In Drosophila, ventral nerve cord (VNC) occupies most of the larval central nervous system (CNS). However, there is little literature elaborating upon the specific types and growth of neurites as defined by their structural appearance in Drosophila larval VNC neuropil. Here we report the ultrastructural development of different types VNC neurites in ten selected time points in embryonic and larval stages utilizing transmission electron microscopy. There are four types of axonal neurites as classified by the type of vesicular content: clear vesicle (CV) neurites have clear vesicles and some T-bar structures; Dense-core vesicle (DV) neurites have dense-core vesicles and without T-bar structures; Mixed vesicle (MV) neurites have mixed vesicles and some T-bar structures; Large vesicle (LV) neurites are dominated by large, translucent spherical vesicles but rarely display T-bar structures. We found dramatic remodeling in CV neurites which can be divided into five developmental phases. The neurite is vacuolated in primary (P) phase, they have mitochondria, microtubules or big dark vesicles in the second (S) phase, and they contain immature synaptic features in the third (T) phase. The subsequent bifurcate (B) phase appears to undergo major remodeling with the appearance of the bifurcation or dendritic growth. In the final mature (M) phase, high density of commensurate synaptic vesicles are distributed around T-bar structures. There are four kinds of morphological elaboration of the CVI neurite sub-types. First, new neurite produces at the end of axon. Second, new neurite bubbles along the axon. Third, the preexisting neurite buds and develops into several neurites. The last, the bundled axons form irregularly shape neurites. Most CVI neurites in M phase have about 1.5–3 µm diameter, they could be suitable to analyze their morphology and subcellular localization of specific proteins by light microscopy, and they could serve as a potential model in CNS in vivo development.


Talaflavuterpenoid A (1), a new nardosinane-type sesquiterpene, was isolated from the wetland soil-derived fungus Talaromyces flavus BYD07-13, and its structure was elucidated on the basis of HR-MS, NMR, and X-ray diffraction analysis. The absolute configuration of 1 was established by comparing the experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectrum with the calculated ECD spectra. Its cytotoxic effects on five human tumor cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, and SW480), and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus niger were evaluated. This is the first report of the presence of nardosinane-type sesquiterpene in Talaromyces sp.


Abstract : Billions of dollars have been wasted on failed information system (IS) projects over the last decade in the private and public sectors. More specifically, the tri-service environment of the U.S. military has not implemented a single successful geospatial IS (GIS). The lack of a service-wide insertion process for GIS was cited as the most significant cause for military GIS failures. GeoBase represents the USAF's most recent GIS implementation. The GeoBase program focuses on Information Resource Management (IRM) and cultural issues. The GeoBase Sustainment Model (GSM), anecdotally developed by GeoBase leadership to reflect implementation issues and the IRM practices of the program, presents a prime research opportunity to examine the legitimacy of the initiative. Within the Federal Government, stricter control on IS has been established in an effort to increase the rate of IS project success. IRM has been offered as the solution. This researcher conducted a case study investigation of GeoBase implementation issues as perceived at the USAF-MAJCOM level to qualitatively assess the validity of the anecdotally constructed GSM. The researcher also assessed the model against key IRM dimensions. Based on a content analysis of the reported implementation issues, IRM documentation, and the GSM itself, the model adequately represented the reported implementation issues and the key IRM dimensions. However, the model was underspecified. Inclusion of communication, a category of reported implementation issues, and advisory committees, a major IRM dimension, would more fully specify the model. A fully specified model may act as the service-wide GIS insertion model, which is currently lacking. (12 tables, 14 figures, 75 refs.)


Syllabic companders are one of the important functional devices which prevents speech quality degradation due to fading by using the transmission power of finite radio resources effectively. Conventional companders suffer from distortions because of the use of approximate envelope detection in the AM demodulators. It is shown by the way of strict sense envelope detection (SSEd) employing the concept of instantaneous spectrum based on short time DFT can be adopted for the realization of ideal syllabic companders. SSEd companders are also verified to be free from any distortions through analysis and computer simulations both for single and dual tone signals.<<ETX>>


Staying in the pocket: A cyclometalated iridium(III) biquinoline complex targets the protein-protein interface (see picture; C yellow, N blue, Ir dark green) of the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) trimer. Molecular-modeling studies confirm the nature of this interaction. Both enantiomers of the iridium complex display comparable in vitro potency to the strongest small-molecule inhibitor of TNF-α.


Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms survive exposure and proliferate in the presence of therapeutic levels of antimicrobial drugs. Because antimicrobial resistance is increasing, it is vital to encourage consumers to change and adopt smarter antibiotic behaviour. Despite World Health Organization's efforts to combat antibiotic resistance and their emphasis on the importance of public involvement, the role of consumers has been overlooked. The manifold responsibility for antibiotic resistance extends across different actors, including food retailers and consumers. Given this shared responsibility, a blame game arises and no action occurs. To overcome this status quo situation, we draw attention to the potential role of individual responsibility and social pressure to encourage consumers to adopt smart antibiotic behaviour but also to empower them. Conditions must be put in place to enable consumers' critical evaluation of the health-related and ethical aspects of their food choices. Such behaviour can be facilitated using digital innovations to support informed choices, in store and online.


PurposeEpidemics and pandemics can result in sudden morbidity and mortality as well as social and economic disruption. However, the humanitarian logistics and supply chain management (HLSCM) field has been mostly focusing on life saving operations after natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. There is no research within the HLSCM literature neither on the unique properties of vulnerable groups, nor their underlying risk factors or how to mitigate them. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the uniqueness of some vulnerable groups and motivated us to conduct a structured literature review to identify research needs in HLSCM with regards to vulnerable populations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a systematic review of literature on the intersection of epidemics/pandemics, humanitarian operations and vulnerable populations. They utilize the Scopus database to search for peer-reviewed journal articles published in English. Our search results in 366 articles which we reduced to 139 after filtering.FindingsThere is no research within the HLSCM literature on the unique properties of various vulnerable populations. The authors show that HLSCM scholars can contribute to literature by investigating operational and logistical challenges of serving vulnerable populations through multi-disciplinary research, research on the intersection of public health and supply chain management, research on the intersection of ethics and operations management, and research on cross-sectoral partnerships.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' work is limited to peer-reviewed journal articles published in English. They did not include books, conference proceedings and think-tank or NGO reports. However, the authors do recognize that these sources can be very valuable.Originality/valueTo best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study to review the literature on vulnerable populations under the threat of epidemics and pandemics.


Nowadays, teaching English is very important because English
plays a main role in communication. Therefore, English should be taught as
early as possible to children. In mastering English, there are four basic skills
to be learnt. They are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Though,
those skills cannot be carried out without vocabulary. One cannot speak,
read, write, and understand if he/she does not know a lot of words. In
teaching vocabulary, many English teachers give the students the word list
that has to be memorized. Most children find learning English vocabulary
difficult due to the boring and monotonous teaching learning process. The
children may become unmotivated to learn vocabulary.
Being aware of this problem, the writer thought that an enjoyable
way of teaching vocabulary is required. She tried to conduct TPR technique
as a means of teaching vocabulary. In this study, the writer wants to know
which one is better, teaching English vocabulary using TPR or teaching
English vocabulary using word list.
The sample of this study was the second grade students of SDK
Santa Clara Surabaya, of the year 2011/2012. In conducting this study, three
classes were used. To decide which class became the experimental, the
control, and the pilot groups, the writer chose the classes randomly. The
pilot group was used to know the validity and the reliability of the
instrument. The experimental group was taught by using TPR technique
while the control group was taught by word list. First, there was a pretest for
the experimental and control group. Then, the treatments were given in
three meetings. After the treatments were over these two groups were
finally given the posttest.
To analyze the result of the posttest of the two groups, the writer
used t-test to find the answer to the question and directly to test the
hypothesis of this study. Afterthat, the writer calculated the mean, the standart deviation, and the observed t (to). Next, she determined the level of significance at 5 percent (0.05) with 48 degrees of freedom (df) which is 2.313. The result showed that there is no significant difference between the two groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that both techniques are effective to teach vocabulary, however, the score of the students who were taught using word list is better than those taught using TPR. In order to get more complete and valid results, the writer would like to suggest the following points to other researchers who want to do a further study on this topic. First, choose a school whose students are from the lower society group. Second, the treatment should be given more thanB three meetings so that the students have enough time to adjust to the technique. Third, the researchers may take wider samples. In the end, the writer hopes that all of what she has done in this study will give worthy contribution not only for the writer and teachers, but also for the students.


Toxoplasmosis is one of the most widespread diseases in the world. It is known for being asymptomatic and affects all living organisms, including humans. The disease is caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. Immunocompromised patients such as AIDS and diabetes ,are the most vulnerable group to infection .The main objective of this research is to detect the infection with Toxoplasma gondii among Diabetic patients by serological method (ELISA) in order to measure the level of IgG for 120 of diabetic patients and 60 healthy control .The results were showed that 35% of diabetic patients infected with Toxoplasma gondii compare to control 78.3% .The age of Diabetic patients who are infected with toxoplasmosis was 55-65 and consisted 11.6% rate of infection followed by 8.3% in 45-55 age group ,while the lower rate was 1.1% in age group of 75-85 years. Diabetic female 34.1% was highly infected with toxoplasmosis than male o.8%, and their residency were urban (24.1%).


The class of functors known as discrete Conduche fibrations forms a common generalization of discrete fibrations and discrete opfibrations, and shares many of the formal properties of these two classes. F. Lamarche [7] conjectured that, for any small category B, the category DCF/B of discrete Conduche fibrations over B should be a topos. In this note we show that, although for suitable categories B the discrete Conduche fibrations over B may be presented as the 'sheaves' for a family of coverings on a category Btw constructed from B, they are in general very far from forming a topos.


Most existing exoskeletons have followed a similar design approach using articulated rigid links, despite the applications of strength augmentation or rehabilitation, which may have very different specifications. In order to address the urge for ergonomics in wearable assistive exoskeletons for rehabilitation, this paper proposed a design alternative using compliant continuum mechanisms. Design concepts were elaborated for an upper extremity exoskeleton for a shoulder joint. Design considerations were then detailed based on a general kinematics and statics model extended from previously published results. Construction, actuation and transmission schemes for a selected continuum structure were discussed and a preliminary prototype was constructed to demonstrate feasibility of the proposed idea.


We report results of calculations of low-energy electron scattering by TiCl4. Our calculations employed the Schwinger multichannel method implemented with norm-conserving pseudopotentials (Bettega et al 1993 Phys. Rev. A 47 1111) at the fixed-nuclei static-exchange approximation. We compare the elastic integral, differential and momentum transfer cross sections of TiCl4 with those of CCl4, SiCl4 and GeCl4. Similarities and differences in the cross sections for these molecules are discussed. We also discuss the role of the inner atom and the chlorine atom in the scattering process. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first ab initio calculation on electron scattering by TiCl4 and GeCl4 molecules. We have also calculated the ionization cross section for these molecules using the binary-encounter Bethe model and estimated the inelastic cross section for CCl4, SiCl4 and GeCl4, where measured total cross sections are available.


Fundamental and clinical studies of cefpiramide (CPM), a new cephem antibiotic, were carried out in the field of pediatrics. 80% MICs of CPM against S. aureus, S. pyogenes, H. influenzae, E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa were 1.56, 0.05, 0.39, 6.25, 0.78 and 25 micrograms/ml, respectively. Serum concentration of CPM after intravenous injection at a dose of 20 mg/kg to 3 children was 103.7 +/- 9.1 micrograms/ml at 15 minutes and 13.4 +/- 5.0 micrograms/ml at 8 hours, with half-life of 3.11 +/- 0.83 hours. The excretion rate of CPM into urine was 16.40 +/- 7.31% within 8 hours. The transfer of CPM to cerebrospinal fluid was 0.1 approximately 0.2 micrograms/ml at 1 hour after intravenous injection at a dose of 20 mg/kg to patients with Aseptic meningitis, and 0.4 approximately 4.0 micrograms/ml at 1 hour approximately 3 hours 15 minutes after intravenous injection at a dose of 50 mg/kg to patients with purulent meningitis. Clinical effects of CPM on 37 patients with various infections were excellent in 28 cases, good in 6 cases, fair in 2 cases and poor in 1 case. The effective rate (excellent and good) was 91.9%. Bacteriologically, the eradication rate in 23 isolated organisms was 95.5%. No side effects and abnormalities of laboratory findings were noted. It was concluded that CPM has a broad spectrum antibacterial activity both in vitro and in vivo.


Hidden Markov model (HMM) -based speech synthesis systems possess several advantages over concatenative synthesis systems. One such advantage is the relative ease with which HMM-based systems are adapted to speakers not present in the training dataset. Speaker adaptation methods used in the field of HMM-based automatic speech recognition (ASR) are adopted for this task. In the case of unsupervised speaker adaptation, previous work has used a supplementary set of acoustic models to firstly estimate the transcription of the adaptation data. By defining a mapping between HMM-based synthesis models and ASR-style models, this paper introduces an approach to the unsupervised speaker adaptation task for HMM-based speech synthesis models which avoids the need for supplementary acoustic models. Further, this enables unsupervised adaptation of HMMbased speech synthesis models without the need to perform linguistic analysis of the estimated transcription of the adaptation data.


Lacan never tired of repeating that Totem and Taboo (1912) was wrong, and that the Oedipus complex was Freud's own neurosis. Lacan offered instead his own theory of the paternal metaphor and the Oedipal structure which make use of his innovative concepts of the Phallus, Castration, Desire andjouissance.' By recasting Freud's realist picture of the Oedipal complex away from both myth and biology, Lacan introduced the concept of a structure which is formed by the intervention of a third element into the original infant-mother dyad: the Law of the Name-of-the-father. Moving from the realm of the Freudian sexual triangle to that of symbolic effect, Lacan leaves the scene of the incest taboo to dramatists and anthropologists. Sexual identity is not based on biological gender, or any other innate factor, but is learned through the dynamics of identification and language. One finds two different systems of meaning within Lacan's epistemology, each complete in its own sphere: the one of language, and that of an unconscious discourse. In the unconscious system which Lacan calls the Other discourse, meaning does not come from substance or essence, but from structural associations and signifying effects. Within this context, not only the Oedipal myth, but myth in general is simply "the attempt to give epic form to that which operates itself from structure."2 In the early 1950s Lacan used the word "structure" to mean that which functions like a language; i.e., by transformations. In the same way that speech and lexicon are governed by the fundamental laws of language which Roman Jakobson names as metaphor and metonymy, Lacan has depicted an unconscious which transforms its representational networks of imagistic relations through analogous procedures of combination, condensation, substitution and displacement.3 In light of Lacan's structural picture of the unconscious, any direct linking of his Oedipal structure to biology through body configuration, gender, genital experience, or its "resolution" in genital


Communicable and non-communicable diseases place enormous social and economic burdens on developed and developing countries. Health education leading to changes in people's attitudes and behaviours remains the best approach for reducing the problem of communicable diseases while there is evidence that programmes providing regular physical exercise and advocating a controlled diet can reduce the prevalence of many non-communicable diseases. Hence, the delivery of health education and physical activity within a single coherent programme offers great potential for simultaneously addressing both health issues. Since 2006, FIFA has developed and tested a novel football-based health-education programme for children entitled '11 for Health', which is aimed at increasing children's levels of physical activity while also delivering 11 simple health messages. When new interventions of this type are published in the scientific literature, it is often not possible to describe important background information about the project that could assist other researchers in developing and implementing similar programmes. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by describing the aims and objectives, organisation, planning, implementation and monitoring requirements needed to deliver FIFA's '11 for Health' programme, first as a pilot project and subsequently as a nationwide project, through a tripartite arrangement between FIFA, the national Football Association and the Government Ministries in Mauritius.


The Natural History Museum, London (NHM) has embarked on an ambitious Digital Collections Programme to digitise its collections. One aim of the programme has been to improve the workflows and infrastructure needed to support high-throughput digitisation and create comprehensive digital inventories of large scientific collections.
 Pilot projects have been carried out for a variety of collection types, from which high-throughput imaging workflows have been developed and refined. These workflows have focused on pinned insect specimens (Blagoderov et al. 2012, Paterson et al. 2016, Blagoderov et al. 2017, Price et al. 2018), microscope slides (whole slide and specimen imaging; Allan et al. 2018, Allan et al. 2019) and herbarium sheets.
 The rate and time taken to digitise specimens is influenced by a number of factors that include, among others, the level of preparation and post-processing required, imaging approach, the type of specimens as well as the complexity and condition of the collection. As part of this presentation we will include information on the rate, cost and time to digitise various NHM collections, illustrating how our processes have improved digitisation efficiency and allowed us to maintain quality.
 The programme has run a variety of digitisation projects, gathering data about rates of digitisation (preparation, imaging, transcription etc.) and developing improvements. Collection types such as microscope slides and herbarium sheets lend themselves to higher imaging rates, while other collections such as pinned insects, which require greater amounts of specimen handling to remove labels, tend to have lower imaging rates (Fig. 1). In order to increase efficiency, we have developed approaches that minimise specimen handling. For example, workflows for pinned insects such as the Angled Label Image Capture and Extraction (ALICE) do not require the removal of specimen labels from the pin as the system can capture angled images of the labels, thus increasing the imaging rate three-fold (Fig. 1).
 Another approach taken is to semi-automate mass digitisation using a combination of temporary and permanent Data Matrix barcode labels (Allan et al. 2019). By using multiple barcodes at the imaging stage to encode information associated with each specimen (i.e. unique identifier, location in the collection, taxonomic name, type status etc.; Fig. 2), we can run a series of automated processes, including file renaming, image processing and bulk import into the Museum's collection management system. Through adaptation of our workflows with this new approach we have increased the efficiency of digitisation processes, illustrating how simple activities, like automated file renaming, reduces image post-processing time, minimises human error and can be applied across multiple collection types.


This article describes the implementation and evaluation of a demonstration practice grant project that concerned patient education classes in general practice. The classes covered four common and important chronic conditions: hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, asthma and diabetes. Altogether, 10 one and a half hour classes were conducted in late 1992 by the author, who is an associate in a large group practice. Fifty-five people out of 113 who were invited attended, giving an average of 5 to 6 people per session. Pre- and post-knowledge questionnaires assessed the short term impact of the classes; the overall mean improvement in questions answered correctly following the discussion was 10 per cent. Satisfaction with the classes was very high. The most likely long-term difficulties with classes such as these are in the recruitment of patients and the time commitment required by the session leader. The use of computerised patient databases and greater assistance by non doctor personnel, for example, nurses, may help to overcome these problems.


The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has challenged health professions and systems, and developed different speeds of reaction and types of response around the world Coronavirus is an enveloped virus with positive-sense single-stranded RNA Coronavirus infection in humans mainly affects the upper respiratory tract, and to a lesser extent, the gastrointestinal tract Clinical symptoms of coronavirus infections can range from relatively mild (similar to the common cold) to severe (bronchitis, pneumonia, and renal involvement) The role of dental professionals in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 is critically important While all routine dental care has been suspended in countries experiencing COVID-19, the need for organized urgent care delivered by teams provided with appropriate personal protective equipment has become a priority Dental professionals can also contribute to medical care Major and rapid reorganization of both clinical and support services is not simple Dental professionals considered a moral duty to reduce routine care due to fear of spreading COVID-19 among their patients, but were understandably concerned about financial consequences Amidst the explosion of information available online and through social media, it is difficult to identify reliable research evidence and guidance;therefore, moral decisions must be made © 2020 Termedia Publishing House Ltd All rights reserved


For the sake of studying the stability of the pumped storage power station, the authors focused on the mathematical modelling of the pump-turbine governing system (PTGS) at pump mode. First of all, six transfer coefficients were introduced into the model of the pump-turbine. Furthermore, utilising the internal characteristics formulas, they obtained six analytical expressions of the transfer coefficients at pump mode. Considering the elastic water-hammer model of the penstock with hydraulic friction and the second-order model of the generator, a non-linear model of the PTGS was proposed. On the basis of a real case, they obtained the curve of bifurcation points of the system by using the stability theorem, and verified the correctness of the theoretical analysis results from numerical experiments. Moreover, the stable domains of the proportional–integral–derivative parameters k p and k d were identified and the non-linear dynamic behaviours of the governing system were studied. Finally, these methods and analytic results could help them improve the safety operation and performance of the pumped storage power station.


Although sound evidence is lacking, many surgeons claim that stripping of the long saphenous vein (LSV) is best performed by invagination. The aim of this prospective, randomized study was to test the hypothesis that invaginating stripping of the LSV is associated with less pain, smaller haematomas and less frequent injury to the saphenous nerve. Thirty patients with bilateral varicose veins and incompetent LSV, but normal short saphenous veins and deep venous systems, were treated by high ligation and stripping of the LSV and multiple stab avulsions. At one side the stripping was performed by invagination (group I), while a classic stripping was done on the other side (group C), so that one leg served as the control of the other. The results were analysed on an intention to treat basis. The median surface of the thigh haematoma between post-operative day seven and ten was 115 cm2 in group I and 135 cm2 in group C (NS). The median pain score was 0.25 and 1.75 respectively (NS). The incidence of saphenous nerve injury was 13% in group I and 17% in group C (NS). At one month 23% of patients stated that the leg with the invaginating stripping had been the more painful, while 33% of patients claimed that the side of the classic stripping had been more painful. The results show that the benefit of invaginating stripping is not as obvious as is generally suggested.


Chronic kidney disease is a disruption in the function of the kidney organs. When the kidneys are no longer fully functioning, the body is filled with water and a waste product called uremia. As a result, the body or legs will experience swelling and feel tired quickly because the body needs clean blood. Therefore, impaired kidney function should not be underestimated because it can be fatal. Researchers have conducted research related to the classification of kidney disease to find out what symptoms can cause kidney disease. One method that can be used for classification is the Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) method. In this study, the LVQ algorithm was applied to classify chronic kidney disease. From the research results, the highest accuracy is 81.667% with the optimal learning rate is 0.002.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

. Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive tumor but it can sometimes be cured if its clinical stage is not advanced. It is very expected to establish a useful screening test for early detection of MM. Recently we have found that DNA methylation of microRNA-34bc (miR34b/c) plays a dismal role on pathogenesis of MM and is frequently observed in MM. Circulating DNA from malignant tumors is known to be found in the serum of the patient. Digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a high sensitive quantitative assay using real time PCR assay. In order to establish a new early detection system for MM, we quantify the extent of DNA methylation of miR-34b/c using a digital PCR assay in the circulating serum DNA from MM. Material and methods: We collected serum samples from 30 MM patients, 22 patients with benign asbestos pleurisy (BAP), and 10 healthy volunteers (HV) at Okayama Rosai Hospital, NHO Yamaguchi Ube Medical Center and our institute during January 2006 to August 2009. The circulating serum DNA was extracted using QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acid Kit (Qiagen) followed by bisulfite conversion using EpiTect Bisulfite Kits (Qiagen) according to manufactural protocols. The real time PCR assay of methylation-specific PCR (MSP) for miR-34b/c was performed using SYBR Green method. In addition, the digital PCR of real time MSP assay was explored for 40 wells per each sample with a suitable dilution to aim the increase of sensitivity of PCR reaction, and we quantified the extent of methylation in each sample by counting the number of positive well of PCR reaction per sample. As positive and negative controls, the supernatant cultured medium of NCI-H290 harboring heavy methylation of miR-34b/c and water blank was used, respectively. Results: By melting curve analysis, we distinguished the miR-34b/c methylated wells from unmethylated wells based on the temperatures of PCR products of them (78.2 degree on methylated samples vs. 76.2 degree on un-methylated samples). Using the criteria above, each 40 wells per sample was defined as positive or negative for miR-34b/c methylation. The miR-34b/c methylated samples were defined as having more than three positive wells by ROC curve analyses. Finally, we found that the number of positive wells was significantly higher in MMs than that in other groups, and the miR-34b/c methylated samples was observed in 87% of MM patients, 45% of the patients with BAP, and 10% of HV, respectively, indicating that the miR-34b/c methylation in MM patients were significantly frequent than that in others (P <0.0001). Conclusion: The digital PCR assay can detect miR-34b/c methylation in the circulation serum DNA of MM patients to find that miR-34b/c methylation is more frequent in MM than in BAP, suggesting that it may become a useful high-sensitive screening test to distinguish MM patients from the patients with BAP.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4153. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4153


Recent macroeconomic evolutions during the years 2008 and 2009 have pointed out the impact of financial markets on economic activity. In this paper, we propose to evaluate the ability of a set of financial variables to forecast recessions in the euro area by using a non-linear binary response model associated with information combination. Especially, we focus on a time-varying probit model whose parameters evolve according to a Markov chain. For various forecast horizons, we provide a readable and leading signal of recession by combining information according to two combining schemes over the sample 1970-2006. First we average recession probabilities and second we linearly combine variables through a dynamic factor model in order to estimate an innovative factor-augmented probit model. Out-of-sample results over the period 2007-2008 show that financial variables would have been helpful in predicting a recession signal as September 2007, that is around six months before the effective start of the 2008-2009 recession in the euro area.


This study presents a simple method for retrieving the effective thermal conductivity of semitransparent glassmelts from measured temperature profiles. Effective thermal conductivity of molten glass at high temperature is an important thermophysical property that affects the glassmelting and forming processes and thus the quality of the final glass products. In semitransparent glassmelts, heat is transferred by both conduction and radiation. In the limiting case of optically thick glassmelts, typically featuring high iron content, thermal radiation can be treated as a diffusion process. The total heat flux can be expressed as the sum of a phononic and a radiative heat fluxes based on Fourier's law. For weakly absorbing glassmelts, the temperature profile may be strongly nonlinear particularly neat container walls due to the contribution from emission and absorption. Steady-state measurement techniques, such as the linear heat flux method, have been developed to measure glassmelt effective thermal conductivity at high temperatures. However, they typically use only three temperatures measurements and assume linear temperature profile in the glassmelt. The new retrieval method addresses these drawbacks particularly for weakly absorbing glassmelts featuring nonlinear temperature profiles. It is demonstrated with experimental data collected for soda-lime silicate glasses with iron content ranging from 0.008 to 1.1 wt% and temperatures between 1100°C and 1550°C.


This paper focuses on the use of linear logic as a specification language for the operational semantics of advanced concepts of programming such as concurrency and object-orientation. Our approach is based on a refinement of linear logic sequent calculi based on the proof-theoretic characterization of logic programming. A well-founded combination of higher-order logic programming and linear logic will be used to give an accurate encoding of the traditional features of concurrent object-oriented programming languages, whose corner-stone is the notion of encapsulation.


PURPOSE
Despite the great number of studies performed to detect circulating markers of disease progression in colorectal cancer, few have shown a clinical use; among those, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and, more recently, interleukin (IL)-10. In this article, we sought to investigate how primary surgery could affect expression levels of EGFR, IL-6, and IL-10 in blood from colorectal cancer patients.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
We investigated by reverse transcriptase-PCR assay the expression at mRNA level of EGFR, IL-6, and IL-10 in blood samples taken from 56 colorectal cancer patients. Each gene expression was evaluated 1 day before and 20 days after primary surgery. Persistence of each gene in blood after surgery was then correlated to the relapse free time in a follow-up of 3 years.

RESULTS
In blood samples taken before surgery, EGFR, IL-6, and IL-10 were found expressed in 62, 100, and 100% of patients, respectively. EGFR expression, but not IL-6 and IL-10, correlates with stage of disease. In the group of 41 patients who underwent follow-up studies, EGFR was found persistently high in 67%; 94% of them had relapse. Persistence of IL-10 after surgery also identifies relapses in 89% of cases. IL-6 persistence was not found to significantly correlate to progression of disease.

CONCLUSIONS
Persistence of both EGFR and IL-10 in blood of colorectal cancer patients after surgery identifies patients with high propensity to relapse. These findings may suggest a clinical use of preoperative EGFR/IL-10 reverse transcriptase-PCR assay in the prediction of tumor recurrence.


Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common in men and women of all ages in all sociodemographic strata of society. Pain and functional limitations caused by MSDs severely limit independence and quality of life and interfere with an individual's ability to participate in family and social life and work. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the Kinesio Tape (KT) technique on pain intensity in patients with MSDs of the upper and/or lower extremities before, during, and after therapeutic treatment.
Methods: The study involved 123 patients of both sexes and all ages diagnosed with MSDs of the upper and/or lower extremities. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, a control group and an experimental group. The control group received the standard therapy protocol for MSDs, while the experimental group received the standard therapy protocol for MSDs plus the KT technique on the treated segment. The brief pain inventory was used to assess pain intensity. Both groups of participants were tested with the research instruments at baseline, during and after therapeutic treatment.
Results: The ability to walk due to pain was significantly less impaired in the control group than in participants in the experimental group, in whom pain significantly impeded walking (p < 0.001). Normal walking was significantly more impaired in the experimental group than in the control group (p = 0.001). Pain significantly impaired relationships with others in the experimental group compared to the control group (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Subjects in the experimental group showed a significant decrease in pain in all areas after therapeutic treatment with KT compared to subjects in the control group.


In Colonial Transformations Rebecca Ann Bach investigates the intriguing relationships between English dramatic literature of the early modern period, English colonial conquests in Ireland, Virginia, and Bermuda, and the consequent literary, ideological, and material changes wrought at home and abroad. She traces these colonial transformations from England's expansion intoWales in , which started a process that she says ''redefined the territory and people the English encountered, but also importantly refigured the territory and people of the metropolitan center'' (). In this way Bach problematizes the divisions between colonizer and colonized, a dichotomy challenged by postcolonial theorists who nonetheless relyon these categories to begin their investigations of colonial contact. Bach, likewise, recognizes the power differential inherent in the dichotomy but challenges the idea that only the colonized were changed as a result of English imperialism and that they were altogether subjugated to the mother country. Threats to the colonizers' Englishness also permeated early contact. In an argument that precedes Joyce Chaplin's work in Subject Matter: Technology, the Body, and Science on the Anglo-American Frontier, – (Harvard ), Bach sees especially threatening changes enacted on English culture and identity through colonial contact as well as transformations that did not further English interests (as in rebellions among the lower classes of English settlers in Bermuda through their joining the ''natives'' and the general arming of Native Americans). While Bach's work must take a subordinate position to Chaplin's more extensive historical analysis, Colonial Transformationsmay be categorized with Subject Matter and with other recent works complicating imperial contact and with those employing contemporary postcolonial theory to understand English colonial history. Attentive to native resistance, Bach argues for the transformative power of naming in her second chapter (''Bermuda's Ireland: Naming the Colonial World'') and for the challenge offered by ''Gaelic poets, Native Americans, and disgruntled returned colonists'' who renamed and, therefore, re-


Summary Introduction: Similar bioactive metabolites are obtainable from host plants as well as the endophytic fungi residing in them. Objective: The aim of the study is to isolate the major compound(s) from the endophytic fungus residing in Nypa fruticans Wurmb, Arecaceae family. Methods: Purification of the ethyl acetate extract of the isolated endophytic fungus was performed by employing different chromatographic techniques and structural elucidation of the isolated compound was carried out using UV and NMR spectroscopic methods. Results: Cichorin A was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the solid rice cultures of Pestalotiopsis sp., isolated from N. fruticans, collected in Nigeria. Conclusions: This compound is being isolated for the first time from a fungus; it is commonly isolated from the plant Cichorium intybus L. (Compositae).


Background. Bone loss has been reported as a complication after heart transplantation (HTx), and the increase in bone fractures is an effective problem. Treatment of osteoporosis has obtained mixed results. In this study we evaluate the effect of treatment with an oral bisphosphonate. Methods. Sixty-four patients with low mineral density 6 months after HTx were randomized as follows: Group A received oral clodronate (1600 mg/day in two divided doses), and Group B received placebo. Every patient was also treated with 2000 mg/day of oral calcium carbonate. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar spine, 1/3 and 1/10 of the distal nondominant forearm before and after 12 months of treatment. Laboratory tests were performed at 3, 6, and 12 months of treatment. Results. All patients demonstrated manifest bone loss 6 months after HTx compared with normal non-HTx controls (P =0.0001). After 1 year of clodronate therapy, BMD at the lumbar spine increased from 0.77±1.4 g/cm2 to 0.86 g/cm2 (P =0.02). Laboratory tests did not show any significant variation, except for the bone isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase, which showed a significant decrease after 1 year of treatment. The incidence of new fractures was 9.3% in the placebo group and 0% in the clodronate group. Therapy was well tolerated without impact on graft function. Conclusions. One year of clodronate therapy induced a significant increase in BMD at the lumbar spine in our HTx patients. Treatment was well tolerated without onset of new bone fractures.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Roxadustat is an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PH) inhibitor approved in China and Japan for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In Phase 3 clinical studies, roxadustat was shown to increase hemoglobin levels in both dialysis-dependent (DD) and non-dialysis-dependent (NDD) CKD patients with anemia. This increase in hemoglobin and the accompanying decrease in hepcidin, a hormone that sequesters iron in intracellular stores, is consistent with the known role that HIF plays in the regulation of erythropoiesis. The HIF pathway may also influence cholesterol metabolism; at high altitude, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decrease in healthy individuals. The cholesterol biosynthesis pathway is well characterized and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) has long been recognized as the rate-limiting enzyme. Multiple feedback mechanisms are known to regulate HMGCR activity, one of which involves degradation of HMGCR via interaction with insulin-induced genes 1 and 2 (INSIG1 and INSIG2), two closely related endoplasmic reticulum membrane proteins. Here, we report clinical trial data showing a reduction in LDL-C in patients with anemia of CKD who were treated with roxadustat, and describe the results of investigation into the mechanism of this cholesterol-lowering effect. METHOD: We studied the effect of roxadustat on LDL-C levels in human subjects and examined the potential underlying mechanisms via cell culture experiments. Clinical data were pooled from six pivotal phase 3 studies, three in patients with NDD-CKD and three in patients with DD-CKD, including those with incident dialysis (ID; on dialysis <4 months at randomization). Mean changes from baseline (CFB) in LDL-C (regardless of statin use) averaged over weeks 12–28 were analyzed using a mixed ANCOVA model of repeated measures. We investigated the effect of roxadustat on HMGCR activity in a cell-free enzyme assay and on HMGCR protein levels in cultured Hep3B cells. We explored involvement of the HIF pathway in regulation of HMGCR protein levels in Hep3B cells by means of HIF-1a/HIF-2a small interfering (si)RNA knockdown. Protein expression levels were assessed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis or electrochemiluminescent immunoassays. Gene expression levels were evaluated by real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: In patients with NDD-CKD, there was a 17.2% reduction in LDL-C averaged over weeks 12–28 in the roxadustat group (n=1994) vs. a 1.4% increase in the placebo group (n=1430) (least-squares mean [LSM] [SE] treatment difference = -19.83 mg/dL [1.186], p<0.0001) (Table). In patients with DD-CKD, LDL-C was reduced by 18.5% in the roxadustat group (n=1650) vs. 1.7% in the epoetin alfa group (n=1741) (LSM treatment difference = -15.80 mg/dL, p<0.0001) (Table). In the ID-DD patients, LDL-C dropped by 21.5% in the roxadustat group (n=680) vs. 4.6% in the epoetin alfa group (n=691) (LSM treatment difference = -17.50 mg/dL, p<0.0001) (Table). After confirming that roxadustat does not directly inhibit HMGCR enzyme activity, we found that the increase in HMGCR protein levels caused by cholesterol depletion in cells was suppressed by roxadustat. However, roxadustat had no effect on HMGCR mRNA expression, indicating that the suppression of HMGCR protein levels by roxadustat was the result of an effect on protein turnover. Subsequent siRNA studies revealed that the regulation of HMGCR protein levels by roxadustat was HIF dependent and mediated via upregulation of INSIG2. CONCLUSION: These data show that treatment with roxadustat vs. placebo or epoetin alfa lowered LDL-C in patients with NDD-CKD and DD-CKD, respectively, and highlight a potential HIF-dependent mechanism for this cholesterol-lowering effect.


A parametric study of staged (multiple) perpendicular fuel injector configurations has been conducted using a computer code that solves the two-dimensional elliptic Navier-Stokes equations. The program computes the turbulent mixing and reaction of hydrogen fuel and air and allows the study of separated regions of the flow immediately preceding and following the injectors. The validity of the code is demonstrated in a cold flow helium injection study with a single injector. Results are presented that describe the flowfield near opposing staged injectors over a range of parameters. Parameters that are varied include injector size, fuel split, and distance between injectors. Comparisons of the configurations are made to assess their mixing and potential flameholding qualities.


The decrease in the frequency of twin births depends solely on the decrease of dizygotic twins (ZZ). Examination of birth registration forms in Baden-Würtemberg from 1955 to 1972 showed that the decrease of ZZ births is only partially due to changes in maternal age and parity. On the other hand one can assume that the proportion of women with genetically determined increased fertility, to whom ZZ mothers largely belong, is reduced among mothers due to widespread contraceptive practice so that ZZ births are also rarer. In addition, the possibility that ovulation inhibitors may have a negative influence on the numbers of double ovulations must also be considered.


When considering some of the broader human rights implications of internet-related policies, despite their differences in character, context and content, a shift appears in how human rights are envisaged and debated, from the traditional focus on state obligations and state enforcement (hard law) to an increasing involvement and call upon private companies to play a role in the realization and protection of specific human rights (e.g. through charity actions, participation in soft law development, and through codes of conducts and other corporate social responsibility initiatives).
Likewise, private actors increasingly refer to human rights when framing specific initiatives or interests, often with limited reflection on human rights as a set of international legal norms, with inherent zones of conflicts (e.g. protection of individuals against abuse of power, commitments to certain standards in society). This shift in the human rights discourse from state obligations to corporate initiatives seems to reflect the nature of the online environment with private actors in control of core infrastructure and services, yet it is extending and its implications for the protection of individuals is troublesome.
This paper critically analyses examples of European policies regulating the role of internet intermediaries, including in areas such as content regulation, privacy and data protection, copyright, and telecommunication infrastructure. It formulates and explores the hypothesis that the observed shift is constructed and maintained mainly through procedural transformations of existing legislation and regulation, with still greater emphasis on co- and self-regulatory regimes. Moreover, it argues that the observed shift is closely related to the governance structure of the digital domain; with new zones of conflict and new areas of convergence between the state and private actors.


From experiments in mice, it is shown that with a radiation dose of 8 Gy (LD96) the radioprotective effect was exerted by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), substances that increase its concentration in tissues (progabide and valproate), and synthetic agonists of both receptor types, particularly baclofen, a GABA-receptor agonist. The radioprotective effect is also exerted by gamma-hydroxybutyrate, not piracetam.


Abstract This survey focuses on recent aspects of the singlet oxygen oxidation of the guanine moiety of nucleosides, oligonucleotides, isolated and cellular DNA that has been shown to be the exclusive DNA target for this biologically relevant photogenerated oxidant. A large body of mechanistic data is now available from studies performed on nucleosides in both aprotic solvents and aqueous solutions. A common process to both reaction conditions is the formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine by reduction of 8-hydroperoxyguanine that arises from the rearrangement of initially formed endoperoxide across the 4,8-bond of the purine moiety. However, in organic solvent the hydroperoxide is converted as a major degradation pathway into a dioxirane that subsequently decomposes into a complex pattern of oxidation products. A different reaction that involved the formation of a highly reactive quinonoid intermediate consecutively to the loss of a water molecule from the 8-hydroperoxide has been shown to occur in aqueous solution. Subsequent addition of a water molecule at C5 leads to the generation of a spiroiminodihydantoin compound via a rearrangement that involves an acyl shift. However, in both isolated and cellular DNA the latter decomposition pathway is at the best a minor process, because only 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine has been found to be generated. It is interesting to point out that singlet oxygen has been shown to contribute predominantly to the formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine in the DNA of bacterial and human cells upon exposure to UVA radiation. It may be added that the formation of secondary singlet-oxygen oxidation products of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine, including spiroiminodihydantoin and oxaluric acid that were characterized in nucleosides and oligonucleotide, respectively, have not yet been found in cellular DNA.


To determine the likely effects of global warming on field-grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a "Hot Serial Cereal" experiment was conducted—so-called "Cereal" because wheat was the crop, "Serial" because the wheat was planted about every 6 wk for 2 yr, and "Hot" because infrared heaters were deployed on six of the planting dates in a temperature free-air controlled enhancement (T-FACE) system, which warmed the canopies of the Heated plots. During the experiment, measurements of canopy reflectance were made two to five times per week from which values of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were calculated. As expected, curves of NDVI from the Heated plots vs. time and vs. growing degree days (GDD) computed from air temperatures generally were ahead of those from Reference plots. However, when plotted against GDD computed from canopy temperatures the curves coalesced, which gives confidence that the infrared-heater treatment simulates natural warming and will produce plant responses not unlike those expected with future global warming. Biomass and grain yields were correlated with the areas under the NDVI vs. GDD curves for the air-temperature-based GDDs, but high variability prevented such a correlation to be detected using canopy-temperature-based GDD. Large differences existed between the total amounts of air or canopy temperature-based GDDs required for wheat to mature in our irrigated fields in an arid region. This implies that GDD based on air temperatures should be regarded only as a local guide to plant development rates, whereas those based on canopy temperatures would be more universal.


Stohner (1) mistakenly identifies the correlation drawn in our recent article (2) between exhaled aerosol and body mass index (BMI)-age as based on a figure legend to which the article does not itself allude. In our article (2), we establish that those individuals with high BMI-years (above 650) exhaled significantly more aerosol than those with low BMI-years (below 650). Those with BMI-years less than 650 exhaled a mean of 29.81 ± 9.83, and those with BMI-years above 650 exhaled a mean of 183.32 ± 84.15. A two-tailed t test reveals significance (P = 0.0006)—as is pointed out in our article (2). Stohner ignores the BMI-age assessment of significance made in the article and bases his argument of no correlation on a reference to the legend of figure 2 in ref. 2 that refers to a regression analysis with r = 0.98. We do not claim, in ref. 2, that the relation between exhaled aerosol and BMI-years is linear— obviously, this is not true, based on visual inspection of the data. Unfortunately, the legend to figure 2 in ref. 2 was prepared for an earlier version of the manuscript and not updated in the final submission. Stohner informed us of the oversight onMarch 30, leading us to submit an amended legend (see ref. 2 correction) to the editors immediately thereafter and inform Stohner. Stohner also argues we might have presented our exhaled aerosol other than from the highest to the lowest emitters of aerosol. Presenting exhaled aerosol data as we do in figure 1 in ref. 2, from highest to lowest exhaled aerosol number, illustrates that individuals in the study exhaled a continuum of respiratory droplet numbers across several orders of magnitude, as appears to be common to large groups of human subjects (3, 4). Our distinction, in the article, of two groups, superspreaders and low spreaders (of exhaled aerosol), is based on the observation that ∼20% of the individuals exhaled ∼80% of the aerosol—a classical superspreader distribution of airborne infectious disease (5). We believe the identification of the 20% highest aerosol-emitting individuals as a superemitting group is noteworthy in light of the present scientific debate (6) around the role exhaled respiratory droplets play in the spread of contagion.


A 59-year-old man with a history of fever, unsteadiness, hemiparesis, motor aphasia and consciousness disturbance was hospitalized for Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus meningitis. He denied contact with farm animals, but had a practice of consuming unpasteurized goats' cheese from an uncertain source.


This article discusses gender inequality in the Johane Masowe Chishanu Church (JMCC), a Zimbabwean church that has established branches in South Africa. The article reports on a study that grappled with the question of how the JMCC addresses patriarchal structures that have pervaded and replicated in most African Indigenous Churches (AICs). Using an African cultural hermeneutics theory, the current study sought to build on the valuable inputs of the late Mary-Anne Elizabeth Plaatjies-Van Huffel (1959–2020), who dedicated her work to the cause of gender inclusiveness and the eradication of social injustices. Plaatjies-Van Huffel, whose extensive contribution as an academic and a minister in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), is revered throughout theological and academic settings, particularly in southern Africa. Accordingly, the study found that although the JMCC has celebrated 90 years of its existence, women and girls have not been given an equal opportunity in officiating the sacraments and other liturgies. Hence, the study recommends that the time is right for women and girls in the JMCC to follow in the footsteps of Plaatjies-Van Huffel in the struggle to liberate themselves from traditions and cultural bondage. Further, the study recommends that some religious and cultural traditions, which forbid women from occupying these sacred spaces simply because they are female, must be addressed. The data for the study was collected through conducting interviews and consulting secondary sources, such as published books and journals.


For the two-sample location problem with continuous data we consider a general class of tests, all members of it are based on U-statistics. The asymptotic efficacies are investigated in detail. We construct an adaptive test where all statistics involved are suitably chosen U-statistics. It is shown that the proposed adaptive test has good asymptotic and finite sample power properties.


Effectively reducing the concentration of CO2 in ambient air is essential to mitigate global warming. Existing carbon capture and storage technology can only slow down the carbon emissions of large point sources but cannot treat the already accumulated CO2 in the environment. Herein, we demonstrated a simple direct CO2 capture method from air via reactive crystallization with a new trichelating iminoguanidine ligand (BTIG). It could strongly bind CO2 to form insoluble carbonate crystals that could be easily isolated. In the crystal, CO2 was transformed to CO32– and trapped in a dense hydrogen bonding network in terms of carbonate–water clusters. This capture process was reversible, and the BTIG ligand could be regenerated by heating the BTIG–CO2 crystal at a mild temperature, which was much lower than the decomposition temperature of CaCO3 (∼900 °C). Thermodynamic and kinetics analyses indicate that the crystallization process was exothermic with an enthalpy of −292 kJ/mol, and the decomposition energy consumption was 169 kJ per mol CO2. In addition, BTIG could also be employed for CO2 capture from flue gas with a capacity of 1.46 mol/mol, which was superior to that of most of the reported sorbents.


A metabolism trial was conducted to evaluate the digestibility rate and energy values of thermal processed soybean for growing pigs. Twenty barrows with an initial average weight of 37.67± 3.33kg were used in a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replicates. The treatments consisted in a reference diet and four experimental diets. The feedstuffs evaluated were soybean meal, extruded semi-integral soybean, expanded integral soybean and micronized integral soybean. These ingredients replaced 25% of the reference diet. The values of digestibility energy and apparent digestibility rates of crude energy, crude protein, dry matter and ether extract of the feeds were: 3583kcal/kg, 85.2%, 90.8%, 85.7% and 69.3% for soybean meal; 4065kcal/kg, 83.6%, 86.1%, 81.9% and 81.5% for extruded semi-integral soybean; 3803kcal/kg, 75.2%, 73.9%, 74.4% and 80.4% for expanded integral soybean; 5272kcal/kg, 95.3%, 95.2%, 93.2% and 94.3% for micronized integral soybean. The expansion process was not adequate for integral soybean, which showed the worst digestibility rate. The extrusion and the micronization processes of semi-integral and integral soybean respectively, were efficient to inactivate the antinutritional factors and to improve the digestibility. The results obtained with the micronization process were better than those of the others thermal processes.


NKG2D is an activating receptor expressed on CD8(+)alphabeta(+) T cells, gammadelta(+) T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and some CD4(+) T cells. For a long time, the interaction of NKG2D with its ligands (NKG2DLs) MICA, MICB, and ULBP1-3 has been considered a mechanism for recognition and elimination of tumor, infected, or otherwise "stressed" cells. However, a new role for NKG2D as an immunoregulatory receptor is emerging. Here, we show that NKG2D is strongly down-modulated on antigen-activated CD8(+) T cells but only if CD4(+) T cells are present. Down-modulation was caused by soluble factors produced by CD4(+) T cells, and in particular soluble NKG2DLs were found in the supernatants of antigen-activated T-cell cultures. MICB was the ligand released at higher levels when CD4(+) T cells were present in the cell cultures, suggesting that it could be the major player of NKG2D down-modulation. CD8(+) T cells expressing low levels of NKG2D had impaired effector functions, as evaluated by proliferation, cytokine production, and cytotoxicity assays after combined triggering of NKG2D and TCR-CD3 complex. These findings show that activated CD4(+) T cells expressing NKG2DLs can efficiently prevent NKG2D-mediated CD8(+) T-cell functions, and suggest that the NKG2D/NKG2DL interaction can regulate immune responses.


To establish area specific control strategy for ambient ozone in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), the maximum ozone concentration in each local government district in the SMA were estimated by using the OZone Isopleth Plotting Package for Research (OZIPR) model. The modeling period was June 2000 and the emission inventory data used were from National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER). Except the islands of Incheon, whole Seoul and Incheon areas were volatile organic compounds (VOCs) limited, i.e., decreasing the oxides of nitrogen (NO X ) emission alone may increase the maximum ozone concentration upto certain point. In Gyeonggi, 12 areas were VOCs limited while 12 areas were in between VOCs limited and NOX limited, i.e., decreasing both NOX and VOCs emission may decrease the maximum ozone concentration. Majority of the estimated ozone values were lower than the measured values. The reason could be inaccuracy in emission inventories and/or transport from other areas. The same calculation was carried out for June 2004 and it was found that Seoul was still in the VOCs limited condition.


The RHIC polarized proton collider employs polarimeters in each of the Blue and Yellow rings that utilize the analyzing power in p-Carbon elastic scattering in the Coulomb Nuclear Interference region to measure the absolute beam polarization. These are calibrated by the polarized Hydrogen Jet Target that measures the absolute beam polarization in pp elastic scattering in the CNI region. This paper describes the status and performance of these polarimeters in the FY09 run which included both a 250 GeV/c and 100 GeV/c physics data taking periods. We will describe some of the difficulties encountered and the efforts underway to improve the performance in better energy resolution, rate handling capability, and reduced systematic uncertainties.


Market players, such as competing manufacturing firms and retail channels, can significantly influence the demand and profit of a new product. Existing methods in design for market systems use game theoretic models that can maximize a focal manufacturing firm's profit with respect to product design and price variables given the Nash equilibrium of the market system. However, in the design for uncertain market systems, there is seldom equilibrium with players having fixed strategies in a given time period. In this paper, we propose an agent based approach for design for market systems that accounts for learning behaviors of the market players under uncertainty. By learning behaviors we mean that market players gradually, over a time period, learn to play with better strategies based on action-reaction behaviors of other players. We model a market system with agents representing competing manufacturers and retailers who possess learning capabilities and are able to automatically react and make decisions on the product design and pricing. The proposed approach provides strategic design and pricing decisions for a focal manufacturer in response to anticipated reactions from market players in the short and long term horizons. Our example results show that the proposed agent based approach can produce competitive strategies for a focal firm over a time period when market players react only by setting prices compared to a game theoretic approach. Furthermore, it can yield profitable product design decisions and competitive strategies when competing firms react by changing design attributes in the short term — a case for which no previous method in design for market systems has been reported.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


The 3' terminus of the (-) RNA strand in the replicative forms of several (+)-stranded RNA viruses possesses an unpaired guanosine with unknown function. This unpaired guanosine is also found at the 3' terminus of the (-) strand in the double-stranded form of two cucumoviral satellite RNAs. Using a cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase capable of replicating the satellite RNA in vitro, the 3'-terminal guanosine of the satellite (-) strand was shown to be an absolute requirement for satellite (+) strand synthesis. If genomic RNA synthesis of CMV and other members of the alphavirus-like superfamily that produce (-) strands terminating in an unpaired 3' guanosine follows a similar strategy, the work reported here would represent the first experimental support for the notion of 3'-terminal guanosine functioning as an essential recognition signal for viral replicases, enabling (+) strand RNA synthesis to be initiated internally from a (-) strand template.


Five decades of extensive research have passed since the description for the first time of the existence of an enzyme, which had the ability to degrade collagen during the metamorphosis of tadpoles. In fact, during these years, a large family of enzymes possessing the unique ability of degrading the extra cellular matrix (ECM) has been discovered. These enzymes are widely known as Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) and it is noteworthy that many members of this family are directly linked to several human diseases such as arthritis and cancer. Moreover, due to the critical role of certain members of MMPs in cancer invasion and metastasis, great efforts have been made in order to find new inhibitory compounds against these MMPs. In this work we attempt to summarize the current status of the intervention strategies against MMPs, using inhibitory compounds that could block the activation of MMPs directly or indirectly. Furthermore we will try to shed light towards new potential strategies of MMP inhibitors using monoclonal antibodies.


Given the true or any approximate current on a reflector, the radiated far-field is determined from a rapidly convergent series representation of the radiation integral. The leading term is a well-shaped J_{1}(x)/x beam pointing in a desired direction. Higher order terms provide perturbations to the leading term. The coefficients of the series are independent of the observation angles. Hence, once they are computed, the field may be determined very rapidly at large numbers of points. Initially, a suitable small angle approximation is made that places the radiation integral in the form of a Fourier transform on a circular disk. The theory is then extended such that the results are valid in both the near and the wide angle regions. Application to a rotationally symmetric paraboloid is presented herein. Other applications include the offset and dual reflectors and near- to far-field integrations. A modified form of the series can also be used for Fresnel zone computations.


Modern machine learning models (such as deep neural networks and boosting decision tree models) have become increasingly popular in financial market prediction, due to their superior capacity to extract complex non-linear patterns. However, since financial datasets have very low signal-to-noise ratio and are non-stationary, complex models are often very prone to overfitting and suffer from instability issues. Moreover, as various machine learning and data mining tools become more widely used in quantitative trading, many trading firms have been producing an increasing number of features (aka factors). Therefore, how to automatically select effective features becomes an imminent problem. To address these issues, we propose DoubleEnsemble, an ensemble framework leveraging learning trajectory based sample reweighting and shuffling based feature selection. Specifically, we identify the key samples based on the training dynamics on each sample and elicit key features based on the ablation impact of each feature via shuffling. Our model is applicable to a wide range of base models, capable of extracting complex patterns, while mitigating the overfitting and instability issues for financial market prediction. We conduct extensive experiments, including price prediction for cryptocurrencies and stock trading, using both DNN and gradient boosting decision tree as base models. Our experiment results demonstrate that DoubleEnsemble achieves a superior performance compared with several baseline methods.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly common in healthcare and has potential to improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare services. As the utility of AI expands, medical-legal questions arise regarding the possible legal implications of incorporating AI into clinical practice. Particularly, the unique black box nature of AI brings distinct challenges. There is limited guidance addressing liability when AI is used in clinical practice, and traditional legal principles present limitations when applied to novel uses of AI. Comprehensive solutions to address the challenges of AI have not been well established in North America. As AI continues to evolve in healthcare, appropriate guidance from professional regulatory bodies may help the medical field realize AI's utility and encourage its safe use. As the options for AI in medicine evolve, physicians and health leaders would be prudent to consider the evolving medical-legal context regarding use of AI in clinical practices and facilities.


Peptides that bind with high affinity to class II MHC molecules can inhibit T cell activation both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, they have been suggested as potential therapeutic agents for MHC-associated autoimmune diseases. We have constructed nonnatural peptides with high affinity for certain disease-associated MHC alleles. More specifically, a particular peptide, designated as CY-760.50, was found to have a high binding affinity for DR1, slow dissociation kinetics after binding to MHC, and prolonged stability in human serum. However, when the ability of this peptide to block peptide presentation to an influenza hemagglutinin 307-319 peptide-specific, DR1-restricted T cell clone was examined, it was found that MHC blockade could only be achieved when high concentrations of peptide were present along with Ag in the fluid phase. Thus, pretreatment of APC with MHC class II blocker, followed by removal of unbound blocker, did not result in saturation of MHC molecules, because practically immediate reacquisition of Ag-presenting capacity was observed after removal of fluid phase blocker. The pharmacokinetic behavior and the duration of blocking activity of CY-760.50 were also examined in vivo, taking advantage of the fact that the mouse MHC class II molecule I-Ab also bound CY-760.50 with high affinity. CY-760.50 administered i.v. to C57BL/6 mice was rapidly cleared from the circulation and virtually undetectable in the serum 10 min after injection. This fast clearance rate was paralleled by a similarly short duration of the MHC blockade effect. These in vivo results have implications concerning the biology of peptide-MHC interactions, and suggest that MHC blockade may not be feasible as a therapeutic approach unless effective concentrations of inhibitor can be maintained over extended periods of time in the extracellular fluids.


The growth of one-to-many applications in enterprise networks is fueling the demand for VPNs to support multicast applications. The deployment of such a Multicast VPN service creates the need for appropriate management tools and techniques including performance monitoring, problem isolation and troubleshooting. In this paper we present the MVPN monitoring problem, identify requirements for solutions to the problem, and describe VMScope, a virtual MVPN performance monitor designed to facilitate provider monitoring and debugging of the MVPN service.


Sudden idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss is a disease that develops within several hours to several days. Its etiology has not yet been verified, but the disturbance of the circulation of blood in the inner ear, inner-ear hydrops, and viral infection are considered possible causes of the disease. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of red ginseng extract, which is known to have a vasodilatory effect, on sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Sixty-nine patients suffering from sudden sensorineural hearing loss were admitted to Korea University Anam Hospital from March to December 2008. They were divided into the experimental (30 ears) and control (39 ears) groups. Red ginseng extract (2700 mg/day, 4 weeks) was added to the therapeutic regimen in the experimental group. The effect of red ginseng extract therapy was analyzed according to the factors relating to the prognosis. A considerable hearing improvement was documented in both groups (32.2 dB in the experimental group and 25.8 dB in the control group). However, there was little beneficial effect of red ginseng extract on additional hearing improvement compared with control. The total recovery rate of the experimental group (80.0%) was better than that of the control group (58.9%), and the experimental group's hightone hearing gain at 3 kHz (29.7 dB) was better than that of the control group (21.7 dB). The results of the study suggest that the effects of red ginseng therapy tend to be superior to those of the conventional therapy, but the difference between the two is not statistically significant. The hearing gains tend to be in the higher frequencies and may be due to the promotion of cellular differentiation from the supporting cells.


BACKGROUND
Levonorgestrel (LNG) is a progesterone receptor agonist used in both regular and emergency hormonal contraception; however, its effects on the endometrium as a contraceptive remain widely unknown and under public debate.

OBJECTIVE
To analyze the effects of LNG or mifepristone (MFP), a progesterone receptor antagonist and also known as RU-486, administered at the time of follicle rupture (FR) on endometrial transcriptome during the receptive period of the menstrual cycle.

METHODS
Ten volunteers ovulatory women were studied during two menstrual cycles, a control cycle and a consecutively treated cycle; in this last case, women were randomly allocated to two groups of 5 women each, receiving one dose of LNG (1.5 mg) or MFP (50 mg) the day of the FR by ultrasound. Endometrial biopsies were taken 6 days after drug administration and prepared for microarray analysis.

RESULTS
Genomic functional analysis in the LNG-treated group showed as activated the bio-functions embryo implantation and decidualization, while these bio-functions in the T-MFP group were predicted as inhibited.

CONCLUSIONS
The administration of LNG as a hormonal emergency contraceptive resulted in an endometrial gene expression profile associated with receptivity. These results agree on the concept that LNG does not affect endometrial receptivity and/or embryo implantation when used as an emergency contraceptive.


Mitogen-activated protein kinases and their targets have been in the limelight of plant stress research. Signaling pathways mediating the responses to multiple stresses deserve particular attention. In a recent study, we reported AZI1, a member of the lipid transfer protein family, to play a role in MPK3-mediated responses to salt stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. MPK3 controls AZI1 at the transcriptional and posttranslational level. The AZI1 protein has several properties that make it very attractive for genetic engineering. A model of multi-level control of AZI1 by MPK3 is proposed, and strategies toward optimizing AZI1 protein properties are briefly discussed.


BACKGROUND
Evaluation of a number of asthma education programs for children 8-13 has shown improved self-management behaviors and decreased use of healthcare services. However, nearly 80% of children with asthma develop symptoms by age 5.

MATERIALS & METHODS
We evaluated a program (Huff and Puff: The Children's Asthma Program) that addresses the developmental learning needs of children ages 4-8. This multicenter study employed a pre- and post-test design to evaluate the impact of the Program on cognitive, behavioral, and affective learning and medical care utilization. We report here data on 128 of the 130 children who completed the program and on the 125 households on which we have nonduplicated data.

RESULTS
Statistically significant changes were observed in all categories of learning in those who completed the Program. Medical care utilization (including hospitalizations, days of hospitalization, emergency room visits and sick visits to the physician for "out-of-control" asthma) demonstrated statistically significant decreases.

CONCLUSION
The Program was shown to be an effective educational intervention for children 4-8 years of age and their parents in this cohort (nonrandomized, noncontrolled study of volunteers). Future research should also explore ways to utilize and adapt the program for specific populations such as inner-city children and parents and non-English speaking groups.


A numerical simulation of swirling turbulent flows of coaxial jets in a combustor is presented in this paper. The new algebraic Reynolds stress model (ASM) is employed for the closure of the time-averaged governing equations for swirling turbulent flows. Two cases of the swirling flow, i.e., a coswirl jet flow and a counterswirl jet flow, are simulated. The calculated results of the axial and tangential velocities, static pressure, and turbulent fluctuating velocity are compared with the measured data for both cases. The results illustrate that the predictions by the new ASM are closer to the measurements than those obtained by the k-epsilon model.


Order Acipenseriformes contains 27 extant species distributed across the northern hemisphere, including so-called "living fossil" species of garfish and sturgeons. Previous studies have focused on their mitochondrial genetics and have rarely used nuclear genetic data, leaving questions as to their phylogenetic relationships. This study aimed to utilize a bioinformatics approach to screen for candidate single-copy nuclear genes, using transcriptomic data from sturgeon species and genomic data from the spotted gar, Lepisosteus oculatus. We utilized nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and degenerate primers to identify nuclear protein-coding (NPC) gene markers to determine phylogenetic relationships among the Acipenseriformes. We identified 193 nuclear single-copy genes, selected from 1850 candidate genes with at least one exon larger than 700 bp. Forty-three of these genes were used for primer design and development of 30 NPC markers, which were sequenced for at least 14 Acipenseriformes species. Twenty-seven NPC markers were found completely in 16 species. Gene trees according to Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) were calculated based on the 30 NPC markers (20,946 bp total). Both gene and species trees produced very similar topologies. A molecular clock model estimated the divergence time between sturgeon and paddlefish at 204.1 Mya, approximately 10% later than previous estimates based on cytochrome b data (184.4 Mya). The successful development and application of NPC markers provides a new perspective and insight for the phylogenetic relationships of Acipenseriformes. Furthermore, the newly developed nuclear markers may be useful in further studies on the conservation, evolution, and genomic biology of this group.


Nowadays, tourists are increasingly thirsty for information on anything that surrounds him. With the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) evolution that supports the ubiquity, it is necessary to rethink the available models of information and services to tourists. With the evolution of mobile devices, with wireless access, together with the decreasing of the network traffic costs and with the increasing number of access points of wireless access, becomes more common and attractive. Therefore, in this paper we present an analysis of the state of the art of the support applications for tourists for mobile environments, setting them according to the development technologies. In addition, it is also presented a suitable framework to support the tourist's needs based on a ubiquitous approach.


Background: Since approximately 45% of basic health insurance (BHI) resources are spent and distributed based on the Relative Value of Health Services (RVHS) book, therefore, any revision in this book will most probably affect the behavior of health insurance organizations. The present study was prospected to determine the effect of revising RVHS on behavior of BHI funds as the main providers of treatment resources. Methods: This is a qualitative study in which data were analyzed using content analysis method. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather the required data. 27 interviewees were chosen using purposive sampling method. Finally, MAXQDA software was used to analyze and code the data. Results: According to the results, revision of RVHS influenced the behavior of health insurance organizations. The most important changes in the behavior of health insurance funds involved the following: formation of a committee for cost management and handling the insurance documents, creating a uniform coding system for health services, redesigning the handling process of documents, increased share of insurance funds from health expenditures, with 300 new services added to basic package and revising the package according to the new version of the book. Furthermore, the rest of the changes included in the global payment method based on the new book, delay in paying claims, increased deductions based on the payment of expensive services on treatment protocols, holding periodic training courses, and teaching the new book as well as the procedures for handling the documents. Conclusion: With regard to the revision of RVHS and considering the incremental approach in revision of relative values, the increased claims of health services delivery centers and delay in payment of these claims were the most important changes in the behavior of health insurance funds. Health policy makers can overcome such issues and provide proper financial conditions through reduction of conversion factor and mobilization of resources. Such policies will open the space for best management of the behaviors affected by revision of relative values.


Osteochondral defect (OCD) regeneration remains challenging because of the hierarchy of the native tissue including both the articular cartilage and the subchondral bone. Constructing an osteochondral scaffold with biomimetic composition, structure, and biological functionality is the key to achieve its high‐quality repair. In the present study, an injectable and 3D printable bilayered osteochondral hydrogel based on compositional gradient of methacrylated sodium alginate, gelatin methacryloyl, and β‐tricalcium phosphate (β‐TCP), as well as the biochemical gradient of kartogenin (KGN) in the two well‐integrated zones of chondral layer hydrogel (CLH) and osseous layer hydrogel (OLH) is developed. In vitro and subcutaneous in vivo evaluations reveal that apart from the chondrogenesis of the embedded bone mesenchymal stem cells induced by CLH with a high concentration of KGN, a low concentration of KGN with β‐TCP in the OLH synergistically achieves superior osteogenic differentiation by endochondral ossification, instead of the intramembranous ossification using OLH with only β‐TCP. The biomimetic construct leveraging KGN as the only biochemical inducer can facilitate cartilage and subchondral bone restoration in the in vivo osteochondral defect. This one‐stone‐two‐birds strategy opens up a new facile approach for OCD regeneration by exploiting the biological functions of the bioactive drug molecule KGN.


A semi-structured interview study was conducted among 11 'Born Again' Christians eliciting their conversion narratives. Informants emphasised the importance of embodying the Holy Spirit and developing a personal relationship with Christ in the process of conversion. The Alpha Course played an important role in this process.


Biochemical events associated with differentiation and activation of monocyte-macrophage cell lines are of major interest in the understanding of pathophysiological processes as well as in research on immunopharmacological modulation of these cells. Nuclear magnetic resonance is the technique of choice for kinetic studies of metabolic events under such experimental conditions. This approach was used with the P388-D1 model of mature macrophages. Cells primed in vivo were triggered in vitro during NMR analysis and the results were compared to those from chemiluminescence tests performed simultaneously. Three preliminary phases were achieved: (i) 31P and 13C NMR spectroscopy of perchloric acid extracts, (ii) optimization of culture and perfusion conditions with validation of macrophage viability and functionality, and (iii) development of a data processing technique to improve the time resolution of kinetic studies. Based on their phosphocreatine content, cells primed in vivo exhibited maturation than control cells. After the respiratory burst of primed macrophages was triggered by concanavalin A, 31P NMR spectra reflected both a transient increase in ADP phosphorylation and intracellular acidification. 13C NMR studies indicated an acceleration of metabolism following in vitro triggering. The phenomenon was associated with an increased glucose consumption, implicating the hexose monophosphate shunt. These occurred concomitantly with the appearance of new peaks attributed to phosphorylated sugars.


The master stability function is a powerful tool for determining synchrony in high-dimensional networks of coupled limit cycle oscillators. In part, this approach relies on the analysis of a low-dimensional variational equation around a periodic orbit. For smooth dynamical systems, this orbit is not generically available in closed form. However, many models in physics, engineering and biology admit to non-smooth piece-wise linear caricatures, for which it is possible to construct periodic orbits without recourse to numerical evolution of trajectories. A classic example is the McKean model of an excitable system that has been extensively studied in the mathematical neuroscience community. Understandably, the master stability function cannot be immediately applied to networks of such non-smooth elements. Here, we show how to extend the master stability function to non-smooth planar piece-wise linear systems, and in the process demonstrate that considerable insight into network dynamics can be obtained. In illustration, we highlight an inverse period-doubling route to synchrony, under variation in coupling strength, in globally linearly coupled networks for which the node dynamics is poised near a homoclinic bifurcation. Moreover, for a star graph, we establish a mechanism for achieving so-called remote synchronisation (where the hub oscillator does not synchronise with the rest of the network), even when all the oscillators are identical. We contrast this with node dynamics close to a non-smooth Andronov–Hopf bifurcation and also a saddle node bifurcation of limit cycles, for which no such bifurcation of synchrony occurs.


This was a study of the effect of prolonged maintenance of a rotated head position on the apparent frontal plane, as determined by using a rotating-plane apparatus, Measurements of the apparent frontal plane were obtained before and after a forty-five minute adaptation period in which the subject's head was restrained in a rotated position, by means of a surgical collar. Stereoscopic information was withheld during this time by covering the dominant eye with a white patch. In both test and re-test conditions the plane of the subject's face was congruent with the frontal plane of his body, Results showed that relative to the "before" settings the apparent frontal plane was rotated toward the subject on the side toward which his head had been rotated.


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether Class II, Type A2 Biosafety Cabinets (BSC) that are commonly used for pharmaceutical compounding are effective at controlling potential exposures to the organic vapor fraction of chemotherapy drugs under small and/or large spill conditions.
Methods: This study involved testing for the airborne, vapor fraction of propylene glycol (as a surrogate chemical compound) under two separate conditions to assess the ventilation effectiveness of the Class II A2 BSC. A small amount of propylene glycol (5 ml) was used to simulate a small spill of a chemotherapy agent in solution that could occur during compounding in a BSC using a closed system transfer device (CSTD). Then a large amount of propylene glycol (250 ml) was used to simulate a worst-case spill. Air samples for propylene glycol were collected within each compounding room. Similar air sampling under like conditions was also performed in Class II B2 BSC for comparison purposes.
Conclusion: The data suggest that Class II A2 BSC are similarly effective to Class II B2 BSC at controlling volatile fractions of simulated chemotherapy agents. However, the data also suggest that there may be an exposure risk in both types of BSC should compounding technicians need to access the inside of the BSC for clean-up during small and/ or large spills. The study results are relevant to any operations where compounding of chemotherapy drugs is performed in Class II A2 BSC.


This discussion of community care and services for the mentally disordered and subnormal reflects a decades' experience in Salford and Manchester and later researches at Columbia University's School of Public Health and Administrative Medicine. Taking a medical model as his point of departure, Susser focusses attention upon the clinician's efforts to design &dquo;controlled experience&dquo; which will engender therapeutic learning in the patient role. A psychiatric agency, he indicates, properly concerns itself with devising social situations with therapeutic potential, stimulating sensitivity to cultural norms, encouraging &dquo;aspirations to assume roles functional in the community and attainable by the patient.&dquo;


Abstract The 20.5 - 18.0 Ma 5,000 km2 Superstition volcanic field straddles the Transition Zone – Basin and Range structural boundary in central Arizona. High-precision, sanidine, single crystal, laser fusion 40Ar/39Ar dating of key volcanic units provide a detailed chronology of the evolution of tilt domains and magnitudes of extension throughout the life of the field. In the Transition Zone, even the oldest volcanic strata are either undeformed or only gently tilted, but locally, fanning dip sequences in narrow grabens are preserved. In the Basin and Range, northeast tilting began at about 20.5 Ma and was fairly evenly distributed along closely spaced faults throughout the field until eruption of Apache Leap Tuff at 18.6 Ma. Tilting ceased in most areas by 18.6 Ma, but continued along discrete zones, locally very rapidly, until about 18.0 Ma. The E-W elongated 350 km2 Superstition cauldron (source of the Apache Leap Tuff), lies in the northwestern corner of the field and is bisected by the southwestern structural boundary of the Transition Zone. Northwest of the cauldron, the boundary fault zone was active until about 18.0 Ma, and southwest-side-down normal motion was accompanied by about 2 kilometers of dextral offset between 18.6 and 18.0 Ma. Extension to the southwest of this segment of the boundary, in the Goldfield Mountains, was moderate to extreme. South of the cauldron, the boundary zone turns sharply to the east and extends into the Globe-Miami area. Extension to the south of this boundary was weak to moderate but distributed over a larger area than in the Goldfield Mountains. The sharp turn in the boundary zone at the Superstition cauldron coincides regionally with the hypothetical southwesterly continuation of the Jemez Lineament, a prominent northwest-trending zone of Neogene magmatism that extends across New Mexico and eastern Arizona. The turn also coincides with an abrupt change in the dip of the detachment faults that bound the core-complexes in the Basin and Range province. To the west, detachment faults dip to the northeast, and to the south they dip to the southwest. Directly southwest of the Superstition volcanic field the absence of core-complexes is conspicuous. The nearest core complex, in the South Mountains directly to the west, had a long-lived history (~25-17 Ma) of exhumation involving Tertiary granitoids significantly older than the volcanics of the Superstition volcanic field. Along strike to the southeast from the South Mountains a low-angle, northeast-dipping normal fault in the Santan Mountains, which lie directly southwest of the Superstition volcanic field, is overlapped by a flat-lying outlier of the Apache Leap Tuff.


While listening to a violinist, the author noticed that as an accompaniment of hearing loss his perception of the higher pitches deviates from normal by a large musical interval. Pitch is perceived as of separate overlapping components, each with its own dependence of frequency. Over most of the range of the main component, pitch in semitones is proportional to logarithm of frequency as normally expected, but the range (for the left ear) ends at 1.4 kHz, fully exposing a second component about half an octave too high. This in turn ends at 1.8 kHz, exposing a third component higher still. In the lowest octave of the first component, pitch deviates continuously above normal and a fourth component appears below normal. The higher components are damaging to music and of unknown value for speech.Subject Classification: 65.54.


A theoretical scenario used for achieving efficient field-free molecular orientation with a few half-cycle pulses (HCPs) is proposed, with the LiH molecule as an example. Compared with a single HCP, three HCPs can excite more rovibrational transitions and enhance the degree of molecular orientation. By optimizing the laser parameters, a maximum value of 0.798 for the degree of molecular orientation is obtained.


Background Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the seventh most common cancer in humans, of which clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) accounts for the majority. Recently, although there have been significant breakthroughs in the treatment of ccRCC, the prognosis of targeted therapy is still poor. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a pleiotropic protein, which is overexpressed in many cancers and plays a carcinogenic role. In this study, we explored the expression and potential role of LIF in ccRCC. Methods The expression levels and prognostic effects of the LIF gene in ccRCC were detected using TCGA, GEO, ICGC, and ArrayExpress databases. The function of LIF in ccRCC was investigated using a series of cell function approaches. LIF-related genes were identified by weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA). GO and KEGG analyses were performed subsequently. Cox univariate and LASSO analyses were used to develop risk signatures based on LIF-related genes, and the prognostic model was validated in the ICGC and E-MTAB-1980 databases. Then, a nomogram model was constructed for survival prediction and validation of ccRCC patients. To further explore the drug sensitivity between LIF-related genes, we also conducted a drug sensitivity analysis based on the GDSC database. Results The mRNA and protein expression levels of LIF were significantly increased in ccRCC patients. In addition, a high expression of LIF has a poor prognostic effect in ccRCC patients. LIF knockdown can inhibit the migration and invasion of ccRCC cells. By using WGCNA, 97 LIF-related genes in ccRCC were identified. Next, a prognostic risk prediction model including eight LIF-related genes (TOB2, MEPCE, LIF, RGS2, RND3, KLF6, RRP12, and SOCS3) was developed and validated. Survival analysis and ROC curve analysis indicated that the eight LIF-related-gene predictive model had good performance in evaluating patients' prognosis in different subgroups of ccRCC. Conclusion Our study revealed that LIF plays a carcinogenic role in ccRCC. In addition, we firstly integrated multiple LIF-related genes to set up a risk-predictive model. The model could accurately predict the prognosis of ccRCC, which offers clinical implications for risk stratification, drug screening, and therapeutic decision.