The formation of synapses and the proper construction of neural circuits depend on signaling pathways that regulate cytoskeletal structure and dynamics. After the mutual recognition of a growing axon and its target, multiple signaling pathways are activated that regulate cytoskeletal dynamics to determine the morphology and strength of the connection. By analyzing Drosophila mutations in the cytoplasmic FMRP interacting protein Cyfip, we demonstrate that this component of the WAVE complex inhibits the assembly of filamentous actin (F-actin) and thereby regulates key aspects of synaptogenesis. Cyfip regulates the distribution of F-actin filaments in presynaptic neuromuscular junction (NMJ) terminals. At cyfip mutant NMJs, F-actin assembly was accelerated, resulting in shorter NMJs, more numerous satellite boutons, and reduced quantal content. Increased synaptic vesicle size and failure to maintain excitatory junctional potential amplitudes under high-frequency stimulation in cyfip mutants indicated an endocytic defect. cyfip mutants exhibited upregulated bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, a major growth-promoting pathway known to be attenuated by endocytosis at the Drosophila NMJ. We propose that Cyfip regulates synapse development and endocytosis by inhibiting actin assembly.


Primary malignant melanoma of the larynx is very rare. The case of larynx malignant melanoma in 71-years old men is presented. Hoarseness was the main complaint that encouraged the patient to visit a doctor. The patient was heavy smoker, he had been smoking 40 cigarettes for the last 50 years. He used to drink about 200 ml of pure alcohol per day. In the direct laryngoscopy gluish had cyanotic tumor, extending to the true vocal cord, ventricle, ventricle fold and subglottic space was seen. Enlarged cervical lymph nodes, laterally to the main vessels were found both in palpation and in US examination. Total laryngectomy and neck dissection was performed. The histological examination of surgical specimen revealed; Malignant melanoma. Metastases in the lymph nodes. Neoplastic infiltration of the nodal capsule. The patient was admitted to the complementary radiotherapy. At the moment the follow up in outpatient. The article contains the review of literature concerning the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in cases of laryngeal malignant melanoma.


An automated system is described for the microbiological assay of serum and red cell folate concentrations using a chloramphenicol-resistant strain of L. casei. Both serum and whole-blood haemolysates are assayed directly without previous deproteinization. Results by this method are comparable to those obtained by standard manual folate assays. Reproducibility within and between assays is excellent. Special advantages of the method are its simplicity of operation, economy of reagents, and capacity for dealing with large numbers of specimens (80-100 per hour). The latter makes it especially suitable for providing a regional diagnostic service and for population surveys of nutrition.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive brain tumor in adults. Its frequent recurrence after resection and dismal prognosis are thought to be due to a small population of stem-like tumor cells that efficiently propagate tumors and resist cytotoxic therapy. In this study, we performed an in depth analysis of the DNA methylation landscape in GBM-derived cancer stem cells (GSCs). Parallel comparisons of primary GBM tumors and GSC lines derived from these tumors with normal controls (a neural stem cell (NSC) line and normal brain tissue) identified two groups hyper- and hypomethylated of genes that display a trend of either increasing or decreasing methylation levels in the order of controls, primary GBMs, and their counterpart GSC lines, respectively. Interestingly, concurrent promoter hypermethylation and gene body hypomethylation were observed in a subset of genes including MGMT, AJAP1 and PTPRN2. These unique DNA methylation signatures were also be found in primary GBM-derived xenograft tumors suggesting that they were not tissue culture-related epigenetic changes. Integration of GSC-specific epigenetic signatures with gene expression analysis further identified candidate tumor suppressor genes that are frequently down regulated in GBMs such as SPINT2, NEFM, and PENK. The comparison between the NSC line and the normal brain tissue sample leads to the identification of a group of NSC-specific differentially methylated regions (nsDMRs). Cluster analysis using nsDMRs revealed the presence of stem cell-specific DNA methylation signatures in both primary GBM and GSC lines. Higher expression of genes associated with stem cell-specific DNA methylation signatures such as DNMT3A, STAT5A, CSTB, PMEPA1 and G6PD in GBM patients was found to be associated with poor patient survival. The results from this study demonstrate the utility of using cancer stem cell models for advancing understanding of the pathobiology of gliomas.

Citation Format: Eun Joon Lee, Prakash Rath, Jimei Liu, Dungsheng Ryu, Alan Free, Lirong Pei, Douglas C Anthony, Suash Sharma, Mark D Kirk, John J. Laterra, Duck Hwan Ryu, Jeong-Hyeon Choi, Huidong Shi, Douglas C. Miller, N. Scott Litofsky, Qi Feng. Identification of global DNA methylation signatures in glioblastoma-derived cancer stem cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1379. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1379


Aim: The aim of this study was to test an experimental approach involving the remote monitoring of orthodontic patients through the use of their smartphones Background: Due to the COVID-19 emergency, dental offices were asked to stop elective treatments;suddenly orthodontic patients found themselves isolated at home, without the possibility of monitoring by their orthodontists The use of telemonitoring via smartphones can be a quick way to recover the orthodontist-patient relationship, monitor and continue the treatment Objective: The purpose of this study was to propose an innovative, simple and reliable approach for the remote management of orthodontic patients Methods: 137 patients were contacted verbally by phone and via WhatsApp®;they were asked to send a set of photographs taken with their smartphone They were asked to complete a questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach Descriptive statistics (frequency with percent) of questionnaire results and the presence of procedural errors while taking pictures were calculated Correlations between different questionnaire answers were analyzed with the Chi-Square test Variables with p < 0:05 were declared as significant Results: The majority of patients considered that this approach was positive and they did not feel abandoned Difficulties emerged from a technical point of view, that is, in terms of photoshoot, and part of the patients expressed perplexity regarding the fact that telemonitoring can replace completely an outpatient visit Conclusion: The use of telemonitoring managed to recreate a relationship with the orthodontist, especially in emergency periods


A study was undertaken to validate the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Rating Scale in an elderly psychiatric population. The depression subscale (HAD‐D) was shown to relate well to global measures of depression and to be sensitive to changes in the severity of the depression. No conclusion could be drawn about the anxiety subscale of the HAD. The advantages of this observer‐assisted self‐rating scale in the elderly are discussed.


There are lack of information andmisunderstanding, amongeconomic agents in  agriculture farming system related to cassava potencies as food, feed, and industrial  resources in agribusiness system. There are, among others, due to assymetric  information system for economic potential of cassava marketing system (export and  domestic market) in Indonesia, as well as, the information of production and potencies of  cassava market in Indonesia, export and domestic market.  Economic strategic to develop  strive the cassava productivity is feasible to fulfill export and domestic requirement.  Information in production allocation  and marketing system for export and domesti  consumption of cassava will be useful to design strategies for the product development in  order to support food security. Key words: Cassava; Production; Potencies; Export and domestic marketing system.


Allogeneic lymphocyte cytotoxicity (ALC) describes the elimination of allogeneic lymphocytes in vivo by an NK-related activity. There is evidence that ALC is demonstrable between donor and recipient when these are incompatible at MHC gene loci alone. Since ALC is a property of T cell-deficient nude rats, the role of the MHC in this rejection process needs further study. We have determined the contribution of the MHC to ALC using congenic and recombinant rats. In our analysis we have assumed that ALC involves the recognition of classic alloantigens by clonally distributed effector cells as for other examples of transplant rejection, although this is not yet proved. Strong ALC was measured between congenic rats that differed for MHC genes only. Non-MHC incompatibility alone did not elicit ALC. In the presence of MHC incompatibility the strength of ALC generated in a recipient was dependent on non-MHC genes. The PVG background generated high ALC responses whereas ALC was not measured in the DA rat. However ALC was measured in the congenic PVG-RT1avl (DA) rat. The contributions of classic class I (RT1.A), class II (RT1.B/D), and medial transplantation (RT1.C) regions of the rat MHC were determined by comparing different recombinant donors into the same recipient strain. Single region differences alone in any of these three MHC regions did not elicit full ALC. In two sets of transfers a combination of RT1.B/D and RT1.C region incompatibility was sufficient to generate a full allogeneic response. It can be concluded that the controlling element for allogeneic lymphocyte cytotoxicity is in the RT1.B/D-RT1.C region of the rat MHC.


Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes responsible for extracellular matrix degradation and contribute to local and distant cell invasion during cancer progression or metastasis. The effects of chromatin structure on gene expression and the use of histone deacetylase inhibitors such as sodium butyrate (NaBu) may directly influence pro-MMPs secretion. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of NaBu on pro-MMP-9 and pro-MMP-2 secretion in human Jurkat and HT1080 cells, and in 36 pediatric solid tumors. Cell lines and samples were exposed to 8 mM of NaBu and proteinase activity was evaluated in the supernatant by gelatin zymograms. Our results showed, for Jurkat cells treated with NaBu, increases of 2-fold and 1.5-fold in pro-MMP-9 and pro-MMP-2 secretion, respectively. A 50% decrease in pro-MMP-9 secretion due to NaBu was observed in HT1080 cells. NaBu induced a 0.62 reduction in levels of pro-MMP-9 secretion in untreated tumors. For cell lines and some NaBu-treated tumors we found histone H4 hyperacetylation. We conclude that pro-MMPs gene expression and their secretion can be epigenetically mis-regulated in tumoral processes.


Biologically-targeted, novel agents hold great promise in breast cancer, but require adjustments to traditional study design, conduct and patient selection to be tested safely, effectively and economically. Key questions to be address in this talk include: Is the drug safe? Is it hitting the target? Can we identify the "right" patients to test? In what setting do we test it? Toxicities of these agents move well-beyond traditional myelosuppression and fatigue, encompassing almost every organ system and requiring changes in monitoring and management to assure safety. Dosing and assessment strategies must be aimed at optimally modulating target and assessing whether hitting the target has the desired effect on the natural history of the disease. The concurrent development of predictive biomarkers is necessary to select appropriate study subjects, which may be limited to a relatively small subset of patients with the disease. Finally, selecting the best therapeutic setting (treatment naive, refractory, acquired resistance) can greatly impact the performance of the agent and requires knowledge of cancer biological evolution through the metastatic process. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr ES3-2.


The aim of this study is to reveal the profile of the faculty members working in universities providing education at the higher education level in the field of tourism guidance and tourist guidance in terms of various parameters. The population of study, the universities in Turkey undergraduate level vocational schools offering education in tourist guide with graduate-level training in the tourism guidance faculties and schools that constitute academic staff are actively working. Qualitative research methods was used to collect data. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the research data, and the data were analyzed in cross tables by percentage and frequency analysis. As a result, 32 schools and colleges in the tourism guidance in section 196 and in Turkey, where he/she served a total of 271 vocational colleges and 28 academic staff, including 75 in tourist guidance program; 54.6% of them were male and 45.4% were female; with the highest rate of 34.7% was determined to have the title of assistant professor faculty. It was found that 57.2% of the academicians in 119 different programs in 48 different universities completed their undergraduate studies in different departments in tourism and 25.5% in tourism guidance department and only 20% of them were guides with working license.


Background. Neurodevelopmental impairment has been identified in children infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The frequency and spectrum of neurologic impairment are greater in children than those reported for adults. In children, HIV is known to enter the central nervous system early in the course of the disease. The presentation of pediatric neuro-acquired immune deficiency syndrome ranges from static (eg, nonprogressive developmental delay) to progressive encephalopathy (eg, acquired microcephaly, pyramidal tract signs, and spasticity). It has been demonstrated that antiretroviral agents can improve or even reverse the course of neurologic impairment in children. These changes have been attributed to various degrees of central nervous system drug penetration. Increasingly, protease inhibitors and combination antiretroviral therapy using reverse transcriptase inhibitors are being used in the treatment of children infected with HIV. The addition of a protease inhibitor to nucleoside analogue therapy has been reported to delay disease progression and prolong life in adults with moderate to advanced HIV disease. No data currently exist on the impact of combination therapy using two nucleoside analogues and a protease inhibitor on neurodevelopmental and neurologic function in children with HIV infection. The following case report presents the effects of combination therapy using ritonavir in a child infected with HIV. Case Report. An 8-year, 2-month-old African-American boy was infected with HIV through vertical transmission. Regular monitoring of the patient's neurodevelopmental status has been conducted as part of his participation in longitudinal research protocols. For the first 5½ years of life, his neurodevelopmental status was normal, with cognitive functioning as measured by standardized psychometric tools solidly in the average range. Speech and language skills were age-appropriate. Tests of gross and fine motor functioning as well as evaluation of overall neurodevelopmental status suggested normal development. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain was consistently normal. His family reported that adaptive functioning, peer and family relationships, and behavior were all within normal limits. School reports indicated consistently that the patient was performing at age and grade level, with respect to both academic achievement and behavior. Initial concerns regarding the patient's development were expressed by both his family and school at age 6 years, 6 months. These concerns included difficulty with classroom work, decreased attention, word-finding problems, fatigue, staring spells, and loss of strength. His family and school reported a marked loss of skills acquired previously. Results of formal psychological and speech and language evaluation reflected statistically significant drops in test scores from baseline, with both delayed and atypical skills evident. The patient's condition worsened rapidly. Within a few months, he was no longer able to use sentences to communicate. Cognitive testing was attempted, but he was unable to participate because of significant fatigue, limited attention, and inability to communicate verbally. His family described periods of disorientation and confusion, lethargy, and disinterest in age-appropriate activities. He became agitated and overstimulated easily both in small group settings and in crowds. He demonstrated both fine and gross motor impairments. When frustrated, he displayed infantile and autistic-like behavior. MRI with contrast showed diffuse atrophy as well as mild prominence of the ventricles and sulcii compared with baseline assessment. In addition to fatigue and neurologic symptoms, wasting syndrome was diagnosed, with loss of percentiles in both weight and height by age 7½ years. Low-grade elevation of liver function tests and amylase was noted. Blood cultures for mycobacteria were negative, as were serologic tests for hepatitis. Previous antiviral treatment had included zidovudine monotherapy begun at age 20 months through AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 128. This was changed to dideoxyinosine monotherapy through AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 144 at 4 years of age, which was discontinued at age 6.5 years because of pancreatitis. A brief course of stavudine monotherapy was associated with recurrence of pancreatitis. Zidovudine monotherapy was reinstated at age 7 years. With the availability of new medications, at age 7 years, 9 months, the patient began combination therapy with ritonavir (350 mg/m 2 per dose twice a day), zidovudine (120 mg/m 2 per dose every 8 hours), and 3TC (4 mg/kg per dose twice a day). In the 6 months since the initiation of combination therapy, we have observed significant changes in the patient's neurodevelopmental functioning. Substantial improvements have occurred in both his cognitive and his language functioning. Improvements in laboratory measures were noted, as well as a three-log reduction in viral load and a significant increase in CD4+ T-lymphocyte percents and total counts. Repeat MRI of the brain was performed that demonstrated normal size of the ventricular system and cerebral volume, compared with the earlier study, which had shown diffuse atrophic changes. Signal intensity of the white matter was normal on all sequences, and no mass lesions were noted. These changes were consistent with the resolution of all previous abnormal findings. Discussion. In a short time, we have observed and documented a dramatic recovery in our patient's virologic, hematologic, and neurodevelopmental functioning as shown in neuroradiographic imaging after initiation of combination therapy. These positive changes suggest that the use of combination therapy not only significantly suppresses HIV replication, but can also lessen or even reverse some of the neurologic and neurodevelopmental sequelae of neuro-acquired immune deficiency syndrome. If these findings are replicated in other HIV-infected children using combination therapy, it will reinforce the importance of aggressive, combination treatment for children.


In the present work we describe HPEC (High Performance Eigenvalues Computation), a parallel software package for the evaluation of some eigenvalues of a large sparse symmetric matrix. It implements an efficient and portable Block Lanczos algorithm for distributed memory multicomputers. HPEC is based on basic linear algebra operations for sparse and dense matrices, some of which have been derived by ScaLAPACK library modules. Numerical experiments have been carried out to evaluate HPEC performance on a cluster of workstations with test matrices from Matrix Market and Higham's collections. A comparison with a PARPACK routine is also detailed. Finally, parallel performance is evaluated on random matrices, using standard parameters.


Anticipatory looking on mindreading tasks can indicate our expectation of an agent's action. The challenge is that social situations are often more complex, involving instances where we need to track an agent's false belief to successfully identify the outcome to which an action is directed. If motor processes can guide how action goals are understood, it is conceivable—where that kind of goal ascription occurs in false-belief tasks—for motor representations to account for someone's belief-like state. Testing adults (N = 42) in a real-time interactive helping scenario, we discovered that participants' early mediolateral motor activity (leftwards–rightwards leaning on balance board) foreshadowed the agent's belief-based action preparation. These results suggest fast belief-tracking can modulate motor representations generated in the course of one's interaction with an agent. While adults' leaning, and anticipatory looking, revealed the contribution of fast false-belief tracking, participants did not correct the agent's mistake in their final helping action. These discoveries suggest that adults may not necessarily use another's belief during overt social interaction or find reflecting on another's belief as being normatively relevant to one's own choice of action. Our interactive task design offers a promising way to investigate how motor and mindreading processes may be variously integrated.


In a criminal law matter, jurisdiction is often a minor consideration. That is, where the crime is committed determines who has the right to prosecute and what law applies. There may be some jurisdictional issues whether state law or federal law governs in the United States; but this is by and large resolved by one taking jurisdiction. The same would be normally true in the international law area where it was committed. That is, if a crime is committed in France or Germany, then the law where it was committed would prevail subject to other international issues such as diplomatic immunity which would prevent a sovereign from prosecuting. This is not the case in Antarctica because Antarctica belongs to no one particular nation. It is governed by the Antarctic Treaty. The Treaty is mindful of territorial claims and defers to a sector theory as to which criminal law applies. This means in this sovereign-less continent that one cannot tell specifically what criminal law, if any, exists to regulate activities. This has numerous ramifications other than the micro application in one particular case because from a macro point of view actions can occur for which there is no remedy. The analysis limits itself to criminal law issues, but much larger implications exist in the event of an environmental disaster, for example, where there may be no remedy against an offending party.


Abstract The authors constructed a 32-item survey instrument to measure knowledge and aspects of attitudes (issue understanding and concern, locus of control, and verbal commitment) regarding sea turtle conservation on Zakynthos, Greece. It was completed by 332 5th and 6th grade students from 21 classes in 3 geographic settings. The results indicate low knowledge scores, but high score levels for attitudes. Knowledge, understanding and/or concern, and locus of control significantly correlated with grade level. Overall, a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitudes was demonstrated. The findings of the study may be useful in designing environmental education programs to promote sea turtle conservation.


Oral infections are among the first manifestations of infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). They include fungal, viral, and bacterial infections and range from being essentially trivial, through troublesome to life threatening. Although some infections are due to overproliferation of the normal oral flora, others are due to organisms that normally are not found in the mouth. The clinical features of many of these infections have now been characterized, and clinical trials have indicated the optimal management. However, for many infections, the underlying processes are still not clear, and improvements in treatment are necessary.


Networks of silver nanowires appear set to replace expensive indium tin oxide as the transparent conducting electrode material in next generation devices. The success of this approach depends on optimizing the material conductivity, which until now has largely focused on minimizing the junction resistance between wires. However, there have been no detailed reports on what the junction resistance is, nor is there a known benchmark for the minimum attainable sheet resistance of an optimized network. In this paper, we present junction resistance measurements of individual silver nanowire junctions, producing for the first time a distribution of junction resistance values and conclusively demonstrating that the junction contribution to the overall resistance can be reduced beyond that of the wires through standard processing techniques. We find that this distribution shows the presence of a small percentage (6%) of high-resistance junctions, and we show how these may impact the performance of network-based materials. Finally, through combining experiment with a rigorous model, we demonstrate the important role played by the network skeleton and the specific connectivity of the network in determining network performance.


The brain is a distributed network (DIPS) of multiple agents specialized in solving specific tasks and joining efforts to handle complex cognitive activities as a time of efficient cortical columns assemblies (CA). The column distinct cortical layers generate different slow and fast currents that sum up into a total columnar oscillatory current that is low and noisy. The increment of the input activity triggered by sensory stimulation or internal activity created by reasoning, entrains not only the intrinsic activity of each column but also the activity of a defined number of neighboring columns. This entrainment increases the value of the different columnar that sum up into a larger current whose value heavily depends on the number of the entrained columns. The input and oscillatory activity of all cortical areas recruited to support a cognitive task is organized into a Cortical Oscillatory Modular Processing (COMP) that generates a event related activity that may be identified in the EEG recorded while the individual is solving the task. These are segmented into four waves of Wi components. Here, the sLORETA software was used to identify he input and oscillatory sources activated by different cognitive processing. The analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of these sources revealed that and activity contributes to generate the distinct Wi components of the distinct supporting the cortical modular processing of any cognitive task. The source movement during the distinct entrains and integrates the sequential cortical processing COMP to update and unify the cognitive activity related to a task to be solved.


Summary The cliff-nesting Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus is one of four critically endangered Asian Vultures. In India, this species has declined catastrophically, but in Pakistan only small population declines have been recorded. Mortality of this species has been linked to poisoning by veterinary diclofenac, which was banned throughout south Asia in 2006. Between 2003 and 2012 we measured abundance of adult, sub-adult, juvenile, and dead vultures, and nest occupancy and productivity at the largest known Long-billed Vulture colony in Pakistan. We compared population parameters from before (2003−2006) and after (2007−2012) the ban on veterinary diclofenac. Our data and models indicate that vulture abundance, nest occupancy, and nest productivity declined 61%, 73%, and 95%, respectively, in the three years before the diclofenac ban, and then increased 1–2 years after the ban by 55%, 52%, and 95%. Furthermore, we observed 87% of total vulture mortalities prior to the diclofenac ban. Our results demonstrate for the first time since the onset of the Asian vulture crisis that the ban on veterinary diclofenac is an effective management tool for reversing Long-billed Vulture population declines.


A 4 year old girl was presented with the respiratory tract infection, breathlessness after taking meal, failure to thrive, abnormal movement of the chest on left side overlying the area of heart and systolic murmur. She developed these symptoms gradually for the last 3.5 years. Echocardiography revealed doubly committed subarterial ventricular septal defect with moderate aortic regurgitation. The size of the ventricular septal defect was 7 x 9 mm at the left ventricular outflow tract. The right coronary cusp of the aortic valve was prolapsed. Left atrium and left ventricle were dilated. The pulmonary artery systolic pressure was 35 mm Hg. The ventricular septal defect was closed with the standard surgical procedure using cardiopulmonary bypass followed by aortotomy and right atriotomy. Immediate post-operative period of this case was uneventful and the patient was discharged on 9 th post-operative day. Follow-up echocardiography showed no residual ventricular septal defect or aortic regurgitation and the ventricular function was good.


Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to evaluate environmentally sustainable production or consumption of various goods or services. Microalgae are single-celled green factories and good resources of biofuels, bioactive products, food ingredients, and degradable biomaterials. Currently, microalgae are also valuable for mitigating elevated greenhouse gases like CO2 levels and treatment of wastewater. LCA evaluation was limited and separated, majorly in microalgal biofuels and heterotrophic cultivation. Comparative LCA for different final algal products such as algal powder, bio-oil, total fatty acid, and residue recycling is still limited, especially autotrophic algal cultivation for products other than bio-oils and biofuels. Thus, we chose several autotrophic cultivated microalgae and made a comparative LCA among these selected species and a detailed step-by-step production in Chlorella sp. Results indicated that we could significantly reduce the production cost and lower environmental impacts by selecting algal species and final products, optimizing methods for algal cultivation, biomass separation, and drying process, and land selection plus electricity renewable energy, together with thermal power plants nearby for CO2 or flu gas. It shed light on the insight of microalgal consumption selection under current international requirements and challenges for carbon sequestration.


Gamification in higher education has been shown to provide a diverse range of learning opportunities for higher education practitioners as well as students.  Building on our research exploring the benefits of using a card-based, role-playing team game called "BrainceptTM" to aid pharmacology learning for medical students, we now test the reproducibility of our novel finding that this game leads to appreciable and sustained  learning gains in medical students from two different higher education institutes. Here we present student feedback, thematic analysis and quantitative pre-and post-test data collected from students who played BrainceptTM.  Our data shows that this style of gamified learning has a reproducible positive effect on student pharmacological knowledge as well as measurable learning gains post-game play in both cohorts of students leading us to conclude that gamification of pharmacology learning may be a pedagogically valuable transnational educational intervention.


Usaha Mikro Kecil dan Menengah (UMKM) are an important part of the economy of a country or a region, including in Indonesia. The priority of national economic development in Indonesia is UMKM. The success of the business shows a situation that is better / superior than in the previous period. Three factors that affect the performance of small businesses, especially for new businesses according to the level of influence. These factors are industry structure, business strategy, and entrepreneurial characteristics. This study aims to determine the effect of entrepreneurial characteristics, business capital, marketing strategy, and self efficacy on business success in Usaha Mikro Kecil dan Menengah (UMKM) in North Denpasar District. The population of this study was 11,069 UMKM in the entire North Denpasar District. The sample calculation method was carried out using the slovin method with a sample of 100 UMKM. The sampling method is proportional random sampling method. The data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that the characteristics of entrepreneurship, business capital, and marketing strategy have a positive effect on business success. Meanwhile, self efficacy have no effect on business success.


In this paper, pseudo 3-D hidden Markov models (P3DHMMs) are applied to the task of dynamic facial expression recognition. P3DHMMs are an extension of the pseudo 2-D case, which has been successfully used for the classification of images and the recognition of faces. Although the application of P3DHMMs for image sequence recognition has been reported before, this paper provides a formal definition of the novel approach as well as a detailed explanation of a triple embedded Viterbi algorithm. Furthermore, an equivalent one-dimensional structure is introduced, which allows the application of the standard Viterbi and Baum-Welch algorithms. The approach has been evaluated on a person independent database, which consists of 4 different facial expressions performed by 6 individuals. The recognition accuracy achieved in the experiments is close to 90%.


BACKGROUND
Despite abundant sunlight, rickets and osteomalacia are prevalent in South Asian countries. The cause of this paradox is not clear.

OBJECTIVE
The objective was to assess 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status and its functional significance in apparently healthy subjects residing in Delhi, a city in the northern part of India.

DESIGN
Serum 25(OH)D, total calcium, inorganic phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, intact parathyroid hormone, and 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)(2)D] were measured in groups of healthy subjects who differed with respect to variables relevant to vitamin D and bone mineral metabolic status, such as direct sunlight exposure, season of measurement, skin pigmentation, dietary calcium and phytate contents, and altered physiologic states such as pregnancy and neonatal age.

RESULTS
All groups except one with maximum direct sunlight exposure had subnormal concentrations of 25(OH)D. The 25(OH)D-deficient groups tended to have an imbalance in bone mineral metabolic homeostasis when exposed to winter weather and low dietary calcium and high dietary phytate, with significantly low calcium and elevated intact parathyroid hormone concentrations, chemical osteomalacia, or both. Increased values of 1,25(OH)(2)D during pregnancy did not help correct the imbalance in bone mineral metabolic homeostasis.

CONCLUSION
Healthy subjects with low 25(OH)D concentrations are at risk of bone mineral metabolic imbalance when exposed to factors that strain bone mineral homeostasis.


BACKGROUND
Worldwide, lung cancer is the most common cause of mortality. Toxins from tobacco smoke are known to increase the risk of lung cancer; however, up to 15% of lung cancer-related deaths in men and up to 50% of lung cancer-related deaths in women occur in people who do not smoke. Despite the fact that chemotherapy generally provides a survival benefit for non-small-cell lung cancer, not every patient will respond to therapy and many experience therapy-related adverse events. Thus, predictive markers are used to determine which patients are more likely to respond to a given regimen.

METHODS
We reviewed the current medical literature in English relating to predictive markers that may be positive, such as the presence of an activating EGFR mutation.

RESULTS
The advances in using EGFR as a molecular predictive marker were summarized. This biomarker influences therapeutic response in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Clinical evidence supporting its value is also reviewed.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of EGFR as a predictive factor in lung adenocarcinoma may help target therapy to individual tumors to achieve the best likelihood for long-term survival and to avoid adverse events from medications unlikely to be effective.


The performance of a univariate alarm system can be assessed in many cases by three indices, namely, the false alarm rate (FAR), missed alarm rate (MAR), and averaged alarm delay (AAD). First, this paper studies the definition and computation of the FAR, MAR, and AAD for the basic mechanism of alarm generation solely based on a trip point, and for the advanced mechanism of alarm generation by exploiting alarm on/off delays. Second, a systematic design of alarm systems is investigated based on the three performance indices and the tradeoffs among them. The computation of FAR, MAR, and AAD and the design of alarm systems require the probability density functions (PDFs) of the univariate process variable in the normal and abnormal conditions. Thus, a new method based on mean change detection is proposed to estimate the two PDFs. Numerical examples and an industrial case study are provided to validate the obtained theoretical results on the FAR, MAR and AAD, and to illustrate the proposed performance assessment and alarm system design procedures.


Objective:To evaluate the characteristics and the possible risk factors of depression /anxiety in adult epilepsy patients. Methods: The clinical data of 56 adult epilepsy patients have been retrospectively analyzed.HAMD and HAMA were used to assess the depression/anxiety of each patient. In addition, we have analyzed the possible risk factors such as gender, age, educational background, epilepsy onset age, epilepsy history, seizure frequency, seizure type, temporal lobe epilepsy, epilepsy family history, imaging, AEDs, and sports. Results: In the 56 epilepsy patients, the prevalence of depression and anxiety was 26.8%(15 patients) and 30.4%(17 patients) respectively. The most common items were depression mood(93.33%), despair feeling(86.67%),psyche anxiety(30.40%) in HAMD and recognition function(88.24%), intension(82.35%), anxiety mood(76.47%)in HAMA. Gender, on-set age, epilepsy history of the family and sports showed no correlation with with HAMA or HAMD. Both HAMD and HAMA were associated with low schooling, frequent seizures and frontal/temporal lobe abnormality on CT/MR(P 0.05). Age ≥23, epilepsy history ≥9 years,partial seizures, TLE, multiple AEDs treatment were associated with high score of HAMD(P0.05). Conclusion: The proportion of depression or anxiety in adult epilepsy patients are high with various symptoms. Age≥23, epilepsy history ≥9 years,partial seizures, temporal lobe epilepsy or multiple AEDs treatment, low education, frequent seizures or frontal/temporal lobe abnormality on CT/MR are the potential risk factor of depression and anxiety.


Connecting with faculty, students, and staff is a major objective for many librarians. We do this through many avenues like reference, instruction sessions, collection development activities, library and university committees, and participating in department or university events. One very meaningful, and perhaps overlooked, way to interact with our campus community is through our digital services.

Every step within a digital project offers an opportunity to develop or enhance long-term collaborative relationships with researchers at your institution. Facilitating the creation and management of a digital collection is one of the best ways to get to know researchers. This is a point-of-need activity that usually involves sitting down with a researcher and having an in-depth discussion with them about their work; something which would be very difficult to schedule in any other way. These discussions are great opportunities to involve subject librarians who can enhance the conversation and improve the final product. Getting other librarians involved includes the added benefit of making digital services more visible within the library.

As the Digital Repository Librarian at the University of Texas at Austin, I'm involved in several digital services offered on our campus: the University of Texas Digital Repository, electronic journals*, conference management*, blogs*, and research wikis*. My job is really about building relationships, not necessarily trying to sell our services. During this session I will discuss how I've been able to leverage the services we offer and develop meaningful relationships that frequently lead to researchers referring their colleagues to me. These referrals are a far more effective recruitment tool than even the best crafted email or elevator speech.

Participants in this session will learn how to use digital services as a springboard for starting discussions with faculty and students on campus, how to recognize unique relationship-building opportunities, how to manage these relationships, and how to successfully continue the relationship after a digital project has concluded.

*Offered in collaboration with Texas Digital Library (TDL)


BACKGROUND
The recent advent of high-throughput sequencing methods enabled the study of the composition of the upper respiratory tract (URT) microbial ecosystem and its relationship with health and disease in immense detail. The aim of the present study was the characterization of the human pharyngeal microbiome of healthy individuals in Greece.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We obtained ten pharyngeal specimens from healthy volunteers, Greek resident, with Greek nationality, who were eligible to the selection criteria. The construction of DNA libraries was performed by using two primer sets that amplify selectively the corresponding hypervariable regions of the 16s region in bacteria (V2-V9). The Ion Torrent PGM platform was used for the performance of next-generation sequencing.

RESULTS
In the study samples, twelve phyla were identified. The most abundant ones were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, followed by Actinobacteria and Fusobacteria. Seventy-nine families, 79 genera and 137 species were identified and characterized. Moreover, 17 unique differentially abundant families, 30 unique differentially abundant genera and 24 unique differentially abundant species were identified among healthy subgroups with adjusted p-values <0.05. At the genus level, Moraxella (Proteobacteria) and Gemella (Firmicutes) were detected with a statistical significance in non-smokers, while Bifidobacterium (Actinobacteria), Alloscardovia (Actinobacteria), Dialister (Firmicutes) and Filifactor (Firmicutes) were present mostly in smokers.

CONCLUSIONS
The URT is colonized by a variety of protective and potentially pathogenic bacteria. This microbiome system is highly diverse and varies significantly between individuals. Geographic location and ethnicity are considered to be a strong determinants and factors affecting the diversity and abundance of the URT microbiome. Although some of the most abundant families are common irrespective of these factors, the dominance patterns are usually different between the study subjects and between the studies from other geographic locations. Unique differentially abundant families, genera and species were identified, and further studies are needed to elucidate their role. Further studies should focus on the investigation of the URT microbiome dynamics and the interaction with the host in health and disease. HIPPOKRATIA 2018, 22(1): 29-36.


The reaction between charcoal and water vapour at temperatures up to 700° C and at pressures of less than 1 mm. has been studied. Water vapour, hydrogen and carbon monoxide have all been shown to be reversibly adsorbed at the reaction temperatures. Hydrogen is adsorbed strongly and rapidly; carbon monoxide is adsorbed in considerably smaller quantity and much more slowly. When charcoal reacts with water vapour at low pressures, the pressure falls during the rapid initial adsorption of the water vapour, and subsequently rises during the desorption of the product gases. The proportions of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the product gases were found to vary throughout the reaction in a special manner. The variations can, however, be simply explained on the basis of the adsorption data. The kinetics of the reaction at higher pressures are discussed: they can likewise be adequately explained on the basis of the adsorption data. Reasons are given for supposing that the water vapour is adsorbed in the molecular condition.


In nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with overt new-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), short-term treatment with a "triple-therapy" regimen [rapamycin plus agonist IL-2-related and antagonist-type, mutant IL-15-related Ig fusion proteins (IL-2.Ig and mutIL-15.Ig)] halts autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells and restores both euglycemia and immune tolerance to beta cells. Increases in the mass of insulin-producing beta cells or circulating insulin levels were not linked to the restoration of euglycemia. Instead, the restoration of euglycemia was linked to relief from an inflammatory state that impaired the host's response to insulin. Both restoration of immune tolerance to beta cells and relief from the adverse metabolic effects of an inflammatory state in insulin-sensitive tissues appear essential for permanent restoration of normoglycemia in this T1DM model. Thus, this triple-therapy regimen, possessing both tolerance-inducing and select antiinflammatory properties, may represent a prototype for therapies able to restore euglycemia and self-tolerance in T1DM.


Head injury is a causative factor in the development of temporal lobe epilepsy. However, whether a single episode of concussive head trauma causes a persistent increase in neuronal excitability in the limbic system has not been unequivocally determined. This study used the rodent fluid percussion injury (FPI) model, in combination with electrophysiological and histochemical techniques, to investigate the early (1 week) and long‐term (1 month or longer) changes in the hippocampus after head trauma. Low‐frequency, single‐shock stimulation of the perforant path revealed an early granule cell hyperexcitability in head‐injured animals that returned to control levels by 1 month. However, there was a persistent decrease in threshold to induction of seizure‐like electrical activity in response to high‐frequency tetanic stimulation in the hippocampus after head injury. Timm staining revealed both early‐ and long‐term mossy fiber sprouting at low to moderate levels in the dentate gyrus of animals that experienced FPI. There was a long‐lasting increase in the frequency of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents in dentate granule cells after FPI, and ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists selectively decreased the spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current frequency in the head‐injured animals. These results demonstrate that a single episode of experimental closed head trauma induces long‐lasting alterations in the hippocampus. These persistent structural and functional alterations in inhibitory and excitatory circuits are likely to influence the development of hyperexcitable foci in posttraumatic limbic circuits.


This paper presents the design and manufacturability of SOI RF integrated circuits, from an SOI technology understanding, to the integration of high-performance passive devices for a wireless system-on-chip (SoC) application. In the technology section, we show the ability of SOI NMOS transistors to function as high-bandwidth amplifiers. A 9-stage distributed amplifier exhibited a gain of 11 dB with a 90 GHz 3 dB cut-off frequency. We also present four features of an aggressively scaled 120 nm partially-depleted SOI CMOS technology that shows its suitability for HF circuit applications. In the integrated-passive section, high-Q inductors and high value capacitors are both presented. In the RF circuit design section, four 5 GHz LC-tank VCOs are detailed Finally, a 2:1 static frequency divider, exhibiting a maximum operating frequency of 33 GHz, is described.


It has long been established that in addition to being involved in protein translation, RNA plays essential roles in numerous other cellular processes, including gene regulation and DNA replication. Such roles are known to be dictated by higher-order structures of RNA molecules. It is therefore of prime importance to find an RNA sequence that can fold to acquire a particular function that is desirable for use in pharmaceuticals and basic research. The challenge of finding an RNA sequence for a given structure is known as the RNA design problem. Although there are several algorithms to solve this problem, they mainly consider hard constraints, such as minimum free energy, to evaluate the predicted sequences. Recently, SHAPE data has emerged as a new soft constraint for RNA secondary structure prediction. To take advantage of this new experimental constraint, we report here a new method for accurate design of RNA sequences based on their secondary structures using SHAPE data as pseudo-free energy. We then compare our algorithm with four others: INFO-RNA, ERD, MODENA and RNAifold 2.0. Our algorithm precisely predicts 26 out of 29 new sequences for the structures extracted from the Rfam dataset, while the other four algorithms predict no more than 22 out of 29. The proposed algorithm is comparable to the above algorithms on RNA-SSD datasets, where they can predict up to 33 appropriate sequences for RNA secondary structures out of 34.


Bioplastics are derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oils, cellulose, and starches. An important and high-performance member of the bioplastic family is Nylon 12. The biosynthesis of ω-amino dodecanoic acid (ω-AmDDA), the monomer of Nylon 12 from vegetable oil derivatives is considered as an alternative to petroleum-based monomer synthesis. In this study, for the production of ω-AmDDA from dodecanoic acid (DDA), the cascade of novel P450 (CYP153A), alcohol dehydrogenase (AlkJ), and ω-transaminase (ω-TA) is developed. The regioselective ω-hydroxylation of 1 mM DDA with near complete conversion (>99%) is achieved using a whole-cell biocatalyst co-expressing CYP153A, ferredoxin reductase and ferredoxin. When the consecutive biotransformation of ω-hydroxy dodecanoic acid (ω-OHDDA) is carried out using a whole-cell biocatalyst co-expressing AlkJ and ω-TA, 1.8 mM ω-OHDDA is converted into ω-AmDDA with 87% conversion in 3 h. Finally, when a one-pot reaction is carried out with 2 mM DDA using both whole-cell systems, 0.6 mM ω-AmDDA is produced after a 5 h reaction. The results demonstrated the scope of the potential cascade reaction of novel CYP153A, AlkJ, and ω-TA for the production of industrially important bioplastic monomers, amino fatty acids, from FFAs.


Studies are increasingly implicating clusterin (CLU) as an important contributing factor in cancer promotion and invasion. Although there is evidence that secreted (s) CLU plays a pro-survival role in tumors, recently published results demonstrated that sCLU is also a potent stimulator of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). A family of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for human sCLU was generated and a subset of these was found to inhibit the migration and invasion of several types of cancer cells. Importantly, this EMT-inhibiting subset of mAbs all bind to a specific amino acid sequence in sCLU and inhibit metastasis in vivo. The variable regions of the lead candidate mAb were modified using an in silico molecular modeling approach to generate a humanized IgG2, designated AB-16B5, which exhibited almost identical binding parameters compared to the original mouse antibody, with an apparent KD of 2 − 5 nM for recombinant human CLU. Treatment of 4T1 carcinoma cells with AB-16B5 inhibited TGFβ-induced EMT indicating that the biological activity in vitro was maintained in the humanized antibody. Moreover, AB-16B5 inhibited the motility of EMT6 cells in scratch assays and reduced the invasion of DU145 and PC-3 hormone-insensitive human prostate cancer cells when cultured in Matrigel. In animal studies, DU145 prostate cancer cells were implanted in SCID mice and treated with 5 mg/kg AB-16B5 twice per week as a monotherapy or in combination with the anti-mitotic drug, docetaxel (TxT). These experiments showed that the tumors in the AB-16B5 treated animals were 55% smaller than those in the control group. Furthermore, combining the AB-16B5 treatment with that of TxT caused a reduction of tumor size by 40% compared to the TxT-only group. PC-3-derived tumors in SCID mice treated with AB-16B5 showed a similar degree of tumor growth inhibition. Importantly, in both prostate cancer models, the mice exposed to AB-16B5 exhibited a marked increase in their overall survival. Furthermore, AB-16B5 treatment of Nude mice with intra-cardiac implantations of MDA-231 breast cancer cells resulted in a reduction of the number of metastatic bone lesions. The pharmacokinetic parameters of AB-16B5 are comparable to other IgG2 antibodies with its half-life being approximately 15 days following a bolus intravenous injection in mice. Finally, mice exposed to AB-16B5 at 10-times the therapeutic dose displayed no observable signs of toxicity and no major changes in serum biochemistry were detected. In conclusion, AB-16B5 is one of the rare therapeutic mAbs that directly targets EMT to reduce the invasion of tumors. Its therapeutic effects hold much promise to control metastasis from breast and prostate tumors, in addition to enhancing the response to chemotherapeutic drugs. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1467.


Casein kinase-1 alpha (CK1α) is a multifunctional protein kinase that belongs to the serine/threonine kinases of the CK1α family. It is involved in various signaling pathways associated with chromosome segregation, cell metabolism, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, autophagy, etc. It has been known to involve in the progression of many diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, obesity, and behavioral disorders. The elevated expression of CK1α in diseased conditions facilitates its selective targeting for therapeutic management. Here, we have performed virtual screening of phytoconstituents from the IMPPAT database seeking potential inhibitors of CK1α. First, a cluster of compounds was retrieved based on physicochemical parameters following Lipinski's rules and PAINS filter. Further, high-affinity hits against CK1α were obtained based on their binding affinity score. Furthermore, the ADMET, PAINS, and PASS evaluation was carried out to select more potent hits. Finally, following the interaction analysis, we elucidated three phytoconstituents, Semiglabrinol, Curcusone_A, and Liriodenine, posturing considerable affinity and specificity towards the CK1α binding pocket. The result was further evaluated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, dynamical cross-correlation matrix (DCCM), and principal components analysis (PCA), which revealed that binding of the selected compounds, especially Semiglabrinol, stabilizes CK1α and leads to fewer conformational fluctuations. The MM-PBSA analysis suggested an appreciable binding affinity of all three compounds toward CK1α.


Major hypotheses on sex evolution predict that resource abundance and heterogeneity should either select for or against sexual reproduction. However, seldom have these predictions been explicitly tested in the field. Here, we investigated this question using soil oribatid mites, a diverse and abundant group of soil arthropods whose local communities can be dominated by either sexual or asexual species. First, we refined theoretical predictions by addressing how the effects of resource abundance, heterogeneity and abiotic conditions could modify each other. Then, we estimated the strength of selection for sexual species in local communities while controlling for phylogeny and neutral processes (ecological drift and dispersal), and tested its relation to resource and abiotic gradients. We show that sexual species tended to be favoured with increasing litter amount, a measure of basal resource abundance. Further, there was some evidence that this response occurred mainly under higher tree species richness, a measure of basal resource heterogeneity. This response to resources is unlikely to reflect niche partitioning between reproductive modes, as sexual and asexual species overlapped in trophic niche according to a comparative analysis using literature data on stable isotope ratios. Rather, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that sex facilitates adaptation by breaking unfavourable genetic associations, an advantage that should increase with effective population size when many loci are under selection and, thus, with resource abundance.


Recurrent Staphylococcus aureus infections are common, suggesting a failure to elicit protective immunity. Given the emergence of antibiotic resistance, a vaccine is urgently needed, but there is no approved vaccine for S. aureus. ABSTRACT Recurrent Staphylococcus aureus infections are common, suggesting a failure to elicit protective immunity. Given the emergence of antibiotic resistance, a vaccine is urgently needed, but there is no approved vaccine for S. aureus. While antibiotics are routinely used to treat S. aureus infections, their impact on the development of protective immunity is not understood. Using an established mouse model of S. aureus skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI), we observed that antibiotic therapy effectively resolved infection but failed to elicit protection against secondary (2°) SSTI. Key contributors to protective immunity, toxin-specific antibodies and interleukin-17A (IL-17A)-producing T cells, were not strongly elicited in antibiotic-treated mice. Delaying antibiotic treatment failed to resolve skin lesions but resulted in higher antibody levels after infection and strong protection against 2° SSTI, suggesting that the development of protective immunity requires a longer period of antigen exposure. We next investigated if combining α-hemolysin (Hla) vaccination with antibiotics during primary infection would both treat infection and generate durable protective immunity. This "therapeutic vaccination" approach resulted in rapid resolution of primary infection and protection against recurrent infection, demonstrating that concurrent vaccination could circumvent the deleterious effects of antibiotic therapy on elicited immune responses. Collectively, these findings suggest that protective immunity is thwarted by the rapid elimination of antigen during antibiotic treatment. However, vaccination in conjunction with antibiotic treatment can retain the benefits of antibiotic treatment while also establishing protective immunity.


Empirical tests of world society theory routinely analyze the effects of country-level linkages to international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) on countries' policies and practices. Analysts regard INGOs as "conveyor belts" that transport cultural models and scripts to countries around the globe. We modify this mechanistic interpretation by shifting focus to the broader institutional and cultural environments in which INGOs operate. Using data for an unbalanced panel of 126 countries between 1975 and 2010, we examine the effect of INGO linkages on the distribution of political power by gender and socioeconomic status. We find that INGOs are much stronger predictors of political equality for women than for the poor, and we argue that these differential effects reflect broader world-cultural conditions. Women's rights are highly institutionalized in world society, which enhances the effectiveness of INGOs. Socioeconomic rights discourses, conversely, are comparatively less institutionalized and more contested, especially following the neoliberal turn.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the phenotyping performance of three major electronic health record (EHR) components: International Classification of Disease (ICD) diagnosis codes, primary notes, and specific medications.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We conducted the evaluation using de-identified Vanderbilt EHR data. We preselected ten diseases: atrial fibrillation, Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, gout, human immunodeficiency virus infection, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus. For each disease, patients were classified into seven categories based on the presence of evidence in diagnosis codes, primary notes, and specific medications. Twenty-five patients per disease category (a total number of 175 patients for each disease, 1750 patients for all ten diseases) were randomly selected for manual chart review. Review results were used to estimate the positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity, andF-score for each EHR component alone and in combination.

RESULTS
The PPVs of single components were inconsistent and inadequate for accurately phenotyping (0.06-0.71). Using two or more ICD codes improved the average PPV to 0.84. We observed a more stable and higher accuracy when using at least two components (mean ± standard deviation: 0.91 ± 0.08). Primary notes offered the best sensitivity (0.77). The sensitivity of ICD codes was 0.67. Again, two or more components provided a reasonably high and stable sensitivity (0.59 ± 0.16). Overall, the best performance (Fscore: 0.70 ± 0.12) was achieved by using two or more components. Although the overall performance of using ICD codes (0.67 ± 0.14) was only slightly lower than using two or more components, its PPV (0.71 ± 0.13) is substantially worse (0.91 ± 0.08).

CONCLUSION
Multiple EHR components provide a more consistent and higher performance than a single one for the selected phenotypes. We suggest considering multiple EHR components for future phenotyping design in order to obtain an ideal result.


Desmoid tumours, also known as aggressive fibromatosis, are fibromuscular neoplasms that arise from mesenchymal cell lines. Desmoid tumours are usually benign and are locally aggressive tumours. We report a case of a 31-year-old man presenting with abdominal mass associated with dyspepsia and early satiety. CT scan demonstrated a large heterogeneous mass adherent to or arising from the jejunum. The patient underwent a successful elective exploratory laparotomy with resection of the tumour arising from the wall of the ileum with a 10 cm margin. The patient had an uneventful recovery and no recurrence at 6-month follow-up. Pathology report and immunohistochemistry analysis revealed the mass to be a primary desmoid tumour of the small bowel, as the tumour was negative for c-kit and Discovered on GIST 1 (DOG-1) and positive for beta-catenin and smooth muscle actin.


The paper presents some considerations on the estimation of rigid-body transformation which is the basis for registration and georeferencing in terrestrial laser scanning. Two main issues are afforded, which in the opinion of the author have been poorly investigated up until now. The first one concerns the analysis of the stochastic model of Least Squares estimation of the transformation. In standard practice, the control points used for parameter estimation are considered as equally precise. Here two different approaches for weighting observations in laser scan and ground control points are proposed and evaluated through a set of Monte Carlo simulations. The second aspect refers to the reliability analysis. In particular the estimation of a joint-adjustment including both geo-referencing parameters and geodetic network observations for the determination of ground control points is discussed and evaluated.


The repeated evolution of phenotypes provides clear evidence for the role of natural selection in driving evolutionary change. However, the evolutionary origin of repeated phenotypes can be difficult to disentangle as it can arise from a combination of factors such as gene flow, shared ancestral polymorphisms or mutation. Here, we investigate the presence of these evolutionary processes in the Hawaiian spiny‐leg Tetragnatha adaptive radiation, which includes four microhabitat‐specialists or ecomorphs, with different body pigmentation and size (Green, Large Brown, Maroon, and Small Brown). We investigated the evolutionary history of this radiation using 76 newly generated low‐coverage, whole‐genome resequenced samples, along with phylogenetic and population genomic tools. Considering the Green ecomorph as the ancestral state, our results suggest that the Green ecomorph likely re‐evolved once, the Large Brown and Maroon ecomorphs evolved twice and the Small Brown evolved three times. We found that the evolution of the Maroon and Small Brown ecomorphs likely involved ancestral hybridization events, while the Green and Large Brown ecomorphs likely evolved through novel mutations, despite a high rate of incomplete lineage sorting in the dataset. Our findings demonstrate that the repeated evolution of ecomorphs in the Hawaiian spiny‐leg Tetragnatha is influenced by multiple evolutionary processes.


Since there is no fixed infrastructure or centralized management in Wireless Sensors Networks (WSNs), a connected Dominating Set (CDS) has been proposed as the virtual backbone. The CDS play a major role in routing, broadcasting, coverage and activity scheduling. To reduce the traffic during communication and prolong network lifetime, it is desirable to construct a Minimum CDS (MCDS). Self-stabilization is a theoretical framework of non-masking fault tolerant distributed algorithms. A self stabilizing system tolerates any kind and any finite number of transient faults, such as power termination, message loss, memory corruption, and topology change. There are few publications dealing with Self-Stabilizing MCDS (SSMCDS) where all of them, the network has been modeled in Unit Disk Graph (UDG), in which each node has the same transmission range. In real world this kind of networks are not necessarily contain nodes with similar transmission range. As a new approach, network has been modeled by Disk Graph with Bidirectional links (DGB), in which nodes have different transmission range. In this paper has presented a new distributed approximation algorithm for SS-MCDS problem in DGB (called SS-MCDS-DGB) with constant approximation ratio and O(n2) time complexity using unfair central daemon.


Ligand-induced down-regulation by the ubiquitin-protein ligases, c-Cbl and Cbl-b, controls signaling downstream from many receptor-tyrosine kinases (RTK). Cbl proteins bind to phosphotyrosine residues on activated RTKs to affect ligand-dependent ubiquitylation of these receptors targeting them for degradation in the lysosome. Both c-Cbl and Cbl-b contain a ubiquitin-associated (UBA) domain, which is important for Cbl dimerization and tyrosine phosphorylation; however, the mechanism of UBA-mediated dimerization and its requirement for Cbl biological activity is unclear. Here, we report the crystal structure of the UBA domain of c-Cbl refined to 2.1-Å resolution. The structure reveals the protein is a symmetric dimer tightly packed along a large hydrophobic surface formed by helices 2 and 3. NMR chemical shift mapping reveals heterodimerization can occur with the related Cbl-b UBA domain via the same surface employed for homodimerization. Disruption of c-Cbl dimerization by site-directed mutagenesis impairs c-Cbl phosphorylation following activation of the Met/hepatocyte growth factor RTK and c-Cbl-dependent ubiquitination of Met. This provides direct evidence for a role of Cbl dimerization in terminating signaling following activation of RTKs.


Methodologies for determining eukaryotic Transcription Start Sites (TSS) rely on the selection of the 5' canonical cap structure of Pol-II transcripts and are consequently ignoring entire classes of TSS derived from other RNA polymerases which play critical roles in various cell functions. To overcome this limitation, we developed ReCappable-seq and identified TSS from Pol-lI and non-Pol-II transcripts at nucleotide resolution. Applied to the human transcriptome, ReCappable-seq identifies Pol-II TSS with higher specificity than CAGE and reveals a rich landscape of TSS associated notably with Pol-III transcripts which have been previously not possible to study on a genome-wide scale. Novel TSS consistent with non-Pol-II transcripts can be found in the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. By identifying TSS derived from all RNA-polymerases, ReCappable-seq reveals distinct epigenetic marks among Pol-lI and non-Pol-II TSS and provides a unique opportunity to concurrently interrogate the regulatory landscape of coding and non-coding RNA.


This paper offers a qualitative and quantitative analysis of French and Italian wh-in situ questions based on spontaneous spoken data. A pragmatic analysis relying on two parameters, propositional activation and pragmatic functions, reveals that the licensing conditions and the use of this structure largely differ in the two languages. While French wh-in situ do not require an activated proposition and can introduce a discourse-new topic, Italian wh-in situ mostly require an activated proposition and, at least in the analyzed corpus data, do not introduce discourse-new topics. An examination of the context also reveals that the different licensing conditions influence the interactional uses of these questions. All in all, both French and Italian wh-in situ require a pragmatic condition, which is their 'anchoring' to given, or at least inferable, information in the linguistic context (as is typical of Italian) or to predictable situations in the extralinguistic context (such as expected discourse moves in social interactions, as is the case for French).


This paper presents a radiation hardened digital oscilloscope tailored for space applications. The waveform capture system (WCS) was designed as a data acquisition system for a time of flight instrument on the European Rosetta cometary mission. The WCS is a radiation hardened low power, single board solution, providing 11 bits of accuracy, sub-nanosecond resolution, and complete command and data handling. This paper details the design and evolution of the WCS, as well as presenting results from recent testing of the engineering qualification module with the time of flight instrument.


A simple, convenient and high yielding synthetic method for the preparation of various mercapto derivatives of benzimidazoles 2a-e, benzoxazole 2f, benzothiazole 2g, quinazolinone 2h, 5substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazoles 4a-f by the treatment of a series of O, S and N heteroatoms containing bifunctional molecules with potassium isopropyldithiocarbonate under microwave irradiation technique is described.


We demonstrated second harmonic generation from a 1560 nm DFB laser using a KNbO/sub 3/ crystal. The 780 nm beam was used to interrogate a Rb line and lock the DFB laser frequency. We devised a setup to observe a saturated absorption profile which should be used to improve the frequency control.<<ETX>>


The papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink, is a small hemipteran that attacks several genera of host plants, including economically important tropical fruits and ornamentals. A study was carried out at farmers' papaya garden and homestead areas of 8 locations viz., Dumki, Bouphal, Dashmina, Patuakhali, Mirjagonj, Amtali, Kalapara and Kuakata of Patuakhali and Barguna districts of Bangladesh to observe the incidence, abundance, and damage potential of papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus (Williams and Granara de Willink) from March to June 2019. An experiment consisting of seven treatments following randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was conducted for controlling papaya mealybugs at Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU) campus during March to June 2019. Results revealed that among 8 locations, the highest incidence of P. marginatus was recorded in June, and the lowest was in April. The maximum abundance of P. marginatus on leaves and fruits of the papaya plant was observed at Kolapara, and the lowest was at Amtali. The highest percent infested plants (65%) per location, infested leaves/plant (97%), and infested fruits/plant (47%) was recorded in Kolapara, and the lowest percent infestations (31, 18, and 11%, respectively) were in Amtali. Among all treatments, the removal of infested leaves with petioles and application of Nitro 505EC @ 1 ml/L of water (T1) was the best approach for the management of papaya mealybugs. The removal of infested leaves with petioles + Biotap plus extra 95EC @ 0.2 g/L of water (T3) could be used as 2nd choice for controlling papaya mealybugs. The results concluded that removal of infested leaves and the application of Nitro 505 EC at the rate of 1 ml/L of water might be used to control the papaya mealybug.
J. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 47(2): 109-120, December 2021


The Solution Precursor Plasma Spray process allows the creation of coatings directly from chemical precursors, thus avoiding the task of making sprayable powders. To date, our research has been based on injecting chemical precursors into a DC plasma torch. The process has proven to be useful in making vertically cracked thermal barrier coatings and has shown special advantages for making thick thermal barrier coatings (up to 4 mm). More recently, the process has been modified to produce dense, crack free coatings. This development was enabled by an improved understanding of the process, including making a coating almost exclusively from ultra-fine splats and avoiding the formation of vertical cracks. A crack free, dense alumina-yttria stabilized zirconia coating has been produced which is 98% dense and has an average Vickers hardness (300 gf) of 1177.


the field of medicine and wants to help "¿ not only the neurotic but mankind itself in all its spiritual and personal needs . . . we cannot yet foresee what will come of it―.Dr. Dicks, therefore, does not bring out the fact that Jaspers is reflecting on psycho therapy as a new and developing activity and is pointing out that because of the very nature of the human psyche the essential nature of psychotherapy must be its inconclusiveness. Grounded in medical therapeutics, where science can play a part in study ing the biological events, psychotherapy moves over into the different field of symbolic communication, where therapist and patient mutually explore possible meanings; the various analyses of depth psychology are one ofthe modes ofdoing this, but the dynamics of change reside elsewhere in the freedom of the individual to make decisive choices and of the therapist to communicate himself. These are historic, dramatic events, not subject to manipulation or prediction. The therapist may be analysed by some one else or not; indeed Jaspers suggests that if one applies empirical techniques in practice, one should at least have experienced their effects onesell but he insists that there cannot be any "¿ must― about it, as the dynamic element in any psychotherapeutic relationship comes from two unpredictable sources, from the extra-conscious somatic mechanisms on the one hand and on the other from the existential power of transcending possible meanings into realities. This power is inherent in every human being and can only be invoked by another person's reality, not commanded by any technique.


BACKGROUND
Dengue virus (DENV) infection-enhancing activity of pre-existing antibody has been suggested to be one of the factors responsible for the pathogenesis of the severe form of DENV infection, dengue haemorrhagic fever. Although studies of infection-enhancement activity using diluted serum sera are informative, infection-enhancement activity determined using undiluted sera may better reflect in vivo conditions.

METHODS
We determined whether serum samples collected from dengue patients possessed the ability to enhance DENV infection without dilution using FcγR-expressing cells.

RESULTS
Serum samples obtained at the early phase of secondary infection enhanced DENV infection without dilution. In contrast, sera obtained at the late stage of secondary infection demonstrated low levels or absence of infection-enhancing activity.

CONCLUSION
The results indicate that human sera obtained from patients with secondary infection possess the ability to enhance DENV infection without dilution, and suggest that antibody-dependent enhancement may occur in vivo during secondary DENV infection to infecting DENV serotypes.


A complete set of electrons scattering cross sections by water molecules over a broad energy range, from the me V to the Me V ranges, is presented in this study. These data have been obtained by combining experiments and calculations and cover most relevant processes, both elastic and inelastic, which can take place in the considered energy range. A new Monte Carlo simulation programme has been developed using as input parameter these cross sectional data as well as experimental energy loss spectra. The simulation procedure has been applied to obtain electron tracks and energy deposition plots in water when irradiated by a Ru-106 plaque as those used for brachyteraphy of ocular tumours. Finally, the low energy electron tracks provided by the present model have been compared with those obtained with other codes available in the literature


A new approach has been developed to add high value to corn Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) by developing thermoplastics with controllable dry and wet tensile properties. Although attempts have been made to develop thermoplastics from DDGS, the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, and oil makes it difficult to use or modify DDGS for various applications and obtain useful thermoplastics. In this research, DDGS was grafted with individual and a combination of four vinyl monomers (methyl, ethyl, butyl, and hexyl methacrylate; MMA, EMA, BMA and HMA, respectively) and the grafted DDGS was compression molded into films. The type of monomer and amount of homopolymers in the films considerably influenced tensile strength and water stability. At similar grafting ratios, HMA provided higher thermoplasticity, but films with BMA homopolymers had higher elongations (up to 19%). The addition of homopolymers was necessary to obtain films with good strength, elongation, and water stability.


The spatial variability in meteorological conditions was evaluated in two small ruminant house with different constructive aspects, based on the variables of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and temperature humidity index (THI), through the generation of maps using the Kriging interpolation method. The experiment was conducted in two seasons, winter and summer, and the small ruminant house were denominated as FNRG (facility with no ridge vents at ground level) and FWRG (facility with ridge vents at ground level). The studied parameters were recorded by portable digital sensors, thermo-anemometers and thermo-hygrometers, with data collections at 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. With the analysis of the spatial variability of the data, it was observed that the pens positioned in the central region of the two facilities had the least stressful places to animals in two seasons and two times, where the FWRG presented larger areas with lower temperatures compared to the FNRG due to the presence of the ridge vents, were the least stressful places for the animals in the two seasons and at the two data collection times. At 9:00 am, in the winter and summer, both facilities presented comfortable conditions for the rearing of goats and sheep in the morning that were not observed at 3:00 pm.


Background: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of cervical lateral glide (CLG) added to median nerve neural mobilization (MNNM) in patients with neck pain (NP). Methods: A single-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out in a Pain Management Unit from a Hospital. A total sample of 72 patients with NP was recruited from a hospital. Patients were randomized to receive isolated CLG (n = 36) or CLG + MNNM (n = 36). Bilateral elbow extension range of motion (ROM) on upper limb neurodynamic test 1 (ULNT1), bilateral pressure pain thresholds (PPT) on the median nerve at elbow joint, C6 zygapophyseal joint and tibialis anterior, Visual analogue scale (VAS), body chart distribution of pain, active cervical ROM (CROM), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK-11) were measured at baseline as well as immediately, 15 days, and 1 month after treatment. Results: There were no statistically significant interactions (p > 0.05) between treatment and time for median nerve mechanosensitivity outcomes, pain intensity, symptom distribution, and PPT of the widespread pain assessment, as well as cervical function, and kinesiophobia. Conclusions: MNNM gave no additional benefit to CLG in patients with NP regarding pain intensity, symptom distribution, mechanosensitivity, functionality, and kinesiophobia. Only two treatment sessions and the short follow-up are important issues, therefore, justifying further studies to answer the research question with better methodology.


Proteases such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), cysteine- and serine-proteinases are capable of degrading extracellular matrix and basement membranes and have been implicated in human brain tumours. MMPs are a homologous family of zinc-dependent proteases. Within this group, attention has been focused on the gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) which are thought to play an important role in tumour progression. The cysteine proteinases which have received most attention in relation to tumour progression are cathepsin B (CB) and to a lesser extent cathepsin L (CL). Among the serine proteinases, urokinase plasminogen activator and its receptor have been the subject of much investigation. In the present review, evidence from current literature on the possible role or significance of serine- and cysteine-proteinases and MMPs and their inhibitors in human brain tumours is discussed with special reference to gliomas. Although direct evidence is reported for MMPs and serine proteinases to support their role in glioma invasion, much of the evidence for the involvement of cysteine proteinases remains circumstantial.


Four human hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases in the aldo-keto reductase (AKR) superfamily, AKR1C1-AKR1C4, are involved in the metabolism of steroids and other carbonyl compounds including drugs, and altered expression of AKRs (1C1, 1C2 and/or 1C3) is related to the pathogenesis of several extrahepatic cancers. Here, we report that unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) are potent competitive inhibitors of the AKR enzymes. The sensitivities to the FAs were different among the enzymes, especially between AKR1C1 and AKR1C2. The most potent inhibitors for AKR1C1, AKR1C2 and AKR1C4 were docosahexaenoic acid (Ki 0.77 µM), palmitoleic acid (Ki 0.41 µM) and linoleic acid (Ki 0.33 µM), respectively. AKR1C3 was the most sensitive to FA inhibition, showing low Ki values (0.23-0.29 µM) for oleic, linoleic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids. Linoleic and oleic acids also inhibited AKR1C3-mediated metabolism of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone in colon DLD1 cells. Molecular docking and site-directed mutagenesis studies suggested upon FA binding to AKR1C1 and AKR1C3: (i) the carboxyl group of the FA binds to the oxyanion-binding site in the active site; (ii) the difference in FA sensitivity between AKR1C1 and AKR1C2 is due to their residue difference at position 54; (iii) Ser118, Phe306 and Phe311 of AKR1C3 are important for determining the inhibitory potency of FAs.


n the 21st century, in the era of globalization, modern teachers, in order to successfully implement their professional activities, need additional skills, so-called «soft skills», without, which even the best professional, nowadays cannot achieve a good result. In accordance with the purpose and objectives of this research, there was investigated and determined the level of soft skills among foreign language teachers of the Akmola region. In order to determine the soft skills, which are related to the teachers' professional competence, there was conducted a questionnaire survey in "Google form" consisting of 16 questions. The total number of respondents was 363 teachers from different districts of the Akmola region. As part of the research, the survey participants were asked to answer questions about the "soft skills" definition and concept. The results of our study revealed an insufficient level of soft skills among 74% of the respondents, which suggests the analysis and adjustment of educational programs for the training of foreign language teachers.


Chondroid syringoma is a rare cutaneous tumour that usually arises in the head and neck region and is rarely seen on the hands; it is rarely malignant at sites other than the head and neck. However, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of tumours of the hand. We present a 56-year-old man with a chondroid syringoma of the hand that clinically resembled a vascular tumour.


The latest technological advances in new materials and devices enabled wearable systems to be created by utilizing textile solutions. These solutions require electro-conductive yarns as a basic component. Although the production of electro-conductive yarn is widely reported, research is still necessary to characterize them to advance their electro-conductive and mechanical properties. Hence, we served this need and characterized copper-coated para-aramid yarns produced by an in-house developed electroless deposition method. In this paper we present our investigation on the yarn's copper layer characteristics after deposition. Furthermore, we looked, in depth, at the yarn's electro-conductive properties before and after washing as well as their mechanical properties before and after copper deposition. We found a dependency of the copper layer morphology on its deposition time. This is directly correlated to the resulting layer thickness and hence to the yarn's electro-conductive properties, demonstrating the autocatalytic nature of the coating process. Above that, the electro-conductive properties of the coated yarn linearly decrease with washing cycles. Furthermore, the copper coating impairs the yarn's mechanical properties decreasing its specific stress at break by 30%.


We consider a class of probabilistic models obtained by iterating random functions of k random variables. We prove an analogue of the weak law of large numbers and under a symmetry condition we prove a strong law. The symmetry condition is satis ed if the initial random variables are exchangeable. Our results can be used to give stronger results than those previously obtained in the special case where the function is deterministic. Both types of model have applications in physics and in computer science.


Since the first prediction of their existence in magnetic materials, skyrmions have been intensively investigated both theoretically and experimentally. However, it remains a challenge to manipulate skyrmions and to understand their dynamics. We study nonlinear dynamics of coupled skyrmions in Co/Ru/Co nanodisks by micromagnetic simulations and show that resonant excitation can be controlled in nanoscale magnets by a dual-frequency microwave field. Two coupled resonant modes, clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) rotation modes, are found. Polygon-like resonant excitation is observed and modulated from triangle-like to heptagon-like dynamics by a microwave field with a commensurate frequency ratio. The quasiperiodic behavior of the excitation is related to an incommensurate ratio. We also present numerical solutions of the extended Thiele's equation for skyrmions and obtain a good agreement between the solutions and the micromagnetic simulation results. This work contributes to the understanding of skyrmion dynamics and supplies a new route to manipulating skyrmions in nanoscale magnets using resonant excitation.


In order to understand a state's foreign policy preferences, we need to take both its domestic and international considerations into account. This article aims to contribute to the analysis of foreign policy by exploring the conditions under which states will either give precedence to domestic or international incentives. Two central variables are used to generate predictions on the expected primacy of either level. The first variable is "internal polarity", that is, the degree of concentration of power in the hands of the government relative to society. The second variable is "external polarity", referring to the degree of centralization of power in the international system. It will be argued that various combinations of scores on these variables affect the formation of foreign policy preferences differently. When internal polarity is low and external polarity is high, domestic considerations will be decisive. On the contrary, when internal polarity is high and external polarity is low, international considerations will be decisive. With respect to the other two combinations, process variables such as the degree of domestic mobilization and the sensitivity of the government are expected to gain particular importance in tilting the balance towards either domestic or international considerations. A preliminary test of the theoretical framework is provided by applying it to French and German preference formation on the 1988 CAP-reform and the agricultural aspects of the Uruguay Round of GATT-negotiations between 1990 and 1993.


The Raman microprobe is used for characterising chemically revealed defects in as-grown GaAs. Different microstructures were scanned with 1 mu m spatial resolution. Emphasis is paid to the breaking down of the Raman-backscattering selection rules. Precipitates and twins are studied in semi-insulating GaAs. Coupled phonon-plasmon modes are analysed in Te-doped GaAs (ND-NA approximately=1017 cm-3); dislocation grain boundaries and hillocks are scanned by the Raman microprobe, revealing misorientation and free carrier effects.


The steady-state aerodynamic characteristics of wings on the formation flight were analyzed using the Vortex Lattice Method. When two wings were at formation flight, the sectional lift coefficient of a rear wing was increased due to a front wing. The result showed that the lift drag ratio increased as the rear wing were placed downward and decreased as the lateral spacing between wings increased. The difference of lift drag ratio between forward wing and rear wing increase as the aspect ratio of wings increased. When a rear wings and a forward wings placed at the same height, wings on the formation flight had the maximum lift drag ratio. The results showed that the benefit of the formation flight increased as the number of wings on the formation flight increased.ḕ倀ༀ㘲㠮ㄵ㬶㈷⸱㈳㬅K䍄乍츗ጊ᐀Ѐ㘲㜻Ԁ䭃䑎䶹6㈰㬅K䍄乍ꐗᘍ餀܀㘲㜮〵㬅K䍄乍


In the transition between dependent childhood and independent young adulthood, teenagers and young adults (TYAs) are extremely vulnerable when diagnosed with cancer and while undergoing treatment. Nurses working on a youth unit for patients aged 15 to 22 years developed a nursing program that aims at supporting these young patients and their significant others to maintain, establish, and strengthen their social network during the treatment period. This article presents a grounded theory study that explored how the network-focused program was perceived by TYAs with cancer and their significant others. A theoretical account is presented on the meanings and actions that the inherent processes and interactions created. Twelve TYAs and 19 significant others participated. Data were generated through interviews, observations, and informal conversations. Embracing the program and building strength were the 2 subcategories that linked to a core concept of keeping their world together. The findings show that nurses are in a unique position to enhance and support the efforts of these young patients and their significant others in connecting with the social network that extends beyond the family and includes the wider social network.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the domains of use of the Turkmen language and Arabic in Baghdad and to explore attitudes towards Turkmen and Arabic. A sample, comprising (100) subjects from the Turkmen of Baghdad, is selected purposefully to fill out a sociolinguistic questionnaire to solicit information about the participants' demographic background, language use in different contexts and language attitudes towards the ethnic language, Turkmen and the mainstream language, Arabic. The results have revealed that the Turkmen of Baghdad use their ethnic language in different domains especially at home and among the family members. Also, they use both languages (their ethnic language and Arabic) in different social domains such as neighborhood, place of work, schools, media and other public places and have displayed positive attitudes towards Turkmen and Arabic alike.


Induction of DNA damage induces a dynamic repair process involving DNA repair factors and epigenetic regulators. Chromatin alterations must occur for DNA repair factors to gain access to DNA lesions and restore original chromatin configuration to preserve the gene expression profile. We characterize the novel role of CBX8, a chromodomain-containing protein with established roles in epigenetic regulation in DNA damage response. CBX8 protein rapidly accumulates at the sites of DNA damage within 30 s and progresses to accumulate until 4 min before gradually dispersing back to its predamage distribution by 15 min. CBX8 recruitment to the sites of DNA damage is dependent upon PARP1 activation and not dependent on ATM activation. CBX8 biochemically interacts with TRIM33, and its recruitment to DNA damage is also dependent on the presence of TRIM33. Knockdown of CBX8 using siRNA significantly reduces the efficiency of both homologous and the other non-homologous recombination, as well as increases sensitivity of cells to ionizing radiation. These findings demonstrate that CBX8 functions in the PARP-dependent DNA damage response partly through interaction with TRIM33 and is required for efficient DNA repair.


Abstract The ontogeny of Parabolina spinulosa is described on the basis of material from Andrarum (Skåne) and Jämtland in Sweden. Protaspides are rare, and indifferently preserved, but well-preserved isolated tagmata and complete specimens from the early meraspid stages onwards were available for study. Whereas the ontogeny is broadly similar to that of the earlier Olenus wahlenbergi, there are subtle differences, notably in a greater spinosity from the earlier stages and a gradual, rather than a sudden, change of surface sculpture in the early holaspid. P. spinulosa at all stages of growth is much more variable than is Olenus. Meraspides have larger articulating halfrings anteriorly and the first thoracic segments are of greater sagittal length than in the adult; these were adaptations which enabled Parabolina to undergo cylindrical enrollment from an early stage. Parabolina is considered to have arisen from the earlier genus Olenus, and on the basis of comparative ontogeny many, though not all, features of Parabolina appear to be of paedomorphic origin. These include the reduction of the preglabellar field, retention of the visual surface, position of the eyes set close to the glabella, retention of a conterminant hypostome, yoking of the librigenae, spinosity of the thorax and pygidium, more numerous glabellar furrows and reduction in number of thoracic segments. Olenus attenuatus has several features intermediate between those of earlier Olenus species and Parabolina, and the origin of the latter genus is best considered in terms of a mosaic paedomorphocline.


This article summarises the recent evaluation of Pathways to Work – a package of reforms aimed at encouraging employment among people claiming incapacity benefits (Belway et al., 2007). The results show an increase of over 7 percentage points in the probability of working about a year and a half after the start of claim. The probability of not claiming incapacity benefits was also increased initially but this effect later reduced to just 1½ percentage points. The findings suggest Pathways to Work may contribute to the Government's aim of increasing the employment rate. They provide less encouragement with regard to the aim of reducing by 1 million the number claiming incapacity benefits.


In this paper, we examine an emerging variation of the classiflcation problem, which is known as the inverse classiflcation problem. In this problem, we determine the features to be used to create a record which will result in a desired class label. Such an approach is useful in applications in which it is an objective to determine a set of actions to be taken in order to guide the data mining application towards a desired solution. This system can be used for a variety of decision support applications which have pre-determined task criteria. We will show that the inverse classiflcation problem is a powerful and general model which encompasses a number of difierent criteria. We propose a number of algorithms for the inverse classiflcation problem, which use an inverted list representation for intermediate data structure representation and classiflcation. We validate our approach over a number of real datasets.