For fashion outfits to be considered aesthetically pleasing, the garments that constitute them need to be compatible in terms of visual aspects, such as style, category and color. Previous works have defined visual compatibility as a binary classification task with items in a garment being considered as fully compatible or fully incompatible. However, this is not applicable to Outfit Maker applications where users create their own outfits and need to know which specific items may be incompatible with the rest of the outfit. To address this, we propose the Visual InCompatibility TransfORmer (VICTOR) that is optimized for two tasks: 1) overall compatibility as regression and 2) the detection of mismatching items and utilize fashion-specific contrastive language-image pre-training for fine tuning computer vision neural networks on fashion imagery. We build upon the Polyvore outfit benchmark to generate partially mismatching outfits, creating a new dataset termed Polyvore-MISFITs, that is used to train VICTOR. A series of ablation and comparative analyses show that the proposed architecture can compete and even surpass the current state-of-the-art on Polyvore datasets while reducing the instance-wise floating operations by 88%, striking a balance between high performance and efficiency. We release our code at https://github.com/stevejpapad/Visual-InCompatibility-Transformer


Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) that belong to the third generation of solar cells are attractive due to cheap and ease of solar cell fabrication. Therefore, much research has been conducted to create an efficient solar cell. The following research illustrates for the first time development of aligned ZnO nanorod on Sn-doped ZnO films by using sonicated sol-gel immersion methods for dye-sensitized solar cells and the fabricated DSSCs show the improvement of photovoltaic properties and than from a novel photoanode of nano-composited aligned ZnO nanorod/TiO2:Nb a significant improvement on photovoltaic properties was obtained. The Sn-doped ZnO films were used as a seed layer for nanorod growth, where the Sn-doped ZnO films at 2 at.% shows the best of electrical and optical properties. As a result, the aligned ZnO nanorod with relatively high aspect ratio was grown on ITO-coated glass at 2 at.% Sn-doped ZnO films using sonicated sol-gel immersion methods. The resulting of ZnO nanorod length and diameter were around 1.8μm and 120nm, respectively. Since the absorption of dye is dependent to aspect ratio or surface area ZnO nanorod and therefore the fabricated DSSCs shows improvement of energy conversion efficiency 0.599% as compared to the fabricated DSSCs using aligned ZnO nanorod on undoped ZnO film, ZnO nanorod on 1 at.% Sn-doped ZnO film and ZnO nanorod on 3 at.% Sn-doped ZnO film were 0.107%, 0.250%, and 0.206%, respectively. Besides that, the surface area of aligned ZnO nanorod was increased by varying the solution concentration parameter. It was found that by using 0.03M Zinc acetate solution the aspect ratio of ZnO nanorod was higher as compared to 0.05M. Therefore, the fabricated DSSCs using 0.03M ZnO nanorod shows the improvement of efficiency to 0.989 %. The aligned ZnO nanorod with better aspect ratio and larger surface area was efficiently for dye absorption and light harvesting that contributed to the improvement of DSSCs. Meanwhile, the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles on top of ZnO nanorods might increase the internal surface area of photoanode that absorbed more dye molecules and resulting of increasing the photocurrent density 8.579 mA/cm2 as well as energy conversion efficiency of 2.543%. Furthermore, the improvement of DSSCs for nano-composited aligned ZnO nanorod/ TiO2:Nb was closely related to the improvement of electrical properties of TiO2 nanoparticle from Nb-doped TiO2 at 5 at.%. The Nb-doped TiO2 at 5 at.% shows higher of electrical properties that contributes better of electron transport properties. A novel photoanode of nanocomposited aligned ZnO nanorod/TiO2 with Nb-doped TiO2 at 5.% shows the significant improvement of photocurrent density and energy conversion efficiency of 18.156 mA/cm2 and 5.376%, respectively. The enhancement of energy conversion efficiency of the nano-composited aligned ZnO Nanorod/TiO2:Nb-5 at.% DSSCs can be due to the enhanced electron-injection efficiency caused by the positive shift in Vfb which help increase Jsc and reduce the charge recombination


This communication examines parasitic coupling to achieve higher bandwidth (BW) and further size reduction for low-profile PEC-backed equiangular spiral antennas. The parasitic loading is realized by metallic posts placed between the antenna plane and metal reflector. The parasitically excited metallic posts can considerably improve the antenna axial ratio at low frequencies as well as make it more rigid in construction. However, in practical applications, the low-profile equiangular spirals, albeit compact, suffer from the lack of a proper planar feed. To obviate this problem, a planar spiral-shaped microstrip feed is proposed.


INTRODUCTION The majority of current artificial hip implants use a material combination of ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene against metal or ceramic. However, it is well documented that the wear debris from these prostheses contributes to osteolysis and ultimate failure of the prosthesis, hence alternative materials have been sought, such as metalon-metal and ceramic-on-ceramic [1]. More recently, ceramic-on-metal bearing couples have been developed [2]. Metal-on-UHMWPE implants were first employed due to the low frictional properties of the UHMWPE material. Excessive frictional torque was cited as the cause of failure for first generation metal-onmetal implants [3]. However, it is generally accepted that the frictional torque generated in modern metal-on-metal implants would be insufficient to cause immediate mechanical failure. Nevertheless, friction studies provide a valuable indication of the tribological performance of a system. This study aimed to examine the effect of material, lubricant and swing phase load conditions on the friction of hip replacements.


. Alkenones and Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraether lipids (GDGT) as remnants of living organisms are widely used biomarkers for determining past oceans' water temperatures. The organisms these proxy carriers stem from, are influenced by a number of environmental parameters, such as water depth, nutrient availability, light conditions or seasonality, which all may significantly bias the calibration to ambient water temperatures. Reliable temperature determinations remain thus challenging, especially in higher latitudes and for under-sampled regions. We analyzed 33 sediment surface samples from 15 the Southern Chilean continental margin and the Drake Passage for alkenones and GDGTs and compared the results with gridded instrumental reference data from the World Ocean Atlas 2005 (WOA05), as well as previously published data from an extended study area covering the Central and Western South Pacific towards the New Zealand continental margin. We show that for alkenone-derived SSTs, the widely-used global core-top calibration of Müller et al. (1998) yields the smallest residuals, whereas the calibration of Sikes et al. (1997), adapted to higher latitudes and supposed to show summer SSTs, overestimates 20 modern WOA05-based (summer and annual mean) SSTs. Our alkenone SSTs show a slight seasonal shift of ~1° C at the Southern Chilean Margin and up to ~2° C in the Drake Passage towards austral summer SSTs, whereas samples in the Central South Pacific reflect an annual mean signal. We show that for GDGT-based temperatures, a more complex pattern emerges. In areas north of the Subantarctic Front (SAF) the subsurface calibration of Kim et al. (2012a) best reflects temperatures from the WOA05, largely within the margin error of ±2.2° C. Temperatures south of the SAF instead are significantly overestimated 25 by up to 14° C, irrespective of the applied calibration. Based on a qualitative assessment of the GDGT [2]/[3]-ratios, which likely indicate water depth of origin, our samples reflect a subsurface (0 to 200 m water depth) rather than a surface (0 – 50 m water depth) signal. The overestimation of surface and subsurface temperatures south of the SAF highlights the need for a re-assessment of existing calibrations in the polar Southern Ocean, and leads to limitations in reliably both obtaining absolute values and assessing relative changes. Therefore, we suggest a modified Southern Ocean calibration for surface and subsurface 30 GDGT-based temperatures, which shows a lower temperature sensitivity of the TEX L86 and yields principally lower absolute temperatures, which align more closely with WOA05-derived values.


The paper deals with the design and the application of robust control to a mixing device, where sodium chloride (NaCl) water solution and water are mixed and the solution with required concentration of NaCl is prepared. The controlled mixing unit is a system with parametric uncertainty and identified mathematical model of the process has the form of a transfer function with interval parametric uncertainty. The method for robust PI controller design is based on plotting the stability boundary locus of the closed-loop control system in the plane of parameters of PI controllers. The demands on quality of control are assured by the consequent choice of parameters of robust PI controllers from this plane using the pole-placement method.


PURPOSE
In this study we present our findings concerning the dynamics of language modalities in the isolation of the speech area syndrome (ISAS). The aim of the study was to establish: (1) the linguistic characteristic features of this group of patients; (2) the course of dynamics of language of each patient; (3) whether this course of dynamics is common for the whole group; (4) whether the course of dynamics we found matches with the report in the literature.

METHOD
Over a period of 5 years, nine patients with ISAS were diagnosed and treated in our department. They received varying lengths of treatment, and four were followed for 2-6 years after discharge.

RESULTS
Despite the common belief that the prognosis for language rehabilitation for these patients is poor, we found that some ISAS patients improved, even dramatically, after prolonged language treatment.

CONCLUSION
It is hoped that these findings will alter clinicians' attitudes towards these patients, and provide some hope for rehabilitation outcome.


The aminoglycoside antibiotic neomycin B inhibits translation in prokaryotes and interferes with RNA-protein interactions in HIV both in vivo and in vitro. Hitherto, inhibition of ribozyme catalysis has only been observed in vitro. We therefore monitored the activity of neomycin B and several other aminoglycoside antibiotics on splicing of the T4 phage thymidylate synthase (td) intron in vivo. All antibiotics tested inhibited splicing, even chloramphenicol, which does not inhibit splicing in vitro. Splicing of the td intron in vivo requires translation for proper folding of the pre-mRNA. In the absence of translation, two interactions between sequences in the upstream exon and the 5' and 3' splice sites trap the pre-mRNA in splicing-incompetent conformations. Their disruption by mutations rendered splicing less dependent on translation and also less sensitive to neomycin B. Intron splicing was affected by neither neomycin B nor gentamicin in Escherichia coli strains carrying antibiotic-resistance genes that modify the ribosomal RNA. Taken together, this demonstrates that in vivo splicing of td intron is not directly inhibited by aminoglycosides, but rather indirectly by their interference with translation. This was further confirmed by assaying splicing of the Tetrahymena group I intron, which is inserted in the E. coli 23 S rRNA and, thus, not translated. Furthermore, neomycin B, paromomycin, and streptomycin enhanced missplicing in antibiotic-sensitive strains. Missplicing is caused by an alternative structural element containing a cryptic 5' splice site, which serves as a substrate for the ribozyme. Our results demonstrate that aminoglycoside antibiotics display different effects on ribozymes in vivo and in vitro.


Ceacam6 (carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule) is a GPI-anchored membrane glycoprotein recently identified in human fetal lung undergoing in vitro hormone-induced differentiation of type II cells. The protein is a tumor biomarker in adult lung and selected other tissues, where it has antimicrobial activity; however, expression and function in lung have not been characterized. Undifferentiated epithelial cells were isolated by collagenase/trypsin digestion from human fetal lung (16-21 wk gestation) and cultured 1-5 d in the absence (control) or presence of DCI (dexamethasone, 10 nM; 8-Br-cAMP, 0.1 mM; isobutylmethylxanthine, 0.1 mM). Some cells in control media were treated with adenovirus Ad12A2 (0.5-6 pfu/cell) to overexpress thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) or were transfected by electroporation (AMAXA nucleofection technology) with siRNAs (200 nM) for TTF-1 or Ceacam6 to knockdown expression in the presence of DCI. CEACAM6 mRNA and protein were up-regulated ≈10-fold by exposure of fetal lung epithelial cells to either DCI or to a dose of Ad12A2 that produced a level of recombinant TTF-1 comparable with endogenous TTF-1 in DCI-treated cells. By confocal immunofluorescence, CEACAM6 localized to both intracellular vesicles, costaining with SP-B (ie, lamellar bodies), and to the plasma membrane of type II cells. Knockdown of TTF-1 (46 ± 4% of control) in DCI-treated cells reduced CEACAM6 mRNA and protein by 80% (n = 4). Knockdown of CEACAM6 expression by siRNA (88 ± 3%, n = 3) did not alter expression or staining patterns of TTF-1, SP-B or DC-LAMP (a lamellar body membrane protein). Secretion rates for CEACAM6 were similar for both DCI- and Ad12A2-treated cells, with no response to treatment with secretagogues that stimulate surfactant secretion. Treatment of cells with mannosamine, an inhibitor of GPI anchor synthesis, blocked ≈50% of CEACAM6 secretion, consistent with GPI-anchor involvement in the secretory mechanism. We conclude that CEACAM6 expression in primary fetal lung epithelial cells is regulated by glucocorticoid and cAMP and is dependent on TTF-1. CEACAM6 is associated with intracellular surfactant but is secreted primarily by a constitutive pathway independent of lamellar bodies. CEACAM6 may contribute to the innate defense mechanisms of the mature type II cell.


Enhancing the affinity of therapeutic T cell receptors (TCR) without altering their specificity is a significant challenge for adoptive immunotherapy. Current efforts have primarily relied on empirical approaches. Here, we used structural analyses to identify a glycine-serine variation in the TCR that modulates antigen sensitivity. A G at position 107 within the CDR3β stalk is encoded within a single mouse and human TCR, TRBV13-2 and TRBV12-5 respectively. Most TCR bear a S107. The S hydroxymethyl side chain intercalates into the core of the CDR3β loop, stabilizing it. G107 TRBV possess a gap in their CDR3β where this S hydroxymethyl moiety would fit. We predicted based on modeling and molecular dynamics simulations that a G107S substitution would increase CDR3β stability and thereby augment receptor sensitivity. Experimentally, a G107S replacement led to an ∼10–1000 fold enhanced antigen sensitivity in 3 of 4 TRBV13-2+ TCR tested. Analysis of fine specificity indicated a preserved binding orientation. These results support the feasibility of developing high affinity antigen specific TCR for therapeutic purposes through the identification and manipulation of critical framework residues. They further indicate that amino acid variations within TRBV not directly involved in ligand contact can program TCR sensitivity, and suggest a role for CDR3 stability in this programming.


A plastic–damage model for reinforced concrete frames is developed in this article, based on the classical plastic model and the continuum damage model. The plastic–damage constitutive law is implemented into a beam model for framed structures, in which these are described by elastic beams and columns with two inelastic hinges at their ends. A numerical procedure for predicting the member and global damage in framed structures using the matrix analysis is developed. Additionally, the article introduces a damage index useful in evaluating the state of structural members and a meaningful global damage index for whole structure. The plastic–damage model, together with the member and global damage indices, are adequate for the computation of the limit load of reinforced concrete frames subjected to seismic actions. Examples of applications of the methodology to the non-linear analysis of reinforced concrete framed structures are finally given. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Lesions affecting the left fusiform gyrus (FG) commonly result in dyslexia and recovery largely depends on efficient reorganization of the reading network. We performed a follow-up fMRI study to elucidate the reorganization patterns of the FG according to the recovery of reading ability in two patients (MH with pure alexia and KM with alexia with agraphia) after stroke involving the left FG. Initially, MH was an effortful letter-by-letter (LBL) reader, and she improved to become a proficient LBL reader. The initial fMRI results showed scattered activation on occipital and ventral temporal cortex during reading, which was localized to right FG in the follow-up study. KM's severe alexia with agraphia did not improve, even after 6 months had passed since the onset of the alexia. The initial and follow-up fMRI results showed no significant activation in the bilateral FG or central higher language areas during word reading. Our results suggest that the reorganization of the FG is different according to the type of alexia and the amount of clinical recovery in each patient. Also, the successful reorganization of the visual component of reading in the right FG is responsible for the recovery of LBL reading in pure alexia.


Our study was conducted with the aim of comparing the parameters such as personal control, self-care level, academic achievement and family characteristics that affect the problem solving skill levels of undergraduate and associate degree students studying in health departments. Our research is cross-sectional; those who study at the same university in one year; It was carried out on 200 students, 100 of whom are at undergraduate level and 100 of whom are at associate degree level. In order to obtain the demographic information of the students; the personal data collection form created by the researchers was used and the "Problem Solving Inventory (PSI)" was used to determine problem solving skill levels. Data collection forms and questionnaires were applied with one-on-one interview technique. The voluntariness of the participants was taken as a basis in filling out the questionnaires. After the descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation) of the socio-demographic data obtained and the scale scores and sub-dimension scores were made, two independent groups were compared by looking at their normal distribution conformity. The mean age of associate degree students participating in our study was 20.6 ± 1.26 and 20.8 ± 3.07 for undergraduate students. In comparisons made with PSI, which consists of three different sub-parameters, associate degree students are significantly more successful than undergraduate students in terms of "approach-avoidance", "personal control" and "problem solving questionnaire total score" (p˂0.05). No difference was found in terms of "confidence in problem solving ability" sub-dimension. In the comparison of the problem solving questionnaire by gender; no significant difference was found in sub-dimensions and total score (p˃0.05). As a result; in all comparisons, problem solving abilities do not differ according to gender. The problem solving skill level was found to be moderate for both genders. As the education level increases; the psychological state, which has an effect on the quality of life, increases in the negative direction. In terms of problem solving abilities, a negative correlation was found with education level in all sub-categories.


Cellular beams are structural steel beams that are deeper than normal rolled sections and have holes cut into their webs. As the web post failure may occur before the section reaches the limiting temperature usually an increase in the fire protection may be required for members with web openings in comparison to its equivalent solid section. The aim of this work is to present an experimental study of unloaded solid and cellular beams with circular holes in fire conditions with and without intumescent fire protection. These preliminary tests are the basis for generating an elemental multi-temperature analysis (EMTA) needed to assess cellular beams with intumescent protection as prescribed by the prEN133819.


Background: CD8 T lymphocytes are critical in the control of HIV replication and disease progression. Our previous studies demonstrated that CD8 T cells from chronically infected patients with high virus load proliferated poorly in response to interleukin-2 (IL-2), a cytokine critical in CD8 T cell growth and differentiation, even though relatively high levels of IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) were expressed. This suggested that signal transduction defects in response to IL-2 might be involved. The STAT5 transcription factor is important in IL-2-dependent biological responses and it is known that there are defects in unstimulated CD3 and CD4 cells in HIV-infected patients. Objective: To investigate whether the induction of STAT5 by IL-2 is altered in the CD8 T cells from HIV-positive individuals and the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on its status. Methods: CD8 T lymphocytes were purified from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HIV-positive patients before and after HAART. Ex vivo IL-2-induced STAT5 activation was evaluated by immunoblotting and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Results: CD8 T cells from a subset of untreated HIV-positive patients were unable to activate STAT5a and STAT5b proteins functionally in response to IL-2. This defect was not a result of alterations in IL-2R expression but correlated with an impaired activation of the upstream kinase Jak-3, known to mediate STAT5 activation. Overall, HAART restored Jak/STAT signalling in such patients. Conclusions: These results further uncover a potential mechanism by which CD8 T cell function is impaired in HIV-infected patients.


We formally de ne the Self-Modifying Finite Automaton (SMFA), a model of computation introduced in [RS93, RS94, RS95], as a subclass of a new more general model, the Self-Modifying Automaton (SMA). SMAs are similar to standard nite automata, but changes to the transition set are allowed during a computation. An SMFA is constrained in that it can have only nitely many di erent modi cation instructions, and the e ect of each instruction must be computable.


As in other rice growing locales around the world, in Kerala too, various climatic, edaphic, biological, physical, physiological and socio-economic variables impact the area, production, and productivity of the rice. Bacterial blight (BB), an important biotic stress caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) assumes a huge role in deciding rice profitability in Kerala. PTB 39 (Jyothi) and Mo 16 (Uma) are both elite rice varieties of Kerala, but extremely susceptible to the bacterial blight. Host-plant resistance is advocated as the most effective breeding strategy to combat the BB in contrast to the use of hazardous plant protection chemicals. Breeders have attempted to introgress disease resistance genes (R-genes) into rice cultivars to impart BB resistance. Markerassisted selection (MAS) enables pyramiding multiple R-genes along with rapid background recovery of the recurrent parent, while maintaining the exquisite quality characteristics of rice. Considering the impact of the disease on food security and sustainability, efforts to introgress three R-genes (xa5, xa13 and Xa21) into the variety Jyothi from donor parent Improved Samba Mahsuri (ISM) through MAS were made. Foreground selection of the BC2F4 individuals was done using the Sequence Tagged Sites (STS) as well as functional markers. Foreground selection of the BC2F4 individuals was done using the xa5 gene linked STS marker RG556. Restriction digestion of the PCR product of the STS marker with Dra1 restriction enzyme, resulted in production of alleles of size 238bp and 438bp in all the BC 2F4 individuals including the parents, indicating the presence of R-gene xa5. Amplification of DNA of the individuals with the functional marker xa5SR further confirmed the presence of R-gene xa5 in the parents as well as in the 51 BC 2F4 individuals. Foreground selection with STS marker pTA 248 to detect the presence of Xa21 gene revealed that in BC 2F4 Plant No. 9 and plant no. 21 amplicon of size 992 bp, as found in the donor parent ISM was present. And background selection was done by using rice microsatellite (RM) simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers.


Facilitating axon regeneration in the injured central nervous system remains a challenging task. RAF–MEK signaling plays an important role in axon elongation during nervous system development. Here we show that activation of B-RAF in mature corticospinal neurons elicited the expression of a discrete set of transcription factors previously implicated in the regeneration of zebrafish optic nerve axons. Genetic activation of B-RAF–MEK signaling promoted robust regeneration and sprouting of corticospinal tract axons after injury. Newly sprouting axon collaterals formed synaptic connections with spinal interneurons, correlating with the recovery of skilled motor function. Seeking a non-invasive way to stimulate axon regeneration, we found that suprathreshold high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation activates the B-RAF canonical effectors MEK1/2 and requires MEK1/2 activity to promote corticospinal axon regeneration and sprouting after injury. These data demonstrate a central role of neuron-intrinsic RAF–MEK signaling in enhancing the growth capacity of mature corticospinal neurons and propose HF-rTMS as a potential therapy for spinal cord injury. One Sentence Summary Genetic or HF-rTMS-mediated activation of B-RAF– MEK signaling promotes CST axon sprouting and functional regeneration after a spinal cord injury.


Objective To identify issues with the Swedish e-prescribing system and devise a set of recommendations to overcome the identified challenges. Methods A number of health information technology-related incidents were collected retrospectively from various sources using purposive and snowball sampling. A search term containing five keywords was used to identify the electronic prescription-related incidents. The identified incidents (n = 24) were subjected to an existing framework, i.e., the Health Information Technology Classification System. Special attention was paid to the software-related issues, which were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Several types of software-related issues (n = 22) were identified: system configuration, interface with other software systems or components, software functionality, data storage and backup, record migration, software not accessible, and network/server down or slow. Both human and technical factors contributed to these incidents, including prescriptions not cancelled actively, drug handling errors, software programming errors, and system updates/upgrades. These software problems led to various consequences, such as incidents affecting multiple patients' care management, delays in patient care, and risks of serious deterioration of health. Several temporary initiatives or administrative adjustments, for instance, cover letters to patients and local strategies, were used to overcome some of these challenges. Conclusions This study provides insights into the challenges related to the e-prescribing system, contributing factors, consequences, and actions taken to mitigate those risks. Therefore, healthcare organisations using the e-prescribing system should adopt the provided recommendations to minimise the risks of design and developmental challenges, implementation and use-related issues, and the problems related to monitoring, evaluation, and optimisation.


Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare infiltrative tumor of mesenchymal origin that has high rates of local recurrence. We present the case of a 42-year-old patient with a lump in the vaginal canal, treated with excisional biopsy. Histopathologic evaluation revealed myxoid spindle-cell proliferation in the subepithelial region, and immunohistochemical analysis was positive for CDK4, CD34, desmin, estrogen and progesterone receptors. The markers S100 and smooth muscle actin were negative, what corroborated the diagnosis of AAM. Because of its high recurrence rates, we opted for outpatient follow-up during the two subsequent years.


Kinetics of net phosphate (Pi) uptake was measured on intact ectomycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal Pinus sylvestris seedlings using a semihydroponic cultivation method. The depletion of Pi in a nutrient solution was assessed over a 160–0.2 μM Pi gradient. Growth of the pine seedlings was P limited and measurements were performed 7 and 9 weeks after inoculation. Three ectomycorrhizal fungi were studied: Paxillus involutus, Suillus bovinus and Thelephoraterrestris. Pi uptake was extremely fast in plants colonised by P. involutus. The Pi concentration dropped below 0.2 μM within 4–5 h. In plants colonised with S. bovinus this occurred in 5–6 h and in plants associated with T. terrestris 8 h were needed to run through the whole concentration range. Non-mycorrhizal plants of similar size and nutrient status decreased Pi to a concentration between 1 and 2 μM in 18 h. Data were curve fitted to a two-phase Michaelis-Menten equation. The apparent kinetic constants, Km and Vmax, for the high affinity Pi uptake system of the pine roots could be estimated accurately. Vmax of this system was up to 7 times higher in pines associated with P. involutus than in non-mycorrhizal seedlings. The intact extraradical mycelium greatly increased the absorption surface area of the roots (Vmax). Non-mycorrhizal plants had a Km between 7.8 and 16.4 μM Pi. Plants mycorrhizal with P. involutus had Km values between 2.4 and 7.2, plants colonised with S. bovinus had a Km between 5.1 and 12.3, and seedlings associated with T. terrestris had a Km from 4.6 to 10.1 μM Pi. All 3 ectomycorrhizal fungi had a strong impact on the Pi absorption capacity of the pine seedlings. The results also demonstrated that there is substantial heterogeneity in kinetic parameters among the different mycorrhizal root systems.


In our previous paper (Matsuo, K., Isogai, E., and Araki, Y., Carbohydr. Res., 328: 517–524, 2000), antigenic polysaccharides obtained from the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) fraction of a nonpathogenic leptospira, Leptospira biflexa patoc Patoc I, are shown to be broadly crossreactable with most rabbit antisera elicited by immunization with various pathogenic leptospires. The result led us to test a protective effect of the same LPS in a hamster model system by heterologously challenging with a pathogenic leptospira, L. interrogans manilae UP‐MMG. Firstly, a similarity in the antigenic epitopes of L. biflexa and L. interrogans was confirmed by the following assays. In the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), a hamster antiserum elicited by immunization with the L. biflexa‐LPS preparation was shown to agglutinate cells of L. interrogans. Contrarily, in the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the L. biflexa‐LPS preparation was shown to crossreact with a hamster antiserum elicited by immunization with whole cells of L. interrogans. These results suggest that the same or closely related antigens may be present on the cell surfaces of both L. biflexa patoc Patoc I and L. interrogans manilae UP‐MMG. Furthermore, in a protective assay, the prior administration of a L. biflexa‐LPS preparation resulted in raising a protective response in hamsters against challenge by L. interrogans without any side effect. The protective effect was strongly dependent on the dose amounts and/or administration times of L. biflexa‐LPS. Thus, L. biflexa‐LPS preparations can use as a potent vaccine against leptospirosis caused by various leptospires.


Abstract:  Javanese has been studied from many different perspectives. However, no one discusses how Javanese respond to compliments politely. The aim of this study is to investigate the politeness strategies as applied to respond to compliments by the Javanese people in Jember, East Java. The notion of politeness plays crucial role in the realization of speech acts (utterances and verbal communication) in Javanese, such as responding to compliements. As utterances and verbal communications should be interpreted based on the sosio-cultural background, the politeness strategies in responding to compliments in Javanese cannot be separated from the concepts of the Javanese culture, such as: andhap-asor (lowering oneself , while exalting the others) and tanggap ing sasmita (understanding the hidden meaning). First, as a Javanese, one must be able to apply the concept of andhap-asor in responding to compliments by denigrating himself. Second, a good Javanese should also have a sense of tanggap ing sasmita while responding to compliments. Consequently, failure to apply one of the cultural factors can be detrimental to the speaker, reducing the harmony of the conversation. This paper examines how politeness is manifested and conveyed within the major framework of the Javanese culture. This study is about socio-cultural pragmatics in which utterances are discussed in relation to their situations, and the cultural background which support them. The data are in the form of dialogues among students-teachers, and students-students which show the different social status among the interlocutors. The data of this research were collected by recording, and by note taking (for the parts in which recording is not possible). The data are aimed to generate the strategies used by the Javanese (in Jember, Indonesia) to build politeness strategies in responding to compliments. Finally, the data of this research are examined both from the general theory of politeness, and the Javanese cultural concepts ( andhap-asor and tanggap ing sasmita ). This study provides important findings which reveal that responding to compliments in Javanese can be achieved in five strategies: (1) disagreeing and denigrating, (2) disagreing and raising a question, (3) accepting and turning back, (4) accepting and giving explanation, and (5) accepting only, or accepting and offering.


Phase-change optical disks with novel GaSbTe recording media were prepared in the DVD+RW format and evaluated by a dynamic tester at 1X speed. The studied compositions locate along the Sb/sub 7/Te/sub 3/-GaSb and Sb/sub 2/Te/sub 3/-GaSb pseudo-binary tielines. The disks were prepared by an RF co-sputtering method. Enhanced recrystallization has been demonstrated in the disks with Sb/sub 7/Te/sub 3/-rich recording layer. An approximated composition Ga/sub 2/Sb/sub 5/Te/sub 3/ even exhibited a nearly complete erasure (CNR/spl sim/45 dB, dcerasability/spl sim/-40 dB). Relationship between the dynamic characteristics and crystal structure of the GaSbTe materials has been proposed.


Abstract In order to clarify the phase relation in the Ni–Ge–O system and to obtain the activity of germanium in solid Ni–Ge alloys, phase equilibrium experiments and EMF measurements with a zirconia-based solid electrolyte are performed from 950 to 1100 K. The results are as follows: 1) Ni-rich alloys with less than 24.0 at.% Ge cannot coexist with GeO2 (tetragonal). 2) In solid Ni–Ge alloys with 24.0–44.7 at.% Ge, the activity of Ge changes sharply in the Ni5Ge3 phase region and the temperature dependence of the activity is very small. 3) Equilibrium oxygen partial pressures are obtained in the whole composition range in the ternary Ni–Ge–O system at 1050 K.


Median filters have been shown to be effective in removing impulsive noise from images. This paper proposes three different directional median filter implementations on FPGA. The techniques are capable of performing median filtering operations for four different directions simultaneously. These implementations are extensions to an existing cumulative histogram-based median filtering technique. Yet, directional processing was not addressed in previous work. Directional median filters process images along the direction of the filtering window, and have been shown to be more effective in removing impulsive noise compared to traditional median filters. All techniques aimed to decrease processing time, while reducing the resource utilization on hardware. Experimental results confirmed that all three techniques are synthesizable and implementable on Xilinx Virtex 5. There is a trade-off between resource utilization and processing time among the three techniques.


Expression of Fli-1, a member of the Ets family of transcription factors, is implicated in the development of nephritis in murine models of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5, also known as RANTES) plays an important role in the inflammatory cell infiltration. In this study, we examined the role of Fli-1 on chemokine production and inflammatory cell infiltration in conjunction with nephritis development in NZM2410 mice, an animal model of SLE. We generated Fli-1 heterozygous knockout NZM2410 mice (Fli1+/-; Fli-1 homozygous knockout is embryonic lethal) and wild-type (WT) littermate (Fli1+/+) mice as controls. Expression of MCP-1 and CCL5 in the kidneys from 18-week old Fli-1+/- NZM2410 mice was significantly decreased compared to that from WT littermates. The number of macrophages, neutrophil granulocytes, T cells and B cells in the kidneys from 34-week Fli-1+/- NZM2410 mice decreased by 44 - 75% compared to WT littermate controls. The productions of MCP-1 in endothelial cells transfected with specific Fli-1 siRNA were significantly reduced compared to cells transfected with negative control siRNA. Our data indicate that Fli-1 plays an important role in production of inflammatory chemokine MCP-1 and inflammatory cell infiltration in the lupus nephritis development.


Peritoneal macrophages were studied by light and electron microscopy in normal adult mice 24 h after 3 daily injections of preparations of leucocytes and platelets. Crystalloid inclusions, similar to those seen in bone marrow macrophages of normal adult mice and in man, were occasionally observed in peritoneal macrophages after administration buffy-coat white cells but not after platelets. They were much more frequently seen following the ingestion of eosinophil-rich granulocytes and were almost always associated with secondary lysosomes. Energy-dispersive analysis of X-ray provided further evidence that both crystalloid inclusions and lysosomes originated from the injected granulocytes. These observations suggest that crystalloid inclusions in marrow macrophages are derived from granulocyte breakdown and that in this respect eosinophil granulocytes are of prime importance.


I will review the main motivations and results regarding the proposal to use nonlocal correlations measurements to get evidence of the Hawking effect in acoustic black holes, focussing in particular on those built up with weakly interacting Bose Einstein condensates and rings of ions.


In recent years, numerous pieces of consumer-oriented legislation have been passed at both the federal and state levels. Although such laws are usually assumed to have a beneficial impact on consumers, situations may occur when either (a) the law fails to accomplish its primary objectives because of poor design and implementation, weak enforcement, and/or illegal action on the part of business firms that allow them to circum vent the law, or (b) the law leads to unforeseen strategy change by business firms that tend to minimize or nullify the expected benefits of the legislation. These unforeseen reactions or secondary effects frequently serve to weaken the law's potential benefit for the consumer. This paper focuses on the secondary effects problem by examining the kinds of strategy changes that business firms might make in response to consumer legislation and the factors affecting these changes. An analytical framework is developed for evaluating the potential costs to the consumer of these secondary effects and comparing these costs with the expected benefits to be derived from consumer protection laws.


The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) is equipped with a set of physiological and morphological adaptations suited to a fossorial lifestyle. These allow wombats to engage in efficient scratch-digging and maintaining a low basal metabolic rate while living underground. While bone microstructure has been described for several subterranean animals, wombat bone histology has received very little attention to date. Here, we present preliminary insights into bone histology in modern adult V. ursinus (Mt Fairy, New South Wales) and Pleistocene fossil Vombatus sp. (Bakers Swamp, New South Wales) midshaft humeri. The modern sample was well preserved, allowing us to identify varying bone tissue types (woven, parallel-fibred, lamellar). The sample showed vascularity composed of primary and secondary osteons, and simple longitudinal and radial vessels. We also observed evidence for Haversian remodelling (i.e. localised replacement of pre-existing bone) and coarse compact cancellous bone within the inner cortex of the diaphysis. The fossil histology was poorly preserved, but likely showed bone matrix organisation similar to the modern specimen. We use these preliminary data to discuss hypotheses for wombat forelimb biomechanical and physiological microscopic adaptation to a burrow environment. We encourage future intraskeletal examination of microstructure in wombat populations to better inform their ecological adaptations and behaviour in palaeontological contexts.


ABSTRACT The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis infects a wide range of arthropods, in which it induces a variety of reproductive phenotypes, including cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), parthenogenesis, male killing, and reversal of genetic sex determination. The recent sequencing and annotation of the first Wolbachia genome revealed an unusually high number of genes encoding ankyrin domain (ANK) repeats. These ANK genes are likely to be important in mediating the Wolbachia-host interaction. In this work we determined the distribution and expression of the different ANK genes found in the sequenced Wolbachia wMel genome in nine Wolbachia strains that induce different phenotypic effects in their hosts. A comparison of the ANK genes of wMel and the non-CI-inducing wAu Wolbachia strain revealed significant differences between the strains. This was reflected in sequence variability in shared genes that could result in alterations in the encoded proteins, such as motif deletions, amino acid insertions, and in some cases disruptions due to insertion of transposable elements and premature stops. In addition, one wMel ANK gene, which is part of an operon, was absent in the wAu genome. These variations are likely to affect the affinity, function, and cellular location of the predicted proteins encoded by these genes.


ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this article was to develop a written examination to assess general aviation (GA) pilots' understanding of aviation meteorology products. Background: Although the number of accidents in GA flight continues to decrease over time, one troubling situation is when pilots encounter hazardous weather. Although research has approached this topic from a variety of perspectives, prior research has not offered a detailed inspection of GA pilots' knowledge about weather concepts and phenomena, weather products, and the implications of weather concepts and products to flight—knowledge that is fundamental for pilots to develop higher order cognitive skills in aviation weather. A valid and reliable assessment tool to measure pilots' knowledge of weather is not available. Method: A multidisciplinary research team developed a 95-item, multiple-choice aviation meteorology test. The questions were based on Federal Aviation Administation guidance on aviation weather and written according to guidelines for assessment instrument development. Initial validation was done with data collected from 204 GA pilots. Results: The results showed that the test had high internal consistency, had varying degrees of item difficulty, and discriminated between pilots with differing levels of expertise. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that a written test on the aviation weather concepts necessary for safe flight has promise for use in both research and practice.


Two weeks into the presidency of Donald Trump, waves of angst are sweeping through the Mexican science community. The peso has plummeted against the dollar, affecting the value of grants: Mexican scientists purchase most of the research materials and equipment they use from the United States. Trump9s insistence on building a border wall and making Mexico pay for it has made scientists nervous about the fate of funding and support for cross-border collaborations. In response to increasingly chilly relations, Mexico9s National Council for Science and Technology said it will pursue collaborations beyond the United States, including with the European Union and China. Meanwhile, promising young Mexican scientists planning to go abroad are having second thoughts about studying in the United States, which no longer seems as welcoming as it once did.


The primary goal of the project was to demonstrate that express bus-on-freeway operations can improve the quality of bus service and lead to an increase in the people moving capability of peak period transportation facilities for an entire urban corridor. Other project goals were to demonstrate the effectiveness of this technology as a means of reducing auto pollutant emissions and gasoline consumption, improving the mobility of the transportation disadvantaged and the economic condition of the transit operator. An analysis of bus operations is presented which shows that the project effected an improvement in the quality of the Corridor bus service, evidenced by the reduction in travel times by bus, and the increase in both the reliability and the coverage of the bus system. (GRA)


This presentation is to discuss the impact of a reduced nuclear weapons stockpile on the strategic stability. Methodologies used to study strategic stability issues include what are basically strategic-force exchange models. These models are used to simulate a massive nuclear exchange in which one side attacks and the other side retaliates. These models have been of interest to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program. Researchers have been looking at issues concerning the stability of the transition period, during which some defenses have been deployed and during which deterrence and war-fighting capability reply partly on defense and partly on offense. Also, more recently, with interest in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and force reductions beyond START, the same calculation engines have been used to examine the impact of reduced forces on strategic stability. For both the SDI and the START reduction cases, exchange models are able to address only a rather narrow class of strategic stability issues. Other broader stability questions that are unrelated to nuclear weapons or that relate to nuclear weapons but are not addressed by the calculational tools which are not included in this discussion. 6 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab. (BN)


The kinematics of two-body nucleon-nucleon scattering inside an excited nucleus are calculated. Closed-form expressions are deduced for energy and angular distributions of nucleons following single two-body scattering. The Pauli principle is taken into account in deducing these expressions. The kinematical effects of creation and annihilation of particle-hole pairs are shown explicitly. The results for single scattering are extended to multiple two-body interactions through appropriate recursive relations. The expressions derived can be used to calculate the energy spectra and angular distributions of nucleons emitted in nucleon-induced and heavy-ion fusion reactions.


This action research study examines the effect of self-evaluation on grammatical range and grammar accuracy on the English speaking performance of 27 foreign language university and pre-university students enrolled in three different language centers, in three different cities in Colombia. Participants were asked to record themselves answering different IELTS-type tasks for four times during a 6-week period and score and reflect towards their performance using IELTS-type analytical scoring rubrics and journals. Researchers used journals to register impressions, thoughts, and judgments observed during the process. The findings led to conclude that learners highly benefit from applying self-assessment techniques using videos of their production and a language benchmark to compare with in the improvement of their oral language accuracy and grammatical range.


In this review the specific problems of musical acoustics, in particular the sometimes dominant subjective aspects, are first outlined, and then the perception of musical sounds from the physio/psychological point of view is dealt with. Turning to musical acoustics, wind instruments are the first to be dealt with, divided into woodwind, brass and the organ; this section also contains recent work on that other 'wind instrument', the singing voice. The following section in stringed instruments covers mainly bowed string instruments and the piano, since plucked string instruments appear to have received little attention. In dealing with percussion, both un-tuned instruments, such as drums, and tuned instruments, such as xylophones and bells, are covered. The final section deals with musical synthesis, leading perhaps to the ultimate freeing of music from nearly all instrumental properties and constraints.


We investigate the step-type contrast structure for high dimensional Tikhonov system with Neumann boundary conditions. We not only propose a key condition with the existence of the number of mutually independent first integrals under which there exists a step-type contrast structure, but also determine where an internal transition time is. Using the method of boundary function, we construct the formal asymptotic solution and give the analytical expression for the higher order terms. At the same time, the uniformly valid asymptotic expansion and the existence of such an available step-type contrast structure are obtained by sewing connection method.


In the first decades of the 20th century Europe was marked by important systemic transformations which decisively affected various societal and political factors. The outbreak of World War I caused the collapse of entire European empires and prepared the path for the emergence of a new political order dominated by new established nation-states. The rise of Greater Romania occurred in this particular context, fulfilling therefore a much-needed national objective, namely the unification of all the historical provinces inhabited mostly by ethnic Romanians. Soon after the Great Union the young Romanian state became a major administrative challenge for the political stakeholders of that time. In this respect one of the major issues was the situation of minorities especially in the new incorporated regions such as Banat or Transylvania. The strategic need of Romania's centralized administration to make minorities loyal in order not to potentially undermine the state interests was in many cases perceived as an aggressive attempt to homogenize the social sphere in multicultural regions. This paper attempts to investigate the social dynamic of Swabian minority groups in the first years after the Great Union and their attitudes towards political processes or geopolitical transformations. The main objective of this analytical undertaking is to highlight the ethnic dimension of civic culture and to uncover the social predispositions towards certain types of activism.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the association of neuthophyl/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) with BCG intravesical responses in patients with initial diagnosis of non/muscle invasive bladder tumor high-risk (NMIBC).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Retrospective multicenter study on patients with initial diagnosis of high-grade NMIBC treated with BCG between January 2016 and December 2017. Initially a total of 74 patients were collected. Those patients with mixt pathology, cis, chronic corticoid usage and lost to follow-up, were excluded. Induction BCG (x6) and BCG maintenance schedules were administered (x9) over 1 year. Demographic variables (sex, age, BMI) and blood variables (NLR, PLR) before BCG instillation were collected. Response to treatment was defined as absence of recurrence and/ or progression. A statistical analysis with T-student, Chi square, ANOVA and ROC curves was performed.

RESULTS
Final study cohort included a total of 50 patients. 10 females and 40 males. Median age was 70 year old. All patients had pure urothelial carcinoma, 12 with pTa and 38 with pT1. Median follow-up was 24 months. A total of 28% had a recurrence. No correlation between NLR or PLR and BCG response was observed (p=0.738; p= 0.768). Neither a cut off was established through ROC curves. At multivariate analysis, there was no significative relationship between recurrence and the clinical and blood samples analyzed (sec, age, BMI, NLR, PLR)CONCLUSION: No correlation between NLR and PLR has been reported with BCG response on high-grade NMIBC.


Colliding beams of 70% polarized protons at up to √ s=500 GeV, with high luminosity, L=2×10 cmsec, will represent a new and unique laboratory for studying the proton. RHIC-Spin will be the first polarized-proton collider and will be capable of copious production of jets, directly produced photons, and W and Z bosons. Features will include direct and precise measurements of the polarization of the gluons and of ū, d̄, u, and d quarks in a polarized proton. Parity violation searches for physics beyond the standard model will be competitive with unpolarized searches at the Fermilab Tevatron. Transverse spin will explore transversity for the first time, as well as quark-gluon correlations in the proton. Spin dependence of the total cross section and in the Coulomb nuclear interference region will be measured at collider energies for the first time. These qualitatively new measurements can be expected to deepen our understanding of the structure of matter and of the strong interaction.


Water deficit stress is a main factor determining yield and yield stability in Robusta coffee ( Coffea canephora P.). Studies were conducted to identify agronomic traits that offer genetic sources of drought tolerance associated with yields and yield stability. In a nine-year experiment, 18 genotypes were assessed for mean value and variation in three diverse environments, for nine vegetative traits, five reproductive traits and bean yield. Drought tolerance was expressed by a visual scale of leaf scorching from 0 to 5: tolerant – susceptible on the genotypes in 2000 when there was drought, and genetic associations between leaf scorching and the traits established. Significant interaction (P ≤ 0.05), and location (P ≤ 0.05) effects were observed for leaf scorching scores and all the traits, except stem diameter and diameter of primary branches. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) genotypic effects were also observed for all the traits, except fruits per node. Canopy diameter (Span), number of primary branches per plant (NPB), fruit-set (FS) and bean yield over seven years (MY1-7) were inversely and significantly (P ≤ 0.05) correlated with leaf scorching scores. Span, NPB and FS were also significantly (P ≤ 0.05) correlated with MY1-7. Span was highly correlated with stem diameter, length and diameter of primary branches. Eight genotypes each with high mean performance for (MY1-7) and fruit set (FS), seven for Span, and five for NPB, were among the top 10 genotypes which recorded the lowest leaf scorching scores. The results indicate that, Span and its associated traits, NPB, and FS could be exploited, through indirect selection for superior Coffea canephora genotypes, for direct utilisation or for breeding for adaptation to drought-stress.


A method based on accelerated solvent extraction combined with rapid-resolution LC-MS for efficient extraction, rapid separation, online identification and accurate determination of the saikosaponins (SSs) in Radix bupleuri (RB) was developed. The RB samples were extracted by accelerated solvent extraction using 70% aqueous ethanol v/v as solvent, at a temperature of 120 degrees C and pressure of 100 bar, with 10 min of static extraction time and three extraction cycles. Rapid-resolution LC separation was performed by using a C(18) column at gradient elution of water (containing 0.5% formic acid) and acetonitrile, and the major constituents were well separated within 20 min. A TOF-MS and an IT-MS were used for online identification of the major constituents, and 27 SSs were identified or tentatively identified. Five major bioactive SSs (SSa, SSc, SSd, 6''-O-acetyl-SSa and 6''-O-acetyl-SSd) with obvious peak areas and good resolution were chosen as benchmark substances, and a triple quadrupole MS operating in multiple-reaction monitoring mode was used for their quantitative analysis. A total of 16 RB samples from different regions of China were analyzed. The results indicated that the method was rapid, efficient, accurate and suitable for use in the quality control of RB.


A 66-year-old woman who had been treated at a nearby hospital since 1977 for rheumatoid arthritis complained of cough. Chest X-ray films disclosed multiple nodular shadows with cavitation in the fields of both lungs. The patient was admitted to our hospital and a thoracoscopic lung biopsy was performed. Histologically, the nodule consisted of necrotizing granuloma, indicating a necrobiotic nodule. Rheumatoid nodule was diagnosed because the patient exhibited rheumatoid arthritis. The chest X-ray shadow disappeared without medication. Rheumatoid nodules without coniosis are uncommon, but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of lung nodular lesions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.


PURPOSE
The phase III, open-label, prospective, multicenter, randomized Ewing 2008R1 trial (EudraCT2008-003658-13) was conducted in 12 countries to evaluate the effect of Zoledronic acid (ZOL) maintenance therapy compared to no add-on regarding event-free (EFS, primary endpoint) and overall survival (OS) in standard-risk Ewing Sarcoma (EWS).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Eligible patients had localized EWS with either good histological response to induction chemotherapy and/or small tumors (<200ml). Patients received 6 cycles VIDE induction and 8 cycles VAI (male) or 8 cycles VAC (female) consolidation. ZOL treatment started parallel to the 6th consolidation cycle. Randomization was stratified by tumor site (pelvis/other). The two-sided adaptive inverse-normal 4-stage design (planned sample size 448 patients, significance level 5%, power 80%) was changed after the 1st interim analysis using Müller-Schäfer method.

RESULTS
Between 04/2010 and 11/2018 284 patients were randomized (142 ZOL/142 no add-on). With a median follow-up of 3.9 years, EFS was not significantly different between ZOL and no add-on group in the adaptive design (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.43-1.28, p=0.27, intention-to-treat). 3-y-EFS rates were 84.0% (95%CI 77.7-90.8%) for ZOL vs 81.7% (95%CI 75.2-88.8%) for no add-on. Results were similar in the per-protocol collective. OS was not different between groups. The 3y-OS was 92.8% (95%CI 88.4-97.5%) for ZOL and 94.6% (95%CI 90.9-98.6%) for no add-on. Noticeable more renal, neurological and gastrointestinal toxicities were observed for ZOL (p<0.05). Severe renal toxicities occurred more often in the ZOL arm (p=0.003).

CONCLUSION
In patients with standard-risk localized EWS, there is no additional benefit from maintenance treatment with ZOL.


Recently, increase in crop production depends on better seedling establishment, emergence rate and uniformity. Thus, an experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with 8 fertilizer treatments and 4 replications in 2008 at Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. The aim of this research was to evaluate effect of vermicompost (VC) on bush bean seedling emergence parameters. The treatments were three levels of VC (15, 30 and 45 Mg ha-1 alone and plus with 50% chemical fertilizer), chemical fertilizer (100 Kg ha-1 Urea, Potassium sulfate, Triple super phosphate) and a control (no vermicompost or chemical fertilizer application). Among all treatments, strongly linear regression was observed between CER and FER and shoot and root dry weight, however, amount of these traits was greater in 15 and 30 Mg ha-1 than other treatments specially, control and chemical fertilizers. Analysis of data showed that the highest of field emergence rate, cumulating emergence rate and seedling and root length was obtained in 15 Mg enriched VC per hectare and maximum chlorophyll content, aerial parts and seedling dry weight was belonged to 30 Mg enriched VC per hectare. The orthogonal contrasts revealed that 30 Mg ha-1 compost was caused significant increases field emergence rate (36.18%), cumulating emergence rate (49.82%), leaf area (44.67%), seedling fresh and dry weight (60.56% and 74.04%) compared to 45 Mg ha-1 compost.


In this article, the author examines the reasons why the European market—in particular the U.K. market—appear to be in good health while the U.S. private-label market looks as though it is struggling to get out of the blocks. Owing to the vastly different structures of the mortgage markets (and how they are financed) in the U.S. and Europe, it is not easy to draw definite conclusions. However, the attractiveness of U.K. RMBS helps explain in part why the private-label market in the U.S. has not taken off as some would have expected.


The present research shades some light on negative aspect of consumption. Based on self-completion theory, this study investigates the influence of perceived social image and materialism on young consumers' compulsive buying behavior. Also, this research examines the mediating role of materialism between perceived social image and compulsive buying. A survey was conducted to collect the data. It is evident that compulsive buying behavior is more prevalent among young consumers especially those in the age range of 18 to 24. As such, the present study considers undergraduate students as the subject pool which generated 223 valid questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the data. Test results reveal that perceived social image and materialism directly affect compulsive buying. Additionally, materialism partially mediates the relationship between perceived social image and compulsive buying. Findings from this research provide insights to the marketers about the negative aspects of consumption which is worth considering to better strategize their marketing efforts.


This paper examines the complex interrelationship between cultural forces and political attitudes and behaviors. Through an extensive literature review, expert interviews, and rigorous content analysis, the research illuminates how cultural values, beliefs, and norms fundamentally shape individuals' political ideologies, policy preferences, partisan affiliations, civic engagement, and voting patterns. Findings demonstrate adherence to traditional cultural values like religiosity and nationalism predicts conservative political orientations, while progressive values like secularism and multiculturalism predict liberal orientations. The study also uncovers how politicians and media strategically exploit cultural symbols and narratives to frame issues and manipulate public opinion to their advantage. Prevailing cultural attitudes regarding duties and efficacy as citizens are shown to influence voter turnout and election outcomes. Promising reforms to address cultural biases include increasing access to diverse perspectives and critical civic education, promoting inclusive institutions and cross-cultural dialogue, and fostering political literacy. This research underscores the need for democratic processes and policies attuned to diverse cultural standpoints to pursue shared interests equitably. It concludes that comprehending the cultural antecedents of political behaviors and interpretations is essential for just, effective governance in pluralistic societies.


We present the service directory placement algorithm (SDPA), a directory-placement scheme that leverages the performance of existing service discovery protocols over wireless ad hoc networks. SDPA promotes the deployment of a nomadic service directory, whose current location in the network varies according to the dynamics of service-discovery queries driven by the users' applications and partial knowledge of the network's topology. SDPA is based on a heuristic approach, whose performance is optimized by formulating the directory-placement problem as a semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) solved by the means of a reinforcement-learning technique known as Q-Learning. Performance evaluations obtained through computer simulations of networks with up to 45 hosts moving at pedestrian speeds reveal average bandwidth savings close to 50 percent over a default broadcast/multicast approach for service discovery once an efficient directory-placement policy is obtained.


Leg length discrepancy (LLD) is common after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) although its incidence has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of perceived LLD before and after primary total knee arthroplasty as well as to determine the correlation between mechanical axis of the knee and perceived LLD. The incidence and time frame of resolution of postoperative LLD was also assessed. Seventy-three patients were prospectively enrolled. Evaluation included patient surveys regarding perceived LLD preoperatively, and at 3- to 6-week, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year visits. Mechanical axis radiographs were obtained and the relationship of mechanical axis in patients with and without perceived LLD, both before and after surgery, was determined. Analysis was also performed for separate varus and valgus deformities. The effect of surgery on patients' perception of LLD was also determined. Fifty-three patients did not perceive a LLD preoperatively and 18 perceived a LLD preoperatively. Sixty-four patients did not perceive a LLD postoperatively and 7 patients perceived a LLD postoperatively. There was a significant difference in patients who perceived LLD preoperatively and those who perceived LLD postoperatively (P = .035). Of the 7 patients with a perceived LLD postoperatively, all noted resolution of LLD at a mean of 8.5 weeks. There were no statistically significant correlations of knee alignment to perceived LLD in any patient groups. Body mass index and age did not demonstrate any statistical differences between patient groups. Perceived LLD is common in patients undergoing TKA; however, perceived LLD decreases after surgery. Although approximately 10% of patients perceive a LLD after surgery, the vast majority resolve within 3 months. Our study did not show any relationship between mechanical knee alignment and perception of LLD.


Pedestrian navigation services guide people to reach their destinations as the vehicle navigation services do. However, the moving way of people differs from that of vehicles, and hence the assumptions for car-navigation services are not suitable for pedestrian navigation. People may walk through the place without GPS signals due to the shelter in the sky. In some space, the accuracy of GPS may not be enough for pedestrian navigation. In this situation, localization ability is necessary in this space, we call it as a special interest zone (SIZ), to assist the GPS-navigation systems. This paper proposes a system by offering a navigation service on general routes and a localization service to SIZ. For navigation service, GPS and GIS technologies were used for guiding, and a modified A* algorithm was developed to implement the path planning function. Because the accuracy of GPS is insufficient to offer the precise localization needed at SIZ, ZigBee-based sensor networks were applied and deployed around SIZ. When the user is close to SIZ, a dynamic swap mechanism enables the localization function to provide higher localization results. The localization algorithm, using an extended Kalman filter to fuse the data of ZigBee and GPS, achieved the localization error less than 1 m, when the error compared to ZigBee-only or GPS-only approach. Both services were successfully implemented on an embedded platform and evaluated on the real environment.


Aims and Objectives: To review the clinical features and current understanding of the epidemiology, biology and management of pediatric atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors and analyzing the different treatment modalities. Materials and Methods: The MEDLINE database, bibliographies of selected articles and current English-language texts on the subject were reviewed. A Pubmed search was made with keywords pediatric atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors, intracranial, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Most recent articles and also significant older articles having all above said words were selected and their results were reviewed in detail. Results: Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (AT/RT) of the central nervous system (CNS) most frequently diagnosed in smaller than 3 years of age and incidence is 1-2% of all brain tumors in children. 63% of the AT/RT of the CNS is seen in infra-tentorial compartment, there are no precise imaging features that differentiate AT/RT from the other posterior fossa tumor. The "rhabdoid" cells are characteristic on cytopathology. It has been established now that CNS, AT/RT often show deletion of the long arm of chromosome 22q11.2. The initial treatment for most children with AT/RT is surgical with and without cerebrospinal fluid diversionary procedure. Children with less than 3 years of age offered chemotherapy but in older children radiotherapy is given in addition.


Polychlorinated diphenyl sulfides (PCDPSs) have recently attracted increasing attention due to their potential adverse effects on human and ecosystem health. We present a review regarding their environmental occurrence, persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and biotransformation. The existing literature demonstrates that PCDPSs are ubiquitous in various environmental matrices, are persistent in the environment, and have long‐range transport potential. In addition, the high bioaccumulation potential of these emerging pollutants, especially the low chlorinated PCDPS congeners, has been confirmed based on both theoretical calculations and experimental investigations. Moreover, a spectrum of adverse effects, such as acute liver injury, retardation of development, reproductive disorders, and increased mortality have been widely reported in vertebrates. These adverse outcomes were associated with oxidative stress and activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptors. Given these findings, PCDPSs represent candidate persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances and thus deserve further research to fully elucidate their environmental behavior and fate, and evaluate the risks to human and ecosystem health. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:2657–2666. © 2021 SETAC


Problem setting. The peculiarities of the foreign experience are considered regarding the land resourses management of the territorial community. The role of the country in ensuring the rational use of land resources of the territorial community is shown. The main guarantees of effective management and rational use of land resources are pointed out. It is proposed on the basis of the analyzed international experience to form a unified national land management system that combines successful foreign experience, which will make it possible to guarantee the socio-economic development of the territorial community. Recent research and publications analysis. The problems of land resources management in the context of decentralization have been studied by the following scientists as V. Horlachuk, O. Dorosh, I. Drobot, I. Zalutsky, O. Klimenko, V. Kozhurina, R. Taratula and others. The study of foreign experience in land management was carried out by the scientists as O. Bihunenko, T. Zinchuk, N. Krasiuk, O. Suprun, Y. Khvesyk, V. Chuvpylo, O. Shkuropat and others. Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Despite the significant amount of the foreign experience study in land resourses study, it is urgent to develop new grounds for mechanism formation of the efficient land resources management in nowadays conditions of the state power decentralization based on the examined international experience considering the national peculiarities ensuring social-economic development of the territorial communities. Paper main body. Today, at the stage of land decentralization completion, the issues of land resources management in the territorial community are extremely acute at the national level. The land for the territorial communities is an important resource, which their economic and social development depends on. Efficient and rational use of land has become possible after the expansion of the territorial communities authorities in the field of land management, which in turn made it necessary to ensure the control and supervision function of the country in accordance with the delegated powers of the territorial communities. The issue of rational use of land resourses becomes increasingly important in the system of decentralization. The modern reformation of the land relations in UKraine is due to the solution of the rational land use tasks as the most important resourse of the territorial community. Three-level system of land resource management is peculiar for the vast majority of the countries: governmental, regional, local (municpal). But at the same time a uniform model of land relations regulation does not exist, each country in this respect is unique. Management in the sphere of land regulation and land transactions in European countries differs depending on the territorial structure and system of public administration. The system of land regulation in the federal countries is much more diverse, since many issues on land use is given to the jurisdiction of individual territories. All countries have special governmental, public or private structures engaged in regulation and management of land resources. The article examines and analyzes the experience of the old members of the European Union of Germany, Italy, France and new EU members – Poland and Latvia, as well as China, a country where the main form of land ownership is state. The entire territory of the federal state of Germany is divided into communities. Only territories owned by the state do not belong to the territories of communities, for example, military airfields, highways, and governmental forests. Within the territory of the community, the primacy of planning within land plans belongs exclusively to the community. An important aspect of the Italy's experience for Ukraine is land for those who are engaged in its processing, assistance from the state in the form of affordable credit and control by the state for effective use through forced leasing, namely the transfer of the right of use to a more efficient user. French legislation is aimed at preserving the purpose of agricultural land and developing farming. It is forbidden to buy and sell particularly fertile land for non-agricultural use, the owner must not leave agricultural land without cultivation for more than five years, otherwise the land may be transferred to other persons. The goal of the land reform in Poland was to move to market-based principles of economic development, increase agricultural productivity, and improve the standard of living and social-economic development of rural areas. The negative experience of Latvia, where agricultural land was in free circulation after independence, should be a warning factor for Ukraine in order to prevent a similar situation from occurring. The experience of China shows that in order to effectively manage the land resources, which will lead to the social-economic development of the territorial community, it is necessary to provide affordable credit to the farmers and avoid mass land sales. Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Summarizing, we can conclude that the world integration processes in the sphere of land management have proven to mankind that land is one of the main sources of economic well-being, which needs to be organized for rational use and protection. Land resources management directly influences upon the social-economic development of the territorial communities. The modern state of land resources management requires new approaches aiming to increase management efficiency and ensure rational use.  The foreign experience demonstrates us that from the perspective of national interests and national security there should be control and limitations on the part of the government considering the agreements implementation as to the right to own, use and dispose the land resources. The international experience makes it possible to point out the principal guarantees of efficient management and rational use of the land resources, in particular: – determination of legislation restriction as for the foreigner-buyers; – granting preferential right to purchase agricultural land plots to persons who are associated with agricultural activities and have appropriate education, as well as to take into account the availability of production means and required capital; – fullness of the state land cadastre and continuous updating of data; – establishment of the State Land Bank Institute for long-term lending to the agricultural sector; – state control over effective use through compulsory leasing, in particular, transfer of the right of use to a more efficient user. The promising areas for further research are development of substantive proposals for improving modern land management based on the foreign experience and recommendations for their practical application.


A 28-year-old man ingested methylene dianilene in potassium carbonate and y-butyrolactone. He developed toxic optic neuritis, with severe visual dysfunction (not previously reported in humans), prolonged toxic hepatitis, with disturbed liver-function tests 18 months after the incident, and other more transient effects. The course of his illness is described and the literature on methylene dianilene toxicity is reviewed.


Comet 1P/Halley has the unique distinction of having a very comprehensive set of observational records for almost every perihelion passage from 240 B.C. This has helped to constrain theoretical models pertaining to its orbital evolution. Many previous works have shown the active role of mean motion resonances (MMR) in the evolution of various meteoroid streams. Here, we look at how various resonances, especially the 1:6 and 2:13 MMR with Jupiter, affect comet 1P/Halley and thereby enhance the chances of meteoroid particles getting trapped in resonance, leading to meteor outbursts in some particular years. Comet Halley itself librated in the 2:13 resonance from 240 B.C. to 1700 A.D. and in the 1:6 resonance from 1404 B.C. to 690 B.C., while stream particles can survive for time scales of the order of 10,000 yr and 1,000 yr in the 1:6 and 2:13 resonances, respectively. This determines the long‐term dynamical evolution and stream structure, influencing the occurrence of Orionid outbursts. Specifically, we are able to correlate the occurrence of enhanced meteor phenomena seen between 1436–1440, 1933–1938, and 2006–2010 with the 1:6 resonance and meteor outbursts in 1916 and 1993 with the 2:13 resonance. Ancient as well as modern observational records agree with these theoretical simulations to a very good degree.


ABSTRACT Does exile affect activism and if so how? In this paper, the case of Egyptian activists exiled in England is taken as illustrative of processes typical of exiled activism. The case study draws on primary and secondary sources including a series of biographical interviews with exiled activists. The analysis compares activism in Egypt with exiled activism in England using the participants' critical self-reflections to explain the mechanisms mediating the changes. Contrary to reasonable expectations that exile is a spontaneous response to a change in political context, the conditions for exile predate banishment and lie within the institutions of dictatorship which decertify activism. Decertification continues throughout the exile process as fear of repression becomes internalized within the movement. Within the sanctuary of the host country, a process of brokerage counteracts decertification expanding and modifying the exile repertoire.


AIM
To analyse the prognostic factors for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent cytotoxic chemotherapy with third generation agents or epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) for recurrence.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between 1997 and 2005, 479 patients underwent a complete resection for NSCLC. Of these, 112 patients underwent chemotherapy for postoperative recurrence.

RESULTS
Median postrecurrence survival time for these 112 patients was 25.6 months. Univariate analysis showed female gender, age younger than 65 years, ECOG performance status of 0-1, never-smoker status, and adenocarcinoma prolonged survival, whereas metastasis to the liver or adrenal gland shortened survival. Multivariate analysis revealed age, performance status, cell type and metastasis to the adrenal gland to be independent prognostic factors.

CONCLUSION
Age, performance status, cell type, and metastasis to the adrenal were independent prognostic factors in NSCLC patients treated with third-generation agents or EGFR-TKI for recurrence.


Abstract The frequency of students' social support has been investigated in the literature, but little research has examined the social validity or social importance of supportive behaviors for children and adolescents. In the present study, data were gathered from 1,688 students in Grades 3 through 12 via the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki, Demaray, Elliott, & Nolten, 1999). Results of the present study indicate that there are developmental (elementary, middle, and high school) and group (race, disability, and gender) differences in students' perceptions of the importance of socially supportive behaviors. Furthermore, descriptive analyses revealed interesting trends in the top-rated importance items for students in these known groups. Results are discussed with implications for research and practice.


During Australia's centenary of federation in 2001, the author, the Local Government Association of Queensland and Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper surveyed 1,264 Queenslanders on their attitudes to the federal system and future constitutional change. The results suggest that, despite satisfaction with their political system, a majority of the population (62-63 per cent) also expect and look forward to change in its basic structure over the next 100 years. Further, the results indicate a substantial proportion (around 40 per cent) may be interested in more than minor change, including options such as complete replacement of the current States. This higher than expected interest in change challenges assumptions that Australians are inherently conservative in their views about their constitutional system and opens new lines of inquiry about the problematic relationship between Australian federalism and regionalism.


We report a 65-year-old lady who presented with rapidly progressive dementia and was found to have Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD). On reviewing the literature, there have been only 3 case reports of CJD from Saudi Arabia. Our aim is to report this rare disease and to include it in the differential diagnosis of rapidly progressive dementia in our practice.


【This study is intended to comparison of the recent ideal number of children and atrial approach for analyzing value system for children that form attitude affecting birth control with earlier study conducted 10 years ago. In general the traditional fertility pattern of Korea may be considered as 'early marriage and high fertility' backed by the confucian value system of a farming-oriented country. A selective attitude favoring sons contributes substantially to fertility. But Korea is now moving toward a late marriage and fertility pattern. This has been due to the repid introduction of western culture and a partial acceptance of western value systems, a relative weakening of traditional value systems, a gradual increase in infant and child servival rates thresh medicines, and a desire to avoid having too many children because of economic poverty. This study showed following results: Ideal number of sons and daughters in urban area was decreased by 0.2 respectively compared to earlier study. In rural area, the number of decrease of sons and daughters was 0.5 and 0.2 respectively. The conception concerning Happiness has changed to wealth from health in previous opinion. Regarding attitude toward having sons, 98 percent of them wanted to have sons positively, moreover 10 percent of them wanted two or more sons. Regarding reasons for the wanting sons, we see that economic and traditional considerations, such as dependance in old age, and inheritance of the family line, are a principle concern of about 56 percent in both areas. The rate of dependence in old age was decreased conspicuously compare to previous study while the rate of helding rituals was increased remarkably in rural area. Among reasons for limiting family size. 'for better living and for better education for their children were main rasons reted 46 percent in urban, 51 percent in rural areas. The rates were not changed compare to previous study. Regarding attitude of those who have no son or children, the rate of re-marriage with second wife was decreased remarkably in rural area and the rate of living without special behaivor for having son was increased compare to previous study.】


In this paper, an AR (Augmented reality) system based on a multimodal user interface is proposed and its core techniques are described. The objective of this work is to realize certain task that operators can use the virtual robot to ameliorate the interaction with the real world using AR environment. VC++ and OpenGL are used to create this application.
AR applications (ARToolKit) is used to detect the real-time position and orientation of camera and to facilite the operator's observation and operation. Experiments prove that the system is reliable and efficient. Simulation result is obtained and it is very useful for designers to ameliorate the interaction with the real world.


Apart from isoimmunization, a number of conditions may present as hydrops fetalis and now account for a large proportion of hydropic infants. A large differential diagnosis must be considered when investigating the hydropic fetus and placenta while in utero, in the neonatal period, and at autopsy. An investigative protocol is proposed.


BACKGROUND
Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are a powerful tool to model medical imaging systems. However, before simulations can be considered as the ground truth, they have to be validated with experiments.

PURPOSE
To provide a pipeline that models a clinical PET/CT system using MC simulations after extensively validating the results against experimental measurements.

METHODS
A clinical four-ring PET imaging system was modelled using GATE (v. 9.0). To validate the simulations, PET images were acquired of a cylindrical phantom, point source, and image quality phantom with the modelled system and the simulations of the experimental procedures. For the purpose of validating the quantification capabilities and image quality provided by the simulation pipeline, the simulations were compared against the measurements in terms of their count rates and sensitivity as well as their image uniformity, resolution, recovery coefficients, coefficients of variation, contrast, and background variability.

RESULTS
When compared to the measured data, the number of true detections in the MC simulations was within 5%. The scatter fraction was found to be (30.0 ± 2.2)% and (28.8 ± 1.7)% in the measured and simulated scans, respectively. Analyzing the measured and simulated sinograms, the sensitivities were found to be 8.2 cps/kBq and 7.8 cps/kBq, respectively. The fraction of random coincidences were 19% in the measured data and 25% in the simulation. When calculating the image uniformity within the axial slices, the measured image exhibited a uniformity of (0.015 ± 0.005), while the simulated image had a uniformity of (0.029 ± 0.011). In the axial direction, the uniformity was measured to be (0.024 ± 0.006) and (0.040 ± 0.015) for the measured and simulated data, respectively. Comparing the image resolution, an average percentage difference of 2.9% was found between the measurements and simulations. The recovery coefficients calculated in both the measured and simulated images were found to be within the EARL ranges, except for that of the simulation of the smallest sphere. The coefficients of variation for the measured and simulated images were found to be 12% and 13%, respectively. Lastly, the background variability was consistent between the measurements and simulations, while the average percentage difference in the sphere contrasts was found to be 8.8%.

CONCLUSION
The clinical PET/CT system was modeled and validated to provide a simulation pipeline for the community. The pipeline and the validation procedures have been made available (https://github.com/teaghan/PET_MonteCarlo). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The control of colony formation of normal PHA-stimulated lymphocytes has been investigated using a liquid-on-agar culture system (Lowenberg & De Zeeuw, 1979). Optimal colony formation requires the presence of mononuclear cells which were characterized by their ability to adhere to plastic surfaces. This finding suggests that the assay system can be used to estimate the co-operative function of mononuclear phagocytes as well as to enumerate T lymphocyte colony-forming cells (TL-CFC). Both the capacities of the mononuclear cells to promote colony formation and the colony-forming abilities of T cells varied widely between different normal individuals. Studies in patients with haemopoietic deficiencies showed that the growth of TL-CFC can be used to distinguish between a real lack of colony-forming cells and an apparent reduction, secondary to mononuclear cell depletion.


Denervation often results in skeletal muscle atrophy. Different mechanisms seem to be involved in the determination between denervated slow and fast skeletal muscle atrophy. At the epigenetic level, miRNAs are thought to be highly involved in the pathophysiological progress of denervated muscles. We used miRNA microarrays to determine miRNA expression profiles from a typical slow muscle (soleus muscle) and a typical fast muscle (tibialis anterior muscle) at an early denervation stage in a rat model. Results showed that miR-206, miR-195, miR-23a, and miR-30e might be key factors in the transformation process from slow to fast muscle in denervated slow muscles. Additionally, certain miRNA molecules (miR-214, miR-221, miR-222, miR-152, miR-320, and Let-7e) could be key regulatory factors in the denervated atrophy process involved in fast muscle. Analysis of signaling pathway networks revealed the miRNA molecules that were responsible for regulating certain signaling pathways, which were the final targets (e.g., p38 MAPK pathway; Pax3/Pax7 regulates Utrophin and follistatin by HDAC4; IGF1/PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway regulates atrogin-1 and MuRF1 expression via FoxO phosphorylation). Our results provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of denervated skeletal muscle pathophysiology.


INTRODUCTION
In view of disappointing results after surgery alone multimodal therapeutic regimes are used to improve long-term prognosis in locally advanced gastric carcinomas. In presence of many reports about encouraging results ("down staging", improved R0-resection rates) but simultaneously missing evidence of efficiency of neoadjuvant therapies in respect to long-term survival (large randomized multicenter trials do not exist until today) and the herewith related uncertainties, we started an inquiry among many surgical units with the intention to evaluate the clinical practice of multimodal treatment for gastric cancer patients in Germany today.

METHODS
In a questionnaire (3/99) we asked among 97 surgical units (41 university hospitals, 56 big community hospitals) in Germany for the management of gastric cancer patients with special interest to practice and state of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapeutic strategies. Further we analyzed all resected gastric cancer patients (1986-1995) without neoadjuvant treatment in advanced stage of disease (pT3/4NxMx; stage III/IV (UICC'92) in respect to R0-resection rate and long-term prognosis (Kaplan-Meier).

RESULTS
Overall feedback amounted to 78% (76/97) and was higher in university hospitals (90%) than in big community hospitals (70%). Today, neoadjuvant therapies are of more interest than adjuvant therapeutic regimes. But also neoadjuvant therapy is only used in 32% as a rule (in 16% with, in 16% without study conditions). 25% of all surgical units do not employ any neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced gastric cancer until today. In all other surgical units neoadjuvant treatment is performed more individually and sporadically (43%) only in some patients. Neoadjuvant therapies are practiced by haematooncologists in 50%, gastroenterologists in 32% and surgeons in 27%. The predominant neoadjuvant therapeutic strategy is chemotherapy alone (84%). Many surgical units in Germany are interested to participate in a multicenter trial with more interest in neoadjuvant than adjuvant therapy. 185 of 309 resected gastric cancer patients (60%) were classified as stage IIIa, stage IIIb or stage IV patients. R0-resection rate of these advanced gastric cancer patients amounted to 37%; only 24% of them survived 5 years or more.

CONCLUSIONS
Considering the missing evidence that multimodal therapies are able to prolong long-term survival in advanced gastric cancer patients, its use without study conditions is questionable. Conclusions, taken from data of clinical trials regarding carcinomas of the esophagus and esophagealgastric junction, are inconsistent in respect to long-term prognosis and results are not transferable to gastric carcinomas. A prospective randomized multicenter trial in advanced gastric cancer patients is of great importance. Following our data, in Germany a high readiness to participate in the forthcoming EORTC-study is present.


Worldwide, the male to female ratio of new smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) cases is approximately two to one. However, in Pakistan, this is not the case. Rates of notified TB cases are 20-30% higher in young females compared with males, and female rates remain high regardless of increasing age. This is in stark contrast to neighboring India, which is characterized by an excess of male TB cases. It is currently unknown why rates of notified TB are so high in females in Pakistan, but it is clear that this epidemiology is a public health issue of importance that impacts transmission dynamics and disease control initiatives.


In the compound eye of the locust, Schistocerca gregaria, neurons from the retina project to the lamina in a precise topographical mapping. The formation of this projection was investigated in grafting experiments which altered the spatial or temporal relationship between the retina and the lamina. The results show that retina axons tend to grow along the paths of adjacent axons, with no indication of specificity for their normal termination sites. It is suggested that the orderly sequence of retina differentiation during normal development plays a major role in imposing pattern both upon the developing projection and, through some form of inductive interaction between retina and lamina neurons, upon the lamina.


Demands for a high-level development of foreign language reading comprehension skills and competences are now escalating and processing of foreign language text information is a matter of course. Pupils and teachers are faced with the need to work with textual information in more complicated ways, in which self-esteem plays an important role. This paper analyses learners' success of reading comprehension in foreign language and real self-esteem in acquiring those skills. Self-esteem helps to promote language self-confidence, the learner's level of aspiration, and adjustment to perception of foreign language structure. As long as the learner does not really perceive themselves (real "self"), it is difficult to talk about understanding lexical meanings and their real perception of grammatical structures in the text. The research goal was to find differences in self-esteem and success in foreign language reading comprehension skills with respect to categories of comprehension (specifically: I always understand everything; I have a lot of problems with text understanding; specifically: I experience difficulties with understanding unknown words; problem with understanding long sentences; difficulty with understanding the unfamiliar topic of the text; pictures help me in understanding; guiding questions help me in understanding). The research question was whether the self-image of learners in relation to the skill of foreign language reading comprehension is realistic given their real success in this skill. The research was carried out in the Slovak Republic on a sample of 327 respondents and found differences in subjective perception of understanding and success in reading comprehension skills. The research showed a low real self image of learners especially in categories of global character in respect to the average understanding of foreign language texts.