Effects of different chemotherapeutics were examined against experimentally infected stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis . Fish were collected from a fish market in Mymensingh, acclimatized for 7 days in laboratory condition from January to February, 2016 in aquaria at Fish Clinic of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, experimentally injured by using forceps and knife and waited seven days for the establishment of infection. Before starting chemotherapeutic trial, it was confirmed that the fish were infected with microorganisms by clinical diagnosis in laboratory condition. They showed hemorrhages and ulcerative lesions over the infected area. A total of 80 such experimentally infected stinging catfish having average body weight of 18 g were used for the experiment. Two chemotherapeutics: antibiotic, Eryvet (erythromycin thiocyanate INN, sulphadiazine (NaUSP) & trimithoprim BP) and antifungal, methylene blue were used in separate and combined treatment with three different doses of antibiotic. The same dose of methylene blue, 0.2 mg/l, was used for separate and combined treatment by antibiotic. Doses of antibiotic (Eryvet) were 0.8 g/10 kg body weight of fish, 1g/10 kg body weight of fish and 1.2 g/10 kg body weight of fish as lower dose, recommended dose and higher dose respectively. For combined treatment the above different doses of antibiotic and the same dose of antifungal were used. Water was exchanged regularly. The chemotherapeutic trial was conducted for 7 days and observation was continued for another 8 days to observe the effect of treatment. Combined treatment with the recommended dose of the antibiotic and methylene blue showed the best result where 90% fish were recovered. By the treatment with the higher dose of the antibiotic 70% fish were recovered. Antifungal treatment showed that 20% fish were recovered. All the fish in negative control aquarium died. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2017, 3(4): 476-487


BACKGROUND
Mutations in the cationic trypsinogen gene (PRSS1) have been detected in patients with hereditary pancreatitis (HP). This study investigated the prevalence of the R122H (c.365 G > A), A121T (c.361 G > A) and D162D (c.488 C > T) mutations or polymorphisms in the common, non-hereditary forms of chronic pancreatitis and in an HP family.

METHODS
DNA was prepared from blood samples of 54 patients with chronic pancreatitis (35 alcoholic, 17 idiopathic and 2 hereditary) and 120 normal controls. The PRSS1 genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and their products were analyzed by sequencing and related clinical data were also collected.

RESULTS
A new polymorphism (c.488 C > T) of PRSS1 was found in 25 patients with chronic pancreatitis (including one affected member of the HP family) and six members of the normal controls. The C/T genotype was significantly increased in chronic pancreatitis (OR: 16.379, 95% CI: 5.7522 - 52.3663), the frequency of c.488 C > T change was in according with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, but it doesn't affect the clinical phenotype. The commonly reported change of R122H (c.365 G > A) was not detected in any of the study subjects. c.361 G > A was found in 2 affected members and one unaffected carrier in an HP family. One of the affected members of an HP family had c.361 G > A mutation and polymorphism (c.488 C > T) in the PRSS1 gene at the same time. The patient's clinical values (C3, C4, CA19-9 and HbA1c) were higher than those of the other patients with chronic pancreatitis. The two patients with HP developed diabetes mellitus and their father died with pancreatic cancer.

CONCLUSION
A new polymorphism (c.488 C > T) in the PRSS1 gene is associated with chronic pancreatitis, but it did not affect the clinical phenotype while the A121T (c.361 G > A) mutation in the gene shows a significant correlation in the patients with HP.


The present work proposes a new preparation route of nanoparticles to be used in the ceramic industry. This new route, known as proteic sol-gel, usually employs green coconut water to dissolve the precursor salts, instead of conventional metal alcoxides. However there are no reports about the employment of water from mature coconut in the preparation of nanoparticles, which is usually disposed in the coconut processing industry. Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles were produced via proteic sol-gel route using mature coconut water and were characterized through DTA/TG and XRD measurements and SEM and AFM images. The γ-Al 2 O 3 phase was obtained after calcination at 700 °C, and was stable even after calcination at 1200 °C. An increase in particle size while the temperature of calcination was raised was observed, and the particle size was about 400 nm in sample treated at 1200 °C.


Abstract. The potentiodynamic experiments of the nickel effects on the zinc electrodeposition have been done to understand the impact of Ni impurities on the electrowinning of Zn from spent pickling liquor. The nickel chloride solutions of Ni concentrations 90 and 1 g/dm3 were used as the electrolytes. The latter was also mixed with 90 g/dm3 Zn in the experiments. All the runs were carried out at room temperature with 40 mV/s continuous polarization speed and with 1/s sampling rate. It was observed that nickel electrodeposition from chloride media containing 90 g/dm3 Ni started with the generation of hydrogen bubbles, entirely blocking the cathode surface. Only a slight current development was observed until the polarization potential ~ -0,8 V. The visual observation showed bubbles also formed at the anode, which may represent chlorine and/or oxygen evolution. While, in the electrodeposition of nickel with only 1 g/dm3 Ni concentration in the electrolyte, metal deposition was hardly observed, but visible hydrogen bubbles constantly blocked the cathode surface. A similar tendency was observed in the mixed-solution electrolysis cell; the initial tiny bubbles accumulated at the cathode surface more than in the pure Zn solution. The enhancement of H2 evolution indicates how nickel deposition may contribute to the loss of useful current in the process of Zn electrodeposition. The mass of nickel deposited from the mixed solutions significantly decreases as the Ni concentration decreases in the electrolyte, while the mass of deposited zinc is relatively constant. It means that the purity of the produced Zn is appreciably higher – with respect to Ni – if nickel is efficiently eliminated from the solution before electrowinning.


The Italian Research Conference on Digital Libraries (IRCDL) is the annual Italian forum to discuss research topics on Digital Libraries and related technical, practical, and social issues. Along the years, IRCDL touched several aspects underlying the "Digital Library" domain and promptly adapted to the evolution of the field. Today, the "Digital Library" field includes theory and practices reflecting the evolution of the role of libraries in the scholarly communication domain, and also embracing scholarly communication and open science. The theme of IRCDL 2019 was "Digital Libraries: Supporting Open Science". Three main reasons motivated this theme: (i) science is increasingly becoming digital, meaning that research is performed using data services and digital tools; (ii) the results of the research are no longer just traditional scientific publications; (iii) the outcomes of science are increasingly encompassing datasets, software, and experiments. As digital artifacts, such products can be shared and re-used together with the article, thus enabling comprehensive research assessment and various degrees of reproducibility of science. Positive consequences of this shift towards Open Science are: accelerating science, optimizing the cost of research, fraud detection, and fullyfledged scientific reward. Digital Libraries are central in the evolution of research outputs by targeting findability, preservation, interlinking, and re-use of research products and by integrating the components of the scholarly communication process. The conference has been organized in Pisa, and the proceedings are published in the Springer CCIS series Vol. 988 [22]. Pre-print versions, research datasets, and research software relative to the accepted contributions are accessible via Zenodo.org.1


Aged population is increasing worldwide due to the aging process that is inevitable. Accordingly, longevity and healthy aging have been spotlighted to promote social contribution of aged population. Many studies in the past few decades have reported the process of aging and longevity, emphasizing the importance of maintaining genomic stability in exceptionally long-lived population. Underlying reason of longevity remains unclear due to its complexity involving multiple factors. With advances in sequencing technology and human genome-associated approaches, studies based on population-based genomic studies are increasing. In this review, we summarize recent longevity and healthy aging studies of human population focusing on DNA repair as a major factor in maintaining genome integrity. To keep pace with recent growth in genomic research, aging- and longevity-associated genomic databases are also briefly introduced. To suggest novel approaches to investigate longevity-associated genetic variants related to DNA repair using genomic databases, gene set analysis was conducted, focusing on DNA repair- and longevity-associated genes. Their biological networks were additionally analyzed to grasp major factors containing genetic variants of human longevity and healthy aging in DNA repair mechanisms. In summary, this review emphasizes DNA repair activity in human longevity and suggests approach to conduct DNA repair-associated genomic study on human healthy aging.


Abstract: Regulation 656/2014 represents an important step towards the clarification of EU surveillance obligations, including search and rescue missions and disembarkation in operations coordinated by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). This Regulation is complemented by Regulation 2016/1624 as part of the integrated border management system, reinforcing Frontex and increasing its level of autonomy. However Frontex has not got a more proactive mission in saving lives. Therefore the main function of search, rescue and disembarkation remains in the hands of the Member States.
According to this legal framework each operational plan coordinated by Frontex should guarantee the protection of fundamental rights in the conception and implementation of a joint operation. This also codifies, integrates and develops the rules of international maritime law related to search and rescue and also the European jurisprudence relating to the principle of "non-refoulement". Although the scope of Regulation 656/2014 is limited to the operations coordinated by Frontex, it should also be extended to other European and national surveillance operations at sea.
Beyond the improvements identified in such regulations, a more stable and automatic design of resources and instruments is still required for the effective development of this kind of joint operations, as well as a more equitable sharing of burdens and responsibilities among all Member States.
Keywords: surveillance, search and rescue, disembarkation, Frontex, non refoulement.


The haematophagy process by arthropods has been one of the main targets of studies in the parasite-host interaction, and the kissing-bug Rhodnius prolixus, vector of the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, has been one of the main models for such studies. Still in the 1980s, it was identified that among the salivary proteins for disrupting vertebrate host homeostasis, lipocalins were among the most relevant proteins for this process. Since then, 30 lipocalins have been identified in the salivary glands of R. prolixus, that promotes vasodilatation, prevents inflammation, act as anticoagulants and inhibits platelet aggregation. The present work aims to identify new lipocalins from R. prolixus, combining transcriptome and genome data. Identified new genes were mapped and had their structure annotated. To infer an evolutionary relationship between lipocalins, and to support the predicted functions for each lipocalin, all amino acid sequences were used to construct phylogenetic trees. We identified a total of 29 new lipocalins, 3 new bioaminogenic-biding proteins (which act to inhibit platelet aggregation and vasodilation), 9 new inhibitors of platelet aggregation, 7 new apolipoproteins and 10 lipocalins with no putative function. In addition, we observed that several of the lipocalins are also expressed in different R. prolxius tissues, including gut, central nervous system, antennae, and reproductive organs. In addition to newly identified lipocalins and a mapping the new and old lipocalins in the genome of R. prolixus, our study also carried out a review on functional status and nomenclature of some of the already identified lipocalins. Our study reinforces that we are far from understanding the role of lipocalins in the physiology of R. prolixus, and that studies of this family are still of great relevance.


The purpose of this article is to offer an empirical analysis of the geographical differences in Spanish housing quality. We derive an index of housing quality using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) in the line with Arévalo (1999). The author obtains a housing quality index by using some structural characteristics of houses and those collected in the Encuesta Básica de Presupuestos Familiares (EBPF) in Spain for the periods 1980-81 and 1990-91. In addition, this paper includes location-specific characteristics of the house using in the analysis two new variables: city size and accessibility. Results confirm that location characteristics influence house quality. It is confirmed that the inclusion of these location-specific variables shows a more realistic view of geographical differences in the Spanish house quality. Firstly, urban characteristics reveal that houses located in densely populated cities do not significantly improve their quality whereas there is significant quality deterioration within sparsely populated cities. Secondly, as was to be expected, consideration of accessibility attributes reveals quality improvements of housing situated within those sparsely populated areas that have good road communication with densely populated cities. Keyword: Housing quality index; Accessibility; Multiple Correspondence Analysis Latest Draft: September 30, 2003. * The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology and from European Regional Development Fund through DGICYT grant BEC2002-04102-C02-01, and Xunta de Galicia through grant PGIDIT03PXIC30002PN. † Departamento de Organización de Empresas y Marketing, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36200 Vigo. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. Phone: 34 986 813540. Fax: 34 986 812401 ‡ Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Sur, 32004 Ourense. E-mail: email@example.com. Phone: 34 988 368763. Fax: 34 988 368923.


One of the most important scientific disciplines is determining the toxicity of heavy metals in freshwater, and there is a rising concern about the development of methodologies for identifying toxic effects in aquatic creatures. To test the efficacy of this approach, an experimental study was conducted on the fish Cyprinus carpio from a pond in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Surface bioaccumulation of mercury and lead on Cyprinus carpio was studies using Scanning Electron microscopy. Molecular bioaccumulation of Mercury and lead were analysed by ICPMS. Brain showed highest level of mercury (1780 ppb) when compared to kidney (1365 ppb) and liver (1150 ppb) tissues of C. carpio. Similarly, highest accumulation of lead noticed in brain (1490 ppb) followed by kidney (1245 ppb) and liver (1100 ppb). Moreover, mercury and lead surface accumulation and molecular bioaccumulation were highest in the brain compared to the liver and kidney Cyprinus carpio. The surface morphology of kidney, liver and brain is studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This study has elicited a strong response from freshwater aquaculture to implement toxicity control measures and avoid future infiltration into the food chain. The present study has been undertaken to explore the toxic effects of lead and mercury on kidney, liver and brain of fish Cyprinus carpio and to detect the spectral biochemical and surface morphological changes.


The analysis was finally completed, the data graphed, and I had to admit to myself, it was looking like an auspicious moment. Only a few weeks earlier, Charlie Lyman and I had been discussing a project that I had been working on for some time, one in which I was admittedly being deliberately vague concerning the details. However, I had promised to keep him updated when it succeeded. Given the date (April 1st) and the data in hand, I couldn't resist sharing with him (and a few colleagues) the first results from that experiment—and my thinly veiled attempt at a quasi-April Fools Day joke. After we exchanged a number of emails that day, Charlie concluded his last message with the line that many of us have heard from both him and Ron Anderson: "A little more text and you can have an article in the July issue of MT." Have I gotten you curious? Well then read on!


This study is on effects of study questions on students' achievement in Literature-in-English. The study was carried out in Abakaliki Education Zone of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The design of the study is quasi experimental of pre-test-posttest, nonequivalent control group. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The population of the study was 6053 senior secondary school, class II (SS II) students in thirty-nine co-educational secondary schools in Abakaliki Education Zone of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The sample was SS II Literature-in-English students in four coeducational secondary schools in the Zone, which was drawn using simple random sampling technique. Two of the schools formed treatment group, while two formed control group. Intact classes were used for the study. A researcher-made instrument titled Literature-inEnglish Achievement Test (LAT) was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using statistical mean, standard deviation, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The result of the study showed that the treatment group taught Literature-in-English with study questions performed better than the control group taught with conventional method. The gender aspect of the study revealed that girls performed better than boys in both treatment, and control groups. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Literature-in-English teachers should issue study questions on every topic taught` to their students; and that authors of literature texts should also produce workbooks which will guided study of main texts with relevant study questions.


Indices of lipid peroxidation (LPO), middle weight molecules (MWM), and changes in the structure of the liver and the impact of Reamberin solution on them were analyzed in 202 patients with acute small intestinal obstruction (ASIO). Endogenous intoxication indices were established to increase along with the increase in enteral deficiency. In case of ASIO increase in lipid peroxidation products, MWM in serum, and decrease in ceruloplasmin securities, significant changes in the liver (destruction of granular and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, hepatocytes nuclei) were observed. Surgical resolution of ASIO leads to further temporary deterioration of liver structure, increase in MWM, and indices of lipid peroxidation and decrease in ceruloplasmin levels. Prescription of antioxidant therapy in the postoperative period promotes reparative processes in hepatocytes and leads to normalization of endogenous intoxication indices in blood serum and helps reduce postoperative mortality.


Norway is the world's 3rd largest trader of crude oil, and a significant supplier of gas to the European market. Statoil is a Norwegian based oil company, with 17.000 employees, and with a number of offshore production plants, pipelines and land based facilities. As part of an improvement campaign with focus on increased production and reduced maintenance and operational costs, Statoil is working with a new initiative related to turnaround strategies and execution of maintenance that requires shutdown. This campaign is called RAPID, which stands for "Remove Activities, Prolong Intervals and Decrease durations". The initiative was due to the fact that turnarounds are the largest single contributor to reduced production in Statoil. Turnarounds with production shutdown are conducted on a regular basis, with a typical duration of 15 days and with a 1-3 yrs. frequency for offshore facilities and 4-8 yrs. for land based facilities. It is a long-term objective to reduced lost production due to turnarounds by increased use of condition monitoring, new procedures for hot work, safety integrity verification, opportunity maintenance and improved planning. This paper describes the on-going campaign and its applied methods. The work for 2003 is focused on two main products: a new turnaround strategy for a pilot offshore installation (Heidrun) and a general Company guideline for turnarounds.


Coupling between the fluctuations of DNA and its surroundings consisting of water and ions in solution remains poorly understood and relatively less investigated as compared to proteins. Here, with the help of molecular dynamics simulations and statistical mechanical analyses, we explore the dynamical coupling between DNA, water, and counterions through correlations among respective energy fluctuations in both double (ds-) and single-stranded (ss-) DNA solutions. Fluctuations in the collective DNA-Water and DNA-Ion interaction energies are found to be strongly anti-correlated across all the systems. The fluctuations of DNA self-energy, however, are weakly coupled to DNA-water and DNA-ion interactions in ds-DNA. An enhancement of the DNA-water coupling is observed in ss-DNA, where the system is less rigid. All the interaction energies exhibit 1/f noise in their energy power spectra with surprisingly prominent bimodality in the DNA-water and DNA-ion fluctuations. The nature of the energy spectra appears to be indifferent to the relative rigidity of the DNA. We discuss the role of the observed correlations in ion-water motions on a DNA duplex in the experimentally observed anomalous slow dielectric relaxation and solvation dynamics, and in furthering our understanding of the DNA energy landscape. TOC GRAPHIC


The population interactions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulent bacteriophages phi kF77 and phi mnF82 with host bacterial cells were studied in dynamics under the conditions of continuous cultivation in the chemostat regime with glucose limitation. Two different types of maintaining the bacterium and its specific bacteriophages in the population were detected. When P. aeruginosa was cultivated with phage phi mnF82, such a maintenance was realized due to the successive appearance of bacterial mutants resistant to the phage and of phage mutants overcoming this resistance. When P. aeruginosa was cultivated with phage phi kF77, these were maintained owing to the ability of P. aeruginosa to form unstable phage-resistant variants with the segregation of phage-sensitive cells.


Schottky barrier height engineering by silicidation induced impurity segregation is demonstrated. The segregation of sulfur at the NiSi/Si interface leads to a gradual decrease of the SBH on n-Si(100) from 0.65 eV to 0.07 eV, and correspondingly, to an increase of the SBH on p-Si(100). Alternatively, the effective SBH of NiSi is reduced by As and B segregation during silicidation. Using these techniques, SB-MOSFETs were fabricated. The transistors with impurity segregation at source/drain to the silicon channel show significant performance improvements


The lecture began at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, and was given by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme; the discussant was Dinah Shelton of the George Washington University Law School. FOCUSING ON THE GOOD OR THE BAD: WHAT CAN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW DO TO ACCELERATE THE TRANSITION TOWARDS A GREEN ECONOMY? I wish to begin by thanking the American University Washington College of Law for inviting me to deliver the 2009 Grotius Lecture. This year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of The Freedom of the Seas. (1) I doubt that Hugo Grotius in 1609 knew the profound impact that his treatise would have on the world economy. The notion that the seas were international territory and all nations were free to use them for seafaring trade--what is now a basic principle of international maritime law--led to opposition that sparked the First Anglo-Dutch War. Yet, the principles of free trade and economic freedom advocated then persist today. There is an important lesson that Grotius taught us: that law can be a conduit for transformative economic change. As the Freedom of the Seas provided an important foundation for international free trade, I believe that law has a critical role to play in providing the foundation for accelerating the transition towards a green economy. This presentation explores how international law can, and must, work to support the transition to a green economy. In doing so, I highlight areas where I think that international law has a critical role to play; but, in the end, we will need people like you--the eminent experts in the field--to ensure that international law works to help and not hinder the transition. But before I do this, I would like to say a few words about what is a green economy. WHAT IS A GREEN ECONOMY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS? The global financial crisis has been devastating, but, in every crisis, there arises an opportunity. Leaders around the world have seen such an opportunity and are creating stimulus packages that will not only create economic recovery but will also build on green fundamentals of energy efficiency and diversification, waste minimization, and sensible use of natural resources. While it is clear that governments and the international community face multiple and serious challenges, the situation also presents real opportunities to make profound changes in our economies: moving toward a green and low carbon economy will deliver multiple benefits for the international community and governments in addressing food, energy, and water security and will ultimately result in achieving sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We also have an opportunity to re-examine the capacity of governance structures at the national and global levels to assess whether they are adequate to meet multiple environmental and development challenges and whether they are flexible enough to capitalize on emerging opportunities. The term "green economy" as defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2) describes an economic system that recognizes the properties of healthy ecosystems as the backbone of economic and social well-being and as a precondition for poverty reduction. This means that nature is integral to the design and planning process so that the notion of infrastructure is extended to food production, the use of raw materials, and provisions for wildlife. A green economy is a system in which the costs arising from the degradation of ecosystems are internalized--where industries that employ clean and efficient technologies and where agriculture is sustainable serve as major engines of economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. In hard terms, our analysis at UNEP finds that this means, among other things, investing at least $60-90 billion per year in sustainable environmental management in the developing world, which is necessary to reduce environment-related poverty alone; a re-alignment of agricultural subsidies, currently amounting to more than $300 billion a year, toward sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; a shift from subsidies for fossil fuels, currently estimated at $240-310 billion per year or around 0. …


We examined the results of postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) control and complications of trabeculectomy with mitomycin C in open angle glaucoma patients who had not undergone any other ocular surgery. The subjects were 80 eyes of 70 patients who underwent surgery with 0.04% mitomycin C as an adjunct for 3 minutes and were followed for 7-24 months (mean +/- standard deviation: 13 +/- 3.4). The preoperative IOP was 21-32 mmHg (mean +/- standard deviation: 24.6 +/- 4.3) in maximum tolerable medications. IOP control ratio, which was analysed with the Kaplan-Meier method at 24 months after surgery was 81.6% without any antiglaucoma medications, vs 92.0% with medications. These values were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the results of trabeculectomy with 5-fluorouracil or without antimetabolic agents previously performed in our clinic. Shallow chamber in 18 eyes (23%), choroidal detachment in 14 eyes (18%), hypotonus maculopathy in 7 eyes (9%), and cataract progression in 5 eyes (7%) were recognised as complications. Although there are some complications to be conquered, trabeculectomy with mitomycin C seems to be effective in treating primary open angle glaucoma patients.


A well-known model for the rate of heterogeneous nucleation and growth of a second-phase precipitate in a solid matrix has successfully been applied to analyze the electromigration process in Al thin-film interconnects. The change of resistance is considered resulting mainly from the scattering of electrons by atoms around the vacancies or voids at grain boundaries. Free volume is introduced to describe the behavior of these atoms and to simplify the complicated scattering process by means of the effective scattering cross section of the free volume. The quantitative relation between the scattering cross section and the resistance change is established, and from which the resistance revolution can be characterized during different electromigration stages. Comparison of our simulation results with experimental data shows good agreement and our model can explain the previously unexplained abrupt resistance change phenomena.


Knowledge about protein-protein interactions is essential in understanding the biological processes such as metabolic pathways, DNA replication, and transcription etc. However, a majority of the existing Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) systems are dependent primarily on the scientific literature, which is yet not accessible as a structured database. Thus, efficient information extraction systems are required for identifying PPI information from the large collection of biomedical texts. Most of the existing systems model the PPI extraction task as a classification problem and are tailored to the handcrafted feature set including domain dependent features. In this paper, we present a novel method based on deep bidirectional long short-term memory (B-LSTM) technique that exploits word sequences and dependency path related information to identify PPI information from text. This model leverages joint modeling of proteins and relations in a single unified framework, which we name as Shortest Dependency Path B-LSTM (sdpLSTM) model. We perform experiments on two popular benchmark PPI datasets, namely AiMed & BioInfer. The evaluation shows the F1-score values of 86.45% and 77.35% on AiMed and BioInfer, respectively. Comparisons with the existing systems show that our proposed approach attains state-of-the-art performance.


These days, one of the major threats in the world is climate change. It is already proven by a large number of strong evidence that human activities are responsible for these sudden changes. It is expected that in the future mankind will witness more severe consequences of climate change on the amount of precipitation and temperature levels in different regions of the world, and as a result of that, more both physical and economic water scarcity is anticipated to be seen. Each year food production industry produces a considerable amount of greenhouse gases which are the number one factor for global warming. By fluctuations in the groundwater, surface water, CO2 fertilization, and extreme weather conditions such as floods and droughts, a drastic impact on agricultural practices is expected to occur in Iran if the current trends are not slowed down or reversed. Any disturbance in food security and quality could lead to malnutrition, food-borne illnesses, or even death. Crop cultivation and livestock have their own unique impact on the total emitted GHGs. Given this, in this study, we analyzed the food production (both animal-based and plant-based), consumption, and global warming potential (CO₂e) of 11 main dietary categories in the Iranian food industry from 2010 to 2019. Moreover, the population growth in the decade was included in the study. The results of this article revealed that vegetable consumption faced a downward trend in the decade while animal protein sources remained almost intact and animal-based food items produce a considerably higher amount of greenhouse gases than plant-based dietary options.


The flow stress of a high purity gold has been determined so that the contribution of plastic flow to the gold<jold thermocompression bonding process can be evaluated. These compression tests at 25°C, 158°C, 311°C, and 458°C indicate that for deformations over 15% the flow stress and the work hardening coefficient decrease rapidly with increasing temperature. Correlation of the compression test results and beam lead bonding experience indicates that high purity golds having a hardness of about 30 DPH would be expected to reach a steady state uniaxial flow stress of 70-90 MPa (10,000-13,000 psi) when deformed during bonding at 300°C.


Withholding information about the possibility of making a living organ donation is not a neutral act: not to inform means to decide on behalf of the potential donor and the recipient, and to deny them, without any right and against their rights, their free will. It is also to declare implicitly two opinions: first, the donor and the recipient are unable to make the right decision; second, the ethic and moral convictions of the physician count for more than those of the donor and recipient. On the other hand, providing this information is not a neutral act either: to the extent that the presentation comes across as persuasive or dissuasive, the decision of the recipient and the donor will presumably be affected accordingly. Nevertheless, having access to information is a minimal condition for the donor and recipient to exercise their free will. For this reason, we should try to imagine a system in which patients receive all pertinent information about the possibility of a living organ donation, in a manner that is not coloured by partisan positions.


OBJECTIVE
Comorbid psychiatric and pain-related conditions are common in patients with fibromyalgia. Most studies in this area have used data from patients in specialty care and may not represent the characteristics of fibromyalgia in primary care patients. We sought to fill gaps in the literature by determining if the association between psychiatric diagnoses, conditions associated with chronic pain, and fibromyalgia differed by gender in a primary care patient population.

DESIGN
Retrospective cohort.

SETTING AND SUBJECTS
Medical record data obtained from 38,976 patients, ≥18 years of age with a primary care encounter between July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2016.

METHODS
International Classification of Diseases-9 codes were used to define fibromyalgia, psychiatric diagnoses, and conditions associated with chronic pain. Unadjusted associations between patient demographics, comorbid conditions, and fibromyalgia were computed using binary logistic regression for the entire cohort and separately by gender.

RESULTS
Overall, 4.6% of the sample had a fibromyalgia diagnosis, of whom 76.1% were women. Comorbid conditions were more prevalent among patients with vs without fibromyalgia. Depression and arthritis were more strongly related to fibromyalgia among women (odds ratio [OR] = 2.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.50-3.13; and OR = 5.19, 95% CI = 4.62-5.84) compared with men (OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.71-2.71; and (OR = 3.91, 95% CI = 3.22-4.75). The relationship of fibromyalgia and other diagnoses did not significantly differ by gender.

CONCLUSIONS
Except for depression and arthritis, the burden of comorbid conditions in patients with fibromyalgia is similar in women and men treated in primary care. Fibromyalgia comorbidities in primary care are similar to those found in specialty care.


The aims of this research are to investigate how improvisatory skills develop in individuals and
teams. It focuses upon the effect of musical expertise in different musical genres on the
development of improvisatory skills. Multi methods were applied in the research and classified
into four phases. The first phase involved a self-case study implementing deliberate self
regulated practice based on a planned sequential model; a) sight-reading; b) memorising; and c)
improvising; over 8 weeks in a trained classical musician. Additionally, the self-case study used
two commissioned musical compositions matched in length, harmony and structure, one in the
classical genre the other in jazz. In the 2nd phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted
with novice and expert improvisers. The final phases included experiments studying sightreading,
memorising and improvising as a duo and observations and interviews relating to
ensemble rehearsals and improvisation with cross genre compositions. The findings suggest
that learning to improvise is frustrating and anxiety provoking. Seven elements were found to
be important in acquiring musical skills and domain knowledge acquisition: physiological
adaptation and developing reading music skills; establishing auditory schemata; automaticity;
use of memorisation strategies; analytic strategy application; and improvising to a coherent
musical structure. The findings also show that sight-reading and improvising share similarities
in their characteristics when learning to improvise as a duo. Issues such as communicating to
the audience, performance identity and connecting to the context are essential in the duo
improvisation performance. The findings indicate that a 'concept of break-points' (Poole,
1983) take place during the latter stage of the ensemble improvisation process where changes
occur across all three elements, musical structure, social structure and communicative behavior. (Bastien
and Hostager, 2002:21) Factors such as leadership, group member characteristic, resource, information flow, the creative environment and collateral structure can influence the quality of
group improvisation performance.


As head-mounted displays (HMDs) commonly present a single, fixed-focus display plane, a conflict can be created between the vergence and accommodation responses of the viewer. Multifocal HMDs have long been investigated as a potential solution in which multiple image planes span the viewer's accommodation range. Such displays require a scene decomposition algorithm to distribute the depiction of objects across image planes, and previous work has shown that simple decompositions can be achieved in real-time. However, recent optimal decompositions further improve image quality, particularly with complex content. Such decompositions are more computationally involved and likely require better alignment of the image planes with the viewer's eyes, which are potential barriers to practical applications. Our goal is to enable interactive optimal decomposition algorithms capable of driving a vergence- and accommodation-tracked multifocal testbed. Ultimately, such a testbed is necessary to establish the requirements for the practical use of multifocal displays, in terms of computational demand and hardware accuracy. To this end, we present an efficient algorithm for optimal decompositions, incorporating insights from vision science. Our method is amenable to GPU implementations and achieves a three-orders-of-magnitude speedup over previous work. We further show that eye tracking can be used for adequate plane alignment with efficient image-based deformations, adjusting for both eye rotation and head movement relative to the display. We also build the first binocular multifocal testbed with integrated eye tracking and accommodation measurement, paving the way to establish practical eye tracking and rendering requirements for this promising class of display. Finally, we report preliminary results from a pilot user study utilizing our testbed, investigating the accommodation response of users to dynamic stimuli presented under optimal decomposition.


Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been widely used to predict the activity of catalysts based on the free energies of reaction intermediates. The incorporation of the state of the catalyst surface under the electrochemical operating conditions while constructing the free-energy diagram is crucial, without which even trends in activity predictions could be imprecisely captured. Surface Pourbaix diagrams indicate the surface state as a function of the pH and the potential. In this work, we utilize error-estimation capabilities within the Bayesian ensemble error functional with van der Waals correlations exchange correlation functional as an ensemble approach to propagate the uncertainty associated with the adsorption energetics in the construction of Pourbaix diagrams. Within this approach, surface-transition phase boundaries are no longer sharp and are therefore associated with a finite width. We determine the surface phase diagram for several transition metals under reaction conditions and electrode potentials relevant for the oxygen reduction reaction. We observe that our surface phase predictions for most predominant species are in good agreement with cyclic voltammetry experiments and prior DFT studies. We use the OH* intermediate for comparing adsorption characteristics on Pt(111), Pt(100), Pd(111), Ir(111), Rh(111), and Ru(0001) since it has been shown to have a higher prediction efficiency relative to O*, and find the trend Ru > Rh > Ir > Pt > Pd for (111) metal facets, where Ru binds OH* the strongest. We robustly predict the likely surface phase as a function of reaction conditions by associating confidence values for quantifying the confidence in predictions within the Pourbaix diagram. We define a confidence quantifying metric, using which certain experimentally observed surface phases and peak assignments can be better rationalized. The probabilistic approach enables a more accurate determination of the surface structure and can readily be incorporated in computational studies for better understanding the catalyst surface under operating conditions.


Quantum mechanics is acknowledged as the fundamental theory on which the whole fabric of physics is supposed to rely. And yet, the features of quantum measurements, processes that provide information about microscopic objects, seem to contradict the principles of quantum mechanics. We make a qualitative presentation of this long standing problem and give an idea of recent progress in the elucidation of the paradox. Although governed solely by the quantum equations of motion, the dynamical process involving the tested system and the measuring apparatus veils the quantum oddities that oppose our standard logic and gives rise to the expected properties of measurements. In spite of the irreducibly probabilistic nature of the underlying quantum physics, classical concepts emerge, such as standard probabilities, ordinary correlations, disappearance of quantum fluctuations, and the possibility of making statements about individual systems.


The relationship between densities of red and roe deer and a range of environmental variables were investigated. The aim was to assess which factor, or combination of factors, was most associated with, and hence potentially responsible for, variations in densities of deer. Twenty plantation forests throughout Scotland were used as study sites and estimates of deer densities within them were based on dung-group counts. Using ratios of cull records and local information, 10 forests were selected which were expected to give a wide range of deer densities to aid the correlation exercise. The other 10 were selected randomly from within the geographic range of both species and without expectation of density: this allowed deer densities to be used as predictors of each other in the analyses without any bias that selection on the basis of ratio may have introduced. The variables used in analyses included forest habitat structure, climate, vegetation composition, soil type, culling pressure, and the density of other deer species.

Red deer densities were positively correlated with mean daily temperature (P<0.05) throughout the year and mean daily snow depth (P<0.05) for October through to March, but negatively correlated with mean daily windspeed (P<0.05) for the quarter April to June. Roe deer density was negatively correlated with mean daily rainfall (P<0.05) throughout the year. Red deer density was negatively correlated (P<0.05) with an index of culling pressure, but roe deer density was uncorrelated with this parameter. The actual influence of culling pressure on red deer population density is unclear. Proportions of structural habitats within forests (defined by tree age classes and growth form) were uncorrelated with deer densities, but were secondary predictors of deer density in regression analyses: red deer density was predicted by the proportion of open-thicket (trees aged 15-28 years), and roe deer density by the proportion of restocked areas (0-8 years) and pre-thicket (9-14 years). Stepwise multiple regression analyses suggested that high red deer density has an important negative influence on roe deer density (P<0.05), but that the reverse did not hold.

Possible mechanisms by which significantly correlated variables may influence deer densities are discussed. It is suggested that the differential variation of red and roe deer densities across Scotland may be a result of different climatic adaptations and, possibly, an interspecific influence of red deer on roe deer.


Tandem cuff artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) is a well-accepted treatment modality for refractory urinary incontinence following prostatectomy. We present a unique case of a 60-year-old male who experienced spontaneous urethral perforation between tandem AUS cuffs following a strong valsalva maneuver. The patient was treated with immediate AUS explant and transcorporal single cuff placement several months later.


In this study, we have reported the fabrication and device characteristics of metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown 1.3‐µm InP‐based InGaAsP multiquantum well ridge waveguide laser diodes (LDs) for communication systems. The LD parameters such as threshold current, differential resistivity and output power for SiO2 and SiNx passivation layers have been compared. Fabricated LDs have a threshold current, differential resistivity and output power values of 42 mA, 20 Ω, 9.3 mW and 51 mA, 25 Ω, 6.8 mW for SiO2 and SiNx passivation layers, respectively. The analyses showed that the fabricated LD with SiO2 passivation layer has a better performance than the other one in the view of lower threshold current, differential resistivity and higher output power. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The paper provides an insight into the chronological extinction of the Indo-Malayan mangroves along the South and Southeast Asian coast and categorizes several area-specific anthropogenic and climatic factors that triggered the annihilation of 1.9 million ha of diverse mangroves. On a regional scale, coastal agricultural land development and shrimp farming were identified as major factors accounting for 90% of the reported loss. The paper also focuses on the existing mangrove management framework of nine developing countries of this region and conducts a comparative analysis of the prevailing legislative arrangement for mangrove management. In general, weak enforcements of legal measures and improper monitoring have been identified as major drawbacks in conservation and restoration initiatives. On the other hand, this paper strongly encourages the prospects of community-based mangrove management (CBMM) and provides good examples from the ecoregion through comparative case studies. Finally, it concludes with recommendations that outline a suitable mangrove management strategy involving more community empowerment, legalization and mainstreaming of comanagement initiatives, inclusive benefit sharing, and regional cooperation for transboundary ecosystem management.


The purposes of this study were to determine whether intramural sports programs are available to senior high school students in the four largest metropolitan school districts in Texas and to determine reasons why schools may not offer intramural programs. Questionnaires were mailed to eighty-four high schools in the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio Independent School Districts. Data obtained from this survey revealed that a majority of the responding schools do not sponsor intramural sports programs for their students. The factors cited most often as the reasons for not sponsoring intramural programs were lack of facilities, inadequate number of personnel, lack of transportation, and conflict with interscholastic sports.


Food waste (FW) has been increasingly recognized as a severe environmental, social, and economic problem. Therefore, it should be tackled innovatively by analyzing and synthesizing existing solutions. This study aims to achieve a comprehensive understanding of different social innovation measures adopted for reducing FW using a systematic literature review. After locating, collecting, evaluating, and analyzing 50 publications from four databases, we conclude that social innovation activities such as digital food-sharing platforms, social supermarkets, solidarity stores, and food rescue hubs are widely deployed in different FW reduction processes. Based on the findings, we synthesized several research gaps and proposed corresponding future research directions related to research methodology, country, food redistribution, food rescue, food donation, and food sharing. These directions include conducting research to develop suitable key performance indicators to evaluate the performance of digital food-sharing platforms, linking with specific theory to conduct empirical research on partnership analysis regarding social supermarkets, and investigating the structure of multiplex relations among different participants in the food rescue activities using social network analysis. We suggest that more keywords should be scrutinized and included when searching publications in future research as keyword selection is subjective.


Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2014 Page 5 ABSTRACT Data mining is widely used domain for extracting trends or patterns from historical data. However, the databases used by enterprises can't be directly used for data mining. It does mean that Data sets are to be prepared from real world database to make them suitable for particular data mining operations. However, preparing datasets for analyzing data is tedious task as it involves many aggregating columns, complex joins, and SQL queries with sub queries. More over the existing aggregations performed through SQL functions such as MIN, MAX, COUNT, SUM, AVG return a single value output which is not suitable for making datasets meant for data mining. In fact these aggregate functions are generating vertical aggregations. This paper presents techniques to support horizontal aggregations through SQL queries. The result of the queries is the data which is suitable for data mining operations. It does mean that this paper achieves horizontal aggregations through some constructs built that includes SQL queries as well. The methods prepared by this paper include CASE, SPJ and PIVOT. We have developed a prototype application and the empirical results reveal that these constructs are capable of generating data sets that can be used for further data mining operations.


Compact high-pulse-repetition-rate XeF and KrF excimer lasers and an N2 laser with plate electrodes and the inductive-capacitance discharge stabilisation are studied. The composition and pressure of the active medium of lasers are optimised for obtaining the maximum output energy and maximum pulse repetition rate at comparatively low (no more than 19 m s-1) active-medium flow rates in the interelectrode gap. The pulse repetition rate achieved 4–5 kHz for the relative root-mean-square deviation of the laser pulse energy less than 2%. It is found that the energy of the N2-laser pulses changes periodically under the action of acoustic perturbations appearing at high pulse repetition rates. It is shown that the use of the inductance-capacitance stabilisation of the discharge provides the increase in the maximum pulse repetition rate by 0.5–1.5 kHz (depending on the active medium type). It is found that the stability of the output energy and maximum pulse repetition rate depend on the location of preionisation sparks with respect to the gas flow direction. Some ways for the development of the technology of plate electrodes and inductance-capacitance discharge stabilisation are proposed.


There is a well-known and established link between high lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in blood and the metabolic syndrome (MS). MS is a risk factor for developing severe COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Here we define an interaction between SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein and LPS and its link to aggravated inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Electrophoresis under native conditions demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 S protein binds to Escherichia coli LPS, forming high molecular weight aggregates. Microscale thermophoresis analysis further defined the interaction, having a KD of ~47 nM, similar to the observed affinity between LPS and the human receptor CD14. Moreover, S protein, when combined with low levels of LPS, boosted nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and cytokine responses in monocytic THP-1 cells and human blood, respectively. In an experimental model of localized inflammation, employing NF-κB reporter mice and in vivo bioimaging, S protein in conjunction with LPS significantly increased the inflammatory response when compared with S protein and LPS alone. Apart from providing information on LPS as a ligand for S protein, our results are of relevance for studies on comorbidities involving bacterial endotoxins, such as the MS, or co-existing acute and chronic infections in COVID-19 patients.


Background: sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is one of the commonest health problems of Nigerian children. Method: The serum levels of antioxidant vitamins A (retinol), C (ascorbic acid) and E (alpha-tocopherol) were determined in foetal haemogbobin persistent sickle cell anaemic (Hb SS + F), sickle cell anaemic (Hb SS) and normal (Hb AA) children. Results: The levels of antioxidant vitamins in Hb SS+F children were found to be insignificantly different (p>0.05) when compared to those of Sickle Cell anaemic (Hb SS) children. While significantly higher values (p<0.05) of the vitamins in normal children (Hb AA) were observed when compared to those in HbSS+F and Hb SS children. The slightly less depressed levels of the antioxidant vitamins in Hb SS+F children may probably be attributed to the relatively less frequent sickle- cell crises often found in these individuals. Conclusion: The less depressed serum levels of anti-oxidant vitamins in HbSS + F children may be contributory factor to their relatively stable clinical status. Therefore, it is recommended that HbSS + F children as well as HbSS children be placed on regular anti-oxidant vitamins – A, C and E supplement.


Gridded meteorological estimates are essential for many applications. Most existing meteorological datasets are deterministic and have limitations in representing the inherent uncertainties from both the data and methodology used to create gridded products. We develop the Ensemble Meteorological Dataset for Planet Earth (EM-Earth) for precipitation, mean daily temperature, daily temperature range, and dew-point temperature at 0.1° spatial resolution over global land areas from 1950 to 2019. EM-Earth provides hourly/daily deterministic estimates, and daily probabilistic estimates (25 ensemble members), to meet the diverse requirements of hydrometeorological applications. To produce EM-Earth, we first developed a station-based Serially Complete Earth (SC-Earth) dataset, which removes the temporal discontinuities in raw station observations. Then, we optimally merged SC-Earth station data and ERA5 reanalysis estimates to generate EM-Earth deterministic estimates and their uncertainties. The EM-Earth ensemble members are produced by sampling from parametric probability distributions using spatiotemporally correlated random fields. The EM-Earth dataset is evaluated by leave-one-out validation, using independent evaluation stations, and comparing it with many widely used datasets. The results show that EM-Earth is better in Europe, North America, and Oceania than in Africa, Asia, and South America, mainly due to differences in the available stations and differences in climate conditions. Probabilistic spatial meteorological datasets are particularly valuable in regions with large meteorological uncertainties, where almost all existing deterministic datasets face great challenges in obtaining accurate estimates.


Sex hormones and their receptors play critical roles in the genesis and progression of breast and prostate cancers. We here present that sex hormone signaling pathways promote the expression of specific tRNA halves termed Sex HOrmone-dependent TRNA-derived RNAs (SHOT-RNAs). Screenings using 94 cancer cell lines indicated that SHOT-RNAs are specifically and abundantly expressed in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer and androgen receptor-positive (AR+) prostate cancer. None of the ER− breast cancer, AR− prostate cancer, or other examined cancer cell lines from other tissues exhibited abundant expression of SHOT-RNAs. ER-dependent accumulation of SHOT-RNAs is not limited to a cell culture system, but it also occurs in luminal-type breast cancer patient tissues. The expression specificity allowed us to hypothesize that sex hormones and their receptors are the crucial molecular factors for SHOT-RNA generation. Our hypothesis has been confirmed by the following three observations: (1) siRNA-mediated reduction of ER or AR decreased SHOT-RNA levels, (2) hormone-depletion from the culture medium decreased SHOT-RNA levels, and (3) addition of the sex hormone, estrogen or androgen, to the medium increased SHOT-RNA levels. These results indicate the clear dependency of SHOT-RNA expressions on sex hormones and their receptors. SHOT-RNAs are produced from aminoacylated mature tRNAs by angiogenin (ANG)-mediated anticodon cleavage. Resultant 5′- and 3′-SHOT-RNAs, corresponding to 5′- and 3′-tRNA halves, bear 3′-terminal modifications, cyclic phosphate (cP) and amino acid, respectively. Thus, SHOT-RNAs would not be captured by standard RNA-seq methods because the modification inhibits adapter ligation steps. This could be the reason why SHOT-RNAs had not been discovered in spite of their abundance and expression specificity. To identify a comprehensive repertoire of SHOT-RNAs, we developed a method named "cP-RNA-seq" in which 3′-termini of all RNAs, except for those containing a 3′-terminal cP, were cleaved by a periodate treatment, thereby selectively amplifying and sequencing only cP-containing RNAs. The application of cP-RNA-seq to breast cancer cells identified eight cytoplasmic tRNA species as major sources of 5′-SHOT-RNAs. We further investigated the functional significance of SHOT-RNA expression. Intriguingly, siRNA-directed reduction of each one of the three different species of 5′-SHOT-RNA severely impaired cell proliferation, whereas 3′-SHOT-RNA reduction showed no impact. These results strongly suggest that at least 5′-SHOT-RNAs are expressed as functional RNA molecules promoting cell growth. Our results have unveiled a novel tRNA-engaged pathway in tumorigenesis of hormone-dependent cancers and implicate SHOT-RNAs as potential candidates for biomarkers and therapeutic targets. We will discuss our working model and future challenges. Citation Format: Shozo Honda, Megumi Shigematsu, Phillipe Loher, Juan P. Palazzo, Issei Imoto, Isidore Rigoutsos, Yohei Kirino. SHOT-RNAs: A novel class of tRNA-derived functional RNAs expressed in hormone-dependent cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2665.


Several successful iterative approaches have recently been proposed for parallel-imaging reconstructions of variable-density (VD) acquisitions, but they often induce substantial computational burden for non-Cartesian data. Here we propose a generalized variable-FOV PILS reconstruction 3D VD Cartesian and non-Cartesian data. The proposed method separates k-space into non-intersecting annuli based on sampling density, and sets the 3D reconstruction FOV for each annulus based on the respective sampling density. The variable-FOV method is compared against conventional gridding, PILS, and ESPIRiT reconstructions. Results indicate that the proposed method yields better artifact suppression compared to gridding and PILS, and improves noise conditioning relative to ESPIRiT, enabling fast and high-quality reconstructions of 3D datasets.


Prior studies on the interactive effects of performance evaluative style and budgetary participation on managers' budgetary performance have overlooked several important issues. First, the moderating effects of organisational commitment have largely been overlooked. Since managers, who are highly committed to their organisations, are likely to pursue their organizations' goals much more intensely than managers who are not committed to their organisations, the effects of performance evaluative style and budgetary participation on the budgetary performance of these two groups of managers are likely to differ. Second, prior studies in this research area have concentrated mainly on the manufacturing sector. The services sectors have received relatively little attention. Third, differences between privately owned service organisations and publicly funded service organisations and their effects on performance have also not been considered. To address these gaps in the literature, this study investigates the three‐way interaction between reliance on financial measures for performance evaluation, budgetary participation and organisational commitment affecting budgetary performance in the health services sector. Based on a sample of 170 managers, the results indicate that highly committed managers react very differently to reliance on financial measures for performance evaluation and budgetary participation from lowly committed managers. Differences were also found between managers from the privately funded service organisations and those from the publicly funded service organisations.


This paper proposes a scheme based on the Potts and Ising models for simulating polarization switching of polycrystalline ferroelectrics using the Monte Carlo method. The polycrystalline texture with different average grain size is produced from the Potts model. Then Ising model is implemented in the polycrystalline texture to produce the domain pattern and hysteresis loop. The domain patterns and hysteresis loops have been obtained for polycrystalline texture with different average grain size. From the results of domain pattern evolution process under an applied electric field using this scheme, an extended domain, which covers more than one grain with polarization aligned roughly in the same direction, has been observed during the polarization reversal. This scheme can well reproduce the basic properties of polycrystalline ferroelectrics and is a valuable tool for exploring the physical properties of polycrystalline ferroelectrics.


Syntactic templates serve as schemas, allowing speakers to describe complex events in a systematic fashion. Motion events have long served as a prime example of how different languages favor different syntactic frames, in turn biasing their speakers toward different event conceptualizations. However, there is also variability in how motion events are syntactically framed within languages. Here, we measure the consistency in event encoding in two languages, Spanish and Swedish. We test a dominant account in the literature, namely that variability within a language can be explained by specific properties of the events. This event-properties account predicts that descriptions of one and the same event should be consistent within a language, even in languages where there is overall variability in the use of syntactic frames. Spanish and Swedish speakers (N = 84) described 32 caused motion events. While the most frequent syntactic framing in each language was as expected based on typology (Spanish: verb-framed, Swedish: satellite-framed, cf. Talmy, 2000), Swedish descriptions were substantially more consistent than Spanish descriptions. Swedish speakers almost invariably encoded all events with a single syntactic frame and systematically conveyed manner of motion. Spanish descriptions, in contrast, varied much more regarding syntactic framing and expression of manner. Crucially, variability in Spanish descriptions was not mainly a function of differences between events, as predicted by the event-properties account. Rather, Spanish variability in syntactic framing was driven by speaker biases. A similar picture arose for whether Spanish descriptions expressed manner information or not: Even after accounting for the effect of syntactic choice, a large portion of the variance in Spanish manner encoding remained attributable to differences among speakers. The results show that consistency in motion event encoding starkly differs across languages: Some languages (like Swedish) bias their speakers toward a particular linguistic event schema much more than others (like Spanish). Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the typology of event framing, theories on the relationship between language and thought, and speech planning. In addition, the tools employed here to quantify variability can be applied to other domains of language.


This study examines the relationship between the concern about well-being lifestyle and the perceived image of Hanji fiber. A survey was conducted among male and female consumers aged 20 and over in Jeonju and Daejon from January 4th to 11th, 2008. A total of 168 responses were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and ANOVA via the SPSS ver. 12. As a result, four factors were determined in the concern for a well-being lifestyle; product consumption, enjoying culture, using therapy and managing the household. The perceived image of Hanji fiber were classified into four elements; traditional, high-quality, functional and popular images. Among the factors of the concern for a well-being lifestyle and the perceived image of Hanji fibers, a partial relationship was observed. There is a positive relationship, especially between the product consumption factor of a well-being lifestyle and the high-quality and functional image of Hanji fiber. Also, there was a positive relationship between the factor of managing the household and the traditional image of Hanji fiber. However, the therapy interest factor of a well-being lifestyle was negatively related to the traditional image of Hanji fiber.


Primordial nucleosynthesis, or Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), is one of the three evidences for the Big-Bang model, together with the expansion of the Universe and the Cosmic Microwave Background. There is a good global agreement over a range of nine orders of magnitude between abundances of 4He, D, 3He and 7Li deduced from observations, and calculated in primordial nucleosynthesis. This comparison was used to determine the baryonic density of the Universe. For this purpose, it is now superseded by the analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation anisotropies. However, there remain, a yet unexplained, discrepancy of a factor 3-5, between the calculated and observed lithium primordial abundances, that has not been reduced, neither by recent nuclear physics experiments, nor by new observations. We review here the nuclear physics aspects of BBN for the production of 4He, D, 3He and 7Li, but also 6Li, 9Be, 11B and up to CNO isotopes. These are, for instance, important for the initial composition of the matter at the origin of the first stars. Big-Bang nucleosynthesis, that has been used, to first constrain the baryonic density, and the number of neutrino families, remains, a valuable tool to probe the physics of the early Universe, like variation of "constants" or alternative theories of gravity.


Background: Patients with acute respiratory illnesses such as acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and pneumonia occupy significant proportion of acute hospital beds. There is therefore an increasing focus on intermediate care initiatives to facilitate early supported discharge (ESD) and admission avoidance (AA) in such patients. Since 10.11.08, our hospital in partnership with Community Intervention Team (C.I.T.) provided service for administration of intravenous (IV) medications, facilitating ESD/AA. Aim: To evaluate the AMNCH/C.I.T. IV service, in terms of safety, readmission rates, adverse events, bed-days saved, patient satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. Results: Up to 31.1.11, of 285 patients referred to this service, 32% had a primary diagnosis of acute respiratory illness. 44 patients were male, 48 female. Mean age was 58.5 years (range 18-95). ESD and AA was facilitated in 67% and 33% respectively. Respiratory diagnoses were: pneumonia (n = 63), AECOPD (n = 7), exacerbation of asthma (n = 4), exacerbation of bronchiectasis (n = 5) and non-pneumonic respiratory infection (n = 13). IV treatment saved a minimum of 486 bed-days. Average length-of-stay in the service was 5.3 days. Readmission rate was 3.2%. No adverse incidents were reported. Patient satisfaction was 100%. We estimate that home treatment of these patients saved €457,300 for AMNCH compared to equivalent treatment in hospital. Conclusion: We conclude that the service continues to be a safe, effective, inexpensive modality for ESD/AA in patients, with significant bed-days and cost-savings for AMNCH.


Effective extravehicular-activity (EVA) operations depend upon having the proper tools from simple wrenches to smart powered socket drives to powered adjustable foot restraints. The Space Shuttle carries a standard toolkit in the cargo bay for emergencies. Many special tools have been developed for the recent satellite repair missions; i.e., Solar Max, Westar/Palapa, and Leasat. Many more are being developed to maintain the Hubble Space Telescope on orbit for 15 years. The EVA tools developed and used in space to date are summarized and some of the new tools now in development are described herein. Finally, the requirements are given for several additional tools which may be needed in the future.


The Shahi ʿIdgah at Rapri (Uttar Pradesh), which dates to 1312, was built by Malik Kafur, the general of the Delhi sultan ʿAlaʾuddin Khalji (1296–1316). The village of Rapri was part of Malik Kafur's fief and an important station for the army, as it commanded a ford on the Yamuna River. ʿĪdgāhs, sometimes translated as "wall-mosques," are extra-urban, open prayer spaces for accommodating large congregations during the two main religious festivals (ʿīds). The Rapri ʿīdgāh constitutes a major landmark in the architecture of the Delhi Sultanate, mainly because of its exceptional decoration of turquoise-glazed tiles, the oldest example of its kind still in situ. Although often considered a technique that originated in the Iranian domains, the making of glazed tiles was already known in the Kushan period (first to fourth century CE), and some findings have been excavated from Buddhist contexts in the nearby Mathura region. This study shows the link between the tiles of Rapri and later fourteenth century examples, and with glazed pottery.


The modern manufacturing industries are witnessing a transient phase in their supply chain strategy. This study focuses 'lean', 'agile' and 'leagile' in the supply chain strategy. The success of an organisation in this competitive market depends on the management and improvement of supply chain. In this article, the performance metrics of a case supply chain have been modelled and then the dominant supply chain paradigm has been evaluated. A conceptual model for leagile supply chain metrics was developed. Using analytical network process, supply chain performance weight index for three paradigms have been computed. The supply chain performance weight index of lean, agile and leagile paradigms are 0.193, 0.301 and 0.506 respectively. Based on the desirability index score, 'leagile' has been selected as the best supply chain strategy. Using multi-grade fuzzy approach leagility index computed. Based on the computation, weaker areas have been identified and improvement proposals have been derived.


A series of "viologen" based dendrimers with polycationic scaffold carrying 10, 18, 26, 42, and 90 charges per molecule were used to determine the structure-activity relationship (SAR) with regard to HIV-1 inhibitory activity. The studies involved five compounds with a high activity against HIV-1 already utilized in our previous study (1) and five new dendrimers. Such dendrimers block HIV-1 entry into the cell, indicating that they bind to HIV-1 surface proteins and/or on the host cell receptors required for entry. The increasing positive character of dendrimers leads to more cytotoxicity. The 10 charges dendrimers (1, 6) have less influence on the cell viability but low inhibition of the binding of the CXCR4 mAb clone 1D9. Thus, dendrimers with 18 charges (2, 7) are the most promising CXCR4 imaging probes. We report the design, synthesis, and biological activity of new HIV-1 inhibitors that are conceptually distinct from those of the existing HIV-1 inhibitors.


In the present work 8 hens taken from each of the 16 experimental groups (90 birds per group) were killed at the end of the trial period (52 weeks). The weight of the organs was determined and bones, the utilizable parts and the residual carcass were analyzed for their crude nutrient content. The experimental birds received rations containing a large proportion of high-protein wheat supplemented with varying levels of lysine. Variations in the lysine supply did not affect the mass of blood, feathers, bones, liver, stomach, heart and ovaries, including ovarian follicles. An analysis of the utilizable parts (flesh, stomach, heart, liver, follicles, fat) for crude nutrients showed that the heavier birds receiving adequate amounts of lysine contained less crude protein and more crude fat than the smaller birds. A positive correlation was found to exist between the crude ash content of these samples (expressed as %) and the levels of lysine supplied during the laying period. All the birds receiving the lysine-deficient ration during the time of rearing or during the laying period contained significantly less crude ash in their bones. Alongside with the crude ash content the phosphorus content of the bones decreased when the birds where fed the diet for laying hens.


Purpose of review This article provides a review of recent advances and issues regarding the controversial topic of renal mass biopsy (RMB). The purpose of this review is to provide an update on the current status of renal biopsy based on recently published literature. Here, we particularly focus on articles that have been published within the last 12 months. Recent findings The main topics covered in this review are the approach, diagnostic accuracy and risks related to RMB. Summary Current literature suggests that improvements in both technique and technological advancements of RMB have led to greater diagnostic accuracy and low risks to the patient. Newer technologies are leading toward innovative and harmless ways to diagnose kidney cancer, including liquid and image-based biopsy. However, it appears that the question of whether or not to instate renal biopsy as standard clinical practice has remained a highly debated controversy.


Vehicle braking system is considered as one of the most fundamental safety-critical systems in modern vehicles as its main purpose is to stop or decelerate the vehicle. The frictional heat generated during braking application can cause numerous negative effects on the brake assembly such as brake fade, premature wear, thermal cracks and Disc Thickness Variation (DTV). In the past, surface roughness and wear at the pad interface have rarely been considered in studies of thermal analysis of a disc brake assembly using finite element method. The ventilated pad-disc brake assembly is built by a 3D model with a thermo-mechanical coupling boundary condition and multi-body model technique. The numerical simulation for the coupled transient thermal field and stress field is carried out by sequentially thermal-structural coupled method based on ANSYS to evaluate the stress fields and of deformations which are established in the disc which is another significant aspect in this research .The results obtained by the simulation are satisfactory compared with those of the specialized literature.


: The analysis of the problems related to the migration of Romanians presupposes the detailed knowledge of the motivations and characteristics of the migrants, of their circulation, but also of some related data, whose influence on the migration phenomenon can be direct or indirect. Knowing the motivations of Romanians to emigrate, but also the strategies used to leave Romania, can give us an overview of the migration phenomenon, with all the variety it covers. These strategies were adapted according to the period in which they migrated, but also according to the possibilities of each individual. Until 2014, the strategies used were: permanent (stable) migration, circular migration, internal migration, return migration and double migration (remigration). After 2015, a new orientation emerged (multiple migration), determined in particular by the fact that these migrants could not adapt to the places where they resettled. These areas represented either Romania or other places in the countries belonging to the European Union 1 . The migratory itinerary and social networks argue the existence of the social capital necessary to obtain the migration project. The migration phenomenon can largely be considered positive for the country of origin, but this phenomenon can also have negative consequences: due to the migration of women of childbearing age; due to the fact that migrants are not only those with an average level of education, but also an important part of intellectual capital; due to the accentuation of depopulation in rural Romania (visible consequence of migration), which has intensified especially in the last two decades (Aceleanu, 2011).


Objective of the research was to study the effect of using starter on silage making. Four treatments with 3 replications were applied in a completely randomized design. The treatments were R0 = Basal diet; R1 = R0 + EM-4 4%; R2 = R0 + enriched EM-4 4%; and R3 = R0 + rumen fluid 4%.  Results of the experiment showed that EM-4, enriched EM-4, and rumen fluid significantly affect the color, texture, pH, as well as the smell of the silage. The best quality of silage was achieved by using EM-4 4% and using rumen fluid 4% as starter in silage making. Keywords: Em-4, Em-4 culture 4% , rumen liquid, silage, the physical quality of the Silage.


Introduction

 Pain is an unpleasant sensation that has to be managed properly. In fracture patients, effective pain management plays a major role in their treatment. Although much efforts are put in by the doctors, there is uncertainty about the level of satisfaction with acute pain management. We hope to assess the level of satisfaction with acute pain management among fracture patients and the results could be used to improve the level of satisfaction in the future.

 Objectives

 To assess the level of perceived satisfaction with acute pain management and associated socio-demographic and health related factors among patients with long bones fractures in surgical casualty ward of Teaching Hospital Jaffna.

 Methodology

 An institutional based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at ward 24, Teaching Hospital, Jaffna. This study was conducted from October 2020 to March 2021. Data was collected through interviewer-administrated questionnaires from patients above 12 years of age with fractures of long bones who had undergone management within 12 hours of admission and analyzed with SPSS 21 (T-test and ANOVA). Femoral neck, intertrochanteric, subtrochanteric and femoral head fractures were grouped as hip fractures for ease of analysis. Perceived satisfaction score was calculated according to the participant's answers to 11 Likert scale questions which were selected from The Pain Treatment Satisfaction Scale (PTSS), each scoring from 0 to 3. (Overall score 0 to 33) Numerical pain scale was used to assess the level of pain.

 Results

 Among 120 study participants, 70 were male and 50 were female. The median pain score immediately after fracture was 8, one hour after analgesic administration was 5 and after non-medical intervention following analgesic administration was 4. There was a significant association with the patient's satisfaction and time taken for initial administration of analgesics (p=0.46), site of fracture (clavicle p=0.005) and type of non-medical intervention (pop cast p=0.049, intervention p=0.011). There were no significant association between patient's perceived satisfaction with gender (p=0.218), age category (p=0.935), educational level (p=0.130), marital status (p=0.095), past medical history (p=0.957) and past surgical history (p=0.227).

 Conclusion

 Majority of the patients were satisfied with the acute pain management. Early onset analgesics administration & non-medical interventions and lower level of patient's expectation regarding pain management in our community were the reasons for higher overall satisfaction.


The calibration of low current meters in the range of picoamperes up to microamperes is important for the electronics industry, for the photometry area, and especially for the ionizing radiation area. In Brazil, traceability is limited to ten microamperes. In this paper, a reference system using Ohm's law method is presented. It was possible to calibrate an electrometer between 2 picoamperes and 20 microamperes, with uncertainties between 0.70 % and 0.000060 %, respectively, as well as to validate the developed system and Ohm's law method by comparing it with the method used to calibrate values above 10 microamperes, in an intralaboratory comparison.


The concepts of balanced trimming and physiological shoeing of the equine hoof as a way to prevent asymmetrical weight bearing and related orthopedic problems are discussed in this paper. Suggestions are given for the technical training of the personnel involved.  Considering the quantity and quality of the existing equine herd in Costa Rica, it is recommended to create a Farrier School as well as to coordinate the necessary efforts with other educational institutions related to the animal industry in order to bring the necessary knowledge to the groups involved in the care of the equine hoof.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
Connexin 43 (Cx43), an important member of connexins family, is frequently down-regulated in neoplastic cells. It has been shown to have gap junction-dependent anti-tumor effect on various tumor cell lines. Recently, it was reported that Cx43 could inhibit tumor growth via down-regulating the expression of S-phase kinase associated protein 2 (Skp2). Skp2, a member of F-box protein family, can specifically recognize, and accelerate the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of several key regulators of G(1) phase progression. This study was to detect expressions of Cx43 and Skp2 in epithelial ovarian tumor, and to explore their correlations to tumorigenesis and development of ovarian cancer.

METHODS
Expressions of Cx43 and Skp2 were examined by immunohistochemistry in 81 specimens of epithelial ovarian tumor (13 specimens of adenoma, 12 specimens of borderline adenoma, and 56 specimens of adenocarcinoma). Relationship between expression levels of Cx43 and Skp2, and association of their expression levels with clinicopathologic factors were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS
Positive rates of Cx43 in ovarian adenoma, borderline adenoma, and ovarian adenocarcinoma were 84.6% (11/13), 66.7% (8/12), and 33.9% (19/56), respectivelyu expression level of Cx43 in ovarian adenocarcinoma was significantly lower than those in ovarian adenoma (P<0.01), and borderline adenoma (P<0.01). Positive rates of Skp2 in ovarian adenoma, borderline adenoma, and ovarian adenocarcinoma were 0, 0, and 46.3% (26/56), respectivelyu expression level of Skp2 in ovarian adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than those in ovarian adenoma (P<0.01), and borderline adenoma (P<0.01). Moreover, the expression levels of Cx43 and Skp2 were independent of age and histological type, but significantly associated with pathologic grade, clinical stage, and positive lymph node metastasis of ovarian adenocarcinoma. Besides, in ovarian adenocarcinoma, expression level of Cx43 was moderately inversely correlated with that of Skp2 (r=-0.48, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Down-regulation of Cx43, and over-expression of Skp2 are tumor specific, and may play important roles in tumorigenesis, and development of ovarian cancer. Up-regulation of Skp2 may be related with down-regulation of Cx43 in ovarian cancer.


As more and more college classrooms utilize online platforms to facilitate teaching and learning activities, analyzing student online behaviors becomes increasingly important for instructors to effectively monitor and manage student progress and performance. In this paper, we present CCVis, a visual analytics tool for analyzing the course clickstream data and exploring student online learning behaviors. Targeting a large college introductory course with over two thousand student enrollments, our goal is to investigate student behavior patterns and discover the possible relationships between student clickstream behaviors and their course performance. We employ higher-order network and structural identity classification to enable visual analytics of behavior patterns from the massive clickstream data. CCVis includes four coordinated views (the behavior pattern, behavior breakdown, clickstream comparative, and grade distribution views) for user interaction and exploration. We demonstrate the effectiveness of CCVis through case studies along with an ad-hoc expert evaluation. Finally, we discuss the limitation and extension of this work.


Crystals of Ba(2)FeO(4) and Ba(3)FeO(5), grown from a "self-sealing" KOH-Ba(OH)(2) flux, have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. Ba(2)FeO(4) forms nonmerohedral twinned crystals with the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n, a = 6.034(2) A, b = 7.647(2) A, c = 10.162(3) A, beta = 92.931(6) degrees, and Z = 4. Ba(3)FeO(5) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma, with a = 10.301(1) A, b = 8.151(1) A, c = 7.611(1) A, and Z = 4. While both compounds feature discrete FeO(4)(4-) tetrahedra, the anion found in Ba(2)FeO(4) has shorter Fe-O bonds and is significantly distorted relative to the Ba(3)FeO(5) anion. An iron valence of 4+ was confirmed by magnet susceptibility measurements and by the low-temperature isomer shifts of -0.152 and -0.142 mm/s relative to alpha-iron for Ba(2)FeO(4) and Ba(3)FeO(5), respectively.


Calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinases (CaM kinases) have been reported to be involved in neuroplasticity. We have cloned a new Drosophila CaM kinase gene named caki. We describe the molecular characterization of caki and a behavioral effect of its elimination. The caki gene is extremely large; comparison of the genomic and cDNA sequences reveals that the caki transcription unit is at least 150 kb. The catalytic domain of this new CaM kinase protein shares homology (41%) with type II CaM kinases, while the C‐terminal part is divergent. Constitutively expressed Caki protein is enzymatically active since it causes a 3‐fold increase in the level of the Rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeat (RSV LTR) promoter in a co‐transfusion assay. In situ hybridization shows that during embryogenesis, larval and pupal life, transcription of caki is restricted almost exclusively to the central nervous system. In the adult head, immunohistochemistry reveals Caki protein in the lamina, the neuropil of the medulla, lobula, lobula plate and in the central brain. Mutant caki flies show reduced walking speed in 'Buridan's paradigm'.


In this work, after testing the reliability of our algorithms through numerical simulations on the well-studied SS 433 Galactic microquasar, we focus on neutrino and $\gamma$-ray emissions from the extragalactic M33 X-7 system. This is a recently discovered X-ray binary system located in the neighbouring galaxy Messier 33 which has not yet been modelled in detail. The neutrino and $\gamma$-ray energy spectra, produced from the magnetized astrophysical jet of M33 X-7, in the context of our method are assumed to originate from the decay (and scattering) processes taking place among the secondary particles produced assuming that, first, hot (relativistic) protons of the jet scatter on thermal ones (p-p interaction mechanism).


We currently lack a systematic approach to examine the emergence of social-action games during the prelinguistic period of development. Although social-action games have been identified as being an important part of prelinguistic development, a systematic approach to examine their emergence has been lacking. Further, research has yet to analyze how contextual variables affect a child's comprehension and participation during these action routines. Results of the present study document changes in the development of social-action games in 29 normally developing subjects from 9 to 15 months and support a developmental hierarchy of social-action game participation. The results also reflect the effect of adult structure on the subject's level of performance and reveal a significant relationship between adult contextual support and child performance. The implications of the findings are summarized.


SUBJECT AREAS: Telecommunications, CLEC, Debt Restructuring CASE SETTING: New York, April 2000 The advancement of technology and continued deregulation were driving change across the Telecommunications industry. Winstar Communications was uniquely position to take advantage of the changes. Winstar provided businesses with broadband services across its own end-to-end network in 60 major U.S. markets. Winstar gained a competitive advantage in the local exchange market by providing last-mile connectivity for the small-to-medium business segment, via proprietary fixed wireless connections. Although the company was signing up thousands of new customers monthly, Winstar's future success depended heavily on its ability to service its mounting debt and pre-fund capital expenditures for further expansion. Moreover, Winstar still needed to drive the business to profitability. The purpose of the case is for students to realize the difficulty of making refinancing decisions in rapidly changing product and financial markets, when fast growth rates and the "first mover" advantage require sacrifices in profitability. The case discusses Winstar's strategy following the deregulation of the telecommunications market, the feasibility of continued high industry growth rates, the forecasted financial performance, Winstar's ability to service its mounting debt, as well as which financing package is optimal.


Background Due to the introduction of biological agents that inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and TNF-α, remission has become a goal in the treatment of RA. Rheumatoid factor (RF) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) have both been investigated as indicators of poor treatment response and poor prognosis. PCT is used for the diagnosis of infections. Although it has been reported that PCT is expressed from peripheral blood mononuclear cells induced by a pro inflammatory cytokine and that it is expressed in the tissues of many human organs, it has rarely been investigated in relation to noninfectious complication of RA. Objectives To investigate whether the levels of PCT and other RA diagnostic and disease activity indicators before the start of TCZ treatment (pre-TCZ) can be used to predict remission at 24 weeks after the start of TCZ treatment (Week 24). Methods Of the 216 patients who started TCZ treatment until September 2012 at our center, those who were observed at Week 24 were analyzed in this study. PCT (n=30), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (n=164), RF (n=154), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 (n=166) and modified HAQ (mHAQ) (n=123) were found pre-TCZ, and the Disease Activity Score (DAS)28-ESR was found as a measure of disease activity. The patients were divided into 2 groups, based on DAS28-ESR remission at TCZ Week 24: the remission (R) group (DAS28-ESR<2.6) and the non-remission (NR) group. For each variable for which there was a significant difference between the R group and the NR group, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed and cut-off values (COV) were found. For each of those variables, 2 groups were formed by dividing the patients at the COV: the under COV (U)group and the over CV (O) group, andthe Week 24 remission rate in each group was found. Results The variables witha significant difference between the R group and the NR group were PCT (p=0.013), MMP-3 (p=0.028), RF (p<0.0001), mHAQ (p<0.0001), and ESR (p<0.0001). The COVs were 0.026 ng/ml for PCT, 86 mg/dl for MMP-3, 94U/ml for RF, 0.5 for mHAQ, and 29 mm/hr for ESR. For each variable, the remission rate in the U group (PCT: 91.7%, MMP-3: 68.2%, RF: 63.0%, mHAQ: 78.5%, and ESR: 62.9%) was significantly higher than in the O group. The pre-TCZ AS28-ESR was significantly lower in the U groups for MMP-3, RF, mHAQ, and ESR, and a correlation with DAS28-ESR was seen for each variable. For PCT, on the other hand, there was no inter-group difference between the Ugroup andO group pre-TCZ DAS28-ESRs and no correlation with pre-TCZ DAS28-ESR, but there was a Spearman rank correlation with the Week 24 DAS28-ESR (r=0.49, p<0.01). Conclusions The results of this study suggest that the pre-TCZ PCT level may be a useful predictor of remission at Week 24 of TCZ treatment, and also that, unlike theother indicators, it is not affected by the pre-TCZ disease activity level. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate, in pediatric patients, the rate and clinical features of unspecific conjunctivitis of unknown origin (UCUO) and to evaluate their relationship with air pollution. Methods: From January to December 2013, we consecutively screened all of the patients referred for symptomatic ocular surface inflammation. Inclusion criteria for this study were age<14, diagnosis of conjunctivitis, residence in the Lombardia region. UCUO was defined as conjunctivitis of unknown etiology, not clearly due to infection or allergy. Based on addresses of residence and sites of 73 automatic air pollution monitoring stations (locations and mean annual particulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5 concentrations were provided by the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA) Lombardia), each patient was paired with a value of exposure to PM. Relationship between UCUO and PM exposure was investigated. Results: A total of 132 of 251 screened children were included in this study. UCUO was diagnosed in 48/132 patients. The most common symptoms and signs in UCUO children were foreign body sensation (37/48) and conjunctival hyperemia (45/48), respectively. PM10 exposure value was significantly higher in UCUO (33.5±5.4µg/m3) compared to other groups (P<0.001, ANOVA). UCUO/total conjunctivitis ratio was significantly higher in residents in areas with more than 75 (Q3) days/year exceeding 50µg/m3 (EU legal limit) compared to areas with less than 45 (Q1) exceedances/year: 24/39: 61% vs 8/35: 23%; P>0.001, Chi-square test. Conclusion: Our data suggest a relationship between UCUO and air pollution. This form of conjunctivitis is not rare in pediatric patients and may be the most frequent in most polluted areas.