. Eating Disorders (ED) – Binge eating disorder (BED) and Night eating syndrome (NES)-are hyperphagic ED which can cause obesity and diabetes type 2 (DT2) decompensation by increasing glycated hemoglo-bin (HbA1c), LDL, and triglycerides, which belong to the major risk factors of cardiovascular events. The main hormonal regulators of eating behavior are leptin and ghrelin. Leptin levels are increased in DT2 patients with obesity, binge eaters and people with NES. In contrast to leptin, ghrelin levels are decreased in those patients. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) are used for DT2 and obesity management. Since GLP-1 RA sup-press eating behavior, reduce body weight, and optimize glucose control, they are potential candidates for the treatment of BE and NES. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of liraglutide on BE and NES in patients with DT2 and obesity. We examined 86 patients: 13 of them were screened positive for BE and 9 for NES. We divided them into 2 groups: the 1st group was taking only metformin for DT2 management; the 2nd one – metformin and liraglutide. After 3 months the patients were again examined: the 2nd group demonstrated statistically significant weight reduction, leptin levels decreased, ghrelin levels increased. Patient with BES showed lower scores of Binge eating scale and increased number of binge episodes.We suggest that use of GLP-1 RA for the management of BES and NES can be efficacious in DT2 and obese patients.


ABSTRACT This article seeks to understand the role of land use planning in India's neoliberal regime of dispossession. Analyzing the relationship between planning and land dispossession in the state of Goa, we view planning processes and documents as constitutive parts of state-specific regimes of dispossession. We argue that planning in Goa emerges as a terrain of struggle between a state-capital nexus seeking to dispossess and convert land, and an organized citizenry seeking to use planning for alternative purposes. We show how the long-term trend in regional planning is one in which planning documents function predominantly to assemble land for private investments.


During space flight, the communications and tracking system of the Space Shuttle Orbiter uses S -band and Ku -band links to provide, in addition to tracking, reception of digitized voice, commands, and printed or diagrammatic data at a maximum rate of 216 kbits/s. The system provides a transmission capability for digitized voice, telemetry, television, and data at a maximum rate of 50 Mbits/s. S -band links may be established directly with a ground station and both S -band and Ku -band links may be routed through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. A simultaneous capability to communicate with other satellites or spacecraft, using a variety of formats and modulation techniques on more than 850 S -band channels, is provided. UHF is used for communication with extravehicular astronauts. Audio and television subsystems serve on-board needs as well as interfacing with the RF equipment. During aerodynamic flight following entry, the S -band link can be supplemented or replaced by a UHF link that provides two-way simplex voice communication with Air Traffic Control facilities. TACAN is used as a navigation aid from shortly after blackout exit at about 150 000 ft (45.7 km) to about a 10 000-ft (3-km) altitude where a microwave scan-beam landing system assumes navigation aid functions. At about 2500 ft (760 m) to touchdown, radar altimeters provide accurate altitude determination.


The effects of biophysical and meteorological factors on land surface temperature (LST) have been well studied in previous research. However, less attention has been paid to examine how building materials influence the magnitude of LST within an urban environment. This study investigates the interaction of biophysical and building wall materials to influence LST in Harris County, Texas, USA using multiple stepwise linear regression analyses and neighborhood analysis. Working at 1 km grid resolution, LST data is related to impervious surface fraction, albedo, distance to water bodies, and seven major wall types. Ten years of aggregated MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) daily LST products were used to calculate the mean LST in January and August for daytime and nighttime conditions. Harris County 2010 parcel level building property data were used to create composition characteristics of the building wall types. Our results demonstrate that both biophysical and building wall characteristics significantly influence the spatiotemporal variations of LST. However, biophysical factors are the dominant explaining factors compared to building wall materials. Impervious surface fraction is the most significant variable to explain the variation of LST, and has positive effects on LST. In contrast, high albedo materials and the presence of open water bodies significantly affect LST and are good candidate variables to mitigate the heat island effect. Furthermore, the building wall variables all increase LST for both daytime and nighttime, but different wall materials have various effects on LST. Brick/veneer and frame/concrete block are the two dominant wall types in Harris County and tend to generate higher LST. These results demonstrate how building materials, in combination with biophysical factors, can be used to mitigate neighborhood-scale LST. This methodology works reasonably well for Houston, but is likely to be more effective in higher density urban settings.


Microbiological quality of 72 samples of raw milk taken from nine cattle-rearing farms and from 12 samples of milk from a community bulk tank shared by the same farms in Gameleira region, municipality of Sacramento, MG, were evaluated. Mesophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms were counted. Mesophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms counts of the 72 raw milk samples from nine farms ranged from 6.2 x 102 to 2.2 x 107CFU/mL and from 3.2 x 102 to 9.6 x 105CFU/mL, respectively. Geometric means of all counts of mesophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms from the 12 raw milk samples from the community bulk tank of nine farms were 1.8 x 105CFU/mL and 7.4 x 104CFU/mL, respectively. Results showed that community bulk tank may be a great asset for obtaining satisfactory microbiological quality milk.(AU)


AIM
To study prevalence of androgen deficiency and its relations with clinicopsychological disorders in males with ischemic heart disease (IHD).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A total of 87 males aged 31-60 years (58 with stable angina of effort FCII-III, 29 with progressive angina of effort) participated in the study. Clinical symptoms of androgen deficiency, severity of anxiety and depression, quality of life were characterized with scales AMS, HADS, D. M. Aronov and V.P. Zaitsev method (2002), respectively. Left ventricular myocardial mass (L VMM) was calculated according to R. Devereux and N. Reichek formula.

RESULTS
Symptoms of male sexual hormones deficiency were seen in 67.8% examinees. In the age groups 31-40, 41-50, 51-60 years androgenic deficiency was diagnosed in 50, 85.7 and 82.9% patients, respectively. A direct correlation was found between androgenic deficiency and total cholesterol (R=0.38), prothrombin index (R=0.39), LVMM index (R=0.48), severity of depression (R=0.71), anxiety (R=0.5) and inverse correlation--between androgenic deficiency and quality of life (R = -0.69).

CONCLUSION
Young and middle-aged patients with ischemic heart disease have symptoms of androgenic deficiency in 67.8% cases. This fact necessitates screening testing of such patients with AMS questionnaire. Male sex hormones deficiency is associated with high anxiety and depression, while quality of life is subnormal.


Background: Pyrus malus L. Syn. Malus sylvestris Mill., commonly known as 'Apple' is a well known tree belonging to the family Rosaceae. Leaves and young aerial parts are used as medicine in homoeopathy. Objective: The Pharmacognostic and physico-chemical studies are carried out to facilitate use of correct species and standard raw materials. Material and Methods: Pharmacognostic examinations of aerial parts (leaf, petiole and stem) of authentic sample of Pyrus malus L., have been carried out. Physico-chemical parameters of raw drug viz., extractive value, ash values, formulation besides weight per mL, total solids, alcohol content along with high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and UV-visible studies have been worked out for mother tincture. Results: The leaves are ovate to oblong, margin serrate, acute, glabrous above and tomentose beneath with a short petiole. The leaf is hypostomatic with anomocytic stomata. Uniseriate macroform flagellate conical and unicellular filiform cylindrical hairs occur on the leaf. In transverse section (TS) the midvein is conspicuously ridged on abaxial side. Epidermis is 1-layered with larger cells on abaxial. Cells over midvein are papillated. Palisade is 2-layered. The vascular bundle at midvein is single, large and arc shaped. The petiole in T.S. is shield like with an adaxial groove. The cortex is aerenchymatous towards adaxial. The vascular tissue consists of a single, large, arcuate bundle and two small adaxial bundles. The young stem is oval to spherical. The vascular tissue is in the form of a continuous cylinder. 1-3 seriate rays are present in the xylem. The xylem towards the centre possess secretory canals arranged in a ring. Conclusion: The powder microscopic features and organoleptic characters along with the anatomical and physico-chemical studies are diagnostic to establish the standards for the drug.


Data storage plays an essential role in today's fast-growing data-intensive network services. New standards and products emerge very rapidly for networked data storage. It should be very obvious that there is no single optimal design for all the different kinds of optical networks that can be applied to cover all requirements, as well as handle all applications. iSCSI is one of the most recent standards that allow SCSI protocols to be carried out over IP networks. In this paper, analysis of next generation storage network's architecture, which based on optical communication technologies, is given, and IBM's GDPS is shown as an example.


Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by defective social communication and interaction with a repetitive pattern of monotonous or stereotyped behavior. Although the exact etiology of ASD is unknown, many factors may be implicated in the development of ASD. We aimed to determine the correlation between specific parental factors and Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) scores. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Prince Nasser Bin Abdulaziz Center for Autism, Autism Center for Excellence, and Academy of Special Education for Autism in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We enrolled children diagnosed with ASD and their parents from these centers. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires to the patients' parents. Results All included children were <18 years old. In total, 71 (92.2%) children were male and six (7.8%) were female. Further, 77 (100%) patients were diagnosed with autistic disorder. Children of consanguineous parents, underweight mothers and obese fathers, mothers with a history of depression during pregnancy, and mothers aged ≥31 years during pregnancy tend to have a higher mean ATEC score. The health domain was the most significantly correlated with ATEC scores, with a Pearson correlation of 0.880. In linear regression analysis, only maternal depression during pregnancy was significantly correlated with ATEC scores. Conclusion Our patients had a mean ATEC score of 86.2. The health domain was the most significantly correlated with ATEC scores, with a Pearson correlation of 0.880. Linear regression analysis revealed that consanguinity, parental chronic disease, parental allergy, smoking, drug use during pregnancy, paternal and maternal body mass index (BMI), and sibling number were not significantly correlated with ATEC scores (P=0.701, 0.693, 0.133, 0.874, 0.982, 0.255, 0.778, and 0.502, respectively). However, maternal depression during pregnancy was significantly correlated with ATEC scores (P=0.055).


Performance based planning is a form of planning regulation that is not well understood and the theoretical advantages of this type of planning are rarely achieved in practice. Normatively, this type of regulation relies on performance standards that are quantifiable and technically based which are designed to manage the effects of development, where performance standards provide certainty in respect of the level of performance and the means of achievement is flexible. Few empirical studies have attempted to examine how performance based planning has been conceptualised and implemented in practice. Existing literature is predominately anecdotal and consultant based (Baker et al. 2006) and has not sought to quantitatively examine how land use has been managed or determine how context influences implementation. The Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) operated as Queensland's principal planning legislation between March 1998 and December 2009. The IPA prevented Local Governments from prohibiting development or use and the term zone was absent from the legislation. While the IPA did not use the term performance based planning, the system is widely considered to be performance based in practice (e.g. Baker et al. 2006; Steele 2009a, 2009b). However, the degree to which the IPA and the planning system in Queensland is performance based is debated (e.g. Yearbury 1998; England 2004). Four research questions guided the research framework using Queensland as the case study. The questions sought to: determine if there is a common understanding of performance based planning; identify how performance based planning was expressed under the IPA; understand how performance based planning was implemented in plans; and explore the experiences of participants in the planning system. The research developed a performance adoption spectrum. The spectrum describes how performance based planning is implemented, ranging between pure and hybrid interpretations. An ex-post evaluation of seventeen IPA plans sought to determine plan performativity within the conceptual spectrum. Land use was examined from the procedural dimension of performance (Assessment Tables) and the substantive dimension of performance (Codes). A documentary analysis and forty one interviews supplemented the research. The analytical framework considered how context influenced performance based planning, including whether: the location of the local government affected land use management techniques; temporal variation in implementation exists; plan-making guidelines affected implementation; different perceptions of the concept exist; this type of planning applies to a range of spatial scales. Outcomes were viewed as the medium for determining the acceptability of development in Queensland, a significant departure from pure approaches found in the United States. Interviews highlighted the absence of plan-making direction in the IPA, which contributed to the confusion about the intended direction of the planning system and the myth that the IPA would guarantee a performance based system. A hybridised form of performance based planning evolved in Queensland which was dependent on prescriptive land use zones and specification of land use type, with some local governments going to extreme lengths to discourage certain activities in a predetermined manner. Context had varying degrees of influence on plan-making methods. Decision-making was found to be inconsistent and the system created a range of unforeseen consequences including difficulties associated with land valuation, increased development speculation, and the role of planners in court was found to be less critical than in the previous planning system.


BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women. Due to the mechanism of breast cancer has not yet been completely clear, we aim to identify the key pathway and genes in breast cancer based on bioinformatics method. MethodsThe samples were obtained from NCBI-GEO website. Then, GEO2R tools and Venn diagram software were used to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene enrichment analysis was performed by ClusterProfiler package (version 3.16.1) of R. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was plotted by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) website and candidate genes were selected from PPI network by Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) plug-in. Afterwards, we assess the overall survival and expression level of the core genes by Kaplan-Meier plotter and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2). Finally, we selected the core genes through the analysis of different grades cancer and analyzed the gene-drug interaction by Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD).ResultsDEGs contained 23 up-regulated and 32 down-regulated genes. GO described biological process, cellular component, and molecular function. KEGG analysis showed up-regulated DEGs were mainly involved in breast cancer-related pathway like P53 signaling pathway, platinum drug resistance and bladder cancer. 15 candidate genes were screened through PPI network, 14 of which had adverse prognosis and high expression in breast cancer. At last, we selected 5 core genes from different grades analysis and found the interaction of these genes and anthracyclines and cyclophosphamide.ConclusionsIn the current study, 5 core genes of breast cancer were identified based on bioinformatics method, which could useful to provide essential information for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of breast cancer.


An overview of the features of the design and development of the Virtual Library information system was conducted. A new approach is proposed for designing and developing the Virtual Library information system for preservation and development of e-books in the format of MARC 21. The model of information system Virtual Library is proposed.


Introduction
 Prognosis for patients who fail to respond to high-dose chemotherapy or progress after high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) is particularly poor, with a recent study reporting 71% of patients dying in year 1 and 90% by year 2, with a median -progression survival of 1.3 years [1]. In our study of brentuximab vedotin plus bendamustine (BvB) in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma, we recently reported an overall response rate (ORR) and complete response rate (CR) of 71% and a 32% respectively (N=65) in a heavily treated patient population [2]. Having noted several patients with a progression free survival (PFS) of 1 year or longer, we reviewed all enrolled patients for protracted duration of benefit, raising the question as to whether these patients may have been cured by BvB in the salvage setting. (ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01657331).
 Methods
 Among 65 enrolled patients we identified 23 with a PFS of more than one year after treatment with BvB. Patients had received Bv on Day 1 with B on Days 1 and 2 of a 3-week cycle for up to 6 cycles. In the Phase 1 study 4 dose levels were evaluated: (1) Bv = 1.2mg/kg; B = 70mg/m2; (2) Bv = 1.2mg/kg; B = 80mg/m2; (3) Bv = 1.8mg/kg; B = 80mg/m2; and (4) Bv = 1.8mg/kg; B = 90. Accrual followed a classic Fibonacci dose escalation, with 3 patients being treated at each dose level. Dose Limiting Toxicity (DLT), defined as any CTC version 4 Grade 3 or 4 toxicity led to expansion of the dose cohort. The recommended phase II dose was Bv 1.8 mg/kg on Day 1 and B 90 mg/m2 on Days 1 and 2. The Phase 2 portion of the study accrued an additional 37 patients. Response was assessed by the investigator per Cheson 2007 after cycles 2 and 6. Patients were followed post completion of therapy every 3 month until disease progression and imaging was conducted every 3- 6 months. Study procedures and follow-up were concluded on June 30th 2018. In addition, plasma and serum biomarkers were prospectively collected for correlation with toxicity and response.
 Results
 With a median follow-up of 33 months (range 20-58 month) we identified 23/65 patients (43% male) with a median age of 34 years (range, 18-55) who experienced a PFS of 1 year or more. The median number of prior systemic therapies was 3 (range 1-6); with 11 patients having had prior ASCT and 10 patients receiving prior radiation therapy. Median number of BvB cycles administered was 4 (range 2-6).
 A best response of CR was documented for 17 patients (74%) and partial response (PR) was documented for 6 patients (26%). Consolidation with HDCT-ASCT was performed in 10 patients, 3 of whom received maintenance Bv post-transplant. The median duration of response (DOR), PFS and OS among this group was 28, 32 and 34 months, respectively. All responses are ongoing with no evidence of relapse. Long term survival with no further therapy after a median of 6 cycles of BvB ( range 2-6) was observed in 13 patients (20% of the treated population) (median post-BvB PFS 36 months, range 20-58).
 Exploratory analysis of the correlation between disease outcome and changes from baseline in select biomarkers demonstrated a significantly lower mean baseline sCD30 level among long term responders (p=0.01). No correlations were noted between other clinical outcome metrics and sCD30, nor with other biomarkers including TARC, CD163, or galectin.
 Conclusion
 In this heavily treated population with HL, the combination of BvB represents an effective and tolerable outpatient salvage regimen with long term response and protracted survival among a subset of patients, and raises the prospect that these patients, with a historically poor outcome may be cured with BvB. We intend to follow these patients to obtain additional information on their longer term outcome.
 ReferencesZagadailov, E.A., et al., Real-world effectiveness of brentuximab vedotin versus physicians' choice chemotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma following autologous stem cell transplantation in the United Kingdom and Germany. Leuk Lymphoma, 2018. 59(6): p. 1413-1419.O'Connor, O.A., et al., Brentuximab vedotin plus bendamustine in relapsed or refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma: an international, multicentre, single-arm, phase 1-2 trial. Lancet Oncol, 2018. 19(2): p. 257-266.

 Kuruvilla: Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation: Research Funding; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria; Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Canada: Research Funding; Lundbeck: Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria. O'Connor:ADC Therapeutics: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the relapse-preventing effect and the frequency of adverse events of olsalazine and sulphasalazine in sulphasalazine-tolerant patients with ulcerative colitis.

METHODS
Patients in remission, with at least two episodes of active disease during the last 5 yr, were randomized to 2 g of sulphasalazine or 1 g of olsalazine daily and were followed for 6-18 months. Relapse rates in the two groups were compared using frequency and life-table analysis. Sixty-nine patients with proctitis, 140 with left-sided colitis, and 113 with subtotal or total colitis were evaluated.

RESULTS
In the intention-to-treat analysis, the failure rate (relapses plus withdrawals) was 54.7% in the olsalazine and 47.2% in the sulphasalazine group. In the per-protocol analysis excluding withdrawals, 44.7% relapsed in the olsalazine and 39.3% in the sulphasalazine group. Remission curves did not differ significantly, although at all time intervals the frequency of remission was slightly higher in the sulphasalazine group (p = 0.19 in the intention-to-treat analysis and p = 0.42 in the per-protocol analysis estimated by the log-rank test). Twelve patients (of whom five had diarrhea) in the olsalazine group versus eight patients in the sulphasalazine group discontinued the study because of side effects.

CONCLUSION
The relapse-preventing effect of olsalazine and sulphasalazine in sulphasalazine-tolerant patients did not differ. Furthermore, the tolerability of olsalazine, particularly concerning diarrhea, appears to be better than previously reported.


The target of this research project was a feasibility study for the development of a robot for automatic or semi-automatic artichoke harvesting. During this project, different solutions for the mechanical parts of the machine, its control system and the harvesting tools were investigated. Moreover, in cooperation with the department DISPA of University of Catania, different field structures with different kinds of artichoke cultivars were studied and tested. The results of this research could improve artichoke production for preserves industries. As a first step, an investigation on existing machines has been done. From this research, it has been shown that very few machines exist for this purpose. Based also on previous experiences, some proposals for different robotic systems have been done, while the mobile platform itself was developed within another research project. At the current stage, several different configurations of machines and harvesting end-effectors have been designed and simulated using a 3D CAD environment interfaced with Matlab®. Moreover, as support for one of the proposed machines, an artificial vision algorithm has been developed in order to locate the artichokes on the plant, with respect to the robot, using images taken with a standard webcam.


Background Molecular profiling of cancers is now routine at many cancer centers, and the number of precision cancer medicine clinical trials, which are informed by profiling, is steadily rising. Additionally, these trials are becoming increasingly complex, often having multiple arms and many genomic eligibility criteria. Currently, it is a challenging for physicians to match patients to relevant clinical trials using the patient's genomic profile, which can lead to missed opportunities. Automated matching against uniformly structured and encoded genomic eligibility criteria is essential to keep pace with the complex landscape of precision medicine clinical trials. Results To meet these needs, we built and deployed an automated clinical trial matching platform called MatchMiner at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). The platform has been integrated with Profile, DFCI's enterprise genomic profiling project, which contains tumor profile data for >20,000 patients, and has been made available to physicians across the Institute. As no current standard exists for encoding clinical trial eligibility criteria, a new language called Clinical Trial Markup Language (CTML) was developed, and over 178 genomically-driven clinical trials were encoded using this language. The platform is open source and freely available for adoption by other institutions. Conclusion MatchMiner is the first open platform developed to enable computational matching of patient-specific genomic profiles to precision cancer medicine clinical trials. Creating MatchMiner required developing clinical trial eligibility standards to support genome-driven matching and developing intuitive interfaces to support practical use-cases. Given the complexity of tumor profiling and the rapidly changing multi-site nature of genome-driven clinical trials, open source software is the most efficient, scalable, and economical option for matching cancer patients to clinical trials.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Colored fruits, particularly berries, are emerging as highly chemoprotective because of their antioxidant, anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we investigated the chemoprotective potential of Eugenia jambolana Lam., commonly known as 'jamun' or Indian blackberry. Jamun, a widely available fruit in India and other Asian countries, has also been used in the treatment of various ailments, including diabetes mellitus. To determine its antioxidant potential, jamun pulp was collected from freshly harvested fruits, dried, and the powder was extracted with acidic ethanol, and enriched by amberlite XAD7/HP20 (1:1) column chromatography. The pulp powder was found to contain 0.54% anthocyanins, 0.17% ellagic acid/ellagitannins and 1.15% total phenolics using standard assays. HPLC analysis of acid-hydrolyzed extract showed the presence of five anthocyanidins – malvidin, petunidin, delphinidin, cyanidin and peonidin. The unhydrolyzed extract was found to have significant antioxidant activity as reflected by high ORAC value (1,445±64 μmol of TE/g) as well as high ABTS- and DPPH-scavenging activities, and ferrous ions-chelating activity; the acid-hydrolyzed extract showed higher activity than unhydrolyzed extract. Since some of the jamun bioactives (ellagitannins and anthocyanidins/anthocyanins) have significant antiproliferative activity, we also analyzed these extracts for their antiproliferative potential using MTT assay against human lung cancer A549 cells in cell culture. The hydrolyzed jamun extract showed significant antiproliferative activity (IC50=79 µg/mL). However, unhydrolyzed extract showed almost no activity. These data suggest that the antiproliferative activity may result from anthocyanidins (present in the hydrolyzed extract) rather than anthocyanins (present in unhydrolyzed extract). Together, our data show high antioxidant, and antiproliferative activities in jamun pulp and may be a viable candidate for chemoprevention of lung cancer (Supported from Agnes Brown Duggan Endowment).

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4619. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4619


ABSTRACT Clinical trials involving anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (anti-PD-1) failed to demonstrate improved overall survival in glioblastoma (GBM) patients. This may be due to the expression of alternative checkpoints such as B- and T- lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) on several immune cell types including regulatory T cells. Murine GBM models indicate that there is significant upregulation of BTLA in the tumor microenvironment (TME) with associated T cell exhaustion. We investigate the use of antibodies against BTLA and PD-1 on reversing immunosuppression and increasing long-term survival in a murine GBM model. C57BL/6 J mice were implanted with the murine glioma cell line GL261 and randomized into 4 arms: (i) control, (ii) anti-PD-1, (iii) anti-BTLA, and (iv) anti-PD-1 + anti-BTLA. Kaplan–Meier curves were generated for all arms. Flow cytometric analysis of blood and brains were done on days 11 and 16 post-tumor implantation. Tumor-bearing mice treated with a combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-BTLA therapy experienced improved overall long-term survival (60%) compared to anti-PD-1 (20%) or anti-BTLA (0%) alone (P = .003). Compared to monotherapy with anti-PD-1, mice treated with combination therapy also demonstrated increased expression of CD4+ IFN-γ (P < .0001) and CD8+ IFN-γ (P = .0365), as well as decreased levels of CD4+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells on day 16 in the brain (P = .0136). This is the first preclinical investigation into the effects of combination checkpoint blockade with anti-PD-1 and anti-BTLA treatment in GBM. We also show a direct effect on activated immune cell populations such as CD4+ and CD8 + T cells and immunosuppressive regulatory T cells through this combination therapy.


The aim of this study was to investigate direct cytotoxicity to human and rat hepatocytes in primary culture from halothane and compare it with that of isoflurane, which is known to be minimally metabolized and less toxic in vivo. Both human and rat parenchymal cells were isolated by the two-step collagenase perfusion method and after attachment to plastic were incubated with either volatile anesthetic for 24 h. All the cultures were maintained in 20% O2 condition and were not induced prior to anesthetic treatment. Temperature, atmosphere conditions, and anesthetic concentrations were kept constant during the study period. Evaluation of cytotoxicity was based on morphologic, biologic (determination of both extracellular and intracellular lactate dehydrogenase activity), and metabolic (protein synthesis and secretion) end points. Protein synthesis and secretion rates were found to be the most sensitive parameters in hepatocyte cultures from both species. Protein synthesis was inhibited by 18% and protein secretion by 50% in the presence of 1 and 1.25 mM halothane, respectively, in human cell cultures (P less than 0.05). With 1.25 mM halothane intracellular lactate dehydrogenase was also decreased; lactate dehydrogenase leakage and morphologic alterations were detected only beyond 5 mM halothane. By contrast, in rat hepatocyte cultures protein secretion was inhibited by 26% and protein synthesis by 20% in the presence of 0.1 and 0.75 mM halothane, respectively, whereas morphologic alterations and a 37% lactate dehydrogenase leakage increase were observed with the concentration of 1 mM (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Satellite-based estimation and evaluation of urban heat islands (UHI) are latest in the field of urban micro climate and environmental management. UHI is one of the serious upcoming climatological issues regarding the development of cities. Conversion of the vegetative area into the impervious surface is the root cause of this problem of development of urban heat. Large-area coverage, quick process, more economical, less energy and other requirements are the attractive features of the satellite-based studies. The present study deals with the formation of UHI in the new capital region of Andhra Pradesh, a recently formed state in India in the year 2015. Satellite images of Landsat-8 are procured and processed to develop LULC and land surface temperature (LST) images. Field data of about 100 points, collected in the study area is also used in this work and the classification accuracy obtained is about 93%. From LULC and LST images it was concluded that the capital region is experiencing severe UHI phenomenon. The two big cities Vijayawada and Guntur are emerged as hot spots. High and low LST obtained are 58 0 C and 23 0 C respectively. The corresponding areas of hot and cold regions were estimated and presented. The outcome of this research can be used as a scientific basis for urban planners in urban planning and management as well as to increase the community awareness in urban heating effect. Urban greening is an essential measure to be adopted by the urban planners to protect the citizens from the ill effects of UHI.


PV generation is chosen to be added to an existing utility system. The proposed PV system containing a fuzzy controlled converter will be examined in view of variable insolation level and variable loading, where the synchronization process of the PV-system with the utility grid system, its configuration and performance will be assessed. The study has shown an inverse relationship between the variation in both the converter duty cycle and in available insolation. The study indicates the effect of PV-module configuration on the duty cycle. A cascaded converter configuration will be required to make it possible to transfer all the available PV generation to the grid and connect the D.C. load and source at specified voltage level. An economic assessment is presented to evaluate the system feasibility.


When a central bank implements the LOLR policy in a financial crisis, bank creditors often infer a bank's quality from whether or not it borrows from the central bank. We establish a formal model to study the optimal LOLR policy in the presence of this signaling effect, assuming that the central bank aims to encourage central bank borrowing to avoid inefficiencies caused by contagion. In our model, there are two types of banks: a high quality type with high expected asset returns and a low quality type with lower returns. Both types of banks need to roll over their short-term debts. A central bank offers to lend to both types of banks. After private creditors observe whether banks borrow from the central bank, banks try to borrow from the private market. We find that there may exist a separating equilibrium where only low quality banks borrow from the central bank; and two pooling equilibria where both types of banks do and do not borrow from the central bank. Our major results are as follows: (1) Considering the signaling effect, the central bank should set its lending rate lower than the prevailing market rate to induce both types of banks to borrow from the central bank. (2) Hiding the identity of banks borrowing from the central bank will encourage banks to borrow from the central bank. (3) The central bank may serve as a coordinator for the realization of its favored equilibrium.


The Load-Frequency Control (LFC) problem has been one of the major subjects in electric power system design/operation and is becoming much more significant today in accordance with increasing size, changing structure and complexity of interconnected power systems. In practice, load-frequency control (LFC) systems use simple proportional-integral (PI) controllers. However, since the PI controller parameters are usually tuned based on classical or trial-and-error approaches, they are incapable of obtaining good dynamical performance for a wide range of operating conditions and various load changes scenarios in a multi-area power system.
In this paper with regard to this problem, the decentralised LFC synthesis is formulated as an H/spl infin/-control problem and is solved using an iterative linear matrix inequalities algorithm to design of robust PI controllers in the multi-area power systems. A three area power system example with a wide range of load changes is given to illustrate the proposed approach. The resulting controllers are shown to minimize the effect of disturbances and maintain the robust performance.


1241 Imatinib mesylate (IM) inhibits the BCR-ABL oncogene and effectively controls BCR-ABL (+) leukemias. This drug is one of the first and most successful applications of targeted therapy where minimal interference with unintended targets reduces drug toxicity. However, tyrosine kinases other than BCR-ABL are inhibited by IM; some exploited for therapeutic purposes in other disease. In CML patients receiving IM herpes zoster episodes were noted in a percentage of patients that had not been seen with other forms of CML therapy. The risk of herpes zoster reactivation in CML patient receiving IM was much higher than the general age-matched population, suggesting a link between IM therapy and herpes zoster episodes. In IM treated CML patients T-cell cytokine levels (IFN-gamma, IL-2) were significantly reduced, suggesting an impairment in T-cell function. Treatment of Jurkat T-cells with IM reduced tyrosine phosphorylation and cytokine expression without inducing apoptosis. In vitro studies with purified Lck and Zap-70 kinases demonstrated that Lck was inhibited at IM concentrations that are clinically achievable. Only Lck and Lyn kinase in the src family demonstrated sensitivity to IM-mediated kinase inhibition with IC50 values of 5.1 and 3.8 microM, respectively. In CML patients we detected suppression of Lck/Zap-70 signaling (p-LAT) following IM therapy. Signaling and cytokine expression were also inhibited by IM in T-cells derived from normal donors. These results suggest that IM suppresses T-cell activation through inhibition of Lck/Zap-70 signaling and may play a role in the inability of CML patients receiving IM to prevent the reactivation of varicella zoster virus infection


Programmed Cell Death (PCD) is an important mechanism of plant immune response against diseases. Serine protease inhibitors ('serpins') are a conserved superfamily of proteins that inhibit serine protease targets and prevent programmed cell death (PCD) in plants, in absence of pathogen infection. In this project, putative serpin genes in rice (Oryza sativa) which are homologous to necrotic/'Nec' serpin genes in Drosophila are identified by bioinformatic analyses. This is followed by cloning of specific exon sequences of the rice serpin genes identified. Finally, one of the cloned sequences is utilized in a series of steps to produce interfering RNA (RNAi), to block the gene expression. Results of this study would help elucidate the importance of serpins in the regulation of PCD in rice. The work could lead to further research aimed at generating disease-resistant transgenic plants.


Phase contrast (PC) MRI is a proven method of measuring blood flow in the clinical environment. Traditionally, PCMR data is acquired using cardiac gated Cartesian sequences. However, these sequences are time consuming and difficult to perform in patients with irregular heart rates. The work of my thesis covers three alternative PC sequences, all using undersampled spiral sequences with SENSE reconstruction algorithms.
The first piece of work investigates real-time spiral PCMR. The spiral flow sequence was validated at rest by comparing stroke volumes in the aorta of healthy volunteers, against a retrospectively gated Cartesian sequence. By combining flow data with simultaneous blood pressure measurements during exercise, this sequence was used to quantify the hemodynamic response to physical stress.
The second piece of work investigates improvements in spatial or temporal resolution for real-time PCMR, by splitting the acquisition of flow-compensated and flow-encoded data into separate short blocks. The data is then retrospectively matched in cardio-respiratory space, to remove background phase offsets. This sequence was validated (at rest) in an adult population. The improved spatial resolution was shown to provide more accurate flow measurements than standard real-time flow measurements, in a paediatric population.
The third piece of work investigates prospectively triggered spiral PCMR to achieve high spatio-temporal resolution, within a short breath-hold. Flow volumes, regurgitation fraction and shunt ratios were compared from a high spatial-resolution, free breathing retrospectively gated Cartesian sequence with 3 averages (~2.5 minute scan time), a low spatial-resolution breath-hold retrospectively gated Cartesian sequence (~20 second scan time), and the (high spatial-resolution) prospectively triggered spiral sequence (~6 second scan time). It was shown that accurate flow measurements can be made in the aorta, pulmonary artery and pulmonary branches, within manageable breath-hold times for children and sick adults. This sequence may improve patient compliance and increase patient throughput.


Background. In the context of a pronounced aging of the population, one of the priority areas of social policy in the country is the improvement of the organization and provision of medical and social assistance to people of elderly and senile age.
Aim. Substantiation and development of a structural and functional model of a regional (provincial or interregional) geriatric center for further improvement of medical and social care for the elderly and senile.
Material and methods. Using a specially designed questionnaire, we analyzed the opinion about the medical and social assistance received by 456 residents of the Moscow Region of elderly and senile age, who were patients of the Moscow Regional Hospital for War Veterans at the time of the survey.
Results. Only 47.5% of the respondents of elderly and senile age gave a positive assessment of the received medical care and 50.4% of social assistance. In 83.7% of cases, respondents reported that some social infrastructure facilities are difficult or inaccessible to them, including medical organizations in 16.3% of cases. The survey also made it possible to identify problem areas in the medical and social support of the elderly and senile people associated with the implementation of individual rehabilitation programs, obtaining legal and psychological assistance. The organization of regional geriatric centers is proposed to solve the problems identified in the course of the study and to improve the medical and social support of the elderly and senile. The article describes the tasks of each structural and functional unit of these centers. The available information resources, including those using an interactive mode of communication, are considered to increase the level of information support for the elderly and senile population.
Conclusion. The proposed structural and functional model of the regional geriatric center in conditions of implementation of the three-level system for providing geriatric care makes it possible to most effectively use the existing resources of the healthcare system and the social sphere of the region (province), to set and improve organizational, methodological and interdepartmental interaction aimed at increasing the availability and quality of medical and social care for the elderly and senile population.


The paper gives the comparative results of infrared exposure, drug and multimodality treatment in partial optic nerve atrophy of varying degrees, as evidenced by Doppler, electrophysiological, and morphometric studies.


This paper investigates epistemological and ethical implications of the growingavailability of direct-to-consumer genetic testing for the science and society. Direct-toconsumer genetic testing is characterized as the genetic testing sold directly to consumerswithout any assistance from professionals. By offering empowerment and control, companiesconvince consumers to sequence their genome by granting the company access to theirgenetic data in exchange to results that are not always accurate. To which extent doconsumers properly understand the results of their genetic testing? Are consumers aware ofthe possible implications for disclosing genetic information to private companies? I addressthese questions in two steps: firstly, I discuss epistemological implications of thedevelopment of Genomics, understood as a data-intensive science, by delving into thetheoretical commitments of the concept of gene and the notion of circular causality.Secondly, I reflect upon the privacy risks of taking direct-to-consumer genetic testing in adata-rich world. Finally, I draw some conclusions on the possible consequences of direct-toconsumer genetic testing by suggesting key-concepts that may help to clarify the limits andscope of genetic testing.


Background and Purpose— Vasospasm is an important complication of subarachnoid hemorrhage, but is variably defined in the literature. Methods— We studied 580 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage and identified those with: (1) symptomatic vasospasm, defined as clinical deterioration deemed secondary to vasospasm after other causes were eliminated; (2) delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), defined as symptomatic vasospasm, or infarction on CT attributable to vasospasm; (3) angiographic spasm, as seen on digital subtraction angiography; and (4) transcranial Doppler (TCD) spasm, defined as any mean flow velocity >120 cm/sec. Logistic regression analysis was performed to test the association of each definition of vasospasm with various hospital complications, and 3-month quality of life (sickness impact profile), cognitive status (telephone interview of cognitive status), instrumental activities of daily living (Lawton score), and death or severe disability at 3 months (modified Rankin scale score 4–6), after adjustment for covariates. Results— Symptomatic vasospasm occurred in 16%, DCI in 21%, angiographic vasospasm in 31%, and TCD spasm in 45% of patients. DCI was statistically associated with more hospital complications (N=7; all P<0.05) than symptomatic spasm (N=4), angiographic spasm (N=1), or TCD vasospasm (N=1). Angiographic and TCD vasospasm were not related to any aspect of clinical outcome. Both symptomatic vasospasm and DCI were related to reduced instrumental activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, and poor quality of life (all P<0.05). However, only DCI was associated with death or severe disability at 3 months (adjusted OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2–3.9; P=0.007). Conclusions— DCI is a more clinically meaningful definition than either symptomatic deterioration alone or the presence of arterial spasm by angiography or TCD.


The behaviour of the labour market is widely seen as the cause of the UK's poor macroeconomic performance from the mid-1960s. The functioning of the labour market is addressed in this book, first published in 1994, by an international group of economists. They assemble micro and macroeconomic evidence on the UK, the US, France and Germany, and discuss whether the UK labour market is different, and also if it has changed over time. The microeconomic evidence is assessed by Blanchflower and Freeman and by Gregg and Machin. The Thatcher reforms to industrial relations, surveyed by Metcalf, appear to have increased inequality without producing a more flexible labour market. Gregory and Sandoval suggest that minimum wages might have helped alleviate the rise in inequality in the UK. The effects of the reforms of the 1980s are unclear. Minford and Riley suggest that they have had an impact, whilst Barrell, Pain and Young present evidence that little has changed. The micro and macroeconomic approaches are complemented by Grubb's detailed survey of the effects of labour market policies as well as by the overview paper by Anderton and Mayhew.


Muon Scattering Tomography is a scanning technique which uses cosmic muons as probes to gather information on the content of the inspected volume. Because the scattering angle depends on the Z2 of the materials in the volume, it is possible to obtain a 3D image of the volume content by carefully tracking the muon paths. This has very interesting potential applications in several fields, from engineering to homeland security, where MST could be used to inspect shipping containers and trucks in search of special nuclear materials (SNM). For such applications to be feasible it is necessary to have large area detectors (10-100 square meters) while maintaining the efficiency and angular resolution necessary to discriminate between low-Z and high-Z materials. Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) are very good candidates. RPCs are widely adopted in high energy physics experiments thanks to their excellent performance in terms of time resolution, charged particle detection efficiency and low cost per unit area. In collaboration with the UK Atomic Weapon Establishment we have built and tested a prototype based on 12 RPCs (50 cm × 50 cm). To obtain the required spatial resolution we adopted a novel approach for the RPC readout, coupling each detector with 300 fine pitch strips (1.5 mm) and using multiplexing analog readout chips to reduce the amount of readout channels. The prototype performs very well: all the chambers have efficiency above 99% and purity above 95%. The signal-to-noise for the electronic readout ranges from 25 to 90. The spatial resolution for the layers is better than 1 mm and we show that this is sufficient to successfully image a block of lead of 10 cm × 10 cm × 15 cm. We are now in the process of upgrading the electronics with new ASICs which feature built-in ADCs. The first test


Design knowledge in the vast amount of design reports and documents can be a great resource for designers in their practice. However, capturing such domain-specific information embedded in long-length unstructured texts is always time-consuming and sometimes difficult. Therefore, it is highly desirable for a computer system to automatically extract the main knowledge points and their corresponding inner structures from given documents. In this study of document understanding for design support (DocUDS), a design-perspective knowledge extraction approach is proposed that uses phrase-level domain-specific labeled datasets to finetune a Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers (BERT) model so that it can extract design knowledge from documents. The BERT model finetuning attempts to blend in the domain-specific knowledge of well-recognized domain concepts and is based on the datasets generated from design reports. The model is utilized to map the captured sentences to the main design entities <requirement>, <function>, and <solution>. In addition, this approach uncovers inner relationships among the sentences and constructs overall structures of documents to enhance understanding. The definitions of design perspectives, inter-perspective relations, and intra-perspective relations are introduced, which together capture the main design knowledge points and their relations and constitute an understanding of the design domain knowledge of a text. The case study results have demonstrated the proposed approach's effectiveness in understanding and extracting relevant design knowledge points


Nelson, A. G., Quideau, S., Frick, B., Niziol, D., Clapperton, J. and Spaner, D. 2011. Spring wheat genotypes differentially alter soil microbial communities and wheat breadmaking quality in organic and conventional systems. Can. J. Plant Sci. 91: 485-495. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars may have differential effects on soil microbial communities and the breadmaking quality of harvested grain. We conducted a field study comparing five Canadian spring wheat cultivars grown under organic and conventional management systems for yield, breadmaking quality and soil phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profile. Organic yields (2.74 t ha-1) were roughly half of conventional yields (5.02 t ha-1), but protein levels were higher in the organic system than the conventional system (16.6 vs. 15.3%, respectively). Soil microbial diversity measures were significantly higher in the organic system compared with the conventional system, including PLFA richness (31 vs. 27 unique PLFAs per sample, respectively) and PLFA diversity (Shannon diversity indexes of 2.90 and 2.73, respectively). Diversity measures were positively correlated with weed seed yield in the organic system (0.44<r<0.55), indicating that the presence of weeds played some role in increased microbial diversity. The use of composted dairy manure in the organic system may also have contributed to differences between the microbial communities in the organic and conventional systems. In the conventional system, the most recent wheat cultivar, AC Superb, had higher levels of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil (1.97%) than the other cultivars (1.32-1.43). Our results suggest that breeding efforts in conventionally managed environments may have resulted in cultivating mycorrhizal dependence in that environment. Cropping systems that include a diversity of plants, such as polycultures, may increase soil microbial diversity.


The study attempts to elucidate the problem of the management of snakebites and envenomations in rural areas. It aims to assess the management of snakebite cases in the Bonginda group in Equateur, DR Congo. A survey was conducted during the period from January 2019 to December 2020. In addition, doctors from the Bonginda Health Zone, traditional healers and a few resource persons such as herbalists and people who have been treated for cases bites were contacted. The nature of the retrospective study required the administration of a questionnaire to those involved in the investigation. These include traditional healers and doctors from the health structures of the General Reference Hospital of Bikoro, Ntende, Moheli, Iyembemoke and Momboyo. The healing score recorded by traditional healers in the event of envenomation is estimated at 93.94% against 23.94% in medical structures. The low score recorded in the latter would be justified by the lack of an appropriate protocol for the specific cases thus diagnosed on the basis of modern equipment. Thus, the care provided by traditional healers seems more effective.


The conventional probabilistic point of view implies that if a particle has a probability $p$ to make a transition from one site to another site, then the average transport should be $⟨Q⟩=p$ with a variance $\mathrm{var}(Q)=(1\ensuremath{-}p)p$. In the quantum mechanical context this observation becomes a nontrivial manifestation of restricted quantum-classical correspondence. We demonstrate this observation by considering the full counting statistics which is associated with a two level coherent transition in the context of a continuous quantum measurement process. In particular we test the possibility of getting a valid result for $\mathrm{var}(Q)$ within the framework of the adiabatic picture, analyzing the simplest nontrivial example of a Landau-Zener crossing.


Recall that one main drawback of the One-time pad encryption scheme—and its simple encryption operation Enc k (m) = m ⊕ k—is that the key k needs to be as long as the message m. A natural approach for making the scheme more efficient would be to start off with a short random key k and then try to use some pseudo-random generator g to expand it into a longer " random-looking " key k = g(k), and finally use k as the key in the One-time pad. Can this be done? We start by noting that there can not exist pseudo-random generators g that on input k generate a perfectly random string k , as this would contradict Shannon's theorem (show this). However, remember that Shannon's lower bound relied on the premise that the adversary Eve is computationally unbounded. Thus, if we restrict our attention to efficient adversaries, it might be possible to devise pseudo-random generators that output strings which are " sufficiently " random-looking for our encryption application. To approach this problem, we must first understand what it means for a string to be " sufficiently random-looking " to a polynomial time adversary. Possible answers include: • Roughly as many 0 as 1.


It has been reported that some patients treated chronically with certain monoamine-oxidase inhibitors (MAOI's) exhibit as a complication hypoglycemia, or potentiation of insulin or sulfonylurea induced hypoglycemia. This effect has been attributed to interference by the MAOI with the hyperglycemic role of the sympathoadrenal system in glucose homeostasis, possibly through replacement of endogenous stored catecholamines by impotent "false transmitter." These hypotheses lead to certain expectations, none of which were realized in the present experiments. Instead, evidence was obtained that it is the hydrazine group present in certain MAOI's, rather than their MAOI activity, to which hypoglycemic action should be attributed. Hydrazine and the hydrazine MAOI, phenelzine, induced similar decreases in plasma glucose and insulin levels of overnight fasted rats; phenelzine induced increases in plasma FFA levels. The nonhydrazine MAOI, pargyline, induced marked increases in plasma glucose levels.


Aim: To evaluate caries prevalence and associated factors in Quilombola communities. Methods: The study involved a cross-sectional study with Quilombola communities in Southeastern Brazil, in 2011. The data were collected by interviews and clinical examination. The sample was checked for caries prevalence (dmft and DMFT index) by one trained and calibrated dentist, reaching acceptable levels of agreement for data collection. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequency distribution. The significance of the associations between the dependent variable (dental caries) and the independent variables was verified using chi-squared or Fisher's Exact tests. Variables with a p-value <0.25 were tested using multiple logistic regression models in order to keep those with a pd"0.05 value. Odds ratios were estimated using regression models and 95% confidence intervals. The population consisted of 171 quilombolas (97% of total). Results: Mean dmft value was 1.91 (± 2.71) at age d"5 years and mean DMFT values were 1.20 (± 1.49), 3.50 (± 2.23), 10.3 (± 4.79), 22.9 (± 5.37), 22.8 (± 4.12), respectively in the age groups: 6-12, 13-18, 19-34, 35-59 years and 60 years or older. Age less than 5 years (p-value 0.014), own perception of oral health (p-value 0.040) and education level were variables associated with dental caries in permanent teeth and need for treatment in the deciduous dentition. Conclusions: High prevalence of dental caries indicates the need for restructuring the dental care provided to the quilombolas.


The Camerina A to Miogypsinoides A sediments of Southwest Louisiana have provided a myriad of ideas for drillable prospects over the past 30 or more years, yet a critical question remains unanswered, concerning the authors understanding of the depositional patterns for these sediments. A regional study of the Camerina A to Miogypsinoides A sediments, combined with detailed correlations of the entire stratigraphic column, including the younger Marginulina vaginata-Marginulina howei sediment series and the older Cibicides hazzardi and Marginulina texana sediments, reveals that these sediments are normal and do not require special depositional theories for local field areas. This study also reveals that the sand depositional patterns are controlled by either the major depositional fault patterns affecting the entire Camerina A-Miogypsinoides A sediments or the major structural features present during deposition. A combination of both of these features is the most reasonable explanation when all available data are considered. A regional understanding of the structure and stratigraphy from the youngest to the oldest sediments is required before the depositional patterns for a sedimentary sequence such as the Camerina A-Miogypsinoides A can be properly understood. This can only be accomplished by complete, detailed log correlations that have been integrated with both regionalmore » and local paleontological data and, when available, with good-quality seismic data.« less


AbstractOBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility of cervical cancer screening in an urgent care clinic.
 DESIGN: Prospective randomized trial.
 SETTING: Public teaching hospital.
 PATIENTS: Women presenting to the urgent care clinic whose evaluation necessitated a pelvic examination were eligible for participation. Women who had a hysterectomy, had a documented Pap test at our institution in the past year, did not speak English or Spanish, or had significant vaginal bleeding were excluded. Women presenting to the gynecology clinic for a scheduled Pap test were used as a comparison group for rates of follow-up, Pap smear adequacy, and Pap smear abnormalities.
 INTERVENTIONS: Women randomized to the intervention group had a Pap test performed as part of their pelvic examination, while women in the usual care group were encouraged to schedule an appointment in the gynecology clinic at a later date. The women in the two groups completed identical questionnaires regarding cervical cancer risk factors and demographic information.
 MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Ninety-four (84.7%) of 111 women in the intervention group received a Pap test, as compared with 25 (29%) of 86 in the usual care group (P<.01). However, only 5 (24%) of 21 women with abnormal Pap smears in the intervention group received follow-up compared with 6 (60%) of 10 women seen during the same time period in the gynecology clinic for self-referred, routine annual examinations (P=.11). Pap smears obtained in the urgent care clinic were similar to those in the gynecology clinic with regard to abnormality rate (22.3% vs 20%; P=.75, respectively) and specimen adequacy (67% vs 72%; P=.54, respectively).
 CONCLUSIONS: Urgent care clinic visits can be used as opportunities to perform Pap test screening in women who are unlikely to adhere to cervical cancer screening recommendations. However, to accure the full potential benefit from this intervention, an improved process to ensure patient follow-up must be developed.


The past decade has witnessed immense developments in the field of network computing thanks to the rise of the cloud computing paradigm, which enables shared access to a wealth of computing and storage resources without needing to own them. While cloud computing facilitates on-demand deployment, mobility and collaboration of services, mechanisms for enforcing security and performance constraints when accessing cloud services are still at an immature state. The highly dynamic nature of networks and clouds makes it difficult to guarantee any service level agreements. On the other hand, providing quality of service guarantees to users of mobile and cloud services that involve collaboration of multiple services is contingent on the existence of mechanisms that give accurate performance estimates and security features for each service involved in the composition. In this paper, we propose a distributed service monitoring and dynamic service composition model for network computing, which provides increased resiliency by adapting service configurations and service compositions to various types of changes in context. We also present a greedy dynamic service composition algorithm to reconfigure service orchestrations to meet user-specified performance and security requirements. Experiments with the proposed algorithm and the ease-of-deployment of the proposed model on standard cloud platforms show that it is a promising approach for agile and resilient network computing.


In the field of laboratory animals, there have been considerable improvements in environmental enrichment for mammalian species, but little remains available for aquatic species, in particular fish. Recent publications have shown benefits in providing laboratory Zebrafish (Danio rerio) certain types of enrichments, such as substrate and plants. This research article proposes a novel tank enrichment called the Aqualabyrinth, and the benefit of its use in laboratory Zebrafish. While the enrichment won 3rd place at the 2020 Janet Wood Innovation Award (JWIA) competition, the Aqualabyrinth is not yet available on the market. This novel enrichment proposes similar if not more qualities than current aquatic enrichments commercially available. More specifically, its ease of usage, maintenance, and modular configuration options make it an ideal choice for Laboratory fish tanks. Results showed interaction on average up to 10.5 per 3 fish within a 30 second test interval versus 6.25 per 3 fish within 30 seconds interval for a mouse igloo. With the additional benefits highlighted in this study, the Aqualabyrinth proves to be an efficient and practical environmental enrichment option, pending collaboration with interested manufacturers.


Filter radiometers sensitive from 280 to 320 nm and from 280 to 400 nm, respectively, were used for measurements of the actinic flux in the stratosphere. Since the instruments are calibrated for absolute spectral sensitivity the data can be compared with model calculations of the actinic flux. Data were obtained during seven balloon flights during the European Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Experiment (EASOE).


Graph sampling via crawling has been actively considered as a generic and important tool for collecting uniform node samples so as to consistently estimate and uncover various characteristics of complex networks. The so-called simple random walk with re-weighting (SRW-rw) and Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm have been popular in the literature for such unbiased graph sampling. However, an unavoidable downside of their core random walks -- slow diffusion over the space, can cause poor estimation accuracy. In this paper, we propose non-backtracking random walk with re-weighting (NBRW-rw) and MH algorithm with delayed acceptance (MHDA) which are theoretically guaranteed to achieve, at almost no additional cost, not only unbiased graph sampling but also higher efficiency (smaller asymptotic variance of the resulting unbiased estimators) than the SRW-rw and the MH algorithm, respectively. In particular, a remarkable feature of the MHDA is its applicability for any non-uniform node sampling like the MH algorithm, but ensuring better sampling efficiency than the MH algorithm. We also provide simulation results to confirm our theoretical findings.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) often localize to chromosomal fragile sites and are associated with cancer. In this study, we screened for the aberrant and functional miRNAs in the regions of copy number alterations (CNAs) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and found that miR-135b was frequently amplified and upregulated in HCC tissues. The expression level of miR-135b was inversely correlated with the occurrence of tumor capsules. In addition, miR-135b promoted HCC cell migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. The reversion-inducing-cysteine-rich protein with kazal motifs (RECK) and ecotropic viral integration site 5 (EVI5) were identified as the direct and functional targets of miR-135b in HCC. Furthermore, we observed that heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) directly activated miR-135b expression, consequently enhancing HCC cell motility and invasiveness. The newly identified HSF1/miR-135b/RECK&;EVI5 axis provides novel insight into the mechanisms of HCC metastasis, which may facilitate the development of new therapeutics against HCC.


To the Editor: Demodicosis is an infection of humans caused by species of the genus of saprophytic mites Demodex (most commonly Demodex brevis and Demodex folliculorum) that feed on the pilosebaceous unit.1 Demodex mites are believed to be a commensal species in humans; an increase in mite concentration or mite penetration of the dermis, however, can cause a shift from a commensal to a pathologic form.2 Demodicosis manifests in a variety of forms, including pityriasis folliculorum, rosacealike demodicosis, and demodicosis gravis. The likelihood of colonization increases with age; the mite rarely is observed in children but is found at a rate approaching 100% in the elderly population.3 It is hypothesized that manifestation of disease might be due to a decrease in immune function or an inherited HLA antigen that causes local immunosuppression.4 A 51-year-old man who was otherwise healthy presented to our clinic with a crusting rash on the face of 9 weeks' duration. The rash began a few days after he demolished a rotting wooden shed in his backyard. Lesions began as pustules on the left cheek, which then developed notable crusting over the next 5 to 7 days and spread to involve the forehead, nose, and right cheek (Figure 1A). The patient had no underlying immunosuppressive disease; a human immunodeficiency virus screen, complete blood cell count, and tests of hepatic function were all unremarkable. He denied a history of frequent or recurrent sinopulmonary infections, skin infections, or infectious diarrheal illnesses. He had been seen by his primary care physician who had treated him for herpes zoster without improvement. At our initial evaluation, biopsy was performed; specimens were sent for histopathologic analysis and culture. Findings included a dermal neutrophilic inflammation, a dense perivascular and perifollicular lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate with foci of neutrophilic pustules within the follicles (Figure 2), numerous intrafollicular Demodex mites (Figure 3), perifollicular vague noncaseating granuloma, and mild sebaceous hyperplasia. Grocott methenaminesilver stain and acid-fast bacilli stain were negative. Review of clinical and pathological data yielded a final diagnosis of crusted demodicosis with a background of rosacea. The patient was ultimately treated with a single dose of oral ivermectin 15 mg with a second dose 7 days later in addition to daily application of ivermectin cream 1% to affected areas of his rash. He had notable improvement with this regimen, with complete resolution within 6 weeks (Figure 1B). The patient noted mild recurrence 14 to 21 days after discontinuing topical ivermectin. The 2 species of Demodex that cause disease in humans each behave distinctively: D folliculorum, with a cigar-shaped body, favors superficial hair follicles; D brevis, a smaller form, burrows deeper into skin where it feeds on the pilosebaceous unit.1 Colonization occurs Crusted Demodicosis in an Immunocompetent Patient


We study representations of graphs by contacts of circular arcs, CCA-representations for short, where the vertices are interior-disjoint circular arcs in the plane and each edge is realized by an endpoint of one arc touching the interior of another. A graph is (2,k)-sparse if every s-vertex subgraph has at most 2s - k edges, and (2, k)-tight if in addition it has exactly 2n - k edges, where n is the number of vertices. Every graph with a CCA- representation is planar and (2, 0)-sparse, and it follows from known results on contacts of line segments that for k >= 3 every (2, k)-sparse graph has a CCA-representation. Hence the question of CCA-representability is open for (2, k)-sparse graphs with 0 <= k <= 2. We partially answer this question by computing CCA-representations for several subclasses of planar (2,0)-sparse graphs. In particular, we show that every plane (2, 2)-sparse graph has a CCA-representation, and that any plane (2, 1)-tight graph or (2, 0)-tight graph dual to a (2, 3)-tight graph or (2, 4)-tight graph has a CCA-representation. Next, we study CCA-representations in which each arc has an empty convex hull. We characterize the plane graphs that have such a representation, based on the existence of a special orientation of the graph edges. Using this characterization, we show that every plane graph of maximum degree 4 has such a representation, but that finding such a representation for a plane (2, 0)-tight graph with maximum degree 5 is an NP-complete problem. Finally, we describe a simple algorithm for representing plane (2, 0)-sparse graphs with wedges, where each vertex is represented with a sequence of two circular arcs (straight-line segments).


This paper extends earlier work by Johnson and Donal on the anomalous flicker effect, observed in tubes with a tungsten cathode under space charge limited condition, and attributed to positive ions emitted by the cathode. This extension involves the observation of the individual current pulses causing the effect and the measurement of the flicker effect noise spectrum over a wide frequency range. The results indicate that these pulses are due to sudden bursts of about 104 positive ions emitted by the cathode in less than 1 μsec and trapped in the space charge for many μsec. The trapping time of the ions is determined from the shape of the pulses and from the noise spectrum, and the results are found to agree. An experiment that verifies directly that the effect is caused by positive ions also shows the way to eliminate the effect. A discussion of the nature of these sudden bursts is offered and various mechanisms for the observed decay of the pulses are presented.


Many studies highlighted β-arrestins (β-arr) as essential proteins behind the regulation of major cell signaling pathways in different types of cancer. An impaired β-arrestin 1 (β-arr 1) activation/phosphorylation was suggested to be associated with a high malignant phenotype of glioma. Elevated levels of β-arrestin 2 (β-arr 2) mRNA were also found in advanced stages of breast cancer compared to early stages. In addition, β2-arrestin was also linked to a suppressive effect on tumor growth in other types of cancers such as prostate or non-small cell lung cancer. In this study, we analyzed the effect of β-arr 1 overexpression on the cytotoxic effect of Temozolomide (TMZ) in two malignant glioma (MG) cell lines: U-343MGa and Cl2:6. For this purpose, the cells were transected with β-arr 1 and then treated with different concentrations of TMZ for 24, 48 and 72 hours. At the end of the treatment, the cell viability was analyzed by Prestoblue viability assay. Our results showed that TMZ treatment induced cytotoxicity in MG cells while β-arr 1 transfection significantly reduced the TMZ cytotoxic effect in both U-343MGa and Cl2:6 MG cell lines. These results suggest that β-arr 1 overexpression may be a cause of TMZ resistance in MG.


Investigation into the failures of input modules at functional testing after assembly revealed unique damage to the emitters of the bipolar custom integrated circuit used as a receiver. Using a form of reverse engineering revealed that the damage could only be produced by a high energy pulse of short duration. Simulating the input circuit using discrete devices confirmed that similar circuit structures with the same applied stresses gave identical results. It was found that an energy level of 275 μJ gave a similar type of damage to that observed from the assembly failures.

The mechanism of failure had to explain why this unique damage was produced at random on any one of four input transistors together with the occasional failure (around one in ten) which did not show this type of damage. This type of failure was traced to short circuits breaking down the insulation oxide to supply lines underlying the input track. Because the damage to the emitters of the input transistors could only be produced by pulsing the discharge from input to input, it was concluded that the damage could be electrostatic in nature. When electrostatic protection precautions were introduced at the delivery of the circuit modules and the earlier assembly stages of the equipment, these failures were totally eliminated.


The role of biochemical regulation in the healing of epidermal wounds remains the subject of much biological debate. We have previously developed a mathematical model which focuses on the role of mitogenic autoregulation in reepithelialization (23-25). Here, we discuss some predictions of our model and their clinical relevance. We investigate both the effects of adding mitotic regulators to healing wounds and the dependence of healing time on wound shape. The latter study suggests a possible mechanism for the control of changes in wound shape during healing. The predictions we make are amenable to experimental verification, and suggest new ideas for experimental research.


A colony of social insects is not only an aggregation of individuals but also a functional unit. To achieve adaptive social behavior in fluctuating environmental conditions, in addition to coordination of physiological status in each individual, the whole colony is coordinated by interactions among colony members. The study on the regulation of social-insect colonies is termed "social physiology." Termites, a major group of social insects, exhibit many interesting phenomena related to social physiology, such as mechanisms of caste regulation in a colony. In their colonies, there are different types of individuals, i.e., castes, which show distinctive phenotypes specialized in specific colony tasks. Termite castes comprise reproductives, soldiers and workers, and the caste composition can be altered depending on circumstances. For the regulation of caste compositions, interactions among individuals, i.e., social interactions, are thought to be important. In this article, we review previous studies on the adaptive meanings and those on the proximate mechanisms of the caste regulation in termites, and try to understand those comprehensively in terms of social physiology. Firstly, we summarize classical studies on the social interactions. Secondly, previous studies on the pheromone substances that mediate the caste regulatory mechanisms are overviewed. Then, we discuss the roles of a physiological factor, juvenile hormone (JH) in the regulation of caste differentiation. Finally, we introduce the achievements of molecular studies on the animal sociality (i.e., sociogenomics) in terms of social physiology. By comparing the proximate mechanisms of social physiology in termites with those in hymenopterans, we try to get insights into the general principles of social physiology in social animals.


BACKGROUND
Bodily pain and physical disability can negatively impact health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA).

OBJECTIVE
To assess the effects of treatment with a new agent, rofecoxib, on HRQL in patients with OA.

STUDY DESIGN
Randomized, double-blind, 6-week clinical trial comparing treatment with rofecoxib, 5 to 50 mg, with placebo in 672 patients with OA of the hip or knee.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Patient HRQL was assessed at baseline and at the end of treatment using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).

RESULTS
At 6 weeks, mean change from baseline in all SF-36 mental and physical health domain scores demonstrated significant improvement with rofecoxib use (P < .05 for all doses for all SF-36 domains), with evidence of a dose-response relation. Improvements in mental and physical HRQL domains with rofecoxib treatment were significantly greater than those with placebo treatment (P < .05 for each dose of rofecoxib vs placebo for all domains except general health) and highly correlated with improvements observed using disease-specific OA outcome measures such as the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index-visual Analog 3.0 OA index pain and physical function subscales. The effect of rofecoxib vs placebo treatment on mental health largely disappeared after adjustment for improvement in OA disease-specific measures.

CONCLUSIONS
Rofecoxib treatment increased physical and mental HRQL domain scores on the SF-36. Improvements in mental health with rofecoxib use primarily resulted from effective treatment of OA (i.e., reduction in pain and improvement in physical function).


Histocompatibility in their intra-cellular form for stabilisation of structure; extracellular act as mediators of immune response. The extracellular HSPs are part of the innate and adaptive immune response and are involved in the process of antigen presentation. of our study to find out if an association between polymorphisms of MHC located HSP70 genes and subgroups of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy exists.


We report the discovery of a large-scale coherent filamentary structure of Lyα emitters in the redshift space at z = 3.1. We carried out spectroscopic observations to map the three-dimensional structure of the beltlike feature of the Lyα emitters discovered by our previous narrowband imaging observations centered on the protocluster at z = 3.1. The feature was found to consist of at least three physical filaments connecting with each other. The result is in qualitative agreement with the prediction of the "biased" galaxy formation theories that galaxies preferentially formed in large-scale filamentary or sheetlike mass overdensities in the early universe. We also found that the two known giant Lyα emission-line nebulae showing high star formation activities are located near the intersection of these filaments, which presumably evolves into a massive cluster of galaxies in the local universe. This may suggest that massive galaxy formation occurs at a characteristic place in the surrounding large-scale structure at high redshift.


As a major constituent of cell membrane, cholesterol is essential for cellular homeostasis through the control of membrane fluidity and permeability. Abnormal levels of cholesterol can have important cellular consequences and may lead to diseases such as atherosclerosis and type II diabetes. Therefore, cells have developed complex mechanisms to regulate the abundance of intracellular cholesterol. Among these mechanisms, the process referred to as reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) has been shown to be critical for the removal of excess cholesterol from peripheral tissues and its transport to the liver via plasma for excretion [1]. RCT is initiated when cells including macrophages efflux out the excess of cholesterol to prevent intracellular over-accumulation. This step is tightly regulated through the action of ATP-binding cassette transporters ABCA1, ABCG1 and scavenger receptor class BI (SR-BI) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) which serves as the major acceptor for cellular cholesterol released in extrahepatic tissues [2]. Following cholesterol efflux, HDL-cholesterol is transported from the tissue back into the blood circulation. In the final step of RCT, the majority of HDL-derived cholesterol is removed from the liver by secretion into the bile [1, 2]. In contrast to the knowledge on the mechanisms by which cholesterol is effluxed out of the cells and its fate after reaching the liver, little information is available on how HDL-cholesterol travels from the peripheral tissues back to the blood circulation.

Since one of the major roles of lymphatic vessels is to drain macromolecules from the interstitial space back to the circulation and lymph is rich in cholesterol and HDL [3], the implication of lymphatics in the transport of lipoproteins from interstitium to blood has been suspected. The recent studies by Martel et al., and Lim et al., now provide convincing evidence for a role of lymphatic vessels in RCT [4, 5]. Indeed, impairment of lymphatic drainage induced by surgical excision in wild-type mice [4, 5] or naturally occurring in mice lacking the expression of one allele of vascular endothelial growth factor-C receptor [4] significantly decreased the efficiency of RCT. Furthermore, Lim et al., showed that the transport of effluxed cholesterol from peripheral tissue to the blood circulation via lymphatics is not passive as anticipated but an active process dependent on HDL and SR-BI [5]. Therefore, these new findings establish that lymphatic vessels tightly regulate RCT through the active transport of HDL-cholesterol.

Accumulation of cholesterol in tissues including arteries and skin is a hallmark of atherosclerosis and xanthomas, respectively, and these features are recapitulated in mouse models lacking apoE (apoE−/−) or LDL receptor which develop hypercholesterolemia. Interestingly, we showed previously that skin lymphatic vessels in these hypercholesterolemic mice exhibit structural defects which severely compromise their function [6]. These observations suggest that the accumulation of cholesterol in arteries and skin from hyper-cholesterolemic mice may result from poor lymphatic drainage. We now provide definitive evidence that restoring lymphatic function in apoE−/− mice ameliorates the clearance of cholesterol from skin by supporting RCT [5]. In strong agreement with these findings in skin, Martel et al., showed in an elegant surgical model of aorta transplantation that impeding lymphatic vessel growth interferes with the removal of cholesterol from the transplanted aorta [4]. Altogether, these findings reveal the potential atheroprotective role of lymphatic drainage by actively contributing to RCT.

The relevance of these findings in humans is supported by clinical studies reporting a possible interconnection between lymphatic function and lipid accumulation in tissues (Figure (Figure1).1). Patients with familial combined hyperlipidemia, a genetic dyslipidemia, which share similar clinical and biochemical features with type II diabetes mellitus, obesity and the metabolic syndrome showed decreased expression of FOXC2 and Prox-1 genes in their adipose tissue [7]. Since these two genes regulate the structure and function of lymphatic vessels these findings support the hypothesis that defective lymphatic drainage may contribute to this lipid disorder. Massive lipid deposits are evident in the edematous tissues of patients with lymphedema and poor lymphatic drainage has been associated with the formation of xanthomas in humans [8]. However, it remains to be determined whether RCT is affected in patients with lymphedema. Interestingly, the use of compression garments to resolve lymphedema ameliorate xanthomatous eruptions in patients [8]. Therefore, promoting efficient lymphatic drainage in lipid-related diseases including atherosclerosis and diabetes whose prevalence will continue to augment as a result of increase in aging population may be an attractive therapeutic intervention that deserves future investigations.

Figure 1

Lymphatic vessels are important for peripheral lipid clearance. Under normocholesterolemic conditions, functional lymphatic vessels regulate cholesterol transport from extra-hepatic tissues by contributing to RCT. Hypercholesterolemic conditions results ...


Background : Statistical type II error has seemed to be ignored commonly by medical researchers. To control and present a power value could be helpful to reduce this type of error and to improve a quality of scientific decision making. We performed the post-hoc survey of the power of the negative results in Korean Journal of Anesthesiology (KJA).
Methods : One Hundred nineteen articles with negative results published in KJA during a year of 1997 were selected. We collected the numbers of the sample size and calculated the power of the given negative result only when applicable. And each author's attitude to negative results was taken by arbitrary criteria.
Results : Median sample size of these negative results was 16 12 (median interquartile range). We can calculate the power only in 43 articles of 119 negative results. Median power is 18.0% (interquartile range 26.0). In thirty six articles (83.8% of 43) the powers are proved to be under 80.0%. And 22 articles (51.2% of 43) have the powers even under 20.0%. We couldn't find any author who included either power or effect size in the article, and there was only one article in which its authors considered their inadequate number of sample size.
Conclusions : We conclude that authors of KJA tend to ignore statistical type II error. In 119 negative results published in KJA during 1997, the calculated powers were very low and were not reported in the text. (Korean J Anesthesiol 1999; 36: 286∼292)


With glucocorticoid receptor (GR) blockade by RU38486, a competitive antagonist of GR, the change in contents of FITC labeled albumin (FITC-albumin) in pulmonary and renal tissue in scalded rats have been measured to study the changes in vascular permeability. The result showed that the contents of FITC-albumin in pulmonary and renal tissue in the scalded rats were markedly higher than those of the controls (lung: P < 0.05, kidney: P < 0.001). When the scalded rats were given GR blockade, the contents of FITC-albumin in pulmonary and renal tissue were significantly higher than those of rats with scald only (P < 0.05). The results indicated: (1) the pulmonary and renal vascular permeability in scalded rats was markedly enhanced; (2) GR blockade might aggravate the increase in vascular permeability caused by scald, so that the protective effect of glucocorticoid (GC) on vascular permeability seemed to be reversed.


This study compared samples of less-masculine-sounding (LMS) and more-masculine-sounding (MMS) male speech to identify acoustic characteristics, other than fundamental frequency, that might contribute to the perception of these categories. In the first phase, audiorecorded speech samples provided by 35 males were presented to 35 female listeners in a paired-comparison perceptual experiment. Nineteen of the male speech samples were judged reliably to fall within the LMS or MMS categories. Within those 19 samples, 8 speakers (4 LMS and 4 MMS) exhibited similar distributions of habitual fundamental frequency values in connected speech and in sustained phonation. In the second phase of the experiment, various acoustic measures of these eight connected speech samples were conducted. Significant differences between measures of fundamental frequency contours, vowel formant midpoint values, and in the first, third and fourth spectral moments of two fricatives were revealed. These findings may be useful in creating stylized synthetic speech that varies on the dimension of masculinity, and they may have clinical relevance for patients wishing to modify the perception of masculinity invoked by their speech.


Psychological detachment is the central experience of recovery from work-related stress that allows individuals to reduce burnout symptoms. The stressor-detachment model (SDM) contends that job resources moderate the relationship between job stressors and psychological detachment. We designed an instrument to measure job resources from a multidimensional perspective. A sample of n = 394 individuals from the health service industry participated in the study. Data indicate that job resources comprise a four-factor structure underlying a formative model. Consistent with the SDM, a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis suggests a moderating effect of job resources (e.g., control over working conditions, leaders' emotional support), between work intensification and psychological detachment. In addition; results indicate that workers who perceive high levels of support from their organization achieved higher levels of detachment compared with those who perceived low levels of support. Theoretical as well as practical implications for stress management practices, occupational health, and well-being are discussed.


Calves are born with a naïve immune system at birth and undergo rapid changes in terms of immunity. This study focused on evaluating the effect of S. boulardii CNCMI-1079 (SCB) supplementation from birth on immunoglobulin A (IgA) production in the gut of neonate dairy calves. Holstein bull calves (n = 20) were delivered naturally and immediately removed from the dam, and housed in individual straw-bedded pens with a random assignment to a treated group (supplementation with SCB: 10 × 109 CFU/d in each morning meal) or a control group (no supplementation). All the calves received two first meals of a standardized colostrum at 2 h and 12 h after birth followed by two meals per day of milk replacer (7.5% of birth BW; 260 g/kg CP; 160 g/kg crude fat, at 150g/L). Calves were euthanized at 7 d of age and samples from jejunum, ileum and colon were collected. The concentration of IgA and the gene expressions of polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR) and a receptor of plasma B cells (CD79α) were compared between the two groups and among the locations. The expression of CD79α was up-regulated in the ileum compared to jejunum and colon tissues (P < 0.01), whereas pIgR down-regulated in the ileum compared to jejunum and colon (P < 0.01). The supplementation of SCB increased the IgA concentration in the ileum and colon of treated calves compared to the control calves (respectively 1.98 ± 0.09 vs 1.18 ± 0.15 mg/g DM of ileum content, and 1.45 ± 0.14 vs 0.59 ± 0.06 mg/g DM of colon content, P < 0.001). The results suggest that one of the mechanisms by which SCB exerts an immunoprotective effect in the gut is by stimulation of IgA's secretion which may play a major role in mucosal protection in neonatal calves.