples and case studies are presented to illustrate how root architecture and diverse traits (e.g., diameter, length, orientation, topology, sinuosity, decay rate) affect the creation of root channels and thus affect preferential flow.


INTRODUCTION
Rural Australia is facing a potential crisis in the supply and retention of GPs, that is compounded by an aging and earlier-retiring workforce compared with metropolitan areas. The objective of this study was to explore the most important retention factors in a sample of older rural GPs.

METHODS
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 rural GPs practising in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. A thematic analysis was conducted on verbatim transcripts.

RESULTS
GPs used, or perceived as useful, a range of strategies to enable a happy and productive working life beyond traditional retirement age. These strategies covered personal, practice based, and professional strategies as well as systemic factors beyond the practice. The most ubiquitous experiences, initiatives or conditions representing these overarching themes related to being able to achieve a sensible workload, working in a supportive team environment, and being able to fulfil one's individual need for clinical variety or specialised professional interests.

CONCLUSIONS
Through consultation with older rural GPs, insights were gained into how to develop and implement effective retention strategies, by identifying those factors which are amenable to intervention at either the personal, practice, local or legislative level. A set of potential solutions were proposed which may be instrumental in keeping valued Australian rural GPs happily working for longer.


Axiomatic design offers a systematic and orderly way to proceed through the software development process. The methodology ensures that developers make the best possible design decisions by providing decision-making criteria in the form of two axioms: the independence axiom suggests that the best designs maintain the independence of the functional requirements, ensuring that the design can achieve each function without inadvertently affecting any other function; the information axiom suggests that the best designs minimize their information content. Thus, the solution with the greatest likelihood of success is the simplest solution. Software developers can determine the quality of the design based upon the degree to which it satisfies the defined functional requirements; ensure that the design satisfies each function independently and that coupling, which could cause unintended consequences, does not occur; enjoy easier job assignment and team management because they can use the system architecture diagram to assign tasks and define the interrelationships between various modules or classes; and handle software change orders quickly and easily because the system architecture identifies the modules affected by a change. Axiomatic design lets the developer document the design fully, making it easier to change or add extensions.


This study concentrates on benthic biological communities off southern California, but results may be applied to other Pacific OCS Planning Areas. The study is intended to detect and measure long-term (or short-term) changes in the marine environment in the vicinity of OCS oil and gas development and production activities; and to determine whether changes observed in the marine environment during the monitoring period are caused by drilling and production-related activities or reflect natural processes. The station design consists of a series of regional stations and two arrays of site-specific stations located in the vicinity of one existing, and one planned oil development/production platforms. Both arrays consist of a series of platform and comparison stations.


The imagination has made more discoveries than the eye To catch an imagination of the future of pulmonary hypertension was exactly the spirit of the 55th ASPEN lung Conference. Basic scientists, pre-clinicians, clinicians and pharma joined together to achieve one goal—to combine creativity and inventiveness in a battle against a deadly disease. Summarizing this conference on "Mechanics and Mechanisms of Pulmonary Hypertension" is challenging in several aspects: To extract key novel findings from 12 state-of-the-art lectures, 25 oral presentations, 56 posters along with the integration of own data on discussed topics, to include hundreds of important questions, answers and discussion raised during the conference, to provide the line of thinking for the next 5–10 years of pulmonary hypertension (PH) research development and to focus equally well on both basic and translational research. Kurt Stenmark and Todd Bull, who chaired the conference, intensified this challenge several-fold by selecting a plethora of topics ranging from development of cardiopulmonary systems to pathogenesis of right ventricular failure, mechanics of right ventricle-pulmonary artery coupling to genomics and from understanding metabolic aspects to developing therapies for PH. With that, need not say, but a special admiration and thanks to the conference chairs for assembling such outstanding state-of-the-art speakers, for clustering the presentations logically and for leading lively and engaging discussions. Although it may look fragmentary, we would like to divide the conference summary into four major conceptual realms: The pulmonary vasculature in PH; right heart in PH; individualized approach- personalized medicine; and beyond PH-vascular abnormalities in COPD. - Joseph Joubert


Although most analysts apply static measures such as the current ratio or the quick ratio to assess a firm's short-term liquidity, a separate calculation of dynamic integrative measures can tell a completely different story about a firm's ability to meet its short-term obligations. One important difference between the two types of measures is that the static measures assume that a firm will be liquidated, while the integrative measures evaluate the liquidity of the firm as a going concern. Analyzing a sample of restaurant and manufacturing firms from 1994 through 2003, the static measures of liquidity imply that restaurant companies are illiquid, while manufacturing companies are liquid. However, when the same companies are evaluated under an integrative framework, restaurant firms were shown to be the more liquid ones, based on their financial and operating liquidity. Compared to restaurants, manufacturing firms exhibit a certain amount of operating illiquidity due to the length of their cash-conversion cycle (that is, the time it takes to generate revenue from the expense of adding and processing inventory). The analysis suggests that financial analysts, creditors, and managers should evaluate both dynamic liquidity measures and static measures in assessing short-term liquidity, since each measure provides different information about a company's ability to cover its obligations. Moreover, when evaluating a company's liquidity over time, one must pay careful attention to the sources of any changes in a company's liquidity position. The finding that restaurants, particularly owner-operator firms, have high operating liquidity should be an argument for favorable short-term financing terms, even though static ratios make restaurants seem like poor risks. An accurate evaluation of short-term liquidity may improve restaurants' cost of short-term financing, overall financing costs, and required returns from equity investors.


SUMMARY 1. An in vitro preparation of the locust rectum, consisting of an everted cannulated sac, is described. After the first hour, the rates of ion and water transport, the electropotential difference and tissue volume do not change significantly over the next 4 h, i.e. a steady-state situation is approximated. 2. The activities and properties of these rectal sacs are reasonably similar to those in vivo; they produce hyposmotic absorbate, exhibit rectification of osmotic flow, and absorb water from pure sucrose solution for 1 h. Inhibition of absorption by KCN + IAA and also ouabain indicates metabolic dependence. 3. Analysis of absorbate shows that tissue ions are secreted to the haemocoel side when water is absorbed over the first hour from pure sucrose solutions. Prolonged transport of water (i.e. from second to fifth hour) requires the presence of ions on the lumen but not the haemocoel side. This is the first direct evidence that water absorption in the insect rectum is coupled to ion transport as previously postulated. The location of the proposed ion recycling suggested by these observations is discussed.


Erlam & Ellis (2018) published, in Canadian Modern Language Review, an experimental study that investigated the effect of input-based tasks on the acquisition of vocabulary and markers of plurality by adolescent near-beginner learners of L2 (second language) French. The present paper reports an approximate replication of the original study with the aim of confirming or disconfirming the results.1 The research questions of both studies addressed the receptive acquisition of new vocabulary and the receptive and productive acquisition of markers of plurality resulting from instruction using input-based tasks. Both studies investigated near-beginner adolescent learners of French. The teacher, the students' usual classroom teacher, was the same in both studies. In the replication study, a new, larger group of students were investigated, the length of the instruction was increased, involving the development of additional tasks, and productive as well as the receptive knowledge of the vocabulary items was assessed. The results of the replication study confirm and extend those of the original study. The teachers' views about the role of input-based tasks with near-beginner learners remained constant in the two studies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contribution that approximate replications can make to instructed second language acquisition research.


With a view to find out the Effect of priming with botanicals and animal waste on germination and seedling vigour in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) seeds experiments was conducted in the Seed Testing Laboratory of the department of Genetics and plant breeding, Sam Higginbotham Institute of Agriculture Technology and Sciences Allahabad. In order to evaluate the effect of different seed priming techniques on germination and morphological characters of sorghum an experiment was conducted in 2013-014 in a experiment based on the complete randomized block design with two variety M35-1 (Muguti 35-1) and DSH (Dharwad sorghum hybrid). Seeds were primed for six priming media (T0- hydro priming control, Neem Leaf Extract, Parthenium Leaf Extract, Cow Urine, Coconut water and Lantana Camara Extract). Maximum seed germination percentage was observed when seed primed by Coconut water @ 3 % is best for germination %, root length, seedling length, seed vigour length, seedling shoot length, total germination and seed vigour index, followed by Cow Urine @3% similar trend was also observed in all treatment. Among the treatments LCE recorded minimum root length, germination %, Seedling Length, Seed Vigour Length, Seedling shoot length, total germination and Seed Vigour index. Among all the priming treatments, coconut water @3% was found to be the best priming treatment. Moreover priming treatments have more pronounced effect DSH maintained highest quality parameters followed than M35-1 of sorghum seeds


Orphanages have traditionally played a key role in meeting the needs of abandoned and displaced children. This is still the case in many countries like Nigeria where they provide shelter for children of all ages presenting a variety of needs. For those defined as orphaned and vulnerable, there are few alternatives and no budgetary allocations for residential provision. In this situation, the management of orphanages has become a salient issue and the dearth of research is serious as social and family systems are under increasing pressures and more children from Africa are entering care in developed countries. This article provides an ethnographic and cross-sectional study of the current situation in one Nigerian city. It shows that residential institutions provide a comprehensive service for children requiring substitute care, fulfilling many different functions and meeting all needs. The homes are run by a mixture of state, voluntary and private organisations, leading to considerable variation in the resources available and the quality of care. Some of the reasons why children are admitted are now rare in developed countries and reflect the prevailing legislation, cultural values and poverty in the region. Given the rising number of children with African heritage entering care in the UK and the arrival of others via intercountry adoption, the article alerts social workers to information that might aid their understanding of these children's histories and the nature of the services they have received.


Background Pain is a major symptom in chronic inflammatory rheumatism. Pain intensity doesn't always correlate with disease activity and it can persist even when RA seems in clinical and biological remission. Little is known about the patients' perception of their treatment efficacy on pain, of pain influence in their life and their expectations for pain management. A French patients association (AFPric) conducted a national survey to explore patient's point of view on pain in their rheumatism. Objectives Describe in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatism, their perception of treatment efficacy on pain, the impact of pain in their life and their expectations on pain care, in a nationwide survey. Methods A nationwide survey with a 20-item questionnaire was conducted. The questions were developed by patients and rheumatologists in focus groups. Questionnaires were e-mailed to every member of the association (9065 members). Answers were collected until the 17th July 2016. Answers were anonymous. Results One thousand thirty nine patients (response rate 19.2%) answered the questionnaire with 1510 women (86.8%), mean age was 59 years [18–85 years]. For more than half (58%) of the patients, their rheumatism had more than 10 years of evolution. Rheumatoid arthritis was the main rheumatism with 1377 patients (87%). Among the 1194 patients (76%) under conventional DMARDs 46.4% considered the cDMARDs efficacy on pain was between 70 and 100%, on the other hand for 17.7% of the patients, cDMARDs efficacy on pain was less than 30%. Among the 744 patients (47.6%) receiving a biological DMARD, 66.2% considered bDMARDs efficacy on pain was between 70 and 100% and 10% considered it was 30% or less. Among the 658 patients (42.3%) receiving oral corticosteroids, 56.6% considered corticosteroids' efficacy on pain between 70 and 100% and 12% considered it was less than 30%. Patients were asked to rate the weight of pain among their symptoms, for 38% of the patients pain represents 70 to 100% of the symptoms of their rheumatism, for 31.7% it represents 40 to 60% and for 30.3% 30% or less. The mean weight is 51.55% Almost half of the patients (46.8%) consider that their pain is underestimated by health professionals. For 37.2% of the patients, their current treatments are not appropriate for their current pain intensity. Finally 528 (35.7%) patients are not satisfied with pain management offered by health professionals, 90% of them think that pain management is too standardized and 80% think that functional impact of chronic pain is not taken in consideration. Among the expectations, 95% of the patients wish a tailored pain management by their rheumatologist, 82.9% wish to participate to support groups with health professionals specialized in pain care. Conclusions This nationwide survey on pain among chronic inflammatory rheumatism patients shows that even in the biological DMARDs era, pain is the main concerning symptom for the patients. It is striking in this large cohort that almost half of the patients consider their pain insufficiently taken care of. Acknowledgements This study received an institutional grant from UCB Disclosure of Interest None declared


Considered the most frequently used sources of autonomous water supply of a country house – manhole and well. It is shown that the chemical composition of natural water in these structures does not meet the requirements of SaNPiN 22.214.171.1245-02 and varies over time. The reasons for the change in the water quality in the manhole and the well and the ways to solve the problem are listed. The factors affecting the water quality in the manhole and the well are indicated – the characteristic of the water of the aquifer and the arrangement of the structures. The conclusion was made that it is impossible to make the optimal choice between a manhole or a well for the environmentally acceptable water supply of a country house for the quality of water in each of the water intakes. A comparative assessment of the manhole and the well is given for a number of indicators in order to optimize the choice between them.


Cell deletion approaches to pain directed at either the primary nociceptive afferents or second-order neurons are highly effective analgesic manipulations. Second-order spinal neurons expressing the neurokinin 1 (NK1) receptor are required for the perception of many types of pain. To delete NK1+ neurons for the purpose of pain control, we generated a toxin–peptide conjugate using DTNB-derivatized (Cys0) substance P (SP) and a N-terminally truncated Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE35) that retains the endosome-release and ADP-ribosylation enzymatic domains but with only one free sulfhydryl side chain for conjugation. This allowed generation of a one-to-one product linked by a disulfide bond (SP-PE35). In vitro, Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with the NK1 receptor exhibited specific cytotoxicity when exposed to SP-PE35 (IC50 = 5 × 10−11 M), whereas the conjugate was nontoxic to NK2 and NK3 receptor-bearing cell lines. In vivo studies showed that, after infusion into the spinal subarachnoid space, the toxin was extremely effective in deleting NK1 receptor-expressing cells from the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. The specific cell deletion robustly attenuated thermal and mechanical pain sensations and inflammatory hyperalgesia but did not affect motoric capabilities. NK1 receptor cell deletion and antinociception occurred without obvious lesion of non–receptor-expressing cells or apparent reorganization of primary afferent innervation. These data demonstrate the extraordinary selectivity and broad-spectrum antinociceptive efficacy of this ligand-directed protein therapeutic acting via receptor-mediated endocytosis. The loss of multiple pain modalities including heat and mechanical pinch, transduced by different populations of primary afferents, shows that spinal NK1 receptor-expressing neurons are critical points of convergence in the nociceptive transmission circuit. We further suggest that therapeutic end points can be effectively and safely achieved when SP-PE35 is locally infused, thereby producing a regionally defined analgesia.


ABSTRACT
Chronic pain is associated with reduced quality of life, increased medical expenditures, and significant economic costs. Chronic pain is among the most common chronic conditions in the United States, although estimates vary widely regarding its precise prevalence. Understanding the scope of the problem using the most contemporaneous data is therefore an important goal. This study sought to determine the prevalence of chronic pain and its impacts among adults in the United States using the National Health Interview Survey, a household-based annual survey of self-reported health status of U.S. adults that can be used to generate national-level estimates. Using a chronic pain module introduced in the 2019 edition of National Health Interview Survey, we found that 50.2 million adults (20.5%) reported pain on most days or every day. The most common pain locations were back pain and hip, knee, or foot pain. The most commonly used management strategies for chronic pain were physical therapy and massage. Respondents with chronic pain reported limitations in daily functioning, including social activities and activities of daily living. Respondents with chronic pain reported significantly more workdays missed compared with those without chronic pain (10.3 vs 2.8, P < 0.001). Overall, these findings indicate that more than 1 in 5 adults in America experiences chronic pain; additional attention to managing the burden of this disease is warranted.