Objectives: Making the diagnosis of superior labrum anterior posterior (SLAP) lesions with physical examination remains challenging. The dynamic shear test is a recently described physical examination test which has been shown in two previous studies to have a likelihood ratio of 31.6 and 1.1 for making the diagnosis of a SLAP tear. The goal of this study was to determine the clinical utility of the dynamic shear test for making the diagnosis of SLAP lesions. Methods: This is a consecutive case series of patients who were studied prospectively who had a diagnostic arthroscopy by the senior author between 2007 and 2013 (N=674). All had a thorough physical examination preoperatively which included a dynamic shear test. Only Type II through V SLAP lesions were considered positive for a SLAP tears. A type I tear was considered a degenerative lesion and included in the control group. For statistical analysis, the patients were divided into three groups: a control group (n = 528) consisting of patients with no SLAP lesion but with other pathologies, an Isolated SLAP lesion group (n = 7), and a Concomitant SLAP group (n=139) who had a SLAP tear and some other shoulder pathology such as a rotator cuff tear or instability of the shoulder. Statistical analysis included determining sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), likelihood ratio (LR), and diagnostic accuracy (DA) of the dynamic shear test with and without other tests for SLAP tears. Results: The dynamic shear test was positive for 242 (45.8%) control patients, 6 (85.7%) patients with isolated SLAP lesions, and 79 (56.8%) of the concomitant SLAP patients. For isolated SLAP tears the dynamic shear test had a sensitivity of 85.7, specificity of 51.9, PPV of 1.8, NPV of 99.7, LR of 6.4, and DA of 54.4. In comparison, the LR for the active compression test was 0.7 and for the relocation test was 1.5. For patients with combined SLAP lesions with other pathologies, the dynamic shear test had a sensitivity of 58.2, specificity of 54.2, PPV of 35.99, NPV of 82.4, LR of 1.5, and DA of 55.0. Combining all three tests did not improve the LR for either isolated SLAP lesions or lesions with concomitant pathology. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the dynamic shear test is sensitive but not specific for isolated SLAP lesions. With a likelihood ratio of over 6, it is one of the better tests for diagnosing isolated SLAP tears. However, in patients who have concomitant pathologies it is not as useful for making the diagnosis of a SLAP lesion.


322 Background: Approximately 5% of patients present with metastatic bladder cancer (MBC) at diagnosis.We aim to assess the trends of MBC at presentation over the last two decades using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

METHODS
Retrospective analysis of MBC patients at presentation was done using data from SEER for 1988-2003. Age, Sex, Histology, Race, use of palliative surgery and survival data was extracted.

RESULTS
9357 patients with MBC were identified. Incidence of MBC remained same in the last 2 decades (6.05% vs 6.34%). The most common histology was (TCC) transitional cell with least common being Signet cell. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was common in African Americans and in females. Common grade at presentation was poorly differentiated. Palliative surgery was done in 18.15% patients with radical cystectomy being the common type of surgery. Median survival was better in TCC with the worst outcomes in patients with SCC (Table).

CONCLUSIONS
Incidence of MBC at presentation hasn't changed over the last two decades with TCC being the most common type. Clinical trials integrating targeted therpy with chemotherapy is needed to improve outcomes of MBC patients. [Table: see text] .


ABSTRACT The global health crisis that started early in 2020 has triggered a surge of interest in the effect (if any) of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) on patterns of domestic violence. The first systematic review and meta-analysis examining domestic violence during the pandemic revealed quite a lot of diversity in the approaches used to measure potential effects. Drawing on the time series forecasting literature, this brief report contributes to the growing body of evidence around the issue of domestic violence during the pandemic. Arrest data from Miami-Dade County are leveraged along with a robust approach toward model identification, which is used to generate a suitably accurate forecast against which the observed pandemic period domestic violence data can be compared. Although our analyses of long-term post-lockdown data provided some evidence for increases or spikes in domestic violence that were greater than expected, at the same time the evidence shows neither transient nor consistent change in the overall number of domestic violence arrests during the time periods examined.


Reducing radar cross section(RCS) of aerocraft's surface effectively is key issue at the field of plane steal. Structural absorb is present in this paper, using the periodical surface's character of band gap and impedance transition of electromagnetic crystal structure such as PBG, FSS and HIS, put single or multilayer periodical structure on the surface of the shell of aerocraft, and put the varactor diode onto the approximate HIS to join each cell of metal on top layer to realize the electronic control for periodical structure, will establish the active periodical structure. This structure could realize absorbing the exotic electromagnetic wave and restraining surface wave on it. The result of above process is reducing the RCS of the surface effectively. The simulation test prove that this method and technology could reduce RCS 3~14 dB at working frequency band by using single or double layer active periodical structure, and the working frequency band could be tuned by electronic method.


We realize a high-speed 3-D measurement system consists of a range-finder based on a smart CMOS image sensor and a system-controller with 3-D calculation capability based on an FPGA. We have designed and implemented the 3-D engine for 3-D geometry calculation using calibration parameters. We demonstrated the 3-D measurement performance and 3-D range-finding rate, respectively, of 8.3 k-frames/sec and 29.8 rangemaps/sec. We show performance estimation of the presented system for multiple-viewpoint 3-D measurements.


Gastro-intestinal disturbance is a very common cause of headache. The gastric disturbance which may give rise to headache may depend on organic stomach disease, or may be associated with the many functional disturbances of the stomach and bowels. The gastro-intestinal disturbance which apparently causes headache in some individuals is manifest in others by some other form of nervous or bodily distress. Organic disease of the gastro-intestinal tract probably does not primarily cause headache. The resulting dyspepsia fermentation, constipation and lessened antiseptic action of the stomach secretions are the probable source of an autointoxication, which may result in a disturbance of the nervous apparatus, and headache may be one of the symptom expressions of the toxemia. In functional disorders of the stomach, like the dyspepsia due to hygienic errors, the neuroses of the stomach associated with general or local nervous disorders, like neurasthenia and tabes dorsalis, and the gastric neuroses manifested


Abstract T. Theodore Fujita proposed the existence of a small–scale diverging wind feature that could cause damaging winds at the surface. He also proposed that it was responsible for a number of aircraft crashes when encountered on takeoff or landing. This paper describes the scientific discoveries Fujita made documenting the existence of this wind shear phenomenon that he named the downburst. It describes events that led to the remarkable reduction in aircraft accidents and saving of lives because of the discovery of the downburst. It is also intended to give the reader insight into the man himself.


A two-stage approach has recently been proposed to assess confounding by copollutants or other variables in time-series epidemiology studies for airborne particulate matter (PM), using independent series from different cities. In the first stage of the proposed method, two regression models are fitted for each city in the analysis. The first relates the health effect to the putative causal variable such as PM without including any copollutant or confounder. The other first-stage model relates a putative confounding variable to PM. In the second stage of the analysis, the estimated city-specific regression slopes for the health-effect-versus-PM model are regressed against the estimated city-specific regression slopes for the confounder-versus-PM model. Under the proposed method, a nonzero intercept estimate in the second-stage regression would be interpreted as indicating a direct pathway from PM to the health effect, and a nonzero slope estimate would be interpreted as indicating at least partial confounding of PM with the putative confounder. A simple counterexample using an additional copollutant variable shows that inferences based on this method could be misleading.


The University of Auckland's recently revised elearning strategy aims to support grass roots teaching and learning enhancement initiatives as well as providing standard tools for course administration and management. This offers teachers a significant degree of freedom to choose tools and strategies to suit their specific learning design requirements. This element of choice has implications for professional development and support services, and requires evaluation and testing of options during selection and implementation. ePortfolios are a current 'hot topic' that is being explored for educational purposes by three faculties. An eportfolio tool is available within the in-house learning management system. However, Mahara, the open source product of a nationally funded initiative is proving to be a more popular choice. This paper outlines a systematic approach to implementation and evaluation of faculty-based eportfolio initiatives that draws on the collaborative approach of designbased research.


Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) is a serious disease of melon and watermelon caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Acidovorax citrulli. The strains of the pathogen can be divided into two major genetic groups, I and II. While group I strains are strongly associated with melon, group II strains are more aggressive on watermelon. Like many pathogenic bacteria, A. citrulli secretes a variety of protein effectors to the host cell via the type III secretion system. In the present study, we characterized AopW1, an A. citrulli type III-secreted effector that shares similarity with the actin cytoskeletondisrupting effector HopW1 of Pseudomonas syringae and with effectors from other plant-pathogenic bacterial species. aopW1 is present in group I and II strains, encoding products of 485 amino acids. Although highly conserved in most of the sequence, AopW1 has a highly variable region (HVR) within amino acid positions 147 to 192, including 14 amino acid differences between groups. Here we show that group I AopW1 is more toxic to yeast and plant cells than group II AopW1, having a stronger actin filament disruption activity, and increased ability to reduce plant callose deposition. We demonstrate the role of some of these 14 amino acid positions in determining the phenotypic differences between the two versions of the effector. Moreover, cellular analyses revealed that in addition to the interaction with actin filaments, AopW1 is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, chloroplasts, and early and recycling plant endosomes, with differences observed between the two AopW1 versions. Finally, we show that overexpression of the endosome-associated protein EHD1 that increases cellular recycling, attenuates the toxic effects exerted by AopW1 and increases defence responses. This study provides insights into the HopW1 family of bacterial effectors and their interactions with the plant cell and provides first evidence on the involvement of EHD1 in response to biotic stress.


Down-conversion from blue to near infrared (NIR) has been demonstrated in Tm3+-Yb3+ codoped Y2O3 transparent ceramics. Upon the 464-nm excitation, the energy transfer (ET) mechanisms consisted of the Tm3+ : 1G4 → 2Yb3+ : 2F5/2 cooperative down-conversion and the phonon assisted Tm3+ : 1G4 + Yb3+ : 2F7/2 → Tm3+ : 3H5 + Yb3+ : 2F5/2 cross relaxation. The low quantum yield of the latter process, together with the low absorption cross section of Tm3+ at 464 nm and the low quenching concentration of Yb3+ in the Y2O3 host, made the Yb3+ 1030-nm NIR emission too weak for practical application.


Texas is exploring the use of managed lanes in congested urban corridors. This report discusses the findings from an evaluation of managed lane ramp design issues. Most of the recent literature regarding ramp design has focused on ramp design speed and truck performance. To have an appreciation for current department of transportation practices, a search of each state's design manual was conducted via the Internet. Of the 23 states that had all or part of their design manuals online, 12 had some material available concerning the design of ramps. The potential managed lane system in Texas could contain elements of systems that are currently in use in other communities. As part of this research project, members of the research team visited the New Jersey Turnpike. Simulation was used to obtain an appreciation of the effects on corridor operations when several pairs of ramps are modeled. Speed was the primary measure of effectiveness used to evaluate the effects of different ramp spacings, volume levels, and weaving percentages. The research found that a direct connect ramp between a generator and the managed lane facility should be considered when 400 veh/hr is anticipated to access the managed lanes. If a more conservative approach to preserving freeway performance is desired, then a direct connect ramp should be considered at 275 veh/hr (which reflects the value when the lowest speeds on the simulated corridor for the scenarios examined were at 45 mph or less).


The introduction of lipophilic groups onto the ring nitrogen of nipecotic acid and guvacine, two known GABA uptake inhibitors, afforded potent, orally-active anticonvulsant drugs. A series of compounds is reported which explores the structure-activity relationships (SAR) in this series. Among the areas explored: side-chain SAR (aromatic-, heterocyclic-, and tricyclic-containing side chains) and modifications to the tetrahydropyridine ring. The benzhydrol ether-containing side chains afforded the most potent compounds with several exhibiting in vitro IC50 values for GABA uptake of < 1 microM (including 5, Table I; 37, 43, Table IV; and 44, Table V). Compound 44 was selected for extensive evaluation and subsequently progressed to Phase 1 clinical trials with severe adverse effects seen after single dose administration to humans.


The transport of high-current electron beams from vacuum diodes to the laser chamber of the GARPUN wide-aperture excimer laser was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The processes involving the transport of fast electrons in argon and krypton in a longitudinal magnetic field were also studied. Pumping by counter-propagating electron beams resulted in the deposition of up to 2.1 kJ of energy into the active medium of the laser, which corresponded to a specific excitation power of ~0.8 MW cm-3 with an inhomogeneity of less than 20% over a 12 cm × 18 cm aperture. The efficiency of the energy deposition by electron beams was ~60% and the overall efficiency of the laser pumping system was ~16%.


Heavy quark has been studied in the non relativistic framework using a quark-quark potential as a sum of power of the corresponding distance. The form of potential is based on phenomenological facts. The problem was solved numerically using a program written on C++. Mass spectra and the expectation value of the radius have been estimated for different quantum-mechanical states for system. The results have been compared with other similar and recent works. The mass spectra obtained is in acceptable agreement with the experimental data for .


Mutations in the optineurin (OPTN) gene cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We previously reported three types of OPTN mutation in Japanese ALS subjects. Here, to identify the OPTN mutations in individuals of different ethnicity, we screened 563 sporadic ALS (SALS) subjects and 124 familial ALS (FALS) subjects who were mainly Caucasian. We found a c.964T>C synonymous variation in exon 8. However, we could not find the meaningful OPTN mutations. The results indicate that OPTN mutations causing ALS are rare, especially in mainly Caucasian ALS subjects.


The UI recharge pond has been constructed 5 years ago. However, monitoring and evaluation activities on its performances are very lack. Aims of this study are to understand the recharge rate, and to evaluate existing quantity and water quality of the pond during dry and rainy season. Measurement of water depth, rainfall intensity, and evaporation is conducted to determine water availability, recharge rate, and water balance of the recharge pond. Amount of surface water is collected from recharge pond and river at three sampling point to determine existing water quality of the pond. The results showed that recharge rate of the pond between dry season (3.2 mm/day) and wet season (6.1 mm/day) are considered as insignificant different. The water balance of the recharge pond shows an excessive rate. Various physics and chemical parameters (turbidity, color, TDS, pH, and Cl) are found to have concentration lower than the water quality standard. The results suggest that the pond surface water is remain suitable to be recharged into aquifer zone so that sustaining ground water conservation campaign, and it is potential to be utilized as an additional raw water source for domestic water demand of UI Campus Depok.


Hearing rehabilitation after bilateral radical mastoidectomy has different options. The Bonebridge is a new type of middle ear implant bone conduction. It leaves the external ear canal opened and offers acoustic and aesthetic advantages that make it a new alternative of choice. We report our first case of Bonebridge implanted on a 17 years old patient. He had bilateral conductive hearing loss secondary to a bilateral radical mastoidectomy with open technique and meatoplasty for a bilateral cholesteatoma. The surgical technique is described. After 8 months of use the hearing gain is stable without cutaneous adverse effect.


We describe a case of pure red cell aplasia caused by a B19 parvovirus infection in a female myasthenic patient treated with plasma exchange, corticosteroids, and cholinesterase inhibitors. Two weeks after albumin infusion, she developed anemia with an absence of reticulocytes. A bone marrow aspirate was performed, showing a markedly hypoplastic erythroid series with numerous giant pronormoblasts. Anemia with severe reticulocytopenia and morphology of bone marrow suggested a diagnosis of pure erythroblastopenia due to parvovirus B19 infection, which was confirmed by positive immunoglobulin (Ig)M] and IgG anti-B19 virus. The patient successfully responded to IVIG treatment with a complete remission. In this case, we could not confirm whether an albumin-derived infection combined with a concomitant immunocompromised condition due to myasthenia and immunosuppressive treatment was responsible for the disease. Although human B19 DNA content does not reflect infectivity, it is not possible to exclude that blood derivates, such as albumin, clot factors, and immune globulin may be infectious. Actually, blood component B19 infection is still an unresolved problem. Many strategies such as new methods for viral inactivation and discarding positive B19 units may help to increase blood product safety.


Background Bivalirudin was widely used as an anticoagulant during coronary interventional procedure in western countries. However, it was not available in China before this clinical trial was designed. This randomized, single‐blind and multicenter clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of domestic bivalirudin during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods A randomized, single‐blind, multicenter trial was designed. Elective PCI candidates in five centers were randomized into a bivalirudin group and a heparin group, which were treated with domestic bivalirudin and non‐fractional heparin during the PCI procedure. The efficacy was evaluated by comparing the activated coagulation time (ACT), the procedural success rate (residual stenosis <20% in target lesions without any coronary artery related adverse events within 24 hours after PCI), and the survival rate without major adverse cardiac events at 30 days after PCI between the two groups. Safety was evaluated by the major/minor bleeding rate. Results A total of 218 elective PCI patients were randomized into a bivalirudin group (n=110) and heparin group (n=108). Except for two patients needing additional dosing in the heparin group, the ACT values of all other patients in both groups were longer than 225 seconds at 5 minutes after the first intravenous bolus. Procedural success rates were respectively 100.0% and 98.2% in the bivalirudin group and heparin group (P>0.05). Survival rates without major adverse cardiac events at 30 days after PCI were 100.0% in the bivalirudin group and 98.2% in the heparin group (P>0.05). Mild bleeding rates were 0.9% and 6.9% (P<0.05) at 24 hours, and 1.9% and 8.8% (P<0.05) at 30 days after PCI in the bivalirudin group and heparin group respectively. There was one severe gastrointestinal bleeding case in the heparin group. Conclusions Domestic bivalirudin is an effective and safe anticoagulant during elective PCI procedures. The efficacy is not inferior to heparin, but the safety is superior to heparin.


Introduction The inpatient unit has introduced the three foundation modules from the Productive Ward programme, Patient Status at a Glance, The Well Organised Ward and Knowing How we are Doing. The project commenced in 2014 and continues to develop. There have been significant changes in the way the Unit operates alongside increased staff morale, enthusiasm, ownership and pride in the environment and maintaining and improving standards Aims The ultimate aim of the Productive Ward foundation modules is to release time to care by ensuring efficient systems are in place in a well organised environment Methods A project lead planned and trained three groups to lead each module. Each group nominated a group lead who reported back to the project manager quarterly. Quarterly reports were included in the annual audit plan for Dorothy House. A ward vision was produced and clearly displayed outlining out core values. A project board was introduced to demonstrate progress and maintain momentum. Before and after photographs were taken to demonstrate improvements. Once an area was completed standards were set and regular audits commenced to ensure compliance and sustainability. Conclusions Patient Status at a Glance: An electronic whiteboard has been introduced that informs handovers and MDT meetings. This can be accessed via the desk top for all clinical teams connected with IPU. It records a variety of patient information and has the ability to aid in reporting and audit Well Organised Ward: Each clinical area was assessed using the 5S tool involving to sort, set, shine, standardise and sustain. We worked with the three second rule where any item needed could be found within three seconds of entering the room. Knowing How we are Doing: Friends and family feedback, suggestion boxes and safety crosses were introduced. The safety crosses monitor any incidences or near misses related to pressure ulcers, falls or medication errors


Learning Objects Metadata (LOM) aims at describing educational resources in order to allow better reusability and retrieval. Unfortunately, annotating complete courses thoroughly with LOM metadata can be a tedious task. In this paper we show how additional inference rules can make this task easier, and allows us to derive additional metadata from existing ones. Additionally, using these rules as integrity constraints helps us to define the constraints on LOM elements, thus taking an important step toward a complete axiomatization of LOM metadata (with the goal of transforming the LOM definitions from a simple syntactical description into a complete ontology). In this paper we will use RDF metadata descriptions and an inference language explicitly developed for RDF (TRIPLE) to represent metadata and axioms. We show how these rules can be applied for the extensions of course metadata using an existing test bed with several courses. Based on the Edutella peer-to-peer architecture we can easily make RDF metadata accessible to a whole community using Edutella peers that manage RDF metadata. By processing inference rules we can achieve better search results.


Desktop computers are often compromised by the interaction of untrusted data and buggy software. To address this problem, we present Apiary, a system that transparently contains application faults while retaining the usage metaphors of a traditional desktop environment. Apiary accomplishes this with three key mechanisms. It isolates applications in containers that integrate in a controlled manner at the display and file system. It introduces ephemeral containers that are quickly instantiated for single application execution, to prevent any exploit that occurs from persisting and to protect user privacy. It introduces the Virtual Layered File System to make instantiating containers fast and space efficient, and to make managing many containers no more complex than a single traditional desktop. We have implemented Apiary on Linux without any application or operating system kernel changes. Our results with real applications, known exploits, and a 24-person user study show that Apiary has modest performance overhead, is effective in limiting the damage from real vulnerabilities, and is as easy for users to use as a traditional desktop.


Molecular surface functionalization of metallic catalysts is emerging as an ever-developing approach to tuning their catalytic performance. Here, we report the synthesis of hybrid catalysts comprising copper nanocrystals (CuNCs) and an imidazolium ligand for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). We show that this organic modifier steers the selectivity of cubic CuNCs toward liquid products. A comparison between cubic and spherical CuNCs reveals the impact of surface reconstruction on the viability of surface functionalization schemes. Indeed, the intrinsic instability of spherical CuNCs leads to ejection of the functionalized surface atoms. Finally, we also demonstrate that the more stable hybrid nanocrystal catalysts, which include cubic CuNCs, can be transferred into gas-flow CO2RR cells for testing under more industrially relevant conditions.


Objectives
To determine the impact of systemwide charge display on laboratory utilization.

Methods
This was a randomized controlled trial with a baseline period and an intervention period. Tests were randomized to a control arm or an active arm. The maximum allowable Medicare reimbursement rate was displayed for tests in the active arm during the intervention period. Total volume of tests in the active arm was compared with those in the control arm. Residents were surveyed before and after the intervention to assess charge awareness.

Results
Charge display had no effect on order behavior. This result held for patient type (inpatient vs outpatient) and for insurance category (commercial, government, self-pay). Residents overestimated the charges of tests both before and after the intervention. Many residents failed to notice the charge display in the computerized order entry system.

Conclusions
The impact of charge display depends on context. Charge display is not always effective.


This paper provides an overview of the extent to which road agencies nationally and internationally have adopted partnering and alliancing on road projects. The study was based on a telephone/email survey, with responses being received from the eight state and territory Australian road agencies and 10 international agencies. The results show that partnering is quite extensively employed on road construction and maintenance projects both in Australia and overseas, whereas only one agency has employed project alliances to construct or maintain roads. Discussions with respondents suggest that many road agencies are moving toward more extensive use of more formal partnering, while several are also exploring the potential of alliances. The survey undertaken was a preliminary investigation and further research is required to explore the issue in a more robust manner, with larger sample sizes and econometric/soci-economic analysis of results.


Bone marrow examination at the time of diagnosis of neuroblastoma was performed in 48 new cases prior to instituting therapy. Bone marrow involvement by neuroblastoma was present in 20 patients (approximately 42%). In this study the trephine biopsy was a more reliable technique than marrow aspiration in establishing the presence of metastatic disease, but in a single case the trephine biopsy was negative with metastatic cells present in the aspirate. Myelofibrosis secondary to metastatic neuroblastoma was a frequent finding, being the predominant feature in 6 cases. Bone marrow involvement by neuroblastoma was usually associated with the presence of a primary adrenal tumor and occurred only infrequently with extra-adrenal primary origin. Bone marrow involvement was usually present at the time of presentation in case where the primary tumor was located in the adrenal gland.


Abstract Portal vein embolization (PVE) is a technique used before hepatic resection to increase the size of liver segments that will remain after surgery. This therapy redirects portal blood to segments of the future liver remnant (FLR), resulting in hypertrophy. PVE is indicated when the FLR is either too small to support essential function or marginal in size and associated with a complicated postoperative course. When appropriately applied, PVE has been shown to reduce postoperative morbidity and increase the number of patients eligible for curative intent resection. PVE is also being combined with other therapies in novel ways to improve surgical outcomes. This article reviews the rationale, technical considerations, and current use of preoperative PVE.


Purpose Hemodialysis (HD) is the main treatment modality in stage 5 chronic kidney disease, and vascular access planning is a crucial step in the path to dialysis treatment. Beyond detailed patient history and physical examination, duplex ultrasound (DU) evaluation is essential in preoperative vascular mapping. Methods A retrospective descriptive nonrandomized study was performed and included 108 end-stage kidney disease patients referred from eight HD centers to be assessed for creation of an arteriovenous (AV) access (AV fistula or AV graft). We assessed primary failure, primary unassisted patency (PP) and primary assisted patency (PAP) rates and cumulative survival of AV accesses at 6 and 12 months. Results We created 86 AV accesses of which 79 (91.9%) were AV fistulas (AVFs) (29 distal AVFs, 49 proximal AVFs and 1 femorofemoral AVF) and 7 (8.1%) arteriovenous grafts (AVGs). Fifteen percent (15%) (n = 12) of primary failure occurred in the AVF group. Any case of primary failure was observed between AVGs. In the AVF group, PP at 6 months was 63.8% and at 12 months was 48.3%, PAP was 80.7% at 6 and 12 months. PP excluding primary failures was 73.0% and 55.3% at 6 and 12 months, respectively. The cumulative survival at 6 and 12 months was 80.7%. In the AVG group, PP at 6 months and 12 months was 66.7%, PAP and cumulative survival at 6 and 12 months were of 100%. Conclusions This study demonstrates that preoperative vascular mapping with a patient-centered approach may be critical to achieve good outcomes allowing the increase in AVF access.


An active optical switch based on the InGaAsP/InP photonic bandgap (PBG) buried waveguide is proposed. The device, which is made of a periodic grating patterned on a buried waveguide, exploits the localization of states in the PBG induced by the presence of an active defect. The wavelength of the localized state can be shifted by properly choosing the defect length and the injected current density in order to achieve a wavelength-selective switching behavior. Proprietary codes based on the bidirectional beam propagation method and the method of lines (BBPM-MoL) were used for the simulations of the optical device taking into account the rate equations to model the interaction between the optical signal and the active medium. Design curves are provided and parameterized to give general design rules. From the numerical analysis, the proposed device exhibits good theoretical performances in terms of crosstalk (CT <;-20 dB), modulation depth (MD >;0.9), response time (in the subnanosecond range), and maximum size (<;170 μm).


Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men. Early detection of prostate cancer is the key to successful treatment. Ultrasound imaging is one of the most suitable methods for the early detection of prostate cancer. Although ultrasound images can show cancer lesions, subjective interpretation is not accurate. Therefore, this paper proposes a transrectal ultrasound image analysis method, aiming at characterizing prostate tissue through image processing to evaluate the possibility of malignant tumours. Firstly, the input image is preprocessed by optical density conversion. Then, local binarization and Gaussian Markov random fields are used to extract texture features, and the linear combination is performed. Finally, the fused texture features are provided to SVM classifier for classification. The method has been applied to data set of 342 transrectal ultrasound images obtained from hospitals with an accuracy of 70.93%, sensitivity of 70.00%, and specificity of 71.74%. The experimental results show that it is possible to distinguish cancerous tissues from noncancerous tissues to some extent.


In an attempt to elucidate the origin of the T cell lymphopenia and/or the beta-cell-specific autoimmunity observed in diabetes-prone Bio-Breeding (DP-BB) rats, a thymic cDNA library was subjected to differential screening with thymic cDNA probes of DP-BB rats and nonlymphopenic nondiabetic controls. This approach resulted in the identification of a prominent lack of thymic B cells in DP-BB rats. This deficiency is distinct from a less pronounced peripheral B cell deficiency of different timing. The thymic B cell defect is linked to the lymphopenia trait on chromosome 4 and thereby with susceptibility to diabetes in crosses involving the DP-BB rat. In conclusion, our data suggest that the contribution of thymic B cells to the (negative) selection of thymocytes is inadequate in DP-BB rats, thus providing a plausible explanation for at least some of the spontaneous autoimmune phenomena in this animal model.


In this review, various achievements in the field of development of tissue-engineered scaffolds with the electrospinning approach were observed. Through the appropriate selection of electrospinning parameters, such as solution viscosity, the type of solvent, voltage, the distance between a tip and a collector etc., scaffolds with a high degree of porosity and pore size applicable for optimal cell infiltration can be obtained. These tissue-like materials can be produced from both synthetic and natural polymers and their mixtures. Based on the characteristics specific for the desirable tissue – vascular, bone or cardiac – materials providing the required mechanical properties, architecture, degradation kinetics and biocompatibility are selected for scaffold synthesis. In different studies, electrospun fibers were modified by adding biologically active agents or nanoparticles. This article also describes the particularities of the extracellular matrix of different tissues and approaches used for specific tissue imitation. Repopulation of the matrices with autologous cells before transplantation is the most commonly used method to improve the biocompatibility of the scaffold and the recipient.


We anticipate wide adoption of wrist and forearm electomyographic (EMG) interface devices worn daily by the same user. This presents unique challenges that are not yet well addressed in the EMG literature, such as adapting for session-specific differences while learning a longer-term model of the specific user. In this manuscript we present two contributions toward this goal. First, we present the MiSDIREKt (Multi-Session Dynamic Interaction Recordings of EMG and Kinematics) dataset acquired using a novel hardware design. A single participant performed four kinds of hand interaction tasks in virtual reality for 43 distinct sessions over 12 days, totaling 814 min. Second, we analyze this data using a non-linear encoder-decoder for dimensionality reduction in gesture classification. We find that an architecture which recalibrates with a small amount of single session data performs at an accuracy of 79.5% on that session, as opposed to architectures which learn solely from the single session (49.6%) or learn only from the training data (55.2%).


INTRODUCTION It is not yet fully understood how bone marrow microenvironment components especially bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) induce drug resistance in multiple myeloma (MM). This form of drug resistance has been suggested to pave the way for intrinsic (de novo) resistance to therapy in early stages of the disease and contribute to acquired drug resistance in the course of treatment. Hence, deciphering the molecular mechanisms involved in induction of above resistance will help identify potential therapeutic targets in MM combined treatments. Our previous work showed that BMSCs (normal and MM patient-derived) induced resistance to bortezomib (BTZ) compared with MM cells in the absence of stroma. This resistance was associated with modulation of a transcriptome in MM cells, including prominent upregulation of oncogenes c-FOS, BIRC5 (survivin) and CCND1. However; whether these oncogenes mediate BTZ resistance in the context of BMSCs through interaction with miRNAs is not known. METHODS Human myeloma cell lines, 8226, U266 and MM.1s, were co-cultured with MM patient-derived BMSCs or an immortalized normal human line (HS-5) in the presence of 5nM BTZ for 24 h. MM cell monocultures treated with 5nM BTZ were used as controls. Co-cultures were then applied to magnetic cell separation (EasySep, Stem Cell Technologies) to isolate MM cells for downstream analyses (western blotting and qPCR). Total RNA including miRNAs was isolated from MM cell pellets (QIAGEN miRNeasy kit), cDNAs were synthesized (QIAGEN miScript RT II kit) and applied to miScript miRNA PCR Array (SABioscience, MIHS-114ZA). After normalization of all extracted Ct values to 5 different housekeeping genes, fold changes in miRNA expression were analyzed in co-cultures compared to MM cell monocultures using the 2-ΔΔCt algorithm. Moreover, survivin gene was silenced in MM cells using Ambion® Silencer® Select siRNA and Lipofectamine RNAiMAX transfection reagent. Survivin-silenced cells were then seeded on BMSCs and exposed to BTZ. Percent apoptosis of gated CD138+ MM cells was determined using FACS. For our overexpression and 39UTR reporter experiments, we transiently transfected MM cells with pre-miR-101-3p, scrambled miRNA or pEZX-39UTR constructs using Endofectin reagent (all from GeneCopoeia). RESULTS BMSCs upregulated survivin gene / protein (a member of inhibitors of apoptosis family) and modulated an array of miRNAs in MM cells compared to MM cells in the absence of stroma. The more noticeably downregulated miRNAs were hsa-miR-101-3p, hsa-miR-29b-3p, hsa-miR-32-5p, hsa-miR-16-5p (4-30 fold) and highly upregulated ones included hsa-miR-221-3p, hsa-miR-409-3p, hsa-miR-193a-5p, hsa-miR-125a-5p (80-330 fold). We focused on miRNA-101-3p as it showed the highest level of downregulation (30 fold) and has been shown to function as an important tumor suppressor in other malignancies. Real time RT-PCR confirmed downregulation of miRNA-101-3p. Moreover, microRNA Data Integration Portal (mirDIP) identified miRNA-101-3p as a putative target for survivin and Luciferase activity assays confirmed binding of miRNA-101-3p to 39UTR of survivin. In addition, overexpression of miRNA-101-3p downregulated survivin and sensitized MM cells to BTZ-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, silencing of survivin upregulated miRNA-101-3p and increased BTZ-induced apoptosis in MM cell lines both in the absence of BMSCs (Apoptosis range in BTZ-treated conditions: 57.65% ± 4.91 and 28.66% ± 0.78 for si-survivin and scrambled control, respectively, p CONCLUSION Our results indicate that BMSCs downregulated miRNA-101-3p and upregulated survivin in MM cells compared to MM cells in the absence of stroma. Silencing of survivin or overexpression of miRNA-101-3p sensitized MM cells to BTZ in the presence of BMSCs. These findings suggest that miRNA-101-3p mediates BTZ response of MM cells in the presence of BMSCs by targeting survivin and disclose a role of survivin-miRNA-101-3p axis in regulation of BMSCs-induced BTZ resistance in MM cells, thus provide a rationale to further investigate the anti-myeloma activity of miRNA-101-3p in combination with BTZ as a potential novel therapeutic strategy in MM. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The study focuses on the development and characteristics of intonational systems from the proto-language through to the one- word stage and up to the production of the first multi-word utterances. It also deals with the relationships holding between the development of intonation and adult-child linguistic interaction. Data from two Brazilian children, one boy (from age 1;0 to 2;0) and one girl (from age 1;2 to 1;8) were recorded in audio- and video-tape sessions, mostly in natural settings, where the children were interacting with their mothers and other persons in the family circle: a trained interviewer frequently being present. A description of the development of the intonational systems is given through the examination of the contexts of use of the tones which the subjects produce in situations of dialogue with their senior interlocutors. In addition to pitch-range and pitch-direction, other prosodic features are taken into account, where relevant>namely loudness and rhythm. Some instrumental evidence is given as support for the analysis provided. The characteristics of the first multi-word utterances are studied, such as prosodic strategies for the production of longer utterances and the emergence of cohesive intonation across successive utterances (the first 'paratones'). Finally an account is provided of the importance of intonation in expounding role- and turn-taking subsumed in this work in terms of the dialogue processes of specularity, complementarity and reversal. Intonation, together with other prosodic features, is found to have a gestaltic character and to be one of the richest resources for the processing, building-up and construction of the linguistic system by the child. Its emergence is assumed to be closely linked with interaction formats between the child and his/her senior interlocutors.


An extension B\subset A of algebras over a commutative ring k is an H-extension for an L-bialgebroid H if A is an H-comodule algebra and B is the subalgebra of its coinvariants. It is H-Galois if the canonical map A\otimes_B A\to A\otimes_L H is an isomorphism or, equivalently, if the canonical coring (A\otimes_L H:A) is a Galois coring. In the case of a Hopf algebroid H=(H_L,H_R,S) any H_R-extension is shown to be also an H_L-extension. If the antipode is bijective then also the notions of H_R-Galois extensions and of H_L-Galois extensions are proven to coincide. Results about bijective entwining structures are extended to entwining structures over non-commutative algebras in order to prove a Kreimer-Takeuchi type theorem for a finitely generated projective Hopf algebroid H with bijective antipode. It states that any H-Galois extension B\subset A is projective, and if A is k-flat then already the surjectivity of the canonical map implies the Galois property. The Morita theory, developed for corings by Caenepeel, Vercruysse and Wang, is applied to obtain equivalent criteria for the Galois property of Hopf algebroid extensions. This leads to Hopf algebroid analogues of results for Hopf algebra extensions by Doi and, in the case of Frobenius Hopf algebroids, by Cohen, Fishman and Montgomery.


Background.  Tissue-engineered vascular grafts can be reinforced by a biostable or biodegradable polymer sheath. A combination of electrospinning, routinely used for fabrication of biodegradable tubular grafts, and the layer-by-layer coating allows forming a polymeric sheath ensuring long-term integrity and high biocompatibility of the vascular grafts after the implantation. Aim To evaluate mechanical properties and in vivo performance of biodegradable small-diameter vascular grafts with a reinforcing sheath. Methods.  Tubular grafts (4 mm diameter) were fabricated from poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co3-hydroxyvalerate) and poly(e-caprolactone) by emulsion electrospinning with the incorporation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into the inner third of the graft and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) along with stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) into the outer two thirds of the graft wall. Poly(e-caprolactone) sheath was formed by the layer-by-layer coating. Upon graft fabrication, scanning electron microscopy was performed to assess the grafts' surface, tensile testing allowed evaluating mechanical properties. The samples were implanted into the ovine carotid artery (n = 5 animals) for 12 months with the subsequent histological examination. Results.  Sintering temperature of 160°C during the extrusion allowed effective and delicate merging of poly(e-caprolactone) coating with the outer surface of the poly(3hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/poly(e-caprolactone) tubular graft. The thickness of poly(e-caprolactone) fiber was 380–400 μm, the increment of the reinforcing filament was 1 mm. The reinforcing sheath led to a 3-fold increase in durability and elastic modulus of the vascular grafts. At the 12-months follow-up, the grafts reported retained integrity. No signs of inflammation or calcification were found. Conclusion.  The poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and poly(e-caprolactone) vascular grafts with hierarchically incorporated growth factors and the reinforced poly(e-caprolactone) spiral sheath demonstrated improved mechanical properties while retaining integrity and high biocompatibility after the long-term implantation into the ovine carotid artery.


I present a stochastic chemical evolution model to investigate the enrichment of the interstellar medium (ISM) during Galaxy formation. Contrary to classical chemical evolution models, it is able to resolve local chemical inhomogeneities in the ISM caused by single core-collapse supernovae. These inhomogeneities lead to different element abundance patterns in very metal-poor stars which can be seen as scatter in the abundances of halo stars with metallicities [Fe/H] . The early chemical evolution of the halo proceeds in different enrichment phases: At [Fe/H] , the halo ISM is unmixed and dominated by local inhomogeneities caused by individual core-collapse supernova events. For metallicities [Fe/H] the halo ISM is well mixed, showing an element abundance pattern integrated over the initial mass function. In the range [Fe/H] a continuous transition from the unmixed to the well mixed ISM occurs. For some elements (Si, Ca), the scatter in element-to-iron ratios of metal-poor halo stars can be reproduced. Stellar yields of other elements, however, predict a scatter which, compared to observations, is too large (O, Mg) or too small (Ni). This shows, that inhomogeneous chemical evolution models are heavily dependent on theoretical nucleosynthesis yields of core-collapse supernovae. Hence inhomogeneous chemical evolution models present themselves as a test for stellar nucleosynthesis calculations. One problem revealed by the model is the predicted scatter in [O/Fe] and [Mg/Fe] which is too large compared to the one observed in metal-poor halo stars. This can be either due to the oxygen or magnesium yields or due to the iron yields (or both). However, oxygen and magnesium are -elements that are produced mainly during hydrostatic burning and thus are not affected by the theoretical uncertainties afflicting the collapse and explosion of a massive star. Stellar iron yields, on the other hand, depend heavily on the choice of the mass-cut between ejecta and proto-neutron star and are therefore very uncertain. In this work, iron yield distributions as function of progenitor mass are derived which are consistent with the abundance distribution of metal-poor halo stars and are in agreement with observed yields of core-collapse supernovae with known progenitor masses. The iron yields of lower-mass Type II supernovae (in ) are well constrained by these observations. Present observations, however, do not allow the range us to determine a unique solution for higher-mass Type II supernovae. Nevertheless, the main dependence of the stellar iron yields as function of progenitor mass can be derived and may be used as a constraint for future core-collapse supernova/hypernova models. A prediction of hypernova models which can be tested by future observations is the existence of ultra -element enhanced stars at metallicities [Fe/H] . The results are of importance for the earliest stages of galaxy formation when the ISM is dominated by local chemical inhomogeneities and the instantaneous mixing approximation is not valid. The astrophysical nature of r-process sites is a long standing mystery and many probable sources were suggested in the past, among them lower-mass core-collapse supernovae (in the range ), higher-mass core-collapse supernovae (with masses ) and neutron star mergers. In this work, I present a detailed inhomogeneous chemical evolution study that considers for the first time neutron star mergers as major rprocess sources, and compare this scenario to the ones in which core-collapse supernovae act as dominant r-process sites. Furthermore, the enrichment of the interstellar medium with neutron-capture elements during Galaxy formation by r- and s-process sources is investigated. I conclude that, due to the lack of reliable iron and r-process yields as function of progenitor mass, it is not possible to date to distinguish between the lower-mass and higher-mass supernovae scenario within the framework of inhomogeneous chemical evolution. However, neutron-star mergers seem to be ruled out as dominant r-process source, since their low coalescence rates are not consistent with observations of r-process elements at very low metallicities. Furthermore, the considerable injection of r-process material by a single neutron-star merger leads to a scatter in r-process abundances at later times which is much too large compared to observations. Finally, a low star-formation efficiency is required during halo formation to be consistent with the appearance of s-process elements at very low metallicities.


China has witnessed
many exciting changes after the Chinese government adopted reform and opening-up
policy in 1978. In this process, the United States has a positive influence on
China's economic growth. Traditional view thinks that the influence of exports
on China's GDP growth is greater than imports, but the result of regression
analysis shows that imports have a greater impact on China's GDP growth rather
than the exports. Based on the statistics from 1998-2007, China's GDP will increase
by 0.455% if the volume of China's exports to US increases by 1% while China's
GDP will increase by 0.825% if the volume of China's imports from US increases by
1%.


The incidence of rinderpest infection in game animals in selected localities of South Kenya and North Tanganyika was studied during the period 1960 to 1963. Serum samples from 590 wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), 48 eland (Taurotragus oryx), 65 Thompson's gazelle (Gazella thompsoni) and 39 Grant's gazelle (Gazella granti) were tested for rinderpest neutralizing antibody. Rinderpest infection was shown to have been very frequent in yearling wilde-beest in the Mara area of Kenya in 1959/60, in the Serengeti National Park of Tanganyika in late 1960 and also in the Serengeti, and some adjacent areas, during the latter half of 1961. In the Ngorongoro Crater in 1961 infection was far less widespread, with only 11% of the yearlings acquiring antibody, compared to 67% in the Serengeti. The infections in 1959 and 1960 were clinical epizootics, accompanied by a considerable mortality, whereas no overt disease was reported in the course of 1961. Eland were affected in a similar manner to wildebeest up to 1960 but only a low rate of serological conversion was demonstrated in 1961. Adult Thompson's gazelle showed a low rate (ca. 12%) of infection but no anti-body was detected in Grant's gazelle. Only a small proportion of the wildebeest calves born in early 1962 acquired antibody by mid-1963 and this was due, at least in part, to infection late in 1962; it was not clear, unfortunately, whether the positive animals belonged entirely to resident, as opposed to migratory, groups. No clinical signs or mortality were reported in this year. A low incidence of rinderpest infection in wildebeest was also demonstrated both before and after 1960 in the Kajiado district of Kenya, where disease of game has not been reported in recent years. It is possible that the positive animals, as also the 1962 cases in Tanganyika, acquired the virus from low-grade infections of cattle. The transmission of rinderpest antibody from wildebeest dam to calf, presumably via the colostrum, was demonstrated regularly, except in six calves about 1–2 weeks old. No completely satisfactory explanation was obtained for their failure to acquire passive antibody but it may have been due to abnormal disturbance in the herds, associated with the shooting. The antibody titres in calves were initially higher than those in the serum of their dams but by the end of the 3rd month this position had been reversed. Individual calves became serologically negative from about the 10th week of life and all were devoid of antibody by the 6th to 7th month. The half-life of passively-acquired antibody was 4·4 weeks.


The purpose of this study was to contribute to sustainable development in the Pampanga province, Philippines. The Philippines are facing several major environmental problems; pig production represents a major contributing factor to pollution and eutrophication of water bodies in the country. At present there is no requirement for purification of wastewater from backyard (small-scale) farms. With the help of anaerobic digestion the manure could be used to produce biogas.The study's objective was to determine an anaerobic digester design and substrate composition for small-scale biogas production in backyard farms (20 pigs). To achieve this objective, several goals were defined; (1) determine the best substrate composition for biogas production, through the use of lab experiments, (2) determine a design best suited for small-scale use, (3) test the substrate and design in-field, (4) determine the impact of different inoculum, (5) determine a small-scale design based on local conditions such as finance, building materials, climate etc., (6) evaluate the digestates' properties as a bio-fertilizer and (7) compare the biogas production with an existing biogas plant in Pampanga. Four combinations of food waste and pig manure were tested at Karlstad University's biogas lab. The best composition had VS-ratio 1:2 for pig manure to food waste, and produced 111.1 NmL CH4/g VSadded. The chosen design was a floating drum digester. It was tested together with the substrate and two inoculums (cow manure and digestate from an existing biogas plant) in four pilot plants during 32 days. The plants showed symptoms of inhibition in biogas production and the pH dropped to toxic levels (below pH 6).At the end of the study, the plants had similar cumulative biogas production. The mean production was 1764 NmL and the average methane content was 33.6%. The plants with inoculum from an existing biogas plant showed signs of recovering from the low pH. The plants with cow manure as inoculum showed increasing signs of inhibition. The mean phosphorus content of the digestate was 1.3% TS and nitrogen content was 6% TS. The carbon to nitrogen ratio was on average 8:1, which had a positive impact on nitrogen mineralization in the soil (if used as bio-fertilizer). The digestate had high levels of VFA, which reflected improper substrate composition. The large fraction of food waste was the likely cause of inhibition; easily digestible carbohydrates lead to the pH drop and high levels of VFA.Based on the field study and literature, another substrate composition was recommended for the final design. The suggested substrate had VS-ratio 2:1 for pig manure to food waste. A variant of the floating drum digester was recommended, where several digesters could be connected in series and the number of digesters could be adapted to the number of pigs. The digester volume was 6.2 m3; the expected biogas production was 2.6 m3 with 70% methane content. This facility would result in a digestate containing 0.2 kg phosphorus and 0.7 kg nitrogen per day. Comparisons between the existing plants' biogas production and the pilot plants could not be done due to the fact that the plant lacked methods for measuring their biogas production and methane content. However, the study's overall findings make a strong argument for the use of biogas in backyard farms, for mitigating many of the Philippines' water quality issues arising from pig production.


The patristic view of death arose from the Greek anthropological philosophy. According to the ancients, man was made up of soul and body. Despite the Greek dualism, the Old Testament comprehensive approach to man meant that we are not two different, united natures, but rather a single, unified person. In early Christian writings man was portrayed as a living soul which after death awaits the resurrection of the body. Death was described as the major break in human nature . It is the "first death", i.e. the physical one. Fathers of the Church gradually introduced to their explanation of death the elements from the Old Testament. They maintained that death was the result of Adam's sin, and it was caused by the devil's jealousy of man. They didn't pay too much attention to the message of the New Testament, i.e. to the Jesus' Sacrifice which expiated our sins and redeemed us from the course of the law. Their teaching was rather aimed to inspire the faith in the resurrection of bodies and in eternal life with God, by the use of a Christian version of consolatio mortis. Christians buried their dead what expressed their hope for the resurrection of believers laid in eternal sleep. The inscriptions found in the catacombs clearly illustrate this hope.


Aminoglycosides (Ags) are a group of antibiotics that exert their bactericidal activity primarily by inhibition of protein synthesis. Aminoglycoside (Ag) molecules bind to the bacterial 30S ribosomal subunit rendering the ribosomes unavailable for translation, which results in cell death. Although these antibiotics are and have been very useful to treat a variety of bacterial infections, in recent years the number of Ag resistant and multiresistant isolates has seriously increased. Mechanisms of resistance to Ag include enzymatic inactivation by acetyltransferases, nucleotidyltransferases (adenylyltransferases), and phosphotransferases, ribosomal alterations, and reduced permeability. Of all Ags, amikacin (Ak) is the most resistant to the action of Ag-modifying enzymes. However, AAC(6')-I type enzymes (a group of 6'-N-acetyltransferases) can utilize Ak as substrate and confer resistance to this antibiotic in addition to other Ags. The gene aac(6')-Ib was found in various bacterial species and various research groups performed mutagenesis studies on this or related enzymes. In one case, aac(6')-Ib was identified in a transposable element, Tn1331, included in pJHCMW1, a plasmid isolated from a clinical K. pneumoniae strain. Tn1331 includes genes encoding two Ag-modifying enzymes (aac(6')-Ib and ant(3")-Ia) and two beta-lactamases (blaTEM and blaOXA-9). Characterization of other functions of the pJHCMW1 plasmid showed the presence of an RNA-regulated replication origin and a functional oriT. Stability by multimer resolution is achieved by the Tn1331 resolvase.


The censorship of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is a familiar story to musicologists, but reception of the opera is not frequently mentioned. Examining the reception of a work can bring a work's relative importance into focus. In this thesis, German literary and reception theorist Hans Robert Jauss's model of the horizon of expectations is applied to reviews of American productions of Lady Macbeth. Curiosity about communism following the Great Depression in 1930s, America and American music critics' knowledge that Soviet composers worked for the Soviet regime led to the belief that Lady Macbeth was officially approved export from the Soviet Union. When the article condemning the opera as a Western formalism appeared in the Soviet magazine, Pravda, Americans needed to adjust their understanding of Lady Macbeth as a socialist expression. Following the work's revival in San Francisco in 1981, the influence of Solomon Volkov's Testimony is prevalent in many reviews. Many reviewers use Volkov's narrative of Shostakovich as covert dissident of the Soviet Union to assert that the censorship of the opera was about the content of the plot and not the music. Following the Soviet rejection of the work, American critics tried to claim Shostakovich for the West based on the values of individual freedom and feminism set forth in Lady Macbeth.


Colon cancer (CC) is estimated to be the third most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States in 2010 and the incidence is higher among African Americans compared with Caucasians. Chronic intestinal inflammation is a risk factor for CC. Moreover, mediators of chronic inflammation have been implicated in CC development. MBL, a mannose-binding protein, is a critical component of the innate immune system, and it serves as a front-line protection against pathogens. MBL deficiency is common and present in approximately 5% of the population, predisposing individuals to bacterial and fungal infections. A previous resequencing analysis of the 10.0kbp region that includes the MBL2 gene showed a recombination hot-spot in the 3′ end of the gene, dividing MBL2 into two separate haplotype blocks: 5′UTR and 3′UTR haplotypes. In our previous work, we used a case-control study from the greater Baltimore, Maryland area (261 cases; 537 controls) and observed that haplotypes in both regions are associated with CC risk in African Americans, but not in Caucasians. Moreover, we showed that four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) comprising a 3′UTR region haplotype are individually associated with increased CC risk in African Americans: rs10082466, rs2120132, rs2099902, and rs10450310. In this study, we investigated whether the SNPs in this haplotype block fell within putative microRNA (miRNA) site due to the observed association of 3′UTR-region haplotypes and plasma MBL levels, using publicly available web-tools. We hypothesized that rs10082466 association with CC is driven by hsa-miR-27a binding to the C allele, resulting in decreased plasma MBL2 levels and activity. We tested the interaction of hsa-miR-27a with the 3′UTR region of MBL2 and its modulation by 3′UTR haplotypes in vitro using reporter constructs via luciferase activity. The increased binding affinity for the C allele of rs10082466 was reflected by a significant decrease in normalized luciferase activity, compared with the T allele. We also showed the C allele to be associated with lower plasma MBL2 levels and activity in cases and controls. Moreover, the fold increase of hsa-mir-27a precursor is significantly higher in African Americans compared to Caucasians in colon cancer. Therefore, 3′UTR haplotype association with CC may be driven by hsa-miR-27a binding to the C allele of rs10082466, which results in decreased plasma MBL2 levels and activity. In addition to the supporting evidence linking low levels of circulating MBL2 to increased susceptibility to infection, these results suggest that a genetic variant in MBL2 may increase colon cancer susceptibility in African Americans by creating a miRNA binding site. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):B60.


Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media for the development of informal home-based business (HBBs) community in Kuwait City Design/methodology/approach: This research is used as a qualitative methodology, which helps the researcher to come to original and direct quotations about the HBBs owners' thoughts and experiences In this paper, a multi case-based approach was used, respectively, we have used 14 cases, where 7 operate in the food sector and 7 in the entertainment/game sector All these informal HBBs are located in Kuwait City Findings: The results of the research showed that the respondents use Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, email and websites to communicate with customers and cooperate with business partners Banks' applications, such as "Edfali", are used for doing the payments related to the business Home-based owners are usually motivated by passion and love for the business, independence, additional source of income, succeeding in a family business, hobby or not finding an appropriate job in other companies Research limitations/implications: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had the opportunity to interview only 14 HBBs and only from two sectors, the food and entertainment/game sector Further research can be done with more cases and more sectors to see how ICTs and social media help these businesses to develop their activity and spread the business in different places Practical implications: This paper provides useful information on the role of ICTs and social media for the informal HBBs, especially during the crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic It might help business owners to prepare adequate strategies to cope with difficult situations and create better conditions for their businesses Originality/value: This paper is the first research that treats the informal HBB community in Kuwait City It could serve as a good base for further studies related to the impact of ICTs and social media on the business performance © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited


In attempting to understand the nature of emotional disturbances in medical student populations, one inevitably is drawn to the study of the complex interactions between the demands of the medical school environment and the adaptive capacities of students. In our work as psychiatric consultants to the University of Colorado Medical Center Student Health Service, we have found it useful to conceptualize the four-year medical curriculum as presenting the student with a series of adaptive and development tasks. The appearance of emotional disturbance is seen to relate as much to the particular developmental stress confronting the student as to his long-standing character structure and psychopathology. In this paper, we will describe and illustrate with clinical material major developmental tasks likely to elicit emotional distress in students. Indicators of potentially adaptive versus maladaptive resolutions will be outlined, and some suggestions for helpful intervention offered. Unique issues faced by women medical students will also be reviewed.


The involvement of undergraduate students in research is very important for engineering education. Research can not only significantly enhance student engagement and enrich student learning experience, but it is also useful as a tool to enhance undergraduate engineering education. However, it is a big challenge for a small teaching institution to do this because most of the faculty don't have funded research projects, their primary job is teaching a full load. In addition, some frequently raised questions from lectures or labs could be used as research projects for undergraduate students in the teaching institute. Tensile test labs were used for obtaining stress-strain curves in the MECH2500-Mechanics of Materials course to observe material behaviors under tensile load and to obtain some typical mechanical properties of materials, such as Young's modulus, yield strength, and ultimate strength. Some undergraduate students in mechanical engineering majors frequently asked why the results of the same materials under the same type of equipment and same test procedure were different when they conducted the tensile tests on an Instron universal test machine. In spring 2016, to help the students find answers by themselves, a research project was initiated with heavy student involvement to explore statistical parameters of typical mechanical properties. This team includes 3 faculties from two different departments, one staff from the Strength Test Center and several students. After one-year's work, 4 sets of test data had been obtained by the student research team and can be used to answer their questions. This paper will describe and present in detail the research activities. In the research, students implemented what they learned in classrooms to the research, designed and manufactured specimens, created test procedures, ran tensile tests, wrote test reports and conducted data analysis. Through the research, students gained hands-on research experience and had a better understanding of the mechanical properties and their statistical descriptions of materials. Some students showed great interest in doing research in future. Through this research, it was shown that some fundamental common questions or topics raised by the students during their courses can be used as undergraduate research projects. Students benefit greatly from such research projects.


Cryptosporidium is a leading global cause of waterborne disease, with many reported outbreaks related to main water supplies. In August 2019, an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis involving 80 cases occurred among 114 vacationers in a small municipality located in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, north-eastern Italy. After excluding a potential food-borne outbreak, the epidemiological investigation focussed on the hypothesis of a waterborne outbreak. This was confirmed by the finding of Cryptosporidium oocysts in stools of the cases and in water samples from the municipal water network. Molecular characterisation revealed the zoonotic species Cryptosporidium parvum as the causative agent. A single subtype (IIdA25G1) was found among all cases, and in one of two positive water samples. The municipality's water supply used spring water that only received a disinfection treatment insufficient to inactivate the parasite. Possible entry means into the water mains were found through further environmental investigations. As these types of water supplies are particularly vulnerable to various environmental factors, a control system based on the risk assessment of each phase of the water supply chain is required to guarantee water safety. Effective methods for detection of protozoan pathogens, which are generally excluded from routine water supply analysis, should be applied.


The effects of the organochlorine, dieldrin, were tested on a noradrenergic synapse of the frog, Caudiverbera caudiverbera. Nerve stimulation induced a transient increase in short circuit current (SCC) and in the potential difference (PD), which consisted of a rapid and then a slow component. Dieldrin in the concentration range 0.01–1.0 mM caused a concentration-dependent block of both components to 32% of their control values, which was partially reversed by washout. In some experiments, this blocking effect was preceded by an initial increase in the magnitude of the electrical parameters of the nonstimulated skin and also in the synaptic response to stimulation when the lowest dieldrin concentration (0.01 mM) was applied; higher concentrations (0.1–1.0 mM) led to progressive reduction of the responses. Results are interpreted as a perturbation of the lipid bilayer structure, which affects the functionality of lipid–protein complexes, leading, on one hand, to glandular Cl¡ channel inactivation and epithelial Na + channel blockade and, on the other hand, to transient glandular Cl¡ activation, opening of a putative Na+channel, and subsequent blockade.


Healthy insect populations are vital for maintaining natural ecosystems and essential to global food security. The ongoing dramatic loss of insect species and biomass is thus a global cause for concern, with much focus on this topic in the media. Yet, determining the mechanism behind these declines remains difficult, particularly when attempting to differentiate between anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss and long‐term natural fluctuations. In a From the Cover manuscript in this issue of Molecular Ecology, Crossley et al. (2022) examined the long‐term impact of land use change on freshwater insects by estimating levels of genetic diversity with publicly available data for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) mitochondrial locus from >700 aquatic insect species across the United States. Contemporary genetic diversity measures reflect both current and past demography and therefore are related to both past and present habitat change. Crossley et al. found that environments with greater cropland extent over the last 200 years were associated with lower genetic diversity in contemporary aquatic insect populations. This indicates that historical land use is an important factor in contemporary population dynamics. Most critically, in regions of historical cropland cover that have been converted towards other uses (such as urban environments) more recently, aquatic insect populations exhibited higher levels of genetic diversity, indicating a possible rebound in insect populations after cessation of agricultural activity. This study highlights the power of using publicly available data to answer crucial questions regarding the current biospheric emergency.


Differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) is successfully used as a high-throughput screening method for the analysis of the protein melting temperature (T(m)) in the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibody (MAb) formulations. Typically, surfactants are utilized in MAb formulations as a stabilizer, but the commonly applied polarity-sensitive dye SYPRO® Orange shows bright fluorescence in the presence of micelles, concealing the signal of protein unfolding. Studying various MAb formulations containing polysorbate 20, polysorbate 80, or poloxamer 188 (PX 188), the molecular rotor probe 4-(dicyanovinyl)julolidine (DCVJ) was investigated. Although limited to higher MAb concentrations, DCVJ enabled the determination of T(m) in many formulations where SYPRO® Orange failed. It is important to note that careful background correction of placebo formulations is essential for the precise determination of T(m) and especially T(m onset). Thermal shifts of T(m1) (lowest observed thermal transition) indicating stabilizing or destabilizing effects of pH or excipient were in good agreement across all tested formulations and correlated well with differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Additionally, the micellization temperature of PX 188 was confirmed, which leads to a nonproteinous transition. With this new method, it is possible to apply DSF during the development of therapeutic proteins in surfactant-containing formulations.


We read with interest the article by Leibenluft and colleagues 1 in the October 1994 issue of theArchives, which summarized the clinical data on how menstrual cycles can influence biochemical responses to biological challenges. Although the review emphasized mood disorder studies, the authors' conclusions can be extended to biological research in panic disorder. An overlooked area in biological studies of panic disorder is the influence of menstrual cycles and premenstrual syndrome on behavioral sensitivity to panicogenic agents. In this regard, we conducted a study to compare the behavioral response of normal women with and without premenstural dysphoric disorder (PDD) to systemic administration of cholecystokinin-tetrapeptide (CCK-4), a well-validated panicogenic agent. We present herein preliminary data collected from 12 women with PDD and 13 women without PDD. All of our subjects were screened with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R , Non-Patient Editor 2 to exclude those with Axis I disorders. The


The accuracy of corneal trephination with a Franceschetti trephine was investigated on Duragel contact lenses. A modified 7.3 mm Crock trephine (Brit. J. Ophthal. 62 [1978] 74-80) with a rotating diamond blade fitted was compared with the above-mentioned method. Trephination of Duragel lenses from the convex side yielded diameters either larger or smaller than 7 mm. With one exception trephination from the concave side produced disks smaller than 7 mm. All Duragel disks had an elliptical configuration after trephination with the Franceschetti trephine. Trephination with the modified Crock trephine yielded disks with diameters close to 7.3 mm in all meridians.


We determined trypsin gene sequences and compared relative levels of trypsin gene expression as influenced by ontogeny, diet, and phylogeny in four related prickleback fish species. Of these species, Cebidichthys violaceus and Xiphister mucosus shift from carnivory to herbivory at ∼45 mm standard length [SL], whereas Xiphister atropurpureus and Anoplarchus purpurescens remain carnivores. Pairwise sequence similarities among the four species were 77%–95% for the trypsin nucleotides and 69%–94% for the amino acids. Trypsin gene expression levels in small (30–40 mm SL) and larger (60–75 mm) wild‐caught juveniles and larger (60–75 mm) juveniles raised on a high‐protein artificial diet increased with ontogeny in all four species but in response to the diet only in the two carnivores. The indistinguishable expression levels in the sister taxa, X. mucosus and X. atropurpureus, represented the only apparent phylogenetic effect. Xiphister atropurpureus, however, increased both trypsin gene expression and enzymatic activity (the latter from a previous study) on the high‐protein artificial diet, indicating transcriptional rather than posttranscriptional (shown in X. mucosus) regulation of the activity. This study provides evidence for genetically programmed upregulation of trypsin gene expression with ontogeny in both the carnivorous and herbivorous species but in response to the high‐protein artificial diet only in the carnivores.


ABSTRACT Objectives Aberrant microglial responses promote neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. However, rifampicin's effect on cognitive and motor sequelae of inflammation remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated whether rifampicin exerts neuroprotection against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cognitive and motor impairments. Methods A mouse model of LPS-induced cognitive and motor impairment was established. Adult C57BL/6 mice were injected intraperitoneally with 25 mg/kg rifampicin 30 min before intraperitoneal microinjection of LPS (750 μg/kg) daily until study end. Treatments and behavioral experiments were performed once daily for 7 days. Behavioral tests and pathological/biochemical assays were performed to evaluate LPS-induced damage to the hippocampus and substantia nigra (SN). Results Rifampicin attenuated LPS-induced cognitive and motor impairments, based on performance in the behavioral tests. Rifampicin suppressed the release of pro-inflammatory mediators, including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and prostaglandin E2 in the serum and nitric oxide (NO) in brain tissue, and cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase levels. Immunofluorescence revealed that rifampicin inhibited LPS-induced microglial activation in the hippocampus and SN, thus protecting the neurons. Rifampicin inhibited the activation of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Rifampicin downregulated TLR4 and MyD88 protein levels and inhibited NF-κB inhibitor alpha and NF-κB inhibitor kinase beta phosphorylation, thus reducing p65 nuclear transfer by inhibiting NF-κB signaling activation in LPS-treated mice. Conclusion Rifampicin protects against LPS-induced neuroinflammation and attenuates cognitive and motor impairments by inhibiting the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway. Our findings might aid the development of novel therapies to treat progressive neurodegenerative diseases.


Development of vascularization of the anterior part of the medial rectus muscle after Cüppers' thread operation was studied by injected barium sulphate into the ophthalmic artery of 8 corpses. Properly distributed and normally tightened myoscleral sutures, as with surgical operations for strabismus, do not hinder circulation of the contrast medium, whereas markedly tightened sutures interrupt its circulation. These experimental results as well as clinical and pathological findings following 18 repeat surgical operations, clearly show that Cüppers' thread operation is not hazardous when a very strict operative technique is respected.


In this thesis, we study the closely related theories of control, stabilization and propagation of singularities for some linear and nonlinear dispersive partial differential equations. Main results come from the author's works:[1] Zhu, H., 2016. Stabilization of damped waves on spheres and Zoll surfaces of revolution. ESAIM: Control, Optimisation and Calculus of Variations (ESAIM: COCV), to appear.[2] Zhu, H., 2017. Control of three dimensional water waves. arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.06130.[3] Zhu, H., 2018. Propagation of singularities for gravity-capillary water waves. arXiv preprint arXiv:1810.09339.In [1] we studied the stabilization of the damped wave equation on Zoll surfaces of revolution. We gave an example where the region of damping is at the borderline of the geometric control condition, yet the damped waves exhibit a uniform exponential decay of energy, generalizing an example of Lebeau.In [2] we studied the controllability of the gravity-capillary water wave equation. Under the geometric control condition, we proved in arbitrary spatial dimension the exact controllability for spatially periodic small data. This generalizes a result of Alazard, Baldi and Han-Kwan for the 2D gravity-capillary water wave equation.In [3] we studied the propagation of singularities for the gravity-capillary water wave equation. We defined the quasi-homogeneous wavefront set, generalizing the wavefront set of H¨ ormander and the homogeneous wavefront set of Nakamura, and proved propagation results for quasi-homogeneous wavefront sets by the gravity-capillary water wave equation. As corollaries, we obtained local and microlocal smoothing effects for gravity-capillary water waves with sufficient spatial decay.


Blind source separation cannot generally be performed using second-order statistics alone because of a unitary matrix ambiguity. We present the multidimensional phase-locked loop (MPLL) as a blind algorithm for resolving this ambiguity. The MPLL is a multidimensional generalization of the scalar decision-directed PLL for resolving phase rotations in scalar digital communication systems, and as such is applicable only to discrete-alphabet sources. We compare the MPLL to other known unitary source separation algorithms, and find that the MPLL compares favorably in terms of both performance and complexity.


Finally the paper deals with the solution of the following problem: Let signals y1(iT), ..., yq(iT) (elements of output vector y(iT)) be responses of MIMO discretetime system to the input signals u1(iT),..,uq(iT) (elements of input vector u(iT)). Determine discrete-time excitations uA1,......,uAq (elements of vector uA) scaling the system responses to the required forms y1(iA-1T),...,yq(iA-1T), where A is positive number called "time scale coefficient", T–reference sample time, i–sample number. If A>1, then system responses are speeded up comparing them to reference responses y1(iT),..., yq(iT). Putting 0<A <1 one slows the responses down. The perfect scaling of system makes, that moments of appearances of consecutive amplitudes belonging to the reference responses y1(iT),..., yq(iT) are "controlled" according to value of A. The scaling of system responses yields transparent representations in time and frequency domains. Thus, the timescaling seems to be useful tool for speeding the system responses up, or slowing them down, if forms of reference responses satisfy technical needs. Let us note, that perfect scaling of stable system conserves its stability. The methods presented in current Chapter can be applied for time-scaling of responses of continuous-time systems on the basis of respective discrete–time models. Thus, the considered methods can be treated as alternative solutions to those for time-scaling of continuous–time systems (Durnas & Grzywacz, 2001; Durnas & Grzywacz, 2002; Grzywacz, 2006). Of course, there are other ways of application of time-scaling techniques, like those, for example, presented in (Moya at al., 2002; Respondek & Pogromsky, 2004), where problem of synthesis of controllers and observers for certain classes of non-linear plants has been solved. In current Chapter we do not deal with time-scaling in this meaning.


This study aimed to assess the adequacy of prenatal care in Brazil associated with sociodemographic determinants. The study included a data analysis from the National Health Research performed in Brazil in 2013. Two outcomes on the adequacy of prenatal care were assessed: the Kessner index modified by Takeda index that, in addition to the former, assessed whether blood pressure and weight were measured in all appointments, as well as the performance of blood and urine tests and ultrasound. Both quality indicators were assessed for Brazil and for its macro-regions. According to Outcome 1, 80.6% of women received adequate prenatal care. When adding the performance of tests (Outcome 2), the rate dropped to 71.4%. Adequate prenatal care was more frequent among white women who performed prenatal care in the private health sector. The northern region had the lowest rate of adequate prenatal care, while the southeast region showed the highest rates. Despite the extensive coverage, prenatal care in Brazil still presents inequities and low service quality, especially for women from the poorest regions of the country.


A public-academia cooperative research system is suggested to improve the level of national research on atmospheric science and to enable the National Institute of Meteorological Research (NIMR) to meet its overloaded demand for research and results. As a practical example of cooperative research the CIRES case was reviewed. CIRES, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, located at the University of Colorado Boulder, is one of NOAA`s 18 cooperative research centers located at universities across the U.S. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as a part of government, gives clear guideline for research topics and supplies research funds to research centers and audits their research processes and accomplishments. NOAA Boulder Laboratories, as a large, well-established government research center managed by government scientists, supplies depth of experiences and major research infra-structure to CIRES. CIRES pursues innovative and challenging research with their younger and brand-new researchers who are university employees. This cooperative work between government research organizations and the university produces high level research efficiently. Not only does Boulder have a beautiful natural setting where researchers live and work but also the city is a home to many scientific agencies and research facilities. This robust scientific network provides rich opportunities for CIRES researchers to collaborate with others in their scientific fields.


ABSTRACT Haze is a common atmospheric disturbance that adversely affects the quality of optical data, thus often restricting their usability. Since these effects are inherent in the process of spaceborne Earth sensing, it is important to develop effective methods to remove them. This work proposes a novel method for de-hazing satellite imagery and outdoor camera images. It is developed by modifying the transmission map used in Dark Channel Prior (DCP) method. A Weighted Variance Guided Filter (WVGF) is introduced for enhancing the image quality, which included a two-stage image decomposition and fusion process. The method also optimally combines the radiance and transmission components along with an additional stage modelling a fusion-based transparency function. A final guided filter-based image refinement scheme is incorporated to improve the processed image quality. The optimal tuning of the image-dependent parameters at various stages is achieved using the newly proposed Adaptive Black Widow Optimization (ABWO) algorithm, which makes the proposed de-hazing scheme fully automatic. Qualitative and quantitative performance analyses, and the results are compared with other state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method performs better as compared with others, independent of the haze density, without losing the natural look of the scene.


Introduction: Leadership styles of school principals plays a significant role in making the school a safe haven for students. This is because principals interact with the school community more often, and hence understand the school environment better. Purpose: Determine the critical leadership style in the security management in Mandera County, Kenya Methodology: The correlational study design was used as the framework that anchored the study. The survey targeted a population of 424 teachers, 46 principals, 460 BOM members and 13,387 students in Mandera County which makes a total population of 14,317. The sample size was 201 teachers, 40 principals, 210 BOM members and 373 students and thus narrowing the sample size to 824 respondents. The respondents were stratified, proportionately and randomly sampled. Questionnaires for teachers, semi- structured interview guides for principals and BOM members, and focus groups were adopted as instruments of collecting information. Before the main study, the researcher conducted a pilot study in schools that had characteristics similar to those of the sampled schools. Content validity was determined using expert judgment from specialist in the education management. Instrument reliability was established using the Cronbach alpha technique. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, while quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequencies, means, and inferential statistics in terms of regression analysis. Results: The results of this research show a prediction that for each increase in the leadership styles of secondary school principals, there was a 29.7% increase in security management. Recommendation: Major recommendation is that school leadership need to adopt the correct management strategies to ensure security. Furthermore, the community where the school is located should be involved in matters of student security and safety


TREATMENT OF DRY NECROTIC WOUNDS MANAGING FUNGATING BREAST LESIONS APPLICATION OF ALCOHOL DISINFECTION OF PROSPECTIVE INJECTION SITES WASHING ULCERATED LEGS IN SOAP FLAKES.


Machine Learning (ML) is an emerging technology and a discipline to study how to use the machine to simulate human learning activities. It focuses on the use of data and algorithms to imitate the way that humans learn, gradually improving its accuracy. Prediction in ML involves using a trained model to make predictions on forecasts, about new unseen data based on patterns learned from past data. On the contrary healthcare plays an important role in human life. Healthcare presents a range of complex and challenging problems that require sophisticated solutions. For example, accurately diagnosing diseases based on medical images can be difficult, but ML models can be trained to identify subtle patterns that might be missed by human experts. Skin diseases are very common nowadays and spreading widely among people in present time. Therefore, development of data mining techniques can efficiently distinguish classes of skin disease is important. Due to lack of medical facilities available in the remote areas, patients usually ignore early symptoms which may worsen the situation as time progresses. Hence, there is a rising need for automatic skin disease detection system with high accuracy. Therefore, an application is developed which uses Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) as it is the most efficient algorithm for image classification. Then a machine learning model is built for better accuracy. Then Softmax is used for multi classification. Deep Learning is used to train the model, Deep Learning is a part of Machine Learning in which unlike Machine Learning it uses large dataset and hence the number of classifiers is reduced substantially. The final model will be able to identify and classify the type of disease which has affected a particular area of skin.


The anticancer activity of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), orally administrated, is limited by poor bioavailability, absorption, and unpredictable distribution in human tissues. EGCG charged nanoparticles may represent an opportunity to overcome these limitations. We assayed two different kinds of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs and LNPs functionalized with folic acid) charged with EGCG on three breast carcinoma cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-7TAM) and the human normal MCF10A mammary epithelial cells. Both LNPs loaded with EGCG, at low concentrations, induced a significant cytotoxicity in the three breast carcinoma cells but not in MCF10A cells. In view of a future application, both LNPs and LNPs-FA were found to be very suitable for in vitro studies and useful to improve EGCG administration in vivo. Since they are produced by inexpensive procedures using bioavailable, biocompatible, and biodegradable molecules, they represent an applicable tool for a more rationale use of EGCG as an anti-cancer agent.


The purpose of this paper is to reveal the results of the efforts and strategies to improve the quality of graduates in achieving competency standards in FTIK ( Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan /Faculty of Education and Teacher Training) at The State Islamic University of Malang, Indonesia. The existing challenge today, namely the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in which the human resources with special requirements, is to be able to compete and work at any positions wherever they want.  An Islamic college, particularly the FTIK where the prospective educators are "born", should be able to produce graduates who have both national and international qualifications. As a result, it demands the necessary management and strategies to achieve SKL ( Standar Kompetensi Lulusan / Graduate Competency Standard). This study uses qualitative approach with field research type. Strategies to guarantee the quality of graduates done through tight assessment, provision of extra programs that can improve the students' academic quality, continuous assessment, and the students' scientific work must be written in either English or Arabic. Excellence program has a positive impact either on students who want to continue to pursue higher education or students who choose to work. The graduates of excellence programs are proven to have tough mentality as well as high work ethics.


A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) has no fixed networking infrastructure, and consists of mobile nodes that communicate with each other. Since nodes are mobile, routing in ad hoc networks is a challenging task. Efficient routing protocols can make better performance in such networks. Many protocols have been proposed for ad hoc networks and the most common types are: Ad hoc ondemand Distance Vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR). AODV is one of the most popular routing protocol dedicated for ad-hoc networks; it uses the flooding technique for locating the destinations, and so, possibly cause an overhead in the network(Perkis 2003). To overcome this problem we have introduced the MPR (Multi Point Relay algorithm(ZHU. W 2009)(B. Mans et al.,2004) in the AODV protocol in order to reduce the number of messages broadcasted during the flooding phase. The extended AODV (MPRAODV) using MPR, reduces the overhead and enhances the packet delivery performance.


Syphilis manifests itself in the human organism by a multiplicity of lesions in the skin, mucous membranes, glands, blood vessels, bones and viscera. Besides its physical manifestations, syphilitic infection produces an alteration in the blood serum. Reasoning from the analogy furnished by other infections, with the immunology of which we are better acquainted, one may assume that the alteration in the blood serum of the syphilitic patient is multiple, and due to the elaboration of certain products by the action of Spirochaeta pallida on the tissues of the human host. We are as yet unfamiliar with the exact nature of the products of syphilitic infection. A syphilotoxin probably exists, but immunology has not furnished any exact proof of this. Since the advent of the Wassermann test we have possessed a method for the detection of a certain property commonly present in the serum of syphilized persons, namely, the property of