The authors report on a detailed analysis of small-geometry effects on the current gain of advanced self-aligned etched-polysilicon emitter bipolar transistors. By studying the dependence of collector and base currents on device geometry and process parameters, they have been able to identify the critical fabrication steps and physical mechanisms involved. The narrow emitter effect is caused by the butting of the emitter-base junction to the field oxide, and is mainly controlled by the gate oxide removal step prior to polysilicon deposition. Short emitter effects are associated with phenomena taking place in the spacer region of the device perimeter during polysilicon patterning, spacer pedestal thermal oxidation, link base implantation, and final rapid thermal anneal. Proper adjustment of all process parameters is shown to allow good control of the narrow-emitter effect and complete compensation of short-emitter effects, showing promise for the future of this CMOS-compatible bipolar transistor structure. >


This study aims to see if probiotic bacteria from human milk could ameliorate oral cow's milk sensitization. The probiotic potential of the SL42 strain isolated from the milk of a healthy young mother was first determined. Rats were then randomly gavaged with cow's milk casein without an adjuvant or assigned to the control group. Each group was further subdivided into three groups, with each receiving only Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938, SL42, or a phosphate-buffered saline solution. Body weight, temperature, eosinophils, serum milk casein-specific IgE (CAS-IgE), histamine, and serum S100A8/A9 and inflammatory cytokine concentrations were measured. The animals were sacrificed after 59 days; histological sections were prepared, and the spleen or thymus weights, as well as the diversity of the gut microbiota, were measured. On days 1 and 59, SL42 abridged systemic allergic responses to casein by dropping histamine levels (25.7%), CAS-specific IgE levels (53.6%), eosinophil numbers (17%), S100A8/9 (18.7%), and cytokine concentrations (25.4–48.5%). Analyses of histological sections of the jejunum confirmed the protective effect of probiotic bacteria in the CAS-challenged groups. Lactic acid bacteria and Clostridia species were also increased in all probiotic-treated groups. These findings suggest that probiotics derived from human milk could be used to alleviate cow's milk casein allergy.


Background Several new drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been released in the past years. Clinical trials have demonstrated good efficacy. These clinical trials of regimens to treat chronic infection with HCV used as their primary efficacy endpoint HCV RNA levels 24 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR24). More recently, regulatory authorities have begun to accept SVR at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) as a valid efficacy endpoint. Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of 5 of the newest treatments for HCV, analysing HCV RNA levels after 4 (HCVRNA4), 12 (HCVRNA12) and 24 (HCVRNA24) weeks. Material and methods Retrospective observational study conducted from September 2014 to September 2015. We searched for recommendations in HCV guidelines and drug data sheets. We obtained patient information from the electronic prescription software (PRISMA-APD) and clinical data from the medical history database (DIRAYA). Results 63 patients were included (47 males and 16 females), with an average age of 53 years. The genotype of the virus was 1A in 14 patients, 1B in 33, 3A in 8 and genotype 4 in 7. 30 (47.62%) were previously treated with another drug and 10 (15.87%) were coinfected with HIV. 13 were treated with ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, 15 with simeprevir, 3 with sofosbuvir, 17 with sofosbuvir/simeprevir and 15 with sofosbuvir/daclatasvir. 48 (81%) presented HCVRNA4 undetectable levels. After 12 weeks of treatment, only 2 patients presented with detectable levels of HCVRNA (1 with genotype 4 with level 4 liver fibrosis, treated with sofosbuvir plus simeprevir, who suffered a relapse). Another patient, genotype 3A with level 4 liver fibrosis, treated with sofosbuvir plus daclatasvir, also suffered a relapse after 24 weeks. The rest of the patients remain with undetectable levels waiting for the next analysis. Conclusion The results confirm the expectations proved in clinical trials, with an early response. Coinfection with HIV does not seem to modify treatment response. The 2 relapsers in this study were previously treated patients. Future studies including more patients are needed in order to ensure the effectiveness of the new treatments in the long term. No conflict of interest.


This paper discusses the workings of biblical allusion in Toni Morrison's novel Beloved in the context of Bakhtin's thought. Principal aims are to show something of how the literary device of allusion fits into Bakhtin theory and, at the same time, to show how Morrison has incorporated the Bible into her work. The paper proposes that she writes and rewrites the Bible in interaction with other language-worlds of the novel – most notably, the historical slave narrative and the African spirit-world. It develops the notion of a hybrid chronotope in the novel based on the intersection of the biblical apocalypse with the 'rememory' of African cosmology. The paper represents an extension of Bakhtin theory in proposing allusion as a device for dialogisation.


This paper presents a novel approach to incorporate spatial information in the bag-of-visual-words model for category level and scene classification. In the traditional bag-of-visual-words model, feature vectors are histograms of visual words. This representation is appearance based and does not contain any information regarding the arrangement of the visual words in the 2D image space. In this framework, we present a simple and effi- cient way to infuse spatial information. Particularly, we are interested in explicit global relationships among the spatial positions of visual words. Therefore, we take advantage of the orientation of the segments formed by Pairs of Identical visual Words (PIW). An evenly distributed normalized histogram of angles of PIW is computed. Histograms pro- duced by each word type constitute a powerful description of intra type visual words relationships. Experiments on challenging datasets demonstrate that our method is com- petitive with the concurrent ones. We also show that, our method provides important complementary information to the spatial pyramid matching and can improve the overall performance.


Load balancing is an important issue in distributed systems. In addition, using distributed generation sources such as photovoltaic is increasing. This paper presents a photovoltaic grid interface inverter with compensation of load active and reactive power Imbalance for three-phase four-wire distribution networks. An improved control strategy based on instantaneous active and reactive current component method with variable reference frame in single-phase systems is proposed. Two DC/DC and DC/AC converters have been utilized for connecting PV to the grid. DC/DC converter is responsible for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and DC/AC converter is responsible for injecting power to the grid as well as balancing load. Using the structure of 3Hbridge converter for grid interface inverter, it is possible to achieve control objectives in three-phase four-wire low voltage distribution networks is provided. The proposed control has been verified by simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK software and the simulation results indicate the ability of the proposed method to achieve control objectives.


The National Building Code of Canada 2015 stipulates the minimum requirements of the airborne sound insulation transmission through common interior walls and ceiling/floor assemblies. The required minimum Apparent Sound Transmission Class (ASTC) is 47 in Canada, whereas the Impact Insulation
 Class (IIC) for floors is recommended to be higher than 55. For many years, significant efforts were made to develop sound insulation prediction models or tools to predict the sound insulation performance of wall and floor/ceiling assemblies at the design phase in order to meet the requirements
 and the recommendations made by codes. However, today few models can provide a reliable acoustics design tool. In this document, three prediction tools thought to be practically useful are presented and evaluated. Between these three prediction tools, one is an analytical model of the Insul
 software while the other two are empirical models developed by the National Research Council of Canada and the American Wood Council. This paper compared the STC and IIC ratings of wood wall and floor assemblies estimated by these three models and verified them by the measured STC and IIC
 ratings. This work aims at providing an idea for readers to choose a suitable design tool to proceed with their acoustic designs.


Phytochemical and genetic variability of Casearia sylvestris Sw. from Sao Paulo State Atlantic Forest and Cerrado populations. Two botanical varieties have been considered in Casearia sylvestris species: C. sylvestris var. lingua, with a shrubby characteristic, occurring in bushy Cerrado (savannah) and C. sylvestris var. sylvestris, with an arboreous type in forest or shrubby vegetation. The limits of these varieties based on morphological parameters are very tenuous, though suggesting the reliability of applying molecular and phytochemical to characterize such differences. This work aimed to identify genetic and chemical differences between C. sylvestris varieties in six natural populations of from Cerrado and Sao Paulo State Atlantic Forest, using RAPD (Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA) and chemical markers. Georeferenced samples have been collected in order to characterize geographic location data (altitude, latitude and longitude). Nine primers were selected for the RAPD reactions. The dendrogram was obtained from the matrix of pairwise distances through the Jaccard's similarity index using the UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) grouping method. A Mantel test was used to analyze correlations between genetic and geographical distances, while the molecular variance analysis and the Shannon index were used to determine the intra- and interpopulation divergences. For the phytochemical study, leaves of both species were submitted to rutin extraction in methanol and quantification was carried out using a high-performance liquid chromatographer. Most soil indicator values showed diversity among populations of savannah and Atlantic Forest. There is a high variability in the rutin content among accessions within and among the study populations. The proposed comparisons among populations and the two study biomes in relation to the rutin content showed that the savannah populations have presented significant higher values. A positive correlation between altitude and rutin content has been clearly shown, i.e., higher altitudes are associated with higher rutin content and Cerrado biome. Partitioning of the diversity indicated that 84% of the variation occurred within populations and only 15% between populations. In order to establish a germplasm bank of the species, it is necessary to collect a higher number of individuals within each population so that the existing variability in the species could be represented.


Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disease leading to progressive muscle weakness and atrophy, in severe cases also affecting the bulbar and respiratory muscles.The clinical spectrum of the disease is extremely variable, in the most severe cases resulting in perinatal death, while at the least severe end of the spectrum causing some motor deficits in old age without the loss of ambulation. Spinal muscular atrophy care has changed dramatically in recent years due to the availability of new therapeutic options. The FDA approved nusinersen in 2016, this was followed by the approval of onasemnogene abeparvovec in 2019 and risdiplam in 2020. The EMA approved all three therapies a year later. Two of the threapies work at the pre-mRNA level, one at the DNA level. The clinical studies leading to the approval of the three drugs included patients of different ages and clinical conditions, and utilised partly different motor and functional scales. Therefore, direct comparison of these clinical studies is not possible. However, an increasing amount of real-world data contribute to the better understanding of the efficacy of the different therapies for patients of different ages and clinical conditions, in a real-world setting. Thus, the question may arise "Which is the best SMA therapy?". This is an impossible question to answer. Indeed the question "Which therapy is the most suitable for a certain patient at a certain time?" is much more realistic. Here, we provide a brief overview of the objectively measurable results of the three therapies to date and an outlook into future therapeutic avenues. .


Under ambient conditions, NaHF2 adopts a rhombohedral structure. Two high-pressure phase transitions have been noted previously, which the authors have located at 5 kbar and 41 kbar. They have studied all three phases by Raman spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction. The symmetric (FHF) stretching vibration is at a significantly higher frequency in phase I (631 cm-1 at ambient) than in phase II (623 cm-1 and 612 cm-1 at 10.6 kbar). The phase I structure is also incompressible down the triad axis, along which the (FHF) groups are oriented. The phase II X-ray data were fitted by a monoclinically distorted marcasite-like cell. This structure is easily derived from that of phase I by a shear, with accompanying rotation of the (FHF) groups into two distinct orientations consistent with the observed splitting of the Raman modes. A further 5% volume discontinuity occurs at the II-III transition. The diffraction data for phase III index on a tetragonal cell whose dimensions suggest a variant of the structure adopted by KHF2 at ambient pressure.


This paper presents a comparison between Unified Power Quality Conditioner UPQC controller and normal power converter to be used for DFIG control system. Implementation of unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) in wind energy conversion system (WECS) more performance improvement is observed than the normal power converter system. This work deals with two types of UPQC models which is developed for checking its control strategy validity in wind energy conversion system based Double fed induction generator (DFIG) since UPQC has the same structure of the DFIG converters . This paper mainly focuses on efficient control system of unified power quality conditioner that makes it possible to reduce the voltage fluctuations like sag and swell conditions, as well as current and voltage harmonics mitigation in wind energy conversion system. The UPQC which can be used at the PCC for improving power quality is modeled and simulated using proposed control technique and the performance is compared by applying it to a wind energy conversion system with UPQC and with normal power converter. With the help of MATLAB/SIMULINK environment Dynamic models of the DFIG and UPQC are developed.


Adaptive video streaming relies on the construction of efficient bitrate ladders to deliver the best possible visual quality to viewers under bandwidth constraints. The traditional method of content dependent bitrate ladder selection requires a video shot to be pre-encoded with multiple encoding parameters to find the optimal operating points given by the convex hull of the resulting rate-quality curves. However, this pre-encoding step is equivalent to an exhaustive search process over the space of possible encoding parameters, which causes significant overhead in terms of both computation and time expenditure. To reduce this overhead, we propose a deep learning based method of content aware convex hull prediction. We employ a recurrent convolutional network (RCN) to implicitly analyze the spatiotemporal complexity of video shots in order to predict their convex hulls. A two-step transfer learning scheme is adopted to train our proposed RCN-Hull model, which ensures sufficient content diversity to analyze scene complexity, while also making it possible capture the scene statistics of pristine source videos. Our experimental results reveal that our proposed model yields better approximations of the optimal convex hulls, and offers competitive time savings as compared to existing approaches. On average, the pre-encoding time was reduced by 58.0% by our method, while the average Bjontegaard delta bitrate (BD-rate) of the predicted convex hulls against ground truth was 0.08%, while the mean absolute deviation of the BD-rate distribution was 0.44%


Kluyveromyces lactis is both scientifically and biotechnologically one of the most important non-Saccharomyces yeasts. Its biotechnological significance builds on its history of safe use in the food industry and its well-known ability to produce enzymes like lactase and bovine chymosin on an industrial scale. In this article, we review the various strains, genetic techniques and molecular tools currently available for the use of K. lactis as a host for protein expression. Additionally, we present data illustrating the recent use of proteomics studies to identify cellular bottlenecks that impede heterologous protein expression.


We describe a computational framework designed to provide adaptive support to learning from examples by coaching the meta-cognitive skill known as self-explanation - generating explanations to oneself to clarify an example solution. The framework includes an interface to scaffold self-explanation, a probabilistic student model and a coaching component. The probabilistic student model allows the coach to change the interface scaffolding in order to improve the student's studying behavior. We discuss how the types of tailoring and scaffolding that the framework enables can be extended to generate more adaptive support to effectively learning from examples.


Conservation management for the water dependent desert‐oasis ecotone in arid northwest China requires information on the water use of the dominant species. However, no studies have quantified their combined water use or linked species composition to ecotone transpiration. Here, the water use of three dominant shelterbelt shrubs (Haloxylon ammodendron, Nitraria tangutorum, and Calligonum mongolicum) within an ecotone was measured throughout the full leaf‐out period for three shrub species from 30 May to 16 October 2014, with sap flow gauges using the stem heat balance approach. Species‐specific transpiration was estimated by scaling up sap flow velocities measured in individual stems, to stand area level, using the frequency distribution of stem diameter and assuming a constant proportionality between sap flow velocity and basal cross‐sectional area for all stems. The mean peak sap flux densities (Jsn) for H. ammodendron, N. tangutorum, and C. mongolicum, were 40.12 g cm−2 h−1, 71.33 g cm−2 h−1, and 60.34 g cm−2 h−1, respectively, and the mean estimated daily area‐averaged transpiration rates (Tdaily) for the same species were 0.56 mm day−1, 0.34 mm day−1, and 0.11 mm day−1. The accumulative stand transpiration was approximately 140.8 mm throughout the measurement period, exceeding precipitation by as much as 42.1 mm. Furthermore, Tdaily of these shrubs appeared to be much less sensitive to soil moisture as compared to atmospheric drivers, and the relationship between Jsn and atmospheric drivers was likely uninfluenced by soil moisture regimes in the whole profile (to 1‐m depth), especially for H. ammodendron and C. mongolicum. Results indicate that these shrubs may use deep soil water recharged by capillary rise, or may directly access shallow groundwater. This study provides quantitative data offering important implications for ecotone conservation and water and land resource management. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to assess the relation between bone mineral density (BMD) and clinic-demographic properties and life quality during postmenopausal period.

METHODS
The study group consisted of 172 postmenopausal women who applied to the physical therapy and rehabilitation outpatient clinic at a training and research hospital in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The Survey Form, The 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the FRAX™ were used as data collection tools in this study.

RESULTS
The osteoporosis and osteopenia frequencies were respectively 28.5% and 42.4% in this study. The 10-year major osteoporotic fracture risk was 5.15% and the femur fracture risk was estimated as 0.9%. In this study, there was a positive and significant relation found between the L1-4 and FN T-score and SF-36 scale score average (p< 0.05). There was a significant relation between the body mass index and SF-36 subscale 'mental health' (p< 0.05). In this study, the most significant determinant of life quality was exhibited as the "L1-4 T-score" (β= 55.509, p= 0.000).

CONCLUSIONS
We determined that approximately one of every four women had osteoporosis and as the BMD dropped, the life quality of the women declined. Hence, we think that improving the awareness of health professionals working in this field is essential.


Beyond bitcoin, blockchain technology has acquired attention and importance in its own right. Today, it is conceptually accepted that blockchain stands out as a disruptive technology that will change a number of processes in financial services and could in turn impact corporate governance. This paper explores the recent applications of blockchain technology in financial services and outlines regulatory responses, to set the scene for future work in this area on corporate governance. This paper provided background for the Corporate Governance Committee's roundtable discussion on blockchain technology and the implementation of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance on 10 April 2018. A subsequent presentation of the paper was given at the OECD Workshop on Digital Financial Assets on the 16 May 2018, and at the OECD-Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance in Malaysia on 7-8 November 2018. This work also provides a contribution to the work of the OECD Blockchain Policy Centre.


Background The adalimumab (ADA) patient (pt) support program (PSP) is offered to pts with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Evidence to understand factors affecting the use of PSPs is scarce. Objectives To assess predictors of ADA PSP utilization among RA pts who initiate ADA treatment. Methods This was a post hoc interim analysis of the Post-Marketing Observational Study to Determine the Effectiveness and Patient Satisfaction With Adalimumab Treatment in Patients With RA (PASSION; NCT01383421). In this multi-country, ex-US study, the PSP includes "Core elements" (starter pack, call center/hotline, nursing services, educational material, and injection guide; offered in all participating countries) and "other elements" (eg, refill reminders, email, newsletters, support groups, home delivery, and financial assistance; vary by country). PSP utilization (yes/no) was a dependent variable in a multivariate logistic regression model examining the following potential predictors of using the ADA PSP: baseline (BL) Patient Activation Measure-13 (PAM-131; evaluates knowledge, skills, and confidence essential to a pt managing his/her own health; scores classified a priori into 4 levels [higher level means greater pt involvement in disease management]), age, sex, race, RA disease duration, prior use of biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI), BL Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), and BL 28-joint Disease Activity Score based on C-reactive protein (DAS28(CRP)). Results Most enrolled pts were female and white (Table); BL characteristics were similar across the 4 PAM-13 levels. Overall, 427 of enrolled pts (51%) utilized the PSP, including 40%, 53%, 52%, and 58% of pts in PAM-13 Levels 1–4, respectively. Pts utilizing Core PSP elements but not other elements (n=93) included 19%, 14%, 9%, and 5% of pts in PAM-13 Levels 1–4, respectively. The percentages of pts utilizing both Core and Other PSP elements (n=292) increased with PAM-13 level and included 19%, 32%, 37%, and 48% of pts in PAM-13 Levels 1–4, respectively, suggesting greater overall PSP usage by pts in higher PAM-13 levels. Pts in Level 4 had the highest use for all Core PSP elements, including ADA call center (39%), educational material (41%), material regarding ADA (41%), ADA injection guide (39%), starter pack (32%), and nursing services (32%). Predictors favoring PSP use among observed RA pts included PAM-13 level (odds ratio [OR] per 1-level increase, 1.32; 1.12–1.55), white race (OR, 3.83; 95% CI, 2.04–7.20), prior use of biologic DMARDs (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.46–3.65), BL HAQ-DI (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.05–1.79), and BL DAS28(CRP) (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.02–1.38). Female sex was a predictor for not using the PSP (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.42–0.92) in this mostly female population. Conclusions In pts with moderate to severe RA treated per standard of care, white race, prior biologic use, and BL disease parameters were positive predictors favoring PSP use. References Hibbard JH, et al. Health Serv Res. 2004;39(4 Pt 1):1005-1026. Acknowledgements AbbVie funded the study and the analysis, and approved the abstract for submission. Medical writing assistance was provided by Katherine Groschwitz and Michael Theisen of Complete Publication Solutions, LLC, and was supported by AbbVie. Disclosure of Interest F. Van Den Bosch Consultant for: received speaker and/or consultancy fees from AbbVie, Celgene, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, S. Wassenberg Grant/research support from: participated in phase 3 and phase 4 studies sponsored by AbbVie, Speakers bureau: received speakers honoraria of less than 5.000 € in the last 2 years from AbbVie; also received support, including speaker and/or consultancy fees and attendance at conferences, from Chugai, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, A. Ostor Grant/research support from: received support from (including attendance at conferences), undertakes clinical trials and acts as a consultant to Roche, Chugai, MSD, AbbVie, Pfizer, Novartis, Napp, and BMS, N. Varothai Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, J. Kalabic Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, V. Garg Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie


Cerebral localization has a complex and intriguing history. From Hippocrates, who recognized the laterality of the hemispheres, to Gall, who attempted to localize emotions and higher cortical functions through the pseudoscience of phrenology, to Wilder Penfield, who applied corticography to clinical localization in the operating room, the field of cerebral localization has inspired a rich and colorful literature. All of neurosurgery, in fact, is based on localization of lesions and the effect that they produce with respect to neurological signs and symptoms. Localization is the fundamental basis for surgical precision. As such, it constitutes the core of the development of modern neurosurgery. Modern neurosurgery is indebted to many pioneers of cerebral localization who were physicians, anthropologists, neurologists, behavioralists, psychiatrists, and neuroscientists. Neurosurgery's own literature includes a number of monumental works, such as Edwin Boldrey's 1936 thesis (not included in this issue of Neurosurgical Focus), written when Boldrey was a first-year neurosurgical resident under Wilder Penfield.1 The thesis reported results of electrical stimulation of 105 human cerebral cortices. Many of these early neurosurgical studies represented incredible efforts, such as this first large-scale study of human cortical stimulation under local anesthesia as part of "treatment" for epilepsy and brain tumors, which was the first study to actively identify and separate motor and sensory functions as well as other brain functions. Such studies aimed at synthesizing a system of knowledge and the logic of cerebral function and localization, and they are a tribute to the indelible pioneering spirit of neurosurgeons. This issue of Neurosurgical Focus has surveyed the intellectual history of the field of cerebral localization and gives a broad view of this many-faceted topic. It includes articles describing some of the historically significant individuals, milestones, and events that have marked the development and deployment of cerebral localization. The issue begins with Folzenlogen and Ormond's overview of cortical functional localization with relevance to neurosurgery. This is followed by discussions of the critical history of language localization by Leblanc, Rahimpour et al., and Kundu et al.; a paper by Patra et al. about an early brain stimulation case performed by Roberts Bartholow; papers on neurological signs with long and complex histories by Carrasco-Moro et al. and Kosty et al.; a paper on Santiago Rámon y Cajal's identification of cortical tracts by Mora et al.; two papers on the critical history of brain atlases and cortical localization involving Bartolomeo Eustachio and Jean Talairach by Dario et al. and Harary et al., respectively; and a paper on the science and relationship of the thalamus to cortical localization by Serra et al. The issue concludes with a poignant account by Fana et al. of three giants of the science of cortical organization who faced personal challenges during the Nazi era. We hope that the readership of Neurosurgical Focus will find these excellent scholarly papers informative, enjoyable, and a reflection of the remarkable legacy of neurosurgery.


The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the use of LCD media in motivating learners. The research data collection technique uses several techniques, namely observation, questionnaire and interview. The data presentation step (1) data reduction, summarizes the data obtained so as to provide a clearer picture, (2) Presentation of data, the researcher displays data in the form of narrative text supported by the results of questionnaires that have been tested in the field, (3) Verification, withdrawal conclusions and verification with the aim of being able to answer the problem statement. The results of the study, each student has the desire to actively study, but many factors affect students so that it makes them lazy to learn, this is the task of the teaching staff and parents to be able to motivate. The supporting factors and obstacles to the use of LCD projectors are as follows (1) supporting factors: educators who have expertise from the implementation of training, awareness of masters towards Education, conducive and clean learning places, complete facilities and infrastructure. (2) inhibiting factors: there are still educators who have not been able to operate the technology so that they cannot use LCD media, even though there is a lack of training for teaching staff related to the presentation of interesting material, it is still difficult for educators to use new methods. Conclusion, the use of LCD media can motivate students in learning
Keywords: Use of LCD Media, Learning Motivation, Learners


ABSTRACT Vaccinia virus A26 protein is an envelope protein of the intracellular mature virus (IMV) of vaccinia virus. A mutant A26 protein with a truncation of the 74 C-terminal amino acids was expressed in infected cells but failed to be incorporated into IMV (W. L. Chiu, C. L. Lin, M. H. Yang, D. L. Tzou, and W. Chang, J. Virol 81:2149-2157, 2007). Here, we demonstrate that A27 protein formed a protein complex with the full-length form but not with the truncated form of A26 protein in infected cells as well as in IMV. The formation of the A26-A27 protein complex occurred prior to virion assembly and did not require another A27-binding protein, A17 protein, in the infected cells. A26 protein contains six cysteine residues, and in vitro mutagenesis showed that Cys441 and Cys442 mediated intermolecular disulfide bonds with Cys71 and Cys72 of viral A27 protein, whereas Cys43 and Cys342 mediated intramolecular disulfide bonds. A26 and A27 proteins formed disulfide-linked complexes in transfected 293T cells, showing that the intermolecular disulfide bond formation did not depend on viral redox pathways. Finally, using cell fusion from within and fusion from without, we demonstrate that cell surface glycosaminoglycan is important for virus-cell fusion and that A26 protein, by forming complexes with A27 protein, partially suppresses fusion.


We introduce methods for identifying operator preconditions that need not be expanded further. The methods are proved to be admissible, that is, they will not cause a solution to be missed when one exists. In certain cases, the methods also identify operator reformulations that increase the number of nonexpandable preconditions. This approach provides effective loop control in common situations. Moreover, the computation required can be performed during a precompilation of the operators in a domain; thus, there is no significant additional run-time overhead during planning.


One hundred years ago Europe unleashed a storm of violence upon the world: The First World War had an enormous impact on the lives of Europeans, European history and culture. To this day, the iconic images of trench warfare in Belgium and France are burned onto our retinas, the names of its major battles, such as The Somme, Verdun and Ypres, are etched in our consciousness, as are the stories of modern warfare's greatest horrors: the usage of poison gas and new technical means such as aerial warfare and the tank. In recent years it has become clear that this is only a small part of the Great War's history. In many senses there were other fronts: both geographically, as well as thematically the war was fought on fronts that have remained relatively 'unknown' to date. From a geographical perspective there were many other fronts on the European continent alone, there was fighting in the Balkans, in Romania and in the borderlands of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires (an area that is today part of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States). Outside of Europe there was also warfare in European colonies in Africa and in the Middle East. Seen from a thematic angle, these 'unknown fronts' relate to the life and conduct of civilians and diplomats who lived and worked in the war. Civilians might serve as (para)medical professionals or might have fallen victim to one of the war's many violent episodes. Diplomats might have served the interests of their countries of origin in one of the many belligerents, yet, their documents can also shed light on different aspects of the war. Then there are soldiers themselves, whose voices have not always been heard. Yet another unknown front, is the life and work of intellectuals, who did not partake in violent actions, but often took up the weapon of the pen to wage their war. Since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain, many aspects of the Eastern fronts of the First World War have come to light and new sources have been uncovered. So to speak, there has been an 'Eastern turn' in First World War historiography. The scholars who contributed to this volume, all historians or literary scholars, have researched new sources on those Eastern fronts and have given new valuable insights in several 'unknown fronts' of the Great War, but also had to conclude that there are still many unanswered questions that need further inquiry. A revision of historiographical insights on the First World War is however warranted.


Background: Swimming and other aquatic fitness are important aerobic exercises that have been proposed as an effective nonpharmacological approach in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), hyperlipidemia, and hypertension (HTN). The current study aimed to assess the effect of long-term swimming sessions on glycemic and lipidemic parameters, body composition, and hemodynamic responses for patients with metabolic risk factors. Methods: Forty participants from both genders with T2DM and HTN (aged 52.4±5.5 yrs) agreed to take part in this quasi-experimental study and were divided into two groups. The first group included the participants who performed long-term swimming sessions and the second group served as the reference. The first group exercised for 2 h, 3 times/week in 29-33 ◦C swimming pool for 16 weeks. While the reference group did not participate in any kind of exercise and advised to keep on with their normal lifestyle. All the obtained metabolic syndrome risk factors data were analyzed using a paired t-test which was applied to separately determine the differences between pre- and post-tests for both genders and groups, and the percentage of change (Δ %) was computed. Independent t-test was applied to determine the differences in the post-tests (Exp. vs Ref) in men patients as well as for women separately. Results: The results showed that there were statistically significant differences at p ≤ 0.05 between pre- and post- exercise concerning Total Cholesterol (TC), High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL), Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL), Triglycerides (TG), glycemic parameters, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, body mass index (BMI) and fat mass percent in favor of posttests in the experimental group for both genders. Whereas, no significant differences were found at p≤0.05 between pre- and post-tests for all studied variables in the reference group for both genders. Significant differences were found at p≤0.05 on the post-tests in favor of the experimental for both genders.Conclusion: Findings of the current study suggested that the regular 16 weeks of the conducted swimming sessions could be considered as nonpharmacological approaches in the management of T2DM and HTN.


Dr. Gil comments as folllows
 Dr. Fontana's comments on my paper reflect a clinical prespective on child abuse, which may be appropriate in dealing with individual incidents, but not in unravelling the nature and scope of a complex phenomenon involving medical, psychological, social, cultural, and legal aspects. To Dr. Fontana, child abuse is merely a "pediatric syndrome" and he questions, by implication, the credentials of nonmedical investigators of the phenomenon. Such a narrow conceptualization reflects the "emotional bias and vested interest" to which Dr. Fontana objects so eloquently in his letter.


Summary: A tricyclic diterpene, isoagathenediol, has been isolated from the lipid fraction of the photosynthetic non-sulphur bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum. The compound was present in trace amounts and its structure was determined by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Isoagathenediol is a new natural product and may function as a membrane fluidity modulator. Five other bacterial species have also been screened for the presence of this compound, but the diterpene was detected only in extracts derived from R. rubrum. As tricyclic diterpene fossils are readily detected in oil and shale samples, the isolation of isoagathenediol has indicated the biological origin of these fossils.


We introduce on any smooth oriented minimal surface in Euclidean 3-space a new meromorphic quadratic differential, P, which we call the entropy differential. This differential arises naturally in a number of different contexts. Of particular interest is the realization of its real part as a conservation law for a natural geometric functional - which is, essentially, the entropy of the Gauss curvature. We characterize several classical surfaces - including Enneper's surface, the catenoid and the helicoid in terms of P. As an application, we prove a novel curvature estimate for embedded minimal surfaces with small entropy differential and an associated compactness theorem.


We reviewed the decay patterns and lifetimes (time to reach 95% mass loss) of coarse woody debris (CWD) on the forest floor. The objectives were to identify the factors influencing the decomposition process of CWD and to provide estimates of lifetimes for CWD from Australian tree species. This information is required for greenhouse accounting of forestry activities and land use change as well as the sustainable management of CWD in forest ecosystems. The analysis of a global data set on decay rates of CWD showed that, in particular, the mean annual temperature was a main driver of decomposition, accounting for 34% of the variation in decay rates. The Q 10 , the factor by which biological processes accelerate when temperature increases by 10°C, was 2.53. Additional determinants of CWD decay rates were the initial density of wood and the diameter of logs. Median and average lifetimes derived from 184 decay rates were 49 and 92 years, respectively, which is considerably higher than the 10-year default for all litter proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The pattern of decay in most cases followed a negative exponential curve. To overcome the paucity of information on decomposition of CWD in Australian forests and woodlands, decay rates for a large number of species were derived from wood durability and decay resistance studies. For native Australian species, lifetimes ranged from 7 years in Eucalyptus regnans to 375 years in E. camaldulensis. The lifetimes for timber durability Classes 1-4 were 54, 39, 26 and 11 years, respectively, below 30° latitude and without the influence of termites. However, the experimental conditions under which durability and decay resistance are commonly determined are substantially different from the situation under which CWD decomposes in the field. These estimates must therefore be regarded as minimum lifetimes for CWD of most species. To determine decay rates of CWD with greater certainty, long-term field experiments in a wide range of ecosystems are required. BT0 at sdebr e J


Faith and Love [Glaube und Liebe] is not only a praise of the monarchy or a collection of great aesthetical aphorisms which belong to the usual definition of Romanticism. This paper aims to recognize the frame of the political thought of NOVALIS through an analysis of SCHMITT's critique of Romanticism. To understand the figure of King and Queen means to find out their roots in NOVALIS' conception of the exchange between I and Not I. This contribution focuses on the way in which
NOVALIS tries to free Fichtes' principles of the first Doctrine of Science from their theoretical prison and to apply them to a practical field. NOVALIS' true Utopia is the achievement of an individual's capacity to be more than a simple I, through recognizing the internal division of the subject and its
necessity to build up a non-subjective relationship to the world. The true identity which exists between Subject and Subject is nothing that can be considered safe for always, rather it bases the giving up of an illusory world-construction. The way NOVALIS intends to avoid the Subject-Object
relation and it runs through the death of the illusory world of the I as an abdication in the meaning of PESSOA's work. To imitate the symbol of the King, who looses his character of temporal power to become a pure soul, which means to be that man, who able to achieve his true nature by letting the
Not I become a You.


Significance Statement Polymorphisms of HLA genes may confer susceptibility to acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN), but small sample sizes and candidate gene design have hindered their investigation. The first genome-wide association study of ATIN identified two significant loci, risk haplotype DRB1*14-DQA1*0101-DQB1*0503 (DR14 serotype) and protective haplotype DRB1*1501-DQA1*0102-DQB1*0602 (DR15 serotype), with amino acid position 60 in the peptide-binding groove P10 of HLA–DRβ1 key. Risk alleles were shared among different causes of ATIN and HLA genotypes associated with kidney injury and immune therapy response. HLA alleles showed the strongest association. The findings suggest that a genetically conferred risk of immune dysregulation is part of the pathogenesis of ATIN. Background Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN) is a rare immune-related disease, accounting for approximately 10% of patients with unexplained AKI. Previous elucidation of the relationship between genetic factors that contribute to its pathogenesis was hampered because of small sample sizes and candidate gene design. Methods We undertook the first two-stage genome-wide association study and meta-analysis involving 544 kidney biopsy-defined patients with ATIN and 2346 controls of Chinese ancestry. We conducted statistical fine-mapping analysis, provided functional annotations of significant variants, estimated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability, and checked genotype and subphenotype correlations. Results Two genome-wide significant loci, rs35087390 of HLA-DQA1 (P=3.01×10−39) on 6p21.32 and rs2417771 of PLEKHA5 on 12p12.3 (P=2.14×10−8), emerged from the analysis. HLA imputation using two reference panels suggested that HLA-DRB1*14 mainly drives the HLA risk association. HLA-DRB1 residue 60 belonging to pocket P10 was the key amino acid position. The SNP-based heritability estimates with and without the HLA locus were 20.43% and 10.35%, respectively. Different clinical subphenotypes (drug-related or tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome) seemed to share the same risk alleles. However, the HLA risk genotype was associated with disease severity and response rate to immunosuppressive therapy. Conclusions We identified two candidate genome regions associated with susceptibility to ATIN. The findings suggest that a genetically conferred risk of immune dysregulation is involved in the pathogenesis of ATIN.


The Web Services architecture defines various specifications that applications may wish to use in combination. In this paper, we investigate the composition of the Web services specifications for business process execution (BPEL) and transactional coordination (WS-Coordination). We report on our experience in implementing a policy-driven model to declaratively program transactional processes and discuss challenges in middleware integration to support this model.


Before the liberalization of the Indian economy, only a few companies like Kelvinator, Godrej, Alwyn, and Voltas were the major players in the consumer durables market, accounting for no less than 90% of the market. Then, after the liberalization, foreign players like LG, Sony, Samsung, Whirlpool, Daewoo, and Aiwa came into the picture. Today, these players control the major share of the consumer durables market. Consumer durables market is expected to grow at 10-15% in 2007-2008, It is growing very fast because of rise in living standards, easy access to consumer finance, and wide range of choice, as many foreign players were entering in the market with the increase in income levels, easy availability of finance, increase in consumer awareness, and introduction of new models, the demand for consumer durables has increased significantly. However, there were still Very few players in categories like vaccum cleaners, and dishwashers Consumer durables sector is characterized by the emergence of MNCs, exchange offers, discounts, and intense competition. The market share of MNCs in consumer durables sector is 65%. MNC's major target is the growing middle class of India. MNCs offer superior technology to the Consumers whereas the Indian companies compete on the basis of firm grasp of the local market, their well acknowledged brands, and hold over wide distribution network. However, the penetration Level of the consumer durables is still low in India. Indian Consumer durables market used to be dominated by few domestic players like Godrej, Voltas, Alwyn and Kelvinator. But post liberalization many foreign companies have entered into Indian market dethroning the Indian players and dominating Indian market the major categories being CTV, REFRIGFATOR, MICROWAVE OVEN and WASHING MACHINES. India being the second largest growing economy with huge consumer class has resulted in consumer durables as the fastest growing industries in India. LG, SAMSUNG the two Korean companies have been maintaining the lead in the market with LG being leader in almost all the categories, The rural market is growing faster than the urban market, although the penetration level is much lower. The CTV segment is expected to the largest contributing segment to the overall growth of the industry, The rising income levels double-income families and consumer awareness were the main growth drivers of the industries.


Natural photosynthesis is an effective route for the clean and sustainable conversion of CO2 into high-energy chemicals. Inspired by the natural process, a tandem photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell with an integrated enzyme-cascade (TPIEC) system was designed, which transfers photogenerated electrons to a multienzyme cascade for the biocatalyzed reduction of CO2 to methanol. A hematite photoanode and a bismuth ferrite photocathode were applied to fabricate the iron oxide based tandem PEC cell for visible-light-assisted regeneration of the nicotinamide cofactor (NADH). The cell utilized water as an electron donor and spontaneously regenerated NADH. To complete the TPIEC system, a superior three-dehydrogenase cascade system was employed in the cathodic part of the PEC cell. Under applied bias, the TPIEC system achieved a high methanol conversion output of 220 μm h-1 , 1280 μmol g-1  h-1 using readily available solar energy and water.


Hydatid disease remains an endemic parasitic disease. Renal localization of this disease is rare. Hydatiduria is pathognomonic of a fistulized hydatid cyst in the pelvicalyceal system of the kidney. Its diagnosis is based on an array of clinical, biological and radiological signs. Its treatment is basically surgical which is usually conservative in order to preserve optimal kidney function. Lately, laparoscopic surgery of this disease has evolved immensely and assures safety. INTRODUCTION Hydatid disease is a parasitic disease caused by the larval form of tapeworms of the Ecchinococcus type. It remains endemic and a real public health issue in north Africa, some countries in the Mediterranean region, New Zealand, Australia, Asia and America [1,2]. Renal involvement of this disease is rare [3]. Renal hydatid cyst can open into the excretory cavities causing specific diagnostic and therapeutic features [4]. We will study clinical signs, imaging results, and the therapeutic management of fistulized renal hydatid cyst in the urinary tract by reviewing the litterature. EPIDEMIOLOGY Renal localization of hydatid cyst comes third after the hepatic and pulmonary involvement of this disease. It is estimated between 2 – 5% of all visceral localizations of this disease [5,6]. It is usually primitive, unique and unilateral [4]. Hydatid cyst of the kidney is mainly observed in young adults with ages between 30 and 50 years. Nevertheless, it is not exceptional in children [3]. There is no predominance of sex related to this disease. The left kidney appears to be relatively more affected. The poles of the kidney affected in 80% of cases. DIAGNOSTIC This disease evolves in a slow and insidious manner, The Most common clinical presentation is chronic flank pain or discomfort resulting from cystic pressure [8]. Other clinical manifestations are not specific apart from hydatiduria. This is caused by an opening of the hydatid cyst in the urinary tract [9,10]. It is observed in 28% of cases [6,11] and can even result hydronephrosis during migration of daughter cysts in the ureter. Laboratory test brings certain finesse in the diagnosis of hydatid disease especially in difficult cases. It plays a major role in sero-epidemiological surveys and follow-ups after treatment [12]. Eosinophilia is neither constant nor specific, it is present in cases where the cyst opens up and it may only presume the disease [12]. Diagnosis is heavily based on imaging when hydaturia is not observed [6,11,13]. Ultrasound has an 80% reliability [3,14] it can detect cystic masses of the kidney and of another organs in the abdominal cavity [4]. Features suggestive of hydatid disease are fluid nature, mural calcifications, membrane separation and presence of daughter cysts [10]. The 5 stages for hepatic hydatid cysts defined in Gharbi classification also applies to renal hydatid cysts [10]. Ultrasound can be suggestive of the kystourinaire fistula when uretero hydronephrosis is objectified [4]. CT urography remains the reference test and is often requested after ultrasound [1,6]. CT scan is highly sensitive in detecting calcifications. It appreciates the content of cystic masses better by specifying its topography and comparing with adjacent organs. It also helps to objectify any communication between the cyst and the urinary tract which is detected during the excretory phase which must be requested routinely [3]. Intravenous urography images after the scanner has an interest when a secondary obstructive syndrome caused by migrating daughter cysts in the ureter is suspected. It can objectify a vascular tumor syndrome, distorting the contours of the kidney, or compressing and stretching the urinary tract. It may also help diagnose impaired kidneys after a silent complete destruction of parenchyma [4]. Magnetic resonance imaging is not a first instance imaging technique in hydatid diseases. It is justified only when other imaging techniques have not established a diagnosis [1,11] and also when in cases of contra indication in the use of iodine as a contrast material allergy, renal failure). The combination of clinical history, imaging studies, serological and urine investigations yields a reliable pretreatment diagnosis in only 50% of cases and a presumptive diagnosis in 71% [15]. TREATMENT The treatment of fistulized hydatid cyst is exclusively surgical Central Bringing Excellence in Open Access   Mellas et al. (2016) Email: Ann Clin Cytol Pathol 2(5): 1036 (2016) 2/3 and must tend towards conservative surgery preserving the kidney tissue function [16,17]. Lumbotomy allows an extra peritoneal surgery of this disease preventing any risk the disease spreading in the peritoneal cavity [17]. It is highly recommended to sterilize the cyst by injecting scolicidal solution (hypertonic saline) in the cyst. The use of hydrogen peroxide is outlawed in fistulaized cysts because of the risk of urinary tract erosion and sclerosis. It can however be used to protect the operating field [4]. Resection of protruding dome remains the treatment of choice [6,18]. The treatment of the residual cavity depends on its ability to collapse and to fill without risk of suppuration. Its edges may be sutured up if possible. Drainage of the renal space is required in all cases [1]. Fistulas must be sought systematically and closed with absorbable sutures in two layers (cystic and parenchymal layers), or together in case of difficulty placing nephrostomy catheters has been described [11]. But in our experience [4], we believe that placing a double J stent is the best way to prevent postoperative fistulas ensuring efficient drainage of urine. This stent must be either placed preoperatively when the diagnosis of urinary fistula is suspected or during surgery [4]. Nephrectomy remains a treatment of choice for kidneys destroyed by hydatid disease. Treatment of the residual cavity is not essential. Systematic drainage of the urinary tract by a double J stent should be placed to protect the treatment of fistulas. However, when the diagnosis is made during surgery, it is best to practice surgical nephrostomy intraoperatively [4]. We have increasing publications concerning the renal hydatid disease treatment by laparoscopy in recent times [19,20]. A transperitoneal or retroperitoneal approach may be proposed, bearing in mind that transperitoneal approach allows more space to operate [21]. This surgical technique is safe and without additional risks to patients [20]. Finally, we must emphasize on clinical, immunological, radiological follow ups that may last for many years in order to detect early recurrence or secondary development of this disease in other sites. Follow up of this disease includes a complete physical examination even in the absence symptoms, a hydatid serology test, a chest radiography and an abdominal and liver ultrasound, every three months in the first year and then every six month for two years, then once a year for ten years [22]. Other radiological examinations are justified by specific clinical signs, such as the realization of a CT urography when hydatiduria is present by example. We must advise preventive measures to the patient by explaining method of parasite infestation and ways to eradicate it [22,23]. CONCLUSION Fistulized renal hydatid cyst should be considered in all cystic masses of the kidney, notably in a patient living in endemic area, associated with hydatiduria and / or dilatation of the urinary tract. Establishing a diagnosis before its treatment will prevent specific complications related Surgery, in particular dissemination and anaphylactic shock during surgery and urinary fistulas after surgery by placing a double J ureteral stent it is recommended conservative surgery when it is possible. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS KY and MS are the principal authors. AH, TS and FMH analyzed, corrected and reviewed the literature. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Introduction: Mitochondrial function influences T cell dynamics and is affected by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation. We previously reported an association between African mtDNA haplogroup L2 and less robust CD4 cell recovery on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in non-Hispanic black ACTG 384 subjects. We explored whether additional T cell parameters in this cohort differed by mtDNA haplogroup. Methods: ACTG 384 randomized ART-naı̈ve subjects to two different nucleoside regimens with efavirenz, nelfinavir, or both. CD4 and CD8 memory and activation markers were available at baseline and week 48 on most subjects. mtDNA sequencing was performed on whole blood DNA, and haplogroups were determined. We studied non-Hispanic black subjects with HIV RNA ,400 copies/mL at week 48. Analyses included Wilcoxon ranksum test and linear regression. Results: Data from 104 subjects were included. Major African mtDNA haplogroups included L1 (N = 25), L2 (N = 31), and L3 (N = 32). Baseline age, HIV RNA, and CD4 cells did not differ between L2 and non-L2 haplogroups. Compared to non-L2 haplogroups, L2 subjects had lower baseline activated CD4 cells (median 12% vs. 17%; p = 0.03) and tended toward lower activated CD8 cells (41% vs. 47%; p = 0.06). At 48 weeks of ART, L2 subjects had smaller decreases in activated CD4 cells (24% vs. 211%; p = 0.01), and smaller CD4 cell increases (+95 vs. +178; p = 0.002). In models adjusting for baseline age, CD4 cells, HIV RNA, and naı̈ve-to-memory CD4 cell ratio, haplogroup L2 was associated with lower baseline (p = 0.04) and 48week change in (p = 0.01) activated CD4 cells. Conclusions: Among ART-naı̈ve non-Hispanic blacks, mtDNA haplogroup L2 was associated with baseline and 48-week change in T cell activation, and poorer CD4 cell recovery. These data suggest mtDNA variation may influence CD4 T cell dynamics by modulating T cell activation. Further study is needed to replicate these associations and identify mechanisms. Citation: Hulgan T, Robbins GK, Kalams SA, Samuels DC, Grady B, et al. (2012) T Cell Activation Markers and African Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroups among NonHispanic Black Participants in AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study 384. PLoS ONE 7(8): e43803. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043803 Editor: Derya Unutmaz, New York University, United States of America Received March 30, 2012; Accepted July 26, 2012; Published August 27, 2012 Copyright: 2012 Hulgan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: Funding for the genomic sequencing was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke grant NS059330. The project described was also supported by Award Number U01AI068636 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Study 384 was also supported by grant AI38858, and by Agouron/Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, and GlaxoSmithKline. The ACTG sites contributing DNA for these analyses were funded by NIH grants AI069513, AI34835, AI069432, AI069423, AI069477, AI069501, AI069474, AI069428, AI69467, AI069415, Al32782, AI27661, AI25859, AI069495, AI069471, AI069532, AI069452, AI069450, AI069556, AI069484, AI069472, AI34853, AI069465, AI069511, AI38844, AI069424, AI069434, AI46370, AI069502, and AI069419. The ACTG Human DNA Repository is also supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UL1 TR000445. Additional NIH grant support included: AI077505, AI54999, HL087726, AI69495, 5T32GM80178 and AI062435. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or the National Institutes of Health. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: TH has received research support from Merck. GKR has received research support from Gilead Sciences, Schering-Plough. DWH has received research grants from Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, and Merck, and has served as a consultant for Boehringer-Ingelheim. AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Study 384 was also supported in part by Agouron/Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, and GlaxoSmithKline. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. * E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com " Membership of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group is provided in the Acknowledgments. PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 August 2012 | Volume 7 | Issue 8 | e43803


—Very recently, a new transient stability methodology referred to as the Localized Transient Stability (LTS) Method was proposed solely for the purpose of real-time localized control of transient stability. The method is based on a completely new idea of localized transient stability. In this paper, real-time localized control of transient stability by the LTS method is presented. Since the technique is based on the LTS method, transient stability in this technique is viewed as the interaction of each individual generator with its respective remaining generators. Therefore, in this technique, the post-fault power system is represented by a two-generator localized power system at the site of each individual generator. Each of these localized power systems is then driven to its respective stable equilibrium by local control actions with local computations using the locally measured data in order to drive the full (entire) power system to its stable equilibrium. New investigative results are presented with Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) as the local control means to demonstrate the potential of real-time localized control of transient stability by the LTS method.


Skin color provides a useful cue for vision based human-computer interaction (HCI). However, rapidly changing illumination conditions under HCI application environment make skin color detection a challenging task, as skin colors in an image highly depend on the illumination under which the image was taken. This paper presents a method for skin color detection under rapidly changing illumination conditions. Skin colors are modeled under the Bayesian decision framework. Face detection is employed to online sample skin colors and a dynamic thresholding technique is used to update the skin color model. When there is no face detected, color correction strategy is employed to convert the colors of the current frame to those as they appear under the same illuminant of the last model updated frame. Skin color detection is then applied on the color corrected image. Face detection is time-consuming and hence should not be applied to every frame in real-time applications on general consumer hardware. To improve efficiency, a novel method is proposed to detect illumination changes, and face detection is used to update the skin color model only if the illumination has changed. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve satisfactory performance for skin color detection under rapidly changing illumination conditions in real-time on general consumer hardware.


The differences in patient length of stay and quality indicators pre and post-implementation of a nursing partnership model were examined. Findings indicated no significant difference in length of stay, infection rates, medication or procedural errors, but significantly less falls after implementation. Length of stay decreased by 0.7 days.


Introduction: Flexible bronchoscopy is one of the most widely performed procedures for diagnosis of various bronchopulmonary diseases. Most patients tolerate the procedure well although cough is often reported as a distressing symptom. Objectives: The main objective of the study is to find the comparison of 1% versus 2% lignocaine for airway anaesthesia in flexible bronchoscopy. Material and methods: This randomized control trial was conducted in pulmonology department of DHQ Hospital Faisalabad and the duration of this study was from July 2018 to December 2018. The data was collected with the permission of ethical committee of hospital. Data was collected with the permission of ethical committee of hospital. The data was collected through random sampling technique. Demographic and baseline values of all the selected patients were collected. Before the start of the bronchoscopy procedure, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and pulse oximetric saturation were recorded and monitoring continued during the procedure. Results: The data was collected from 100 patients with mean age 44.56±2.45 years in group I and 46.78±2.34 years in group II. The demographic and baseline values were similar in both groups. Table 01 explains all the basic parameters of both groups. Fifty subjects each were randomized to 1% and 2% groups, and all randomized subjects completed the study protocol. The cumulative dose of lignocaine administered in 2% lignocaine group was significantly greater than in 1%. The doses of midazolam in 1% and 2% lignocaine groups administered were similar Practical implications: After this trial we may apply this procedure for airway anaesthesia in flexible bronchoscopy Conclusion: It is concluded that there was no significant difference in operator-rated overall procedure satisfaction or cough in between the two groups. Keywords: Lignocaine, Patients, Significant, Efficacy, Satisfaction, Anaesthesia


The gained from this study is that, the man-biting rates of mosquitoes correlated significantly with agricultural activities and other land use types. The study reports for the first time that; the man biting rates of An. gambiae s. l. and An. funestus are associated with proximity to piggery units in Dar es Salaam city. The man-biting rates of An. gambiae s. l. were also correlated with proximity to temporary wells. Aedes spp. man-biting rate was associated with proximity to bovid and poultry units. However, Culex spp. And Mansonia spp. man-biting rates were associated with proximity to streams and drains. The study documents that the diverse land use types and the presence of multiple distinct habitat types promote proliferation of mosquitoes from all genera. In many households in Dar es Salaam, these land use types occur in combination.


A large class of gamma-ray burst (GRB) models (overwhelming until recently) involve-the release of energy in a neutron star quake. Even though the extreme isotropy of the GRB sky established by the BATSE experiment has now shifted the interest to cosmological models, the former starquake scenarios are still attractive and may naturally produce a gravitational wave burst which carries most of the released energy. We discuss the prospects for detection of these high-frequency bursts by the forthcoming interferometers and spheroidal antennas, emphasizing the most recent results on the distribution and nature of the GRB sources. We find that, even if the overall picture is correct, the positive detection of GRB-associated gravitational wave bursts is unlikely and therefore these events will not be a prime target for the detectors.


SUMMARY Drought strongly affects cereal yield in several regions of the world. Plant growth and plant water status in response to soil water deficit play an important role in tolerance to drought and in yield stability. In order to investigate the relationship between plant growth and water relations, 187 barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) recombinant inbred lines from a cross between two Mediterranean varieties, Tadmor and Er/Apm, were studied in a growth chamber for RWC , number of leaves on the main tiller (NL), number of tillers (NT) and total shoot fresh and dry biomass (TSFM and TSDM). Measurements were made at the beginning of tillering on well watered plants and at a soil moisture content of 14 % of field capacity. A negative phenotypic correlation between RWC and growth parameters was obtained in both treatments. Under water stress, a negative genetic correlation was also found between the same characters. QTLs involved in RWC, NL and TSFM variation were positioned on a RFLP-RAPD genetic map. Different DNA regions involved in constitutive and water stress responses were detected. In the stress treatment, one region on chromosome 1 was involved in RWC and NL variation giving a genetic basis to the phenotypic correlations found. Separated map positions were also found for RWC and NL. Epistatic interactions between several QTLs and between QTLs and other markers were detected only in the water stress treatment, suggesting that some chromosomal regions might be involved in the regulation of the expression of the traits under water stress. This work suggested that even if some parameters are strongly correlated, finding QTLs for only one trait is not sufficient to detect all the candidate regions which might be involved in the control of the correlated traits. The results of localization and co-localization of QTLs are physiologically interpreted.


During locomotion, lizards and crocodilians generally use a more sprawling limb posture than most mammals and experience substantial axial rotation of the femur. Consequently, the limb bones of most mammals are loaded predominantly in bending, but the limb bones of lizards and crocodilians are loaded primarily in torsion. As body size increases, torsional shear stress in limb bones is expected to increase more than bending stress; therefore, limb bone diameters of lizards and crocodilians might be expected to scale with relatively greater positive allometry than limb bone diameters of mammals that use upright posture. To test this hypothesis, scaling patterns of the femur and tibia in lizards (iguanians and varanids) and crocodilians were compared with patterns in felid and canid mammals, using both non-phylogenetic statistical methods and phylogenetically independent contrasts. Comparisons with theoretical models indicate that size-related changes in limb bone geometry do not completely compensate for size-related increases in limb bone stress in the lizard or crocodilian lineages examined. Unless lizards and crocodilians compensate for size-related increases in limb bone stress through other mechanisms (e.g. changes in limb kinematics or the mechanical properties of limb bones), limb bone stresses are predicted to be relatively greater among larger species of these lineages. However, limb bone diameters appear to scale with greater positive allometry (relative to body mass) in varanids than in iguanians, suggesting that larger lizard lineages might compensate for increased stress through changes in bone geometry to a greater degree than smaller lineages. Allometric scaling patterns for many limb bone diameters among iguanians are more similar to those of felids and canids than to those of varanids; thus, sprawling locomotor habits do not correlate clearly with a particular pattern of limb bone scaling. This suggests that similarity of interspecific scaling patterns of limb bone lengths and diameters is not sufficient to justify inferences of similar locomotor function.


ABSTRACT The mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, extracellular signal-related kinase 1 (ERK1) and ERK2, regulate cellular responses by mediating extracellular growth signals toward cytoplasmic and nuclear targets. A potential target for ERK is topoisomerase IIα, which becomes highly phosphorylated during mitosis and is required for several aspects of nucleic acid metabolism, including chromosome condensation and daughter chromosome separation. In this study, we demonstrated interactions between ERK2 and topoisomerase IIα proteins by coimmunoprecipitation from mixtures of purified enzymes and from nuclear extracts. In vitro, diphosphorylated active ERK2 phosphorylated topoisomerase IIα and enhanced its specific activity by sevenfold, as measured by DNA relaxation assays, whereas unphosphorylated ERK2 had no effect. However, activation of topoisomerase II was also observed with diphosphorylated inactive mutant ERK2, suggesting a mechanism of activation that depends on the phosphorylation state of ERK2 but not on its kinase activity. Nevertheless, activation of ERK by transient transfection of constitutively active mutant MAP kinase kinase 1 (MKK1) enhanced endogenous topoisomerase II activity by fourfold. Our findings indicate that ERK regulates topoisomerase IIα in vitro and in vivo, suggesting a potential target for the MKK/ERK pathway in the modulation of chromatin reorganization events during mitosis and in other phases of the cell cycle.


The aim of the study was to estimate organ dose rate reduction to a female anthropomorphic phantom, which simulated the cardiologist, during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) when the patient's arm support was covered with 0.4-mm lead foil. Organ dose rates were determined using five radiation detectors inserted into the left eye, left thyroid, left breast, left liver lobe and uterus of the phantom. A male anthropomorphic phantom was placed on the examination table of an angiography system. Heart images of the patient phantom were acquired under 10 gantry angulations typical for PCI. The lead-covered arm support did not interfere with any of the cardiac images. The median organ dose rate reductions to the left eye, left thyroid, left breast, left liver lobe and uterus were 7.8, 36.0, 28.8, 35.7 and 33.5%, respectively. The lead-covered arm support substantially reduced scattered radiation to the female cardiologist without interfering with clinical environments.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the presence of impaired decision-making functions of Wilson's disease patients in Iowa gambling task (IGT) and its association with basal ganglia damage.

METHODS
Thirty-two IGT patients with WD (WD group) and 29 healthy people (control group) were recruited from the same period. And two options of high and low rewards were selected. Before the start of experiment, a basal figure of 2000 yuan was shown on computer display and they were prompted to win more money as much as possible. The general trend was observed with or without social learning effects.

RESULTS
With the increased number of cards selected, the number of favorable and unfavorable selections shifted from negative to positive and gradually rose in the control group. However, such a pattern was absent in the WD group. The WD patients in the IGT group in Trial4 and Trial5 were significantly lower than the controls (P = 0.009 and P = 0.020).

CONCLUSION
The WD IGT patients have significant impairments of policy-making functions due to the damage of basal ganglia. And the effects of copper metabolism on cerebral cortex should be further studied in WD patients.


This paper discussing the role of youth generation in Islamic education that tends to less giving development opportunity and creativity. Islamic education was only as training which the main target explaining about theory, but lack of real action. There's madrasah education model, to realize madrasah as academic excellence as public school, plus Islamic specialty. There also dormitory education model, and " Plus" school phenomenon. Exactly, now many more Islamic school Plus that progressing more than public school. In Islam, problem of discipline, working ethos, motivation, and achievement occupy the very important role. Here youth strength:readiness to learn, active sharing in compiling best framework for the world of Islam education in this country. This youth people will be able to do the reform and create the new formulation to Islam education.


Purpose: In this work, we compare central dose measurements in anthropomorphic phantoms with corresponding Computed Tomography Dose Index(CTDI) values obtained at the center of the body CTDI phantom. Method and Materials: An adult Rando phantom was used to determine patient/fetal dose during an abdominal/pelvic CT examination acquired with clinically relevant techniques. TLD's were placed in multiple locations in the phantom to measure the dose in the abdomen/pelvis region. The corresponding CTDIFDA and CTDI100 values were determined using an ionization chamber placed at the center of a 32 cm diameter acrylic dosimetry phantom. Results: A pregnant patient, whose size is comparable to the Rando phantom, undergoing a CT examination on a commercial scanner receives an embryo dose of 16 mGy/100mAs, whereas published CTDI values for this scanner are lower by factor of 2.9 to 4.0. This large discrepancy can be accounted for by the following three factors: (a) specification of a tissue dose, as opposed to an air or acrylic dose; (b) use of a realistic phantom size; (c) inclusion of the total x‐ray scatter in the tails of CT dose profiles. Conclusion: To obtain accurate body patient doses from any specified body CTDI data, it is essential that soft tissue doses be obtained rather than air/acrylic doses, and with appropriate correction factors that account for the scan length and for the size of the patient.


The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of an ethanol extract of leaf (EEL) of Syzygium  cumini against Vibrio cholerae serogroups Ogawa and Inaba . The antimicrobial activity of EEL was evaluated by the disc diffusion method against multi-drug resistant Ogawa and Inaba . The EEL effectively inhibited the growth of  both serogroups. This growth inhibition was accompanied by fragmentation of genomic DNA as revealed by agarose gel electrophoresis. This result suggested that the EEL might inhibit bacterial growth involving DNA damage either through activation of signal transduction pathways or through direct interaction of the metabolites present in the EEL with DNA. Therefore, EEL of S. cumini has potential growth inhibitory activity against multi drug resistant Vibrios. This inhibitory effect of EEL might be explored to develop effective candidate(s) to combat cholera. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujps.v11i1.12483 Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 11 (1): 25-28, 2012 (June)


Forest disturbances—driven by pests, pathogens, and discrete events—have led to billions of dollars in lost ecosystem services and management costs. To understand the patterns and severity of these stressors across complex landscapes, there must be an increase in reliable data at scales compatible with management actions. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS or UAV) offer a capable platform for collecting local scale (e.g., individual tree) forestry data. In this study, we evaluate the capability of UAS multispectral imagery and freely available National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for differentiating coniferous healthy, coniferous stressed, deciduous healthy, deciduous stressed, and degraded individual trees throughout a complex, mixed-species forests. These methods are first compared to assessments of crown vigor in the field, to evaluate the potential in supplementing this resource intensive practice. This investigation uses the random forest and support vector machine (SVM) machine learning algorithms to classify the imagery into the five forest health classes. Using the random forest classifier, the UAS imagery correctly classified five forest Health classes with an overall accuracy of 65.43%. Using similar methods, the high-resolution airborne NAIP imagery achieved an overall accuracy of 50.50% for the five health classes, a reduction of 14.93%. When these classes were generalized to healthy, stressed, and degraded trees, the accuracy improved to 71.19%, using UAS imagery, and 70.62%, using airborne imagery. Further analysis into the precise calibration of UAS multispectral imagery, a refinement of image segmentation methods, and the fusion of these data with more widely distributed remotely sensed imagery would further enhance the potential of these methods to more effectively and efficiently collect forest health information from the UAS instead of using field methods.


In order to construct a strategy for control of in vivo disposition characteristics of gene and antisense DNA, in vivo stability and basic pharmacokinetic properties of DNA were investigated. A model gene, plasmid DNA (pCAT), and model oligonucleotide (thymidine 10-mer; T10) derivatives with phosphoroamidate substitution at the 3' and/or 5'-terminal internucleotide linkage, were rapidly degraded in vivo after intravenous injection into mice. The degradation rates were much faster than those observed in in vitro experiments using plasma and whole blood, suggesting that they underwent enzymatic degradation in other compartments than the blood pool. More than 70% of injected pCAT was taken up by the liver within 5 minutes, and the uptake clearance was almost identical to the plasma flow rate in the liver. On the other hand, T10 derivatives were rapidly excreted in the urine and taken up by the kidney and liver. The urinary excretion clearance was close to the glomerular filtration rate. In an attempt to control T10 disposition characteristics, the oligonucleotide was conjugated to a macromolecular carrier, carboxymethyl dextran (CMD). The T10-CMD conjugate exhibited increased in vivo stability and prolonged plasma circulation time. Thus, the present study has shown that macromolecular conjugation is a useful approach to improve in vivo disposition of antisense oligonucleotides.


Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk worldwide. Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is released as a result of fossil fuel combustion and vehicle motion, breaking and tyre wear. It has been shown that exposure to PM can cause increased levels of respiratory disease, including the exacerbation of COPD, which is frequently associated with bacterial infection. Despite this, the effects of air pollution exposure on COPD associated respiratory bacteria, includingHaemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Streptococcus pneumoniae are largely unknown. Our recent publication was the first to document that as well as damaging the host, PM has a direct impact on bacteria that can cause respiratory infections. We showed that exposure to black carbon (BC), an important component of PM, results in alterations in biofilm structure in both Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, and increases dissemination of colonising S. pneumoniaein in vivo models.
 Following on from this work, we aim to determine how BC impacts the growth, behaviour and virulence of bacteria associated with the COPD exacerbation, including non-typeable Haemophilus influenzaeand Moraxella catarrhalis. Current data show that BC exposure is decreasing the biofilm forming ability of NTHistrains 162 and 375. M. catarrhalis strain M61 biofilm formation is also decreased in the presence of BC, while its growth rate is increased. In addition, pre-exposing NTHi375 cells to BC, prior to infection of A549 cells, increases their ability to adhere to human epithelial cells. This suggests that the frequency of bacterial infection induced COPD exacerbation may be altered in patients from highly polluted areas.


A mouse spleen stromal cell line, MSS62, can create an in vitro erythropoietic microenvironment in which development of erythropoietin-responsive progentor cells is stimulated by cell-cell contact via stem cell factor (SCF)/c-Kit and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1)/very late activation antigen-4 (VLA-4) interactions between stromal and erythroid cells. To find out the effect of src on the erythropoietic microenvironment, MSS62 cells were transfected with v-src oncogene, and its effect on erythropoietic stimulatory activity was measured. Transfectants with high v-Src activity showed reduction in erythropoietic stimulatory activity. A decrease in cell-surface VCAM-1 and SCF mRNA was accompanied by high v-Src activity. These results suggest that v-Src interferes with the erythropoietic stimulatory activity of the stromal cells through repression of VCAM-1 and SCF.


The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting of the survivin gene in human tumor cells and the effect of decreased survivin expression on the proliferation and apoptosis of tumor cells. Human tumor cell lines (MSA-MB-231, SGC-7901, HeLa, A549, SK-OV-3 and Raji, PC-3) were cultured in vitro and divided into three groups: survivin siRNA-treated, scrambled negative control siRNA-treated and an untreated control group. The level of survivin mRNA and protein expression was subsequently determined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. Cell proliferation was also examined by an MTT assay following transfection and the apoptotic rate of cells was detected by Hoechst and Annexin V/propidium iodide staining. It was observed that relative to the control group, expression of survivin mRNA and protein in the survivin siRNA-treated group was significantly downregulated. Furthermore, siRNA targeting of survivin lead to the inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, as well as an increase in their apoptotic rate in vitro. These data suggest that survivin may be a potential tumor biomarker and a novel target for the treatment of cancer.


The overall coverage rate of influenza vaccination in China has been only about 2% in recent years. At present, free influenza vaccination programs, also named the "Publicly-funded Influenza Vaccination Project", have been carried out for the specific groups (the elderly, school-age children, healthcare workers, etc.) through livelihood projects or policies to benefit the people in some areas of China, which has significantly increased the vaccine coverage in the target population. In order to promote the project to be launched in a scientific and orderly manner in more and more regions of China, we organized and compiled this consensus on implementation of publicly-funded influenza vaccination project, including the project's purpose, establishment, implementation, organization and management, which was based on the research of influenza vaccine application strategies in some European countries and the United States and combined with the relevant policies, technical guidelines and past experiences in China. Meanwhile, the evaluation indicators, such as vaccination rates, effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness, and relevant assessment methods were also comprehensively expounded, aiming to provide reference for regions that are willing to implement or have launched the project.


To date, optical access networks have been exclusively based on intensity modulation with direct detection. However, recent advances in coherent transceivers offer the potential to overcome the many limitations of these systems. This work reviews such candidate technologies for low complexity coherent optical access networks.


PURPOSE
To determine the efficacy of prophylactic intravitreal antibiotics in reducing the incidence of endophthalmitis after trauma.

METHODS
This was a prospective, randomised, case control study of 70 consecutive patients with open globe injury. The patients were prospectively randomised into group I (32 eyes) and group II (38 eyes). Group I patients were given prophylactic intravitreal injection of vancomycin 1 mg and ceftazidime 2.25 mg at the conclusion of primary repair. Group II patients were not given prophylactic intravitreal antibiotics. All the patients received intravenous ciprofloxacin.

RESULTS
The incidence of endophthalmitis was higher in group II (7 of 38 eyes; 18.42%) compared to group I (2 of 32 eyes; 6.25%). Both the patients who developed endophthalmitis despite prophylactic intravitreal antibiotics in group I had an initially undetected intraocular foreign body (eyelash) in the vitreous cavity.

CONCLUSIONS
Prophylactic intravitreal broad spectrum antibiotic injection decreases the risk of post-traumatic endophthalmitis.


Taobao Search consists of two phases: the retrieval phase and the ranking phase. Given a user query, the retrieval phase returns a subset of candidate products for the following ranking phase. Recently, the paradigm of pre-training and fine-tuning has shown its potential in incorporating visual clues into retrieval tasks. In this paper, we focus on solving the problem of text-to-multimodal retrieval in Taobao Search. We consider that users' attention on titles or images varies on products. Hence, we propose a novel Modal Adaptation module for cross-modal fusion, which helps assigns appropriate weights on texts and images across products. Furthermore, in e-commerce search, user queries tend to be brief and thus lead to significant semantic imbalance between user queries and product titles. Therefore, we design a separate text encoder and a Keyword Enhancement mechanism to enrich the query representations and improve text-to-multimodal matching. To this end, we present a novel vision-language (V+L) pre-training methods to exploit the multimodal information of (user query, product title, product image). Extensive experiments demonstrate that our retrieval-specific pre-training model (referred to as MAKE) outperforms existing V+L pre-training methods on the text-to-multimodal retrieval task. MAKE has been deployed online and brings major improvements on the retrieval system of Taobao Search.


Dynamics of optically excited plasmonic nanoparticles are presently understood as a series of scattering events involving the initiation of nanoparticle breathing oscillations. According to established models, these are caused by statistical heat transfer from thermalized electrons to the lattice. An additional contribution by hot-electron pressure accounts for phase mismatches between theory and experimental observations. However, direct experimental studies resolving the breathing-oscillation excitation are still missing. We used optical transient-absorption spectroscopy and time-resolved single-particle X-ray diffractive imaging to access the electron system and lattice. The time-resolved single-particle imaging data provided structural information directly on the onset of the breathing oscillation and confirmed the need for an additional excitation mechanism for thermal expansion. We developed a new model that reproduces all of our experimental observations. We identified optically induced electron density gradients as the initial driving source.


Recently, deep neural networks (DNNs) have been widely and successfully used in Object Detection, e.g. Faster RCNN, YOLO, CenterNet. However, recent studies have shown that DNNs are vulnerable to adversarial attacks. Adversarial attacks against object detection can be divided into two categories, whole-pixel attacks and patch attacks. While these attacks add perturbations to a large number of pixels in images, we proposed a diffused patch attack (\textbf{DPAttack}) to successfully fool object detectors by diffused patches of asteroid-shaped or grid-shape, which only change a small number of pixels. Experiments show that our DPAttack can successfully fool most object detectors with diffused patches and we get the second place in the Alibaba Tianchi competition: Alibaba-Tsinghua Adversarial Challenge on Object Detection. Our code can be obtained from this https URL.


In this paper we examine the N-photon absorption properties of maximally path-entangled number states (N00N states). We consider two cases. The first involves the N-photon absorption properties of the ideal N00N state, one that does not include spectral information. We study how the N-photon absorption probability of this state scales with N, confirming results presented by others in a previous paper by a different method. We compare this to the absorption probability of various other states. The second case is that of two-photon absorption for an N=2 N00N state generated from a type-II spontaneous down-conversion event. In this situation we find that the absorption probability is both better than analogous coherent light (due to frequency entanglement) and highly dependent on the optical setup. We show that the poor production rates of quantum states of light may be partially mitigated by adjusting the spectral parameters to improve their two-photon absorption rates. This work has application to quantum imaging, particularly quantum lithography, where the N-photon absorbing process in the lithographic resist must be optimized for practical applications.


Study Design. We performed decompression surgery or conservative treatments on 135 cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) patients with concomitant hypertension and did follow-up assessments up to 1 year to examine the change of blood pressure, spinal cord function, and cervical pain. Objective. The aim of this study was to determine whether concomitant hypertension is relieved after decompression surgery, and whether it is related to the improvement of spinal cord function or cervical pain. Summary of Background Data. In clinical practice, we often found that some patients with CSM have concomitant hypertension. Interestingly, after CSM was treated successfully by decompression surgery, some patients' high blood pressure returned to normal range even without oral medications. Methods. We enrolled 135 CSM patients with hypertension, 103 of whom received decompression surgery, and remaining 32 patients accepted conservative treatments. We did follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 12 months. The primary endpoints were changes of blood pressure, and secondary endpoints were changes of modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) score and cervical pain visual analogue scale (VAS). Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and mJOA scores, VAS scores. Results. In patients with decompression surgery, the significant decrease in both SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) that was seen 3 months and sustained through subsequent visit at 12 months. Paired-samples t test showed that both SBP and DBP were significantly lower than baseline blood pressure at all time points after procedure (P < 0.001). Significant correlation was found between the improvement rates of mJOA score and changes in SBP (r = −0.579, P < 0.001). But the correlation between changes in VAS score and changes in SBP was not significant (r = 0.58, P = 0.571). Conclusion. Cervical decompression surgery could reduce concomitant high blood pressure in CSM patients, indicating a significant association between the decrease in blood pressure and the improvement of spinal cord function. Level of Evidence: 2


Myf-5 is one of four myogenic regulatory factors that play important roles in skeletal muscle development. This study provides detailed analysis of Myf-5 expression during early chick development using an in situ hybridization technique that has been optimized to detect low level Myf-5 transcripts. This facilitated detection of heretofore unrecognized dynamic changes in Myf-5 expression patterns. Myf-5 expression is first detected at stage 3 in the primitive streak and exhibits transient low-level expression in nonmyogenic mesoderm. Myf-5 is later expressed in the presegmented mesoderm (psm) in a reiterating pattern that is coordinated with somitogenesis and also colocalizes with the Notch ligand C-Delta-1. In somites (S) I-IV, Myf-5 expression exhibits dynamic regional changes, and in somites rostral to S IV, Myf-5 is expressed at higher levels in muscle precursors in the dorsomedial somite. Semiquantitative comparison of Myf-5 mRNA levels in the psm and in myotome-containing somites indicates about a 10-fold difference. The expression pattern of Myf-5 differs from that of MyoD, which we find is expressed only in the dorsomedial somite. These data reveal that Myf-5 is expressed at low levels several stages before muscle differentiation occurs and suggest that only a subset of cells that initially express Myf-5 will upregulate its expression and differentiate as muscle.


The communication protocol for interface among railway signalling systems is designed and established as national standard in Korean from a few years ago. So the communication link for information transmission among railway signalling system can be a good example of application of this standard. Communication protocol which is standardized among Korean railway signalling is considered to apply information transmission. And we confirmed there is no the states of deadlock of livelock in std. protocol which is applied formal verification which is one of the analytic method for inspection of safety characteristics in the design course of protocol. But the safety of protocol has to necessarily accomplish this normal analysis approach about satisfying requirement matters with such this analytic approach. In this paper we analyzed the safety characteristics of standard protocol for Korean Railway signalling through the requirement matters for safety transmission of railway transmission system which is required in international standard. So through this study we confirm whether it satisfies safety requirement matters of the level which require in international standard and tried to confirm whether standard protocol has enough safety character in the real railway field.