In this study, cationic and amphiphilic oligopeptides, (A)12(H)5(K)10 (AK27) and (A)12(H)5(K)15 (AK32), were designed and tested as a nonviral gene vector. The oligopeptides had critical micelle concentrations (CMC) of 0.9 and 1.1 mg mL−1 respectively, indicating that they were able to self‐assemble into core–shell nanoparticles at concentrations above the CMC value, which was confirmed by electron microscopy. The nanoparticles were cubic and had an effective diameter of 700–900 nm, as well as a zeta potential of 18 to 20 mV. The formation of nanoparticles increased the local concentration of cationic charge in the solution, leading to improved DNA binding ability and better protection from enzymatic degradation compared to the control peptide (H)5(K)10 (HK15) without a hydrophobic block. The smallest effective diameters of AK27–DNA and AK32–DNA complexes were 442 and 332 nm, respectively, and the highest zeta potentials were 7.8 and 18.2 mV, respectively. In comparison, HK15 formed much larger DNA complexes with a nearly neutral zeta potential. Cytotoxicity tests showed that HEK293, HepG2, and 4T1 cell lines had viabilities of more than 80% after incubation with AK27 and AK32 peptides, which was much higher than that obtained from polyethyleneimine (PEI) incubation. Furthermore, an increased length of lysine block, and the presence of the hydrophobic block did not show any significant increase in cytotoxicity. More importantly, AK27 and AK32–DNA complexes induced much higher luciferase expression efficiency than KH15 in all three cell lines tested. AK32 with a longer lysine block led to more efficient gene expression than AK27. In addition, the gene‐expression levels mediated by AK32 nanoparticles were comparable to those provided by PEI, especially in HepG2 and 4T1 cell lines. These cationic nanoparticles made from biodegradable and biocompatible peptides may provide a promising carrier for gene delivery.


The Battle of Britain - when the RAF fought the Luftwaffe for control of the skies above the English Channel. The decisive battle at Alamein, where the British 'Eighth Army' destroyed the German forces in Egypt. D-Day - the Allied invasion of France, when 130,000 men were landed on the Normandy beaches under enemy fire.


Objectives. Children with severe learning disabilities were identified by parental report as having a severe sleep problem (according to research criteria). A subgroup were considered by their parents to have no difficulty with their sleep pattern. The study aimed to investigate why sleeping problems of equal intensity should be a problem for one group of parents and not for another group, with a view to (a) establishing whether the families differed in the extent the child's sleep pattern affected the family and (A) identifying parent and child factors which may affect the parents' ability to tolerate the sleep problem.

Design. Three groups (matched for sex, age and duration of sleep problem if appropriate) of 13 were compared: children with no sleep problem (NSP), children with a recognized sleep problem (SP), and children with an unrecognized sleep problem (USP).

Methods. Mothers completed questionnaire assessments of the children's sleep and daytime behaviour and the mothers' sleepiness, coping style, stress and perceived control.

Results. The USP mothers and children are similar to the NSP mothers and children. Compared to the SP group, the mothers are less stressed, have increased perceived control and the children have fewer daytime behaviour problems. USP mothers and SP mothers are equally dissatisfied with their child's, and their own, sleep pattern.

Conclusions. USP mothers do not unrealistically deny that their child has a sleep problem but there are protective factors within the child and the parent which enable the mothers to tolerate sleep problems and suffer less negative effects. Implications for interventions arc considered.


The distribution of inorganic impurities in graphite electrodes was investigated by means of radiography, ash pattern technique and sulfur print technique. The pattern of the radiograph of an electrode corresponded closely with its ash pattern. Radiography of graphite electrode was proved to be useful in showing not only the distribution of inorganic impurities in the electrode, but also the texture of the electrode, such as the shape and distribution of both coke grains and pores.


ObjectiveTo determine whether reduction of circulating female sex hormones by ovariectomy causes suppression of macrophage (M&phgr;) function after trauma-hemorrhage and increases susceptibility to subsequent sepsis. Summary Background DataStudies indicate that immune functions are markedly depressed in males but not in proestrus females after trauma-hemorrhage. Although male sex steroids are immunosuppressive, it remains unknown whether female sex hormones are immunoprotective after trauma-hemorrhage. MethodsCirculating female sex hormones were reduced by ovariectomy of 8-week-old female CBA/J mice. Two weeks afterward, ovariectomy and proestrus sham-ovariectomy mice were subjected to laparotomy (i.e., soft tissue trauma) and hemorrhagic shock (35 ± 5 mm Hg for 90 minutes, then resuscitated) or sham operation. Two hours afterward, splenic and peritoneal M&phgr; and Kupffer cells were isolated and cytokine production was assessed. In a second series of experiments, animals were subjected to sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture at 24 hours after trauma-hemorrhage or sham operation, and survival was assessed. ResultsRelease of interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 by splenic and peritoneal M&phgr; from proestrus mice was maintained after trauma-hemorrhage, whereas release of interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 by M&phgr; from ovariectomized mice was depressed by approximately 50%. In contrast, trauma-hemorrhage resulted in a fourfold increase of Kupffer cell release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in ovariectomized females and a fivefold increase in plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and plasma concentrations were unchanged in proestrus mice under such conditions. When proestrus and ovariectomized animals were subjected to sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture at 24 hours after trauma-hemorrhage or sham operation, ovariectomized mice had a significantly higher death rate than proestrus mice. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that female sex hormones play a critical role in maintaining immune responses after trauma-hemorrhage by suppressing the elaboration of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and prevent the increased lethality from subsequent sepsis. Thus, female sex hormones may be a useful adjunct in preventing trauma-induced immunodepression and increased susceptibility to subsequent sepsis.


This study aimed to 1) find out the feasibility of the E-worksheet based on discovery learning with Google Docs product, 2) explain the practicality of the E-worksheet based on discovery learning with Google Docs product, and 3) understand the effectiveness of the E-worksheet based on discovery learning with Google Docs product to grow higher order thinking skills (HOTS) of VIII grade junior high school students on the simple machine topic. The study was a research and development (R&D) with the 4D model. The subjects were 32 students of VIIIA class in SMPN 4 Pakem. The instruments were product validation sheet, students' response questionnaire, pre-test and post-test questions, and learning observation sheet. The feasibility and practicality of the product were analyzed using score conversion. The results of the pre-test and post-test were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative descriptive analysis to find out the effectiveness of the product. The research concluded that 1) the E-worksheet based on discovery learning with Google Docs product was very feasible, both in the material and media aspects, 2) the E-worksheet based on discovery learning with Google Docs was practical based on the teacher and students' responses, and 3) the E-worksheet based on discovery learning with Google Docs was effective to build the HOTS of the students.


The advent of intracellular microelectrode recordings has led to an understanding of the ionic changes and mechanisms involved in the cardiac action potential and in cardiac pacemaker function. Direct recordings from the sinus node have led to insight into mechanism of the sinus-node automaticity. An inward (depolarizing) current carried by calcium and sodium ions termed the "slow channel" is believed to play a major role in impulse formation within the sinus node.1The slow channel is characterized by a slow rate of rise (low change in voltage per unit of change in time) and initiation at lower, less negative levels of membrane potential than the normal fast sodium spike. In addition to the sinus node, the atrioventricular (AV) junction appears to be largely dependent on the slow response for impulse formation and conduction. The slow channel has also been implicated in the genesis of arrhythmias. As it is activated


At different levels of coupled cluster theory optimum structures, energetics, and harmonic vibrational frequencies for several low-lying doublet and quartet electronic states of linear NiCN and NiNC were studied using four contracted Gaussian basis sets, ranging from Ni[6s5p4d2f], CN[4s3p2d] to Ni[8s7p5d3f2g1h], CN[5s4p3d2f1g]. The most reliable predictions were obtained with a relativistic Douglas-Kroll restricted open-shell-based coupled cluster method including singles, doubles, and perturbative triple excitations [DK-R/UCCSD(T)]. This level of theory was used in conjunction with correlation-consistent polarized valence Douglas-Kroll recontracted quadruple-zeta basis sets (cc-pVQZDK). The energetic ordering of the electronic states of NiCN is predicted to be 2delta < 2sigma+ < 2pi < 4delta < 4pi and that of NiNC is 2delta approximately 2sigma+ < 2pi < 4delta < 4pi < 4sigma-. Our theoretical investigation supports the assignment of the ground-state term symbol, the Ni-C stretching frequency, and the bending frequency for the ground electronic state of NiCN by Kingston et al. [J. Mol. Spectrosc. 215, 106 (2002)] and by Sheridan and Ziurys [J. Chem. Phys. 118, 6370 (2003)]. The predicted structure of the 2delta ground state of NiCN, r(e)(Ni-C) = 1.822 angstroms and r(e)(C-N) = 1.167 angstroms, at DK-R/UCCSD(T)/cc-pVQZDK shows excellent agreement with the experimentally determined Ni-C bond length of 1.826 A and less satisfactory agreement for the C-N bond length of 1.153 angstroms [J. Chem. Phys. 118, 6370 (2003)]. It is also concluded that the metal-to-ligand pi back donation is weak or negligible. Additionally, we found that on the 2delta surface the linear cyanide isomer lies lower in energy than the linear isocyanide isomer by 12.2 kcal mol(-1).


New data on the A meson fail to show the two-peak structure seen in the A experiments of the CERN group. All the. bubble chamber experiments on A 2 production are reviewed and the new data are compared with the CERN data. The two-param-eter double-pole formula used to fit the CERN data does not ap-pear to explain the new data. Therefore the only way to reconcile the various experiments on the charged A 2 is to assume the pres-ence of two coherently produced resonances with J 2+, with a phase depending on either the charge of the incoming beam, or the momentum transfer to the target proton, or the incident momentum, or all three. The K(t42O) and the £ meson, members of the same 2+ nonet as the A 2 , do not seem to show any structure consistent with the two-parameter double-pole formula.


The appropriate provision of analgesia is essential in all species. Pain causes intensification of the stress response, activates the sympathetic nervous system, affects food intake and metabolism, modifies behaviour and can adversely affect the immune response. If excessive pain is improperly managed, the sequelae can contribute to morbidity and mortality, particularly in already debilitated patients. In order to effectively manage pain, it is important to be able to recognize pain, utilize a multimodal approach and select appropriate analgesic drugs. Detection of pain, particularly chronic pain, can be difficult in cats and there are relatively few analgesic products licensed for long-term use in this species. Provision of effective analgesia in the geriatric cat can be challenging. This review aims to summarize how to first recognize the presence of pain in older cats and consider the pharmacological effects of ageing, and second how to adopt a multifaceted approach using the different classes of analg...


The B-subunit pentamer of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (EtxB) is highly stable, maintaining its quaternary structure in a range of conditions that would normally be expected to cause protein denaturation. In this paper the structural stability of EtxB has been studied as a function of pH by electrophoretic, immunochemical, and spectroscopic techniques. Disassembly of the cyclic pentameric structure of human EtxB occurs only below pH 2. As determined by changes in intrinsic fluorescence this process follows first-order kinetics, with the rate constant for disassembly being proportional to the square of the H ion concentration, and with an activation energy of 155 kJ mol. A C-terminal deletion mutant, hEtxB214, similarly shows first-order kinetics for disassembly but with a higher pH threshold, resulting in disassembly being seen at pH 3.4 and below. These findings are consistent with the rate-limiting step for disassembly of human EtxB being the simultaneous disruption of two interfaces by protonation of two C-terminal carboxylates. By comparison, disassembly of the B-subunit of cholera toxin (CtxB), a protein which shows 80% sequence identity with EtxB, exhibits a much lower stability to acid conditions; with disassembly of CtxB occurring below pH 3.9, with an activation energy of 81 kJ mol. Reasons for the observed differences in acid stability are discussed, and the implications of these findings to the development of oral vaccines using EtxB and CtxB are considered.


Deep Neural Networks(DNNs) have many parameters and activation data, and these both are expensive to implement. One method to reduce the size of the DNN is to quantize the pre-trained model by using a low-bit expression for weights and activations, using fine-tuning to recover the drop in accuracy. However, it is generally difficult to train neural networks which use low-bit expressions. One reason is that the weights in the middle layer of the DNN have a wide dynamic range and so when quantizing the wide dynamic range into a few bits, the step size becomes large, which leads to a large quantization error and finally a large degradation in accuracy. To solve this problem, this paper makes the following three contributions without using any additional learning parameters and hyper-parameters. First, we analyze how batch normalization, which causes the aforementioned problem, disturbs the fine-tuning of the quantized DNN. Second, based on these results, we propose a new pruning method called Pruning for Quantization (PfQ) which removes the filters that disturb the fine-tuning of the DNN while not affecting the inferred result as far as possible. Third, we propose a workflow of fine-tuning for quantized DNNs using the proposed pruning method(PfQ). Experiments using well-known models and datasets confirmed that the proposed method achieves higher performance with a similar model size than conventional quantization methods including fine-tuning.


Growth performance of male-fish Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed with locally available protein sources was evaluated in an attempt to find alternative ingredients to replace fish meal (FM) in an experimental set up at the An Giang University in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. In the four experimental diets, 100 % of the FM was replaced with protein from golden apple snail meal (GAS), pangasius by-product meal (PBM), shrimp head meal (SHM) and blood meal (BM), respectively. A control diet contained FM as the main protein source. All diets were formulated containing a dietary crude protein level of 32 %. The experimental diets were prepared manually from dry feed at the experimental location. The ingredients were mixed before the feed were pelleted and sun-dried for two days. The fish were manually fed twice a day during the experimental period of 61 days. The growth parameters estimated in this study were: total weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), daily weight gain (DWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), feed intake (FI), protein intake (PI) and survival rate (SR). The growth performance did not differ (P>0.05) between Nile tilapia fed with the control diet and the diet with PBM in any of the measured growth parameters. The experimental diets containing GAS, SHM and BM showed significant lower growth performance compared to the control and PBM diets. The results showed that pangasius by-product meal may replace fish meal by 100 % with no adverse effect on the growth performance. Total replacement of FM by GAS, SHM and BM resulted in low growth performance which could indicate that these ingredients can not totally replace FM in diet of Nile tilapia as these diets were prepared in this study.


Background: Asthma prevalence is rising worldwide. Amongst the various factors influencing asthma control, the magnesium level of the affected individuals seems to make a major contribution to achieving asthma control through i ts anti - inflammatory and bronchodilation effects.This study therefore was aimed at determining the magnesium level of stable asthmatic children and its relationship, if any, with their levels of asthma control.Methods: A cross-sectional study where the serum magnesium levels of 30 stable asthmatic children attending Asthma clinic and those of 30 children without asthma attending Children Out-patient clinic (CHOP) both at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, were assessed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The levels of asthma control of children with asthma were assessed using asthma therapyassessment questionnaire (ATAQ). Mean serum magnesium levels of the different asthma control levels were compared using the analysis of variance (ANOVA).Results: The mean ages of children with asthma and those without asthma were 10.4 ± 2.98 years and 10.5 ±3.00 years respectively. The mean serum magnesium level of stable children with asthma (1.13 ±1.04 mmol/L) was found to be significantly lower than those of the non-asthmatic  controls (1.46 ±1.01 mmol/L), p= 0.004.A significant association was also found between the serum magnesium levels and the levels of asthma control (p = 0.015).Conclusion: This study shows that the serum magnesium level of stable asthmatic children is significantly lower than that of children without asthma and there is a significant association between the mean serum magnesium levels and their levels of asthma control.
Keywords: Serum magnesium, asthma control, stable asthma


Systematic analytical procedures for evaluation of stream stability typically are not readily available to the highway engineer. To remedy this, the purpose of this paper is to outline a stepwise analytical procedure that may be utilized to evaluate stream stability. The procedure incorporates three levels of analysis of increasing complexity and is somewhat similar to a three-part approach that was used in the early 1980's when the authors were employed at Simons, Li and Associates. Through the efforts of many, that procedure evolved into a valuable tool for stream stability analysis. For the FHWA Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 20, "Stream Stability at Highway Structures," the three level approach was further refined and organized to include development of flow charts to assist in evaluation of stream stability at bridge crossings. The completion of each level of analysis results in an assessment of stream stability. Then, depending on the complexities of stream response or bridge design, the decision to proceed to the next level of analysis is made. The specific steps considered typical of Level 1 and Level 2 type analyses are outlined in this paper. The overall procedure provides a systematic approach to evaluation of stream stability at highway crossings, and will facilitate completion of such analyses by highway engineers.


The discovery that the propensity for particle motion in a supercooled liquid is completely determined by the initial structure pointed to the existence of a causal link between structure and dynamics in glassy systems. Here we demonstrate that this underlying influence of structure is only local in time, fading out beyond the metabasin lifetime much before the relaxation time. Thus, our results reveal the irreproducibility of metabasin dynamics and support the scenario of a random walk on metabasins for the long time diffusion.


This article reviews the social care evidence concerning direct payments/personal budgets, before arguing for an extension of these concepts to the National Health Service (NHS). Despite a commitment to inter-agency health and social care, direct payments/personal budgets have only been available for the 'social care' part of people's lives. Moreover, many of the challenges faced by the NHS are precisely those which social care has turned to more individualised funding to help resolve. Against this background, the article speculates as to how such a system might work and seeks to address some popular misconceptions and potential objections.


Introduction The objective of this study was to investigate quality and scientific accuracy of videos related to rotator cuff tear on YouTube. Methods Term of "rotator cuff tear" was entered to the searching bar of YouTube and the first 50 YouTube videos about rotator cuff tear with the highest view counts were recorded and evaluated by two orthopedists. Title of the videos that met the inclusion criteria were recorded. The videos were evaluated with DISCERN and JAMA scoring system, and Video Power Index. Results The mean DISCERN score was calculated as 35.7±8.9, and the mean JAMA score was found as 2.9±0.4. The mean DISCERN score was statistically significantly higher in the physician group compared to the non-physician group. There was a very strong and statistically significant correlation and an excellent compliance between both observers. Conclusion In general, quality of videos published on YouTube about rotator cuff tear was low.


Background
Low back pain is the most common form of pain related to the musculoskeletal system disorders. ESWT has been suggested as a new treatment modality in CLBP and its effectiveness has been investigated in a small number of studies.

Objective
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) on pain, functional status, and quality of life compared to placebo in chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients.

Methods/Design
Prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

Setting
The study occurred at the University Of Health Sciences, Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Bursa, Turkey).

Participants
Participants were 45 patients with CLBP.

Interventions
Participants were randomized into 2 groups. Group 1 (n = 25) received ESWT and Group 2 (n = 20) received placebo ESWT.

Primary Outcome Measures
The patients were assessed by using Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Short-form 36 (SF-36). The data were obtained before treatment (W0), at sixth (W6) and twelfth week (W12).

Results
In Group 1, statistically significant improvement was found in all parameters of rest and movement NRS, ODI, HADS and SF-36 except for emotional role at both W6 and W12 compared to W0(P < .05). Comparison of the difference scores of the two groups showed significantly superior improvement in Group 1 for all parameters at both W6 and W12 (P < .05).

Conclusions
The results of our study have shown that ESWT had a statistically significant superiority over placebo for improvement in the parameters of pain, disability, depression, anxiety, and quality of life in the patients with CLBP.


The false steps in monopolar diathermy application causes a situation called the "Diathermy Burns". In this report, while describing our first diathermy burn case also wanted to attract attention to the judicial dimension of the subject. A twenty eight years old female patient that consulted to Gaziantep University Forensic Medicine Department, develops intraoperative electrocouter burn while having an rhinoplasty operation because of septum deviation and noticed it postoperative sixth hour has been presented.


Surfactant-associated protein A (SP-A) is a component of pulmonary surfactant that binds to a specific receptor (SPAR) on the surface of type II alveolar cells of the lung and regulates gene expression and surfactant secretion. Previously we have shown that activation of SPAR by SP-A binding initiates a signal through pathways that involve tyrosine phosphorylation, include IRS-1, and entail activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). In other cell types, cytokines that activate the PI3K signaling pathway promote cell survival. Therefore we investigated whether there was an effect of SP-A on apoptosis as measured by DNA laddering, FACS analysis, TUNEL assay, and annexin V binding. SP-A protected primary cultures of rat type II alveolar cells against the apoptotic effects of etoposide and UV light and also protected the H441 human Clara lung tumor cell line against staurosporine-induced apoptosis. The protective effects of SP-A were abrogated by inhibition of either tyrosine-specific protein kinase activity or PI3K. SP-A/SPAR interaction thus initiates a signaling pathway that regulates apoptosis in type II cells. These findings may be important in understanding the pathogenesis of acute lung injury and pulmonary tumorigenesis and may suggest new therapeutic options.


: Rijndael's Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the block cipher based symmetric-key cryptography to protect the sensitive information. The key sizes of AES are 128, 192, 256 bits. AES is based on substitution-permutation strategy. It is accepted by NIST in 2001 after the five year of security evaluation. It is highly secured and efficient than Data Encryption Standard (DES) and other symmetric-key cryptographic algorithms. This paper depicts all the valuable work done on the Advanced Encryption Standard since it is accepted by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).


A single preoperative LipiFlow treatment was effective in preventing postcataract surgery DED in patients with mild-moderate MGD, with better results compared with warm compresses. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a single LipiFlow vector thermal pulsation treatment performed before cataract surgery in reducing signs and symptoms of postoperative dry eye disease (DED) in patients with mild-moderate meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Setting: Eye Clinic, Careggi Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. Design: Prospective unmasked randomized controlled clinical trial. Methods: This study included patients affected by age-related cataract and mild-moderate MGD, who were randomized into 2 groups: (1) a single LipiFlow treatment performed at 5 preoperative weeks and (2) warm compresses and eyelid massages twice a day for 1 preoperative month (control group). Noninvasive break-up time (NI-BUT), Schirmer test, Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire, and MG functionality parameters were evaluated at visit 0 (5 preoperative weeks), visit 1 (1 preoperative week), and visit 2 (1 postoperative month). Confocal microscopy of the MG of lower eyelids was performed at visit 0 and visit 2. Results: A total of 46 patients (46 eyes) were enrolled. In the LipiFlow group (n = 23), NI-BUT, SPEED questionnaire, and MG functionality parameters significantly improved at visit 1 (P < .05) and visit 2 (P < .05) compared with baseline and remained stable postoperatively. In the control group (n = 23), they did not significantly improve after treatment, while worsened postoperatively. Moreover, the changes in all parameters from baseline were significantly different between the 2 groups. Confocal microscopy imaging highlighted lower postoperative MG alterations in the LipiFlow group. Conclusions: A single preoperative LipiFlow treatment was effective in preventing postcataract surgery DED in patients with mild-moderate MGD. Postoperatively, treated patients displayed a better ocular surface status compared with warm compresses.


PURPOSE
This study aimed to clarify the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on individual dental-visit behaviour and examine the difference between elderly and other individuals regarding the impact on dental visits.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
An interrupted time-series analysis was performed to examine the change in data from the national database before and after the first declaration of a state of emergency.

RESULTS
The number of patients visiting a dental clinic (NPVDC), number of dental treatment days (NDTD) and dental expenses (DE) during the first declaration of a state of emergency decreased by 22.1%, 17.9%, and 12.5% in the group under 64 years of age and 26.1%, 26.3%, and 20.1% in the group over 65 years of age, respectively, compared with those in the same month of the previous year. Between March and June 2020, the monthly NPVDC and NDTD were significantly reduced (p < 0.001, p = 0.013) in those over 65 years of age. The DE did not change statistically significantly in either the under 64 group or the over 65 group. There was no statistically significant change in the slope of the regression line in the NPVDC, NDTD, and DE before and after the first state-of-emergency declaration.

CONCLUSION
The first state of emergency greatly reduced the NPVDC, NDTD, and DE compared to those in the previous year. In people aged over 65 years, it might still be unresolved 2 years after the postponement of dental treatment owing to the first declaration of a state of emergency.


The purpose of this article is to review the findings from research directed at understanding the effects of volatile anesthetics on the respiratory surface known as pulmonary surfactant. Anesthetics have long been known to have a disruptive effect on biological membranes. This review will highlight the interactions of volatile anesthetics with pulmonary surfactant. This paper has emphasized the interaction of volatile anesthetics with the pulmonary surfactant monolayer versus the lipid bilayer. The goal of this review is to uncover to what extent this understanding has progressed in forty years. Although the goal is quite broad, the information gathered and the advice given is specific. Theories of anesthesia and surfactant structure and function are summarized and discussed in light of early physico-chemical approaches and extend to an era where powerful new three-dimensional structural techniques can be used to answer this question.


Introduction. Previous data suggest that healthcare students, such as nursing students, might have a differential risk of presenting burnout syndrome caused by the stress they are subjected to. However, the evidence is still scarce and inconclusive. Objective. To evaluate the association between nursing training and burnout syndrome among undergraduate students in Hidalgo, Mexico. Method. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 566 undergraduate students (56% were nursing students and the rest were non-healthcare students). Burnout syndrome was identified using the Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, consisting of subscales: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished academic efficacy. The association between the variables of interest was evaluated using logistic regression models adjusted for confounders. Results. In the depersonalization subscale, nursing students, compared with non-healthcare students, had an adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) of moderate/high burnout syndrome of 2.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.34, 3.22]). In addition, the association was stronger among students in the third and fourth school years (aOR = 3.58; 95% CI = [1.62, 7.89]) compared with those in the first and second school years (aOR = 1.20; 95% CI = [.71, 2.03]). Discussion and conclusion. It is necessary that universities provide nursing students with tools that allow them to cope with stressful situations during their academic training and their future life as health professionals.


Vegetation near bird and seal rookeries typically has high δ15N signatures and these high values are linked to the enriched δ15N values of rookery soils. However, Antarctic cryptogams are mostly dependent on atmospheric ammonia (NH3) and volatized NH3 from rookeries is severely depleted in δ15N-NH3. So there is an apparent discrepancy between the isotopically depleted source (NH3) and δ15N-enriched vegetation. In this article, we aim to resolve this discrepancy to better understand the mechanisms and processes involved in isotopic changes during nitrogen transfer between Antarctic marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Under laboratory conditions, we quantified whether volatized NH3 affects the isotopic signature of cryptogams. NH3 volatilizing from penguin guano and elephant seal dung was depleted (44–49‰) in δ15N when captured on acidified filters, compared to the source itself. Cryptogams exposed to the volatized NH3 were enriched (18.8–23.9‰) in δ15N. The moss Andreaea regularis gained more nitrogen (0.9%) than the lichen Usnea antarctica (0.4%) from volatilized NH3, indicating a potential difference in atmospheric NH3 acquisition that is consistent with existing field differences in nitrogen concentrations and δ15N between mosses and lichens in general. This study clarifies the δ15N enrichment of cryptogams resulting from one of the most important nitrogen pathways for Antarctic vegetation.


Purpose This study aimed to compare dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) with T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) for the preoperative staging of early endometrial carcinoma. Methods This retrospective study included 22 subjects with early endometrial carcinoma who underwent 3.0 T MRI examination prior to hysterectomy. DCE-MRI and T2WI were evaluated for the preoperative staging of endometrial carcinoma. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of DCE-MRI and T2WI were assessed and compared using the revised International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics surgical staging guidelines (2009) as the reference standard. Results Out of the 22 cases of endometrial carcinoma, the use of the reference standard method led to the staging of 14 as IA and eight as IB. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of DCE-MRI for preoperative staging were 100% (95% confidence interval: 0.73–1.0), 62.5% (95% CI: 0.26–0.90), 82.4% (95% CI: 0.56–0.95), 100% (95% CI: 0.46–1.0), and 86.4%, respectively, and these values were 85.7% (95% CI: 0.56–0.97), 75% (95% CI: 0.36–0.96), 85.7% (95% CI: 0.56–0.97), 75% (95% CI: 0.36–0.96), and 81.8%, respectively, for T2WI. Thus, the sensitivity and accuracy of DCE-MRI were greater than those of T2WI for preoperative endometrial carcinoma staging. Conclusion DCE-MRI was more sensitive but less specific than T2WI for the preoperative staging of early endometrial carcinoma. DCE-MRI may serve as a useful and reliable tool for the preoperative assessment of endometrial carcinoma.


Environmental Psychology: An Introduction offers a research-based introduction to the psychological relationship between humans and their built and natural environments and discusses how sustainable environments can be created to the benefit of both people and nature •Explores the environment's effects on human wellbeing and behaviour, factors influencing environmental behaviour and ways of encouraging pro-environmental action •Provides a state-of-the-art overview of recent developments in environmental psychology, with an emphasis on sustainability as a unifying principle for theory, research and interventions •While focusing primarily on Europe and North America, also discusses environmental psychology in non-Western and developing countries •Responds to a growing interest in the contribution of environmental psychologists to understanding and solving environmental problems and promoting the effects of environmental conditions on health and wellbeing


UNLABELLED
We evaluated a novel combined x-ray CT and SPECT medical imaging system for quantitative in vivo measurements of 99mTc-sestamibi uptake in an animal model of myocardial perfusion.

METHODS
Correlated emission-transmission myocardial images were obtained from 7- to 10-kg pigs. The x-ray CT image was used to generate an object-specific attenuation map that was incorporated into an iterative ML-EM algorithm for reconstruction and attenuation correction of the coregistered SPECT images. The pixel intensities in the SPECT images were calibrated in units of radionuclide concentrations (MBq/g), then compared against in vitro 99mTc activity concentration measured from the excised myocardium. In addition, the coregistered x-ray CT image was used to determine anatomical boundaries for quantitation of myocardial regions with low perfusion.

RESULTS
The accuracy of the quantitative measurement of in vivo activity concentration in the porcine myocardium was improved by object-specific attenuation correction. However, an additional correction for partial volume errors was required to retrieve the true activity concentration from the reconstructed SPECT images.

CONCLUSION
Accurate absolute SPECT quantitation required object-specific correction for attenuation and partial volume effects. Additional anatomical information from the x-ray CT image was helpful in defining regions of interest for quantitation of the SPECT images.


This article aims to illuminate certain cultural aspects of the work of an evening newspaper (working style, ways of thinking, assumptions about the business, its objectives, perceptions of the readership) as well as how communication in group situations contributes to the social construction of organizations in terms of objectives, meaning and style. The paper will also address the issues of play, emotions and pleasure on work. It is argued that a situational focus, when studying organizations and other social phenomena, provides a less constrained understanding of the object than predominant systemic approaches. The situation, as studied and discussed here, is a monthly meeting between managers and news bill editors of an evening newspaper where sales and the content of news bills are evaluated. It is concluded that, while the premise for the meeting (the casual relation between sales and news bill layout) guides the conversation, the meeting primarily operates as an emotional arena where excitement and pleasure are produced under game-like circumstances. This allows the participants to address, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, questions such as: Who are we? How do we look upon ourselves? Who are our customers? What 'needs' shall we satisify? What is important and good? What is central? How do we work? How do we think about certain things? While some answers are provided and reinforced, the main outcome of the meeting is the possibility, however restricted, to pose these questions and play with them. Thus, the participants manage to establish a zone with considerable degrees of freedom; free from committments but not free from remainders of who they are or ought to be.


Objective: Many introductory statistics books cover the mean-median inequality, which states that if the skewness value is positive/negative, the mean is greater/less than the median. However, this textbook rule is often violated especially when one tail is long and the other is heavy. The purpose of this paper is to propose a refinement that solves the problem to a meaningful extent by bringing the area to the left and right of the median into the picture for discrete data, where violations are more common and severe. The improved version is simple and effective enough to replace the existing rule. Material and Methods: Three distributional settings were utilized for illustration: The Poisson, binomial, and discretized normal mixture distributions. A simulation study was devised to assess the relative performances of the current and new rules for count data under the Poisson distribution assumption. Results: The new rule adds a simple layer to the current rule: For right skew, the mean is greater/less than the median if the area to the left of the median is less/greater than the area to the right. Similarly, for left skew, the mean is less/greater than the median if the area to the left the median is greater/less than the area to the right. In other words, the new component comes in the form of a comparative area restriction. Conclusion: All three distributional examples lead to the same conclusion: The proposed version is associated with substantially better results. Although it is not a complete solution, it is a serious improvement.


For oil sand reservoirs, the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technique is one of the most efficient thermal recovery technologies. However, the high oil viscosity and the severe heat loss seriously affect the production effect of SAGD in developing thin oil sand reservoirs by the traditional SAGD technology. Therefore, it is essential to improve the SAGD technology to enhance the recovery of the thin oil sand reservoir. In this paper, SAGD with a combination of vertical and horizontal well (VH-SAGD) technology was adopted, and the influence of different well spacings (horizontal distance between vertical steam injection wells and horizontal production wells) on the development of steam chambers was investigated. By the similarity criterion, the experimental parameters were obtained. After that, an improved 2D visualization physical model was designed with 9 × 9 high-precision thermocouples installed inside the device to monitor the real-time temperature. This experimental physical model can not only accurately capture the temperature distribution but also display the continuous change process of the chamber inside the model by the visible window. Finally, different well spacing cases (10, 15, and 20 cm) were tested to observe the development of the steam chamber and analyze the production data. Both the temperature distribution and visual window showed that the steam chamber has four obvious stages, and reasonable well spacing can promote the development of the steam chamber. When the well spacing is relatively small, the unswept area of the cold oil on both sides is large, and the area of the steam chamber overlaps more. When the well spacing is relatively moderate, the steam chamber is the most complete and the recovery factor is the highest. When the well spacing is relatively large, although the unswept area of the cold oil on both sides is small, the middle cold oil area is larger than the previous two groups. Therefore, the best well spacing for oil sand reservoirs of about 15 m thickness is 15–20 m, where the VH-SAGD method has a better displacement effect and higher oil recovery. The experimental conclusions can provide theoretical support for the production of thin oil sand reservoirs.


Sulfasalazine is now an established 2nd line agent in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but its mode of action is unknown. Two separate studies have investigated the possibility that it works in RA by influencing lymphocyte function. After 12 weeks of treatment with sulfasalazine, elevated levels of circulating activated lymphocytes and abnormal ex vivo mitogen response to concanavalin A (Con-A) in 11 patients with RA reverted to normal. An in vitro study investigated the effect of sulfasalazine and its metabolites on mitogen response by healthy and RA peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Sulfapyridine (SP) and 5-hydroxy SP suppressed the response of RA PBMC to Con-A. Sulfasalazine, SP and N-acetyl SP suppressed the response of healthy PBMC to pokeweed mitogen. 5-aminosalicylic acid also affected mitogen response and cell viability, which may be relevant to actions of this metabolite within the gut.


In the field of Human Computer Interaction, and more specifically in the field of Computer Supported Collaborative Work and Knowledge Management, cognitive and sociological dimensions cannot be neglected in the design of value analysis. The material and social environment models almost all cognitive processes because the vast majority of them are mediated by the interaction with other agents and other artifacts. Computers connected to the Internet, are becoming fundamental elements of these interactions. Following these premises, in this paper, a methodological framework is applied, called MAIA (Methodology for the analysis of the interaction between agents of a socio-technical system), structured and based on distributed cognition in order to facilitate the analysis of a collaborative Web system oriented to knowledge management in an academic context, at high university level. Specifically, the analysis focuses on the interactions of cognitive agents that occur during the cycle of knowledge management (activities to use, create, distribute and share knowledge), and on how they affect coordination, communication and collaboration, key aspects of group work. Keywords— Distributed cognition, collaborative work contexts, knowledge management


A 73-year-old woman with no previous psychiatric history received clonazepam maintenance therapy for essential blepharospasm. Visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations as well as paranoid delusions were documented. Dose reduction resulted in complete disappearance of the hallucinations and reduction of paranoia to an acceptable level, with no exacerbation during the subsequent 12 months. To our knowledge, this is the first well documented report of psychosis induced by clonazepam. Psychosis was probably related to clonazepam-induced increased central nervous system serotonin and possible predisposition to organic brain syndrome by undocumented causes. Dose reduction is suggested as an alternative to discontinuing the drug when hallucinations or paranoia arise during clonazepam therapy, if no other satisfactory treatment is available and if adequate patient monitoring and protection exist.


The 1980 National Natality Survey (NNS) and 1980 National Fetal Mortality Survey (NFMS) provide a unique opportunity to examine variation in exposure to radiation during pregnancy for mothers of live-born and stillborn infants. Maternal race, age, education, and marital status in both surveys and low birth weight in the 1980 NNS are characteristics used to examine exposure rates for X-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, shortwave, and microwave radiation examinations and treatments. About 15 percent of mothers of live infants and 23 percent of mothers who experienced stillbirths (fetal deaths of 28 weeks or more gestation) had a medical X-ray procedure during pregnancy. The 15 percent exposed in 1980 was a reduction from 22.5 percent of mothers exposed according to the results of the 1963 NNS; this reduction occurred in all race and age groups. About 34 percent of 1980 NNS mothers and 53 percent of 1980 NFMS mothers had ultrasound exposure during pregnancy. Radiation exposure rates were higher for 1980 NNS mothers who had low birth weight infants (under 2,500 g, or 5 lb, 8 oz) than for those who had normal weight infants.


It has been nearly quarter of a century since nursing educator Irihapeti Ramsden wrote the guidelines on cultural safety (Kawa Whakaruruhau), ratified in 1992 and subsequently much revised (most recently in 2011) by the Nursing Council. The Te Puna Hauora Kaupapa Nursing Service at Tauranga Hospital has been in existence for more than 18 years. Despite this, the experiences of Māori nurses described here, and the lack of adoption of truly bicultural nursing services in other parts of the country, indicate far more investment is needed in Māori nursing. What all those working in the health-care system need is the capacity to deliver whanaungatanga models of care, through cultural awareness education, and through the development of cultural competencies.


The restructuring of the South African higher education system ranges widely across mergers and incorporations, the creation of new institutional forms, regional-level programme collaboration and rationalisation. The Council on Higher Education (CHE) calls for greater productivity and more cost-effective deployment of resources. Such changes need to be managed effectively in order for staff and managers to adapt and find new ways to operate effectively within the changing environment and to maintain job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to critically evaluate job satisfaction levels during the transitional period of merger in the case of Walter Sisulu University (WSU), as organisational excellence can be achieved when employees experience job satisfaction. The research method employed to gather data was that of quantitative design. The sample consisted of academics and non-academics of WSU employees from the former Border Technikon, Eastern Cape Technikon and University of Transkei. The instrument used to collect data was a modified version of the 1977 Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Of the 130 respondents 69 were academics and 61 non-academics. Key findings of the study indicated that there are more factors that contribute to job dissatisfaction compared to those factors that contribute to job satisfaction dimension. The results also indicated that the majority of respondents were dissatisfied with most of the job satisfaction factors. The paper recommends that, during a transitional period, human capital issues should be accorded the proper attention and should be addressed early in order to maintain high staff morale (job satisfaction). This will create a smooth transition during which employees will feel valued and experience job satisfaction.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) has replaced most surgical and endourologic procedures for upper urinary tract stone disease. Our institution contracted with mobile lithotripter companies to provide SWL. We reviewed the outcomes of 50 patients treated on each machine with regard to efficacy, complications, and retreatment rates.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
One hundred fifty patients over 21 years of age were treated at Ochsner Foundation Hospital from April 1995 through June 1998. All stones were in either the kidney or the upper ureter, and all were <20 mm. Three mobile lithotripters-the Dornier MFL-5000 (4/95-9/96), the Dornier Doli (9/96-11/97), and the HealthTronics Lithotron (12/97-4/98)-were each used to treat 50 patients. Conscious monitored intravenous sedation was used in all patients. Post-treatment evaluations were made at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months.

RESULTS
A successful outcome (stone free or fragments <4 mm) was achieved in 72% (MLF-5000), 68% (Doli), and 80% (Lithotron) of patients (P = 0.39). Treatments that were followed by retreatments or other further procedures (ureteroscopy or percutaneous nephrolithotomy) were counted as failures. The retreatment rate was 10%, 22%, and 10%, respectively. There were three significant complications with the Doli unit: two large perirenal hematomas (4%) and one delayed splenic rupture in a patient with a history of pelvic surgery that necessitated transfusions and urgent splenectomy. The minor complication rates with all three lithotripters were similar to those reported in the literature. The three-month efficiency quotients were 0.55 for the Lithotron and MFL-5000 and 0.41 for the Doli.

CONCLUSIONS
Statistically equivalent success rates were achieved with all three machines. The electromagnetic unit (Doli) had higher rates of retreatment and significant complications than the electrohydraulic lithotripters (MFL-5000, Lithotron).


Camostat mesylate, an oral serine protease inhibitor, is used to treat chronic pancreatitis and reflux esophagitis. Recently, camostat mesylate and its active metabolite 4‐(4‐guanidinobenzoyloxy)phenylacetic acid (GBPA) were reported to inhibit the infection of cells by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by inhibiting type II transmembrane serine protease. We conducted a phase I study to investigate high‐dose camostat mesylate as a treatment for coronavirus disease 2019. Camostat mesylate was orally administered to healthy adults at 600 mg 4 times daily under either of the following conditions: fasted state, after a meal, 30 min before a meal, or 1 h before a meal, and the pharmacokinetics and safety profiles were evaluated. In addition, the time of plasma GBPA concentration exceeding the effective concentration was estimated as the time above half‐maximal effective concentration (EC50) by using pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and simulation. Camostat mesylate was safe and tolerated at all dosages. Compared with the fasted state, the exposure of GBPA after a meal and 30 min before a meal was significantly lower; however, no significant difference was observed at 1 h before a meal. The time above EC50 was 11.5 h when camostat mesylate 600 mg was administered 4 times daily in the fasted state or 1 h before a meal. Based on the results of this phase I study, we are currently conducting a phase III study.


Dynamin 3 (DNM3) is candidate tumor suppressor against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Downregulation of DNM3 is more frequently identified in HCC tissues than in normal liver tissues. However, the mechanism underlying DNM3-mediated inhibition of HCC remains unclear. The present study demonstrated that DNM3 expression was decreased in human HCC tissues and cell lines. The downregulation of DNM3 promoted cell proliferation by increasing cell cycle-associated proteins, including cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 2 and CDK4. The upregulation of DNM3 induced HCC cell apoptosis and inhibited tumor growth. The present study also revealed that overexpression of DNM3 induced nitric oxide (NO) production and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. DNM3 overexpression also increased the protein expression level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in HCC cells and subcutaneous HCC tumor xenografts. The inhibition of iNOS by L-canavanine attenuated the DNM3-induced ROS accumulation and apoptotic cell death. In conclusion, the results indicate that DNM3 overexpression may induce apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth of HCC by activating iNOS production and the subsequent NO-ROS signaling pathways.


The second MESSENGER flyby of Venus on 5 June 2007 provided a new opportunity to study the response of the induced magnetosphere of the planet to changes in the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). At the time of the MESSENGER flyby, the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft was located outside the magnetosphere and provided a monitor of solar wind conditions. Measurements by the Venus Express magnetometer show that the IMF underwent four major changes in direction and magnitude while MESSENGER was traveling through the inner magnetosphere of Venus. The response of the magnetosphere to each of these IMF changes was determined with a semi‐time‐dependant global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model, and the results were compared with magnetic and compositional measurements by the Magnetometer (MAG) and the Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS) on MESSENGER. Our modeling results show that this semi‐time‐dependant MHD technique produces magnetic field profiles that can account for both of the field reversals seen by MAG and the peak in the pick‐up ion density measured by EPPS. Moreover, these results reveal that the plasma sheet that confines most of the pick‐up ions has a barred disk shape and continuously rotates along the Sun‐planet axis to align its smallest dimension with the transverse direction of the IMF.


We investigated the production of sung and spoken utterances in a non-fluent patient, C.C., who had a severe expressive aphasia following a right-hemisphere stroke, but whose language comprehension and memory were relatively preserved. In experiment 1, C.C. repeated familiar song excerpts under four different conditions: spoken lyrics, sung lyrics on original melody, lyrics sung on new but familiar melody and melody sung to a neutral syllable "la". In experiment 2, C.C. repeated novel song excerpts under three different conditions: spoken lyrics, sung lyrics and sung-to-la melody. The mean number of words produced under the spoken and sung conditions did not differ significantly in either experiment. The mean number of notes produced was not different either in the sung-to-la and sung conditions, but was higher than the words produced, hence showing a dissociation between C.C.'s musical and verbal productions. Therefore, our findings do not support the claim that singing helps word production in non-fluent aphasic patients. Rather, they are consistent with the idea that verbal production, be it sung or spoken, result from the operation of same mechanisms.


Background and purpose: Falls in older adults is a major issue for health care organisations. Footwear is often reported as a contributing factor to falls in older adults; however, the reporting of footwear styles that are proposed to increase falls and falls risk is confusing. Moreover, these reports have been used to inform falls guidelines and recommendations by health practitioners. A systematic review was performed to identify and synthesize the available evidence examining whether there was support of a causal or correlational relationship between different styles of footwear and falls in older adults in real-life settings. Method: The databases included in the search were Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. The inclusion criteria were papers with falls outcomes, healthy adults that were 65 years or older. The footwear styles included slippers, Oxford/lace ups, high heels, boots and sandals. The exclusion criteria were laboratory studies and papers with primary focus on gait issues that increased falls likelihood. Results and discussion: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review from a total of 363 papers identified in the database search. The results of this review suggest that there is inadequate evidence to link any particular footwear style with falls. However, it may be possible that it was not the style of footwear, rather how accustomed the individual was to wear that particular style of footwear. Conclusion: There is limited evidence supporting footwear recommendations as a discrete falls prevention strategy. Clinicians should be pragmatic in their advice to healthy older adults about footwear styles and their potential to reduce falls or falls risk.


Operations such as video coding and digital video restoration rely on knowledge of the motion that has occurred in the scene. Whereas research in the 1980's and early 1990's concentrated on reliable recovery of motion fields on a per-pixel or per-block basis, the current trend is towards object-based motion estimation, and the aim is simultaneous recovery of the significant motions in a scene and the corresponding regions of support. Mixture-model techniques are ideally suited to this task. They are described in the following sections, some extensions are proposed, and consideration is given to issues such as modelling of occlusion and uncovering, determining the relative depth of the objects in a scene, and estimating the number of objects in a scene.


Project focusing on developing a public affairs advice for the corporate business case aiming at development of LNG niche market. The advice is based on research in five areas: (1) an overview of existent regulatory framework with regard to the use of LNG in a small scale market in the EU and selected countries, (2) identification of broadly defined communication issues, (3) suggestions on business development opportunities (strategic partnerships, LNG for vessels, LNG in Baltic Sea area, (4) mapping of stakeholders, (5) suggestions on improvement of business and regulatory environment.


The 1976 IMF crisis was a seminal event in modern British political and economic history. The seeds of the crisis were sown by the huge OPEC oil price shocks of 1972-3 leading to the potential meltdown of Britain's already weakened economy and seemingly confirming Britain's headlong decline as a major political and economic power. The government was seen as going 'cap in hand' to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to head off disaster - an image which became a long-lasting political icon. Kevin Hickson has mined vital original source material, including interviews with leading players, to probe government economic thought and practice. He questions much received wisdom, especially that the crisis caused a basic shift to monetarist orthodoxy and right-wing economic liberalism - commonly known as 'Thatcherism' - and embraced by successive governments including New Labour.


Summary: PTFE/PES composites were prepared by precipitation of Radel A® into a PTFE latex containing nanoparticles with average diameters of 48 nm and spherical shape. Several samples were prepared by varying the relative ratio between the Radel A® and PTFE content. The combination of SEM and AFM analysis indicates that the precipitation of Radel A in the presence of PTFE leads mainly, if not exclusively, to a bimodal mixture of the two homoparticles. The fractionated crystallization behaviour of these samples is revealing of the PTFE dispersion degree within the Radel A® matrix. When the PTFE amount is lower than 2%, a perfect PTFE nanoparticle dispersion is obtained. When the amount of PTFE is comprised between 5 and 30%, larger PTFE clusters are obtained that, after melting, coalesce and crystallize at higher temperatures depending on the crystallization propensity of their individual heterogeneous nuclei. Finally, in case of samples 40%, only one crystallization exotherm is observed at 310 °C indicating the formation of very large clusters that after melting coalesce into wide domains.


Sir, We read the article by Rennie el al with great interest.' In the absence of any recording of blood pressure it is not possible to say whether perturbations in cerebral blood flow velocity result from transmission within the arterial system, or from the effects of changes in cranial venous volume, which are also known to affect it.2 Unfortunately, as these different effects tend to be opposite in direction and out of phase with each other, it is not possible to distinguish between them by an analysis of cerebral blood flow velocity and respiratory phase alone. The lack of distinction between the two effects is underlined by a failure to find a difference in the coefficicnt of vatriation exprcssed as a percent (CV'%o) of the spectrum area between the apnoeic and synchronously ventilated groups. This is the more surprising as it is known that the effects of passive lung inflation v spontaneous inspiration on left ventricular output and intracranial venous volume are not only opposite in direction, but also quite different in magnitude. Our own work suggests that the CV% is inatccurate at low levels of variability such as those encountered during muscle paralysis and ventilation.3 Another potential inaccuracy in the use of the CV% of the spectrum area lies in its reliance on the relative frequencies of respiration and heart rate; if spontaneous respiratory effort is occurring irregularly or infrequently, then the duration of 10 cardiac cycles may not be sufficient to quantify the effects of this activity on cerebral blood flow velocity. We have found good correliation between the CV'/0 over 20 cardiac cycles (used in Perlman's original work) and an estimate of respiration induced variability using spectral analysis, at least in aortic blood pressure, during spontaneous rcspiration.Perhaps the most important effect ol any treatment designed to stabilise the pattern of respiration in the first days of life is to prevent episodes of crying, Vilsalva manoeuvres, and pneumothoraces which can affect both intracrani.al venous volume aind arterial blood pressure adversely.


The energy transitions of GaAsSbN/GaAs strained-layer single quantum wells (QWs), grown by molecular-beam epitaxy, are studied in detail, using photoluminescence (PL) and photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopies. The optical transitions energy observed in the PL and PR spectra of GaAsSbN/GaAs QWs show a strong decrease with a small increase in the N composition. These effects are explained through the interaction between the conduction band and a narrow resonant band formed by nitrogen states in the GaAsSbN alloy. The temperature dependence of ground-state energy of strained-layer QWs is analyzed using the Bose–Einstein relation in the temperature range from 9 to 295 K. The parameters that describe the temperature variations of the ground-state energies are evaluated and discussed.


In August 1998, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) progressed into an armed conflict, referred to as 'Congo's second war' or 'the first African war'. The war erupted when Laurent Kabila made the decision to separate from his Ugandan - but more especially, Rwandan - allies who had helped him to topple the Mobutu regime in the previous year. After almost a year of fighting and balkanisation of the country, as well as many failed attempts geared towards ending the armed violence, the parties finally adhered to the Southern African Development Community (SADC)-sponsored Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, which would later become instrumental in the resolution of the DRC conflict.
This article critically analyses the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, which was signed in July 1999 and adopted as central in the resolution of the DRC conflict. The article is divided into three main parts: the first part traces a brief background to the DRC conflict, the second part describes and analyses the agreement, and the third part presents the agreement's shortcomings and successes.


Excessive early childhood adiposity is a prevalent and increasing concern in many parts of the world. Parental obesity is one of the several factors previously associated with infant and early childhood weight, length and adiposity. Parental obesity represents a surrogate marker of the complex interplay among genetic, epigenetic and shared environmental factors, and is potentially modifiable. The relative contributions of maternal and paternal body mass index (BMI) to infant and early childhood growth, as well as the timing of such effects, have not been firmly established.


Surveys of the nation's jail and prison populations suggest that about 75% have used illicit drugs at one time or another. Incidence rates for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases among prison inmates is much higher in correctional systems than iA the population as a whole. In this study an AIDS prevention and education program for prison parolees with histories of intravenous (IV) drug use (ARRIVE) was evaluated. The program involved 8 weeks of training with 24 two-hour training sessions. Subjects included 320 males and 74 females. Program graduates (N=141) were compared with a comparable group of parolees (N=96) who did not participate in ARRIVE. Followup intei-views were conducted 10 months after release into the community. The results showed that the ARRIVE program had a significant positive impact on the major outcome measures (drug use behaviors, sexual practices, knowledge of AIDS trdnsmission and risk behaviors, attitudes towards AIDS and employment in AIDS prevention settings). This training model seems to have the potential for broader application among prison and parole populations. The ARRIVE model could function as an outpatient transitional program for parolees that are at-risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection due to prior histories of IV drug use. Post-release residential drug abuse treatment is not an option for the great majority of paroled addicts. (AuthorriBL) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the origina:L document. *********************************************************************** Evaluation of an AIDS Prevention Program for "At Risk" Parolees Harry K. Wexler, Ph.D., Steve Magura Ph.D. & Ma.k M. Beards ly, Rh.D. Narcotic and Drug Research, Inc.


ABSTRACT Shrimp baiting is a fishing technique used by many South Carolinians and has been regulated in the state since the late 1980s. A postcard survey was developed and included with 400 South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) annual surveys of registered shrimp baiters over a two-year period. The survey contained questions concerning frequency, portion size, baiting locations, and preparation techniques for shrimp as well as other species consumed and demographic information. An overall response rate of 37% was received. The majority of respondents were men over the age of 55 years. Charleston and Beaufort counties were the most common locations for shrimp baiting. Almost half (45.9%) of respondents reported eating locally caught shrimp at least 2–3 times per month. The most common portion size was ½ pound (8 oz. or 277 g), with 44.8% of respondents reporting this as their typical amount of shrimp ingested at one meal. Only 3.7% of respondents reported typically eating the whole shrimp, while all other respondents ingested shrimp with the head removed. The most commonly consumed species besides shrimp were blue crab, oysters, and flounder. According to the US Food and Drug Administration mercury (Hg) guidelines, the majority (97%) of our respondents were not at risk for consuming unsafe levels of Hg from locally caught shrimp. However, this does not take into account other local seafood eaten or other contaminants of concern. These consumption results may be used in conjunction with data on contaminant levels in shrimp to determine potential adverse health risks associated with consumption of locally caught shrimp.


This paper presents a new solution method for the Cournot game equilibrium analysis. The new method allows arbitrary differentiable cost and demand characteristics to be implemented. The solution does not rely on conjectures about market participants' behaviour. The approach taken transforms the search for the Cournot game equilibrium to a problem of under-constrained, multivariate non-linear optimisation. Genetic algorithm techniques were adapted to numerically solve the optimisation for various power markets. Single-consumer power markets are examined and discussed. A new exponential-integral demand function capable of realistically modelling volume-specific inelastic demand is presented. Methods of applying the new approach to assess current market operations and future restructuring options are presented.


In the post-pandemic world, we see the exacerbation of digital connections but also inequalities between countries with higher or lower degrees of access to fast Internet services. Digitization processes enable and intensify global exchanges and yet expand disconnections as they globalize debates and solutions without considering the different levels of accessibility, digital literacy, and Internet infrastructure in less privileged communities. Such discrepancies are reflected in learning levels and, consequently, in the development of social sustainability. As a theoretical-methodological contribution, this paper draws on the concepts of transmedia logic, educommunication, and social sustainability. The original transmedia educommunication method discussed here consists of a week-long gamified intervention in schools with students between 11 and 14 years old, in Portuguese speaking countries. The objective is to give them the tools to distinguish between textual genres and their purposes. The results obtained by the transmedia educommunication projects highlight the importance of thinking about methodologies based on the reality of each community, with their respective cultures and levels of accessibility to different on- and offline technologies.


The presence of waves in the nocturnal boundary layer has proven to generate complex interaction with turbulence. On complex terrain environments, where turbulence is observed in a weak but continuous state of activity, waves can be a vehicle of additional production/loss of turbulence energy. The common approach based on the Reynolds decomposition is unable to disaggregate turbulence and wave motion, thus revealing impaired to explicit the terms of this additional interaction. In the current investigation, we adopt a triple-decomposition approach to separate mean, wave, and turbulence motions within near-surface boundary-layer flows, with the aim of unveiling the role of wave motion as source and/or sink of turbulence kinetic and potential energies in the respective explicit budgets. This investigation reveals that the waves contribute to the kinetic energy budget where the production is not shear-dominated and the budget equation does not reduce to a shear-dissipation balance (e.g., as it occurs close to a surface). Away from the surface, the buoyancy effects associated with the wave motion become a significant factor in generating a three-terms balance (shear-buoyancy-dissipation). Similar effects can be found in the potential energy budget, as the waves affect for instance the production associated with the vertical heat flux. On this basis, we develop a simple interpretation paradigm to distinguish two layers, namely near-ground and far-ground sublayer, estimating where the turbulence kinetic energy can significantly feed or be fed by the wave. To prove this paradigm and evaluate the explicit contributions of the wave motion on the turbulence kinetic and potential energies, we investigate a nocturnal valley flow observed under weak synoptic forcing in the Dugway Valley (Utah) during the MATERHORN Program. From this dataset, the explicit kinetic and potential energy budgets are calculated, relying on a variance-covariance analysis to further comprehend the balance of energy production/loss in each sublayer. With this investigation, we propose a simple interpretation scheme to capture and interpret the extent of the complex interaction between waves and turbulence in nocturnal stable boundary layers.


A peripheral blood eosinophilia was found at presentation in 193 of 1260 (15%) patients with Hodgkin's disease who had been entered into clinical studies by the British National Lymphoma Investigation (BNLI). Eosinophilia as a component of a general leucocytosis conferred no survival advantage. Eosinophilia without a general leucocytosis was present in 95 patients, and this selective eosinophilia was associated with a clear survival advantage. The association of selective eosinophilia and improved survival was limited to patients with mixed cellularity and grade I nodular sclerosis histology. Selective eosinophilia was found to be a good prognostic indicator both in local and generalised disease. Its survival advantage seemed to lie in the response to second line treatment following relapse.


Introduction: The most frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal care units worldwide is prematurity. It represents the second leading cause of neonatal death after congenital anomalies and a significant determinant of newborn and infant morbidity. Objective: The objective is to have a local estimate of the length of stay (LOS) and risk of death for babies admitted to neonatal intensive care units, which facilitate planning and family counseling. Materials and Methods: This study is a retrospective review for all babies born at 23–36 weeks of gestational age (GA) and admitted to the neonatal unit from January 2010 to April 2019. We calculated the actual median LOS for babies and compared them with days to due date based on the GA and birth weight (BW). Results: There were 2913 babies born at 23–36 weeks GA admitted to the neonatal unit. In addition, the majority of babies (2845) did not require surgical intervention; only 61 babies did require surgical intervention. There was a negative correlation between the LOS median (interquartile range) and each of the GA or BW of the babies (LOS decreased as the week of GA and BW increased), while GA had a positive association with the BW. The total number of babies discharge from neonatal care was 2605 (89.7%). Conclusion: BW and GA are inherent factors that allow for a simple and objective prediction of the LOS in the neonatal unit, which can estimate on the 1st day of life.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an Epstein-Barr virus associated cancer of the nasopharynx. Annual incidence in China is high, reaching up to 25 per 100,000. NPC is a highly invasive and metastatic disease. At diagnosis, over 60% of patients have advanced disease where treatment failure due to distant recurrence or metastasis is common. More effective forms of therapy to treat this deadly disease are therefore urgently needed.

The TP53 induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) is a p53 target gene which blocks glycolysis and promotes cellular metabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway. TIGAR promotes production of cellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), leading to enhanced scavenging of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibition of oxidative-stress induced apoptosis in normal cells. Previously, we have found that a novel nucleoside analog inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in NPC cell lines via down-regulation of TIGAR expression. Moreover, the growth inhibitory effect of c-Met tyrosine kinase inhibitors was ameliorated by over-expression of TIGAR in NPC cell lines. These results are indicative of a pivotal role for TIGAR expression in maintaining NPC cell survival.

In this study, we investigated the expression pattern of TIGAR in NPC tumor tissues and the consequences of TIGAR overexpression and knockdown on NPC cell growth and invasion. It was found that TIGAR is overexpressed in 27 out of 36 (75%) NPC cases in the tumor cells compared to their respective normal epithelial cells. Overexpression of TIGAR in NPC cell lines resulted in increased proliferation, invasion, NADPH production and up-regulation of mesenchymal markers including fibronectin and vimentin. These changes were reversed when TIGAR expression was knocked down by transfection with siRNA, demonstrating specificity of the observed effects. Together, our results indicate that TIGAR expression promotes proliferation, invasiveness and expression of mesenchymal markers in NPC cells. These findings may form the basis for development of a new therapeutic target for treatment of NPC in the future.

Citation Format: Elaine YL Wong, SC Cesar Wong, Charles ML Chan, Emily KY Lam, Louisa Ho, Cecilia PY Lau, Thomas CC Au, Amanda KC Chan, CM Tsang, George SW Tsao, Vivian WY Lui, Anthony TC Chan. Functional significance of TIGAR expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5003. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5003


[1] The Chaophraya river basin in Thailand is one of the most significant land use/cover change (LUCC) regions where clearing of natural vegetation to cropland or secondary forest has occurred over several decades. The LUCC affects surface water fluxes (SWF), including transpiration, interception loss, evaporation, and runoff, because the SWF components are controlled by aerodynamic characteristics, soil moisture content, and potential photosynthetic activities according to vegetation type. Therefore, to understand the potential impacts of LUCC on SWF in the Chaophraya river basin, the simple biosphere model 2 (SiB2) with paddy scheme was run in uncoupled mode with forcing in keeping with the International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Initiative I data set. The simulation results revealed the following: (1) The absorbed radiation energy of forest was larger than other vegetation types although the Bowen ratios are similar. (2) The characteristics of SWF for each vegetation type were significantly controlled by soil water content, photosynthetic activity, and leaf area index. (3) The SWF index (W) and the relative SWF index (RW) were suggested as scaling parameters to estimate the seasonality of SWF as follows (definitions are given in section 3.4): Wi = i) and RWi = . (4) The WS were divided into two groups: the low seasonality SWF type (WS ≤ 0.5) consisting of forest or paddy field and the high seasonality SWF type (WS > 0.5) consisting of grassland or crop. (5) Runoff of the Chaophraya river basin decreased because of expanding crop area and paddy fields, an increase in the evaporation during the rainy season caused by changes in various vegetation types to paddy fields, and an increase in transpiration during the dry season caused by an expanding crop area.


With the continuous development of China's higher education and the rapid expansion of students, the student management in higher education is becoming more and more important. In this paper, the author analyzes the three di- mensions of student management as management object, management theory and management experience. Then, the author makes empirical analysis by using exploratory factor method, the result shows that the cumulative variance contri- bution rate is 68.7% and prove that these three factors has strong explanation ability in student management. From the re- liability test, the result shows that cronbach's alpha of these three dimensions are 0.9072, 0.8472 and 0.8116, and all the correlation is greater than 0.5. It proves that the initial scale has good internal consistency and reliability. Finally, the author put forward relevant policy suggestions for student management in higher education institutions.


We investigate the causes of temperature dependent changes in global precipitation in contemporary General Circulation Models (GCMs) subjected to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration. By analyzing the energy budget of the troposphere, we find that changes are dominated by processes robustly simulated by GCMs. Importantly, shortwave cloud feedbacks, whose uncertainty is largely responsible for the wide range of GCM temperature climate sensitivities, are shown to have little effect. This is because these mainly arise from the scattering of shortwave radiation that has little impact on the tropospheric heating that controls precipitation. Hence, we expect that the range of simulated precipitation sensitivities to temperature will not change greatly in future GCMs, despite the recent suggestion that satellite observations indicate that GCM precipitation changes are significantly in error.


Background: Distractor analysis is an important component of item analysis. It helps in the design and construction of items with functional effective distractors which are valid for future use and developmentof proper question banks.Objectives: This study aimed at investigating distractors' functionality of physiology multiple choicequestion (MCQ) items at the Faculty of Medicine, Khartoum University using post- examination item analysis data.
Methods: Analyzing test statistics reports produced by Remark-Software, the frequency distribution of non-functioning (NFD) or non-effective distractors (NED) on ten summative physiology MCQ exams administered to undergraduate medical students in the period from September 2015 to September 2016 was assessed. Item analysis reports provided detailed options analyses in the form of response frequency and discrimination power of each option. Each exam paper consisted of 60-80 (five-option) items and the number of the examinees ranged from 332 to 359. A total of 654 items were reviewed, including 2580 distractors. NFD/NED were defined as distractors with either response frequency<5% of the examinees or non-negative discrimination coefficient (rpbis) criteria. Furthermore, the number of NFD/NED per item were computed to measure distractor efficiency (DE %) of an item as follows; 0 NED = 100 % DE, 1 NED = 75%DE, 2 NED = 50% DE, 3 NED = 25% DE, 4 NED = 0% DE.
Results: Although less than one-third (31%) of total number of distractors were non-functioning because they were chosen by less than 5% of examinees, only 4 (0.15%) distractors had a choice frequency ofzero. In addition, 9.38% of total number of distractors was non-functioning because they had non-negative discrimination correlation coefficient. Defining functioning distractors using response frequency or discrimination ability criterion, the majority (61%) of our distractors were functioning effectively. The mean DE was 59.46±28.376% and the proportion of functional distractors ranged from 40.27% - 75% in the ten exams. Our study proportions of items with 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, 0% DE were: 32.7%, 31.3%, 20.9%, 9.9% & 5.1% respectively based on response frequency criterion alone, compared to: 8.2%, 12.3%, 28.7%, 35.2% & 15.7% respectively when using any of the two criterion for NED definition.
Conclusion: The findings that the majority of our distractors were functioning and the high proportions of our items that have high distractor efficiency are explained by the fact that our expert staff memberscarefully reviewed distractors to ensure unambiguity of the correct answers and generated plausible effective distractors.


We previously showed that fatty liver was easily induced in suncus by starvation and that the plasma level of apolipoprotein B (apo B) was very low. There are three possible explanations for the low level of apo B in the animals: low synthetic rate, low secretion rate, and rapid catabolism in the circulation of apo B. We measured post-heparin lipolytic activity (lipoprotein lipase activity), which plays a key role in the catabolism of apo B-containing lipoprotein, VLDL, and found no difference between rats and suncus. We also investigated the hepatic synthetic rate of apo B by liver perfusion studies. Newly synthesized apo B in the suncus liver was detected by immunoprecipitation and found to amount to 12.5% of that in rats. The secretion rate of VLDL in suncus, which was estimated by intravenous injection of Triton WR1339, was 13.8% of that in rats. These two results suggest that there is no major defect in the secretory process. We separated Golgi apparatus from rat and suncus livers, and found much fewer lipoprotein particles in suncus than in rat Golgi apparatus. This evidence suggests that there is no defect in the lipolytic process or hepatic secretory process of apo B-containing lipoprotein, VLDL, but there may be a defect in the assembly process of VLDL and/or in the synthetic process of apo B in suncus. Such a defect may be one of the reasons for starvation-induced fatty liver in suncus.


Background Maize is an important crop that has a complex genome. A better understanding of maize chromatin architecture provides great opportunities for crop improvement, because chromatin accessibility influences gene expression, thereby affecting agricultural traits. The newly developed method for chromatin profiling, Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq), has been developed to investigate chromatin accessibility. Result We adapt this method by testing parameters of several key steps and generate the first ATAC-seq protocol for maize. We demonstrate that purification of maize nuclei to eliminate organelles can be achieved without the need for cell sorting, and that only a standard bench-top centrifuge is required for sample preparation. Finally, our sequence analyses confirm that our protocol of ATAC-seq can be successfully used to assess the chromatin landscape in maize. Conclusion The ATAC-seq provides a useful technique to study the chromatin accessibility. Given the parameters tested in our study, it can be a simple and practical method for maize and may be a foundation for similar studies in other crop species.


This paper is a biographical sketch of Dr. Murray during the years 1860 to 1873 when he lived in Victoria, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. It records details of his career from his residency at the Melbourne Hospital followed by his exemplary conduct in the Howitt expedition to recover the remains of Burke and Wills. It traces his progress of degradation unhampered by constituted authority and concludes with his magnum opus--the greatest massacre of South Sea Islanders in the annals of the South Sea slave trade. He departed from the colonies still registered to practise medicine and without penalty or probation. This paper concludes with a brief summary of his personal qualities and asserts that it was these qualities, together perhaps with the discordance between the colonies, which allowed this knave to escape the penalty which he appeared amply to deserve.


The aging process has led to changes in the body's anatomical and function on the elderly. Joint pain is one of the problems frequently encountered on elderly. Exercise in elderly is one of motion excellent exercise therapy for maintaining health of the elder, including reducing joint pain experienced. This study was aimed to know the effect of exercise with decrease of joint pain in elderly at Kelurahan Komplek Kenjeran, Kecamatan Bulak Surabaya. Design used was quasy experiment. Sample were 20 respondents taken according to inclusion criteria. The samples were divided in two groups, treatment (10 respondents) and control (10 respondets). The independent variable were exercise in elderly and dependent variable was joint pain scale. Data were then analyzed using wilcoxon test and mann-whitney u test with α≤ 0,05. Wilcoxon signed rank test results showed p=0.008 for treatment group and p=0.157 for control group. Mann Whitney U test showed (p=0.513). It can be concluded that there were significant relationship between exercise in elderly with improvement joint pain on elderly at Kelurahan Komplek Kenjeran Kec. Bulak Surabaya in February 2014. It recommended for nurses to improve the practice of gymnastics elderly to maintaining the health of elderly. Further research expected to examine other factors that may can improvement effect of joint pain on the elderly


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

The hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome (HPT-JT) is a familial cancer syndrome that results from germline loss-of-function mutation of HRPT2/CDC73, a putative tumor suppressor gene that encodes parafibromin, a component of the transcriptional regulatory PAF1 complex with homology to the yeast protein Cdc73p. The vast majority of HRPT2/CDC73 germline mutations identified have been truncation or frameshift mutations, and loss-of-function due to missense mutation is rare. We report here a kindred with HPT-JT due to a germline L95P missense mutation in parafibromin. The mutant parafibromin was studied in vitro to understand the basis of its presumed loss-of-function. When transfected in cultured cells the L95P mutant was expressed to a lower level than wild-type parafibromin, a difference that was not overcome by inhibition of the proteasome degradation pathway. The L95P mutant parafibromin retained the ability to assemble with endogenous PAF1 complex components as evidenced by co-immunoprecipitation. Analysis of subcellular localization showed that the L95P mutant was markedly deficient in nucleolar localization compared to the wild-type, an impairment likely resulting from disruption of a nucleolar localization signal immediately upstream of the L95P mutation. Transfection of the L95P parafibromin mutant, but not the wild type, increased HEK 293 cell survival and stimulated cell-cycle progression in NIH-3T3 cells, properties that appear to result from dominant interference with endogenous parafibromin signaling pathways. The simultaneous loss of nucleolar localization and acquisition of a growth stimulatory phenotype with the L95P mutation raise the possibility that parafibromin must interact with targets in the nucleolus to fully execute its tumor suppressor functions.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-10.


Abstract Acute febrile illness is a common cause of hospital admission, and its associated infectious causes contribute to substantial morbidity and death among children worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Declining transmission of malaria in many regions, combined with the increasing use of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, has led to the increasing recognition of leptospirosis, rickettsioses, respiratory viruses, and arboviruses as etiologic agents of fevers. However, clinical discrimination between these etiologies can be difficult. Overtreatment with antimalarial drugs is common, even in the setting of a negative test result, as is overtreatment with empiric antibacterial drugs. Viral etiologies remain underrecognized and poorly investigated. More-sensitive diagnostics have led to additional dilemmas in discriminating whether a positive test result reflects a causative pathogen. Here, we review and summarize the current epidemiology and focus particularly on children and the challenges for future research.


The transient optical absorption band (λmax= 380 nm, t½= 23 µs and Iµ= 2010 dm3 mol–1 cm–1) produced on pulse radiolysis of N2O-saturated aqueous solution of CH2I2(pH 6.0) has been assigned to the OH adduct radical, CH2I2·OH. In acidic aqueous solutions, CH2I2+(λmax= 380 and 570 nm, t½= 3 µs and Iµ570= 2 150 dm3 mol–1 cm–1) has been identified as the intermediate. The rate constants for the reaction of OH radicals with CH2I2 to form CH2I2·OH and CH2I2+ have been determined to be 2.1 × 109 and 6.0 × 109 dm3 mol–1 s–1 respectively. Cl2– has been found to oxidize CH2I2 to CH2I2+ with a bimolecular rate constant of 1.7 × 108 dm3 mol–1 s–1. CH2l2+ is a good oxidant and oxidizes I–, Br–, and methyl disulphide with high rate constants close to the diffusion limit. I2 is the main stable end product formed on γ-radiolysis and its yield is equal to ½ G(-CH2I2). The transient optical absorption bands observed on pulse radiolysis of CH2I2 and CHI3 in 1,2-dichloroethane have been assigned to CH2I2+(λmax= 380 and 590 nm) and CHI3+(λmax= 400 and 610 nm).


The objective of this work was to characterize a novel quaternary chitosan derivative [O-(2-hydroxyl) propyl-3-trimethyl ammonium chitosan chloride (O-HTCC)] nanoparticle system. O-HTCC nanoparticles were prepared with a simple and mild ionic gelation method upon the addition of a sodium tripolyphosphate solution to a low-molecular-weight O-HTCC solution. Highly cationic chitosan nanoparticles were prepared. Bovine serum albumin (BSA), a model protein drug, was incorporated into the nanoparticles. The physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles were determined with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. The results showed that increasing the BSA concentration from 1.5 to 2.5 mg/mL promoted the BSA encapsulation efficiency from 57.3% to 87.5% and the loading capacity from 70.2% to 99.5%. Compared with the chitosan nanoparticles, the O-HTCC nanoparticles had lower burst release. TEM revealed that the BSA-loaded O-HTCC nanoparticles were smaller than the O-HTCC nanoparticles when the BSA concentration was 1.5 mg/mL; SEM showed that the size of the BSA-loaded O-HTCC nanoparticles was mostly affected by the BSA concentration, and the increase in size occurred with the concentration increasing. Thermograms and XRD of the BSA-loaded nanoparticles suggested that polyelectrolyte–protein interactions increased with the BSA concentration increasing and greater chain realignment in the BSA-loaded nanoparticles. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009


The present research explores the features of code-switching in Hanif's (2011) English fictional novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti. The research explores code-switching by applying the Whorfian Hypothesis (Linguistic Relativity and Determinism) through textual analysis of Hanif's novel (2011). One of the distinguishing features of the novel is the use of two distinct languages (English and Urdu) which majorly cause the implementation of various features of code-switching and code-mixing. The researchers have employed the qualitative research approach during data analysis. The study examines how language influences ideas and identity with the use of code-switching. A comprehensive study or analysis of the relevant literature has also presented in a comprehensive way leading towards a theoretical framework of preferred Whorfian Hypothesis (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) in the field of sociolinguistics. The results and findings of the also proves that the writer of the novel consciously/unconsciously utilizes the technique of code-switching of code-mixing to highlight/promote the native/local identity (ies) and cultural values through the code-mixed language. The study would be helpful for the reader to develop an appropriate understanding of code-switching in language varieties.


Steady-state tokamak operation based on a magnetic monopole circuit is considered. Circulation of a chain of iron cubes which trap magnetic monopoles generates the needed loop voltage. The monopole circuit is enclosed by a series of compensation coils in which the magnetic field is feedback-controlled so that the force on the circuit balances the mechanical friction. The driving power is supplied through the current sources of poloidal, ohmic and compensation coils. The current drive efficiency is the same as that of the ohmic current drive.