Transverse testicular ectopia (TTE) is a condition characterized by migration of both testes towards the same hemiscrotum. The mean age of presentation is 4 years, with a typical presentation of a symptomatic inguinal hernia with contralateral impalpable testis. There is no reported predisposition to either left or right side. The diagnosis is usually intraoperative however, imaging modalities and diagnostic laparoscopy are useful in aiding pre-operative diagnosis. We present a case of a 5-year-old boy with a history of a painful swelling in the left inguinal region, with palpable left testis and contralateral empty scrotum. During the planned herniotomy in view of his pain, he was diagnosed with transverse testicular ectopia intra-operatively. Herniotomy on the left side with left testicular orchiopexy and transseptal fixation for the right testis was performed. He recovered well in the post-operative period. This rare congenital anomaly is often diagnosed intraoperatively as an incidental finding, and long-term follow up would be required due to the risk of malignant transformation.


The three dimensional flow field in the intake port of the non-road small spark-ignition engine was carried on the numerical simulation computation. Through the analysis of flow field, we studied how to reduce the mutations of intake port cross-section and improve the flow capacity of the intake port using numerical simulation method. After the parameter optimization, the gas flow increased to 31.24g/h from 27.84g/h under maximum valve lift, enhanced by 12.21%. Studies showed that there are two key points about optimization Design of small engine's intake port, first, maintaining the flow of cross-sectional area of airway can prevent a sudden change on it and avoid the formation of dead air; second, handling the changes of structural in the corner.


A rapid propidium iodide staining method was used for analysis of single-cell suspensions of bone marrow and tumor biopsies by flow microfluorometry. With this technique, information on the proliferative status of target tissues can be obtained within 10 min of sample removal. DNA histograms and labeling index of sequential bone marrow biopsies from a patient with Stage IV diffuse lymphocytic leukemia and treated with 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine infusion showed pronounced reduction in the percentage of cycling cells. In contrast, sequential tumor biopsies from a melanoma patient on methotrexate-citrovorum factor rescue therapy showed no changes. In sequential bone marrow biopsies of 3 patients on high-dose methotrexate-citrovorum factor rescue, initial accumulation of cells in G1-S (Day 1) was followed by a significant proliferative response (Days 4 to 7) and return to pretherapy values. In contrast, no recovery similar to that of the bone marrow was seen in tumor cells.


In this work, different metal electrodes (ME) are sputtered on the surface of Nd0.7Ca0.3MnO3 thin films. The behavior of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of these films is investigated. Among different metal electrodes, Au yields the smallest electrical hysteresis loop, while Cu generates the largest one. According to our analysis on the work function of each ME material, the result of ME-dependent I-V hysteresis loop can not be simply explained by the Schottky barrier. We propose that the electronnegativity of each ME material also plays a crucial role for the oxygen diffusion at interface. In conclusion, this study provides useful information for understanding the origin of I-V hysteresis loop and the principle of resistance switching in CMR manganites


Background Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is a myeloproliferative disorder resulting in progressive bone marrow fibrosis. In some PMF patients, a mutation in the gene coding for janus-associated kinase 2 (JAK2) results in cell proliferation and evasion of apoptosis. PMF typically occurs in older patients, and is associated with poor prognosis and low survival, with death occurring secondary to cardiovascular disease.(1) Investigations include full blood counts, blood film analysis, and bone marrow aspiration and trephine. Treatment is largely palliative; the single curative intervention of stem-cell transplant being available only to low-risk younger patients. Potential supportive treatments include the use of JAK2 inhibitors. Method This case report studies a patient who was diagnosed with PMF at the age of 60. Results The patient's condition remained stable for up to 11 years before her symptoms deteriorated and her treatment was altered. The report focuses on current and upcoming treatments including JAK inhibitors, and evaluates their possible future implications for the management of patients with PMF.(2,3) Conclusion Breakthroughs in the understanding of the underlying PMF molecular mechanisms have led to improved treatments. There is a future role for JAK2 inhibitors in the management of palliative care. Ruxolitinib, which is now available for use in clinical practice,


In line with fast growth of populations in urban area the discharged waste water from daily activities have caused contamination of ground water and also surface water. Unbalance between distribution of source and usage of water have caused unbalance between supply and demand. Therefore, new innovation in the case supply of raw water has come to important attention. One of the alternatives which getting much attention in many state in world is to use recycle wastewater especially municipal wastewater as one source of raw water for water supply Several things which need to be paid attention in the case of usage of recycle wastewater are consistency of the treated water quality as according to enabled condition. In usage of recycle wastewater to be used as clean water supply there is several categorize of contaminant which must be paid attention peculiarly namely for example organic contaminant including pesticide, pathogenic bacteria, parasite, virus and also heavy metal contaminant for example mercury, lead, chrome, cadmium etc. Therefore the treatment process must be done neglectlessly with control of quality which able to be justified. One of the concept for processing of urban wastewater to be made clean water is use combination of primary treatment, secondary treatment with biological process continued by advanced treatment by physico-chemical process for example covering clarification process, nutrient removal, recarbonation, filtration, adsorption with activated carbon, ion exchange process, and also demineralization with process of reverse osmosis and also ozonization and chlorination. With these processes combination can treat wastewater yield treated water with quality of as drinking water. This paper explained some example of wastewater treatment process for recycle wastewater which have been applicated in some state. One of the example of wastewater recycle process using combination of biological process continued with ultra filtration process, reverse osmosis process, and disinfection by ultraviolet, and also pH control such as those which have been conducted by NEWATER Factory, Singapore.


Abstract The US Army has compelling needs for making hydrological forecasts. These range from tactical predictions of water levels and soil moisture, to strategic protection of both Army and civilian assets and environmental resources. This paper discusses the history of hydrological model development by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as influenced by changes in needs and technologies. It concludes with a description of the Gridded Surface/Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA™) model, a two-dimensional, structured-grid, physics-based hydrological, hydrodynamic, sediment and nutrient/contaminant transport model, developed over the past two decades, that is currently used by the USACE. The surface hydrology of the USA has been divided by the US Geological Survey into 21 major geographic domains that contain either the drainage area of a major river or the combined drainage areas of a series of rivers of similar character developed in one geographic province. Eighteen of the regions occupy the land area of the conterminous USA. Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands and Puerto Rico are separate domains. This approach provides a framework for the hydrological modelling discussed in this paper for sites within six of these regions. That the physics-based GSSHA modelling capability has so far been applied with success gives confidence in its more widespread application.


Topological phases are exotic quantum phases which are lacking the characterization in terms of order parameters. In this paper, we develop a unified framework based on variational iPEPS for the quantitative study of both topological and conventional phase transitions through entanglement order parameters. To this end, we employ tensor networks with suitable physical and/or entanglement symmetries encoded, and allow for order parameters detecting the behavior of any of those symmetries, both physical and entanglement ones. First, this gives rise to entanglement-based order parameters for topological phases. These topological order parameters allow to quantitatively probe topological phase transitions and to identify their universal behavior. We apply our framework to the study of the Toric Code model in different magnetic fields, which in some cases maps to the (2+1)D Ising model. We identify 3D Ising critical exponents for the entire transition, consistent with those special cases and general belief. However, we moreover find an unknown critical exponent beta=0.021. We then apply our framework of entanglement order parameters to conventional phase transitions. We construct a novel type of disorder operator (or disorder parameter), which is non-zero in the disordered phase and measures the response of the wavefunction to a symmetry twist in the entanglement. We numerically evaluate this disorder operator for the (2+1)D transverse field Ising model, where we again recover a critical exponent hitherto unknown in the model, beta=0.024, consistent with the findings for the Toric Code. This shows that entanglement order parameters can provide additional means of characterizing the universal data both at topological and conventional phase transitions, and altogether demonstrates the power of this framework to identify the universal data underlying the transition.


In this paper, a software/hardware framework is proposed for generating uniform random numbers in parallel. Using the Fast Jump Ahead technique, the software can produce initial states for each generator to guarantee independence of different sub-streams. With support from the software, the hardware structure can be easily constructed by simply replicating the single generator. We apply the framework to parallelize MT19937 algorithm. Experimental results shows that our framework is capable of generating arbitrary number of independent parallel random sequences while obtaining speedup roughly proportional to the number of parallel cores. Meanwhile, our framework is superior to those existing architectures reported in the literatures in both throughput rate and scalability. Furthermore, we implement 149 parallel instances of MT19937 generators on a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA device. It achieves the throughput of 42.61M samples/s. Compared to CPU and GPU implementations, the throughput is 10.0 and 2.5 times faster, while the throughput-power efficiency achieves 167.3 and 18.1 times speedup, respectively.


The Hexateuch projects the shifting social status of the Levites from that of a royal tribe, with Moses, Aaron, and Miriam playing leadership roles within the Israelite community as it makes its exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land, to a tribe with no land inheritance, a tribe whose social status became lower than that of servants and in close affinity to the status of aliens, fatherless, and widows. This study examines the motivating factors behind the shift in social status of the Levites and argues that the Levites' loss of land was a result of a shift of power to Joshua, an Ephraimite, thereby privileging the Joseph tribes. Thus, in the final form of the Hexateuch, the loss of land is legitimised through the Joseph story, which ultimately privileges the Joseph tribes. The Hexateuch in this study is read through the hermeneutic of suspicion, considering the apologetic nature of the narrative in its legitimation of the Joseph tribes.


Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb

All Praise and gratitude we pray the presence of Allah SWT for all His grace and guidance so we can still work to help in the fields of education and humanity. With greetings and prayers we praise the prophet rahmatan lil alamin Rasulullah Muhammad SAW who has brought us from the realm of darkness to a realm full of knowledge.

This year 2022, we will organized a collaborative event between Faculty of Medicine Universitas Syiah Kuala and Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine Universitas Syiah Kuala. The event called the The 4th Syiah Kuala International Conference (SKIC) In Conjunction with The 5th Aceh Surgery Update International Conference (ASUIC) 2022. This conference will be delivered a concept as Hybrid Conference will be held on October 6th – 9th 2022, with theme Reconnecting; Advances in Surgery and Clinical Collaboration. This Hybrid conference will be attended by international and national speakers who have expertise in the field of surgery, medical education, clinical medicine and the latest information regarding Medical Education and Health Transformation from Indonesian government. This scientific event felt very special with the presence of the Bali Medical Journal Indexed by SCOPUS (Q4) and Web of Science in scientific publications for all topics presented, both in symposium and free paper sessions.

I would like to welcome all experts who are willing to attend in this outstanding hybrid conference to be resource persons at this scientific event, I would like to thank all the committees and sponsors who have helped us to make this activity a success. Finally, I also welcome all the participants, I hope you all get valuable scientific experinces in wonderful city of Banda Aceh.

Thank You

Sincerely yours,

Dr (C). dr. Yopie Afriandi Habibie, Sp. BTKV Sub JD(K) FIHA, FICS, FACS
Chairman


This paper describes a tandem strategy to synthesize a series of new Fischer carbene complexes [(CO)(4)M=C[N-(CH(2))(4)-]CH=C(NRR')(SR'); M = Cr, W; R = Ar, R' = Me, -(CH(2))(2)-] with a thioimide or thiazoline fragment, in which the sulfur or nitrogen atom is coordinated to a metal center, depending on the nature of alkylating groups included as R'. We have trapped by protonation the proposed intermediate as the thioamide 12 [(CO)(5)W=[N-(CH(2))(4)-]CH(2)C(S)NHPh], which reveals the pathway of this reaction.


In the late seventies, the author proposed a new method of linguistic and ethnogenetic research, namely, the method of comparing the vocabulary in parallel texts. Using this method, he examined relationships between different languages (Gothic, Old Church Slavic, and Lithuanian; German, Polish and Lithuanian; Polish, Old Prussian, and Lithuanian, etc.) and finally arrived at the conclusion that the original homeland of the Slavs was in the basin of the Oder and the Vistula rivers.


This paper looks at the early history of accelerator development with a particular focus on the important discoveries that opened the door for the application of permanent-magnet materials this area of science. Researchers began to permanent-magnet materials in particle accelerators soon after the invention of the alternating gradient principle, that showed magnetic fields could be used to control the transverse envelope of charged-particle beams. Since that time, permanent-magnet materials have found wide application in the modern charged particle accelerator. A brief history of permanent-magnet use in accelerator physics and technology is outlined, some of the general design considerations are presented, and several material of concern for particle accelerator are discussed. >


The University of Michigan Library wanted to learn more about the kinds of searches its users were conducting through the "one search" search box on the Library Web site. Library staff conducted two investigations. A preliminary investigation in 2011 involved the manual review of the 100 most frequently occurring queries conducted through the site search box over the course of a month. Those 100 search terms accounted for 16 percent of total queries and were largely one-word searches for databases. In the follow-up investigation, the Library embarked on a more ambitious exploration of the 454,443 searches conducted during the winter 2011 semester, devising a method for selecting, categorizing, and summarizing user search queries. A sample of 1,201 searches from the search query logs was examined; after eliminating duplicate searches, there were 992 unique terms available for categorization. Using a non-overlapping sample of queries, a rubric was developed for categorizing user searches. Each of seven library staff members reviewed all unique terms in the sample to categorize them into the best fitting category from the rubric. After establishing a threshold for reliability among the individuals categorizing the queries, 862 unique search terms were analyzed. Based on this analysis, the most frequent kinds of searches conducted in the winter semester in 2011 on the University of Michigan Library's Web site were specific databases (28 percent), topical/exploratory types of queries (28 percent), and books (including searches by title, ISBN, call number, or a combination thereof) (16 percent).Within the sample, known-item searches comprised nearly half (44 percent) of searches in the sample. Another fifth (20 percent) of total searches were categorized as "exploratory," supporting the need to provide broader, subject-based paths to information through the site. Somewhat surprisingly, there were a small number of article searches (article titles, or mixed searches of journal names and authors and/or title words) in the search box—an indication that users understand the University of Michigan Library primary search box is not for articles.


It has been reported that the very slow acquisition of hippocampal self-stimulation can be markedly facilitated by pretreatment with a program of repeated daily hippocampal stimulation (kindling). Three experiments were performed to investigate the neurophysiological basis of this effect. Experiment 1 demonstrated that unilateral stimulation pretreatment produced a facilitation of learning to lever press for stimulation delivered to the contralateral hippocampal electrode. Thus, there is a transfer of facilitation. In Experiment 2 it was shown that this transfer effect was not affected by lesion of the originally kindled focus, a result suggesting that the facilitated acquisition was not due to feedback to the kindled site. In Experiment 3 electrical activity during hippocampal self-stimulation was examined in order to explore the possible correlation between hippocampal reward and epileptiform activity. No relation was apparent: Lever pressing persisted even when no afterdischarge was elicited. The findings of these experiments are consistent with the hypothesis that the facilitatory effect of stimulation reflects the development of transsynaptic potentiation.


ABSTRACT The social environment influences health outcomes for older adults and could be an important target for interventions to reduce costly medical care. We sought to understand which elements of the social environment distinguish communities that achieve lower health care utilization and costs from communities that experience higher health care utilization and costs for older adults with complex needs. We used a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach. We classified community performance based on three outcomes: rate of hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, all-cause risk-standardized hospital readmission rates, and Medicare spending per beneficiary. We conducted in-depth interviews with key informants (N = 245) from organizations providing health or social services. Higher performing communities were distinguished by several aspects of social environment, and these features were lacking in lower performing communities: 1) strong informal support networks; 2) partnerships between faith-based organizations and health care and social service organizations; and 3) grassroots organizing and advocacy efforts. Higher performing communities share similar social environmental features that complement the work of health care and social service organizations. Many of the supportive features and programs identified in the higher performing communities were developed locally and with limited governmental funding, providing opportunities for improvement.


The current perspective will present the use of amidinate group 4 complexes in α-olefin polymerizations. We will present the structural studies of the complexes bearing various numbers of amidinates as spectator ligands, with a special emphasis on the bis(amidinate) group 4 systems. The mechanistic studies elucidate the influence of various reaction conditions on the behaviour of the reactive species. Additionally, the study of the active species by techniques such as EPR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF spectrometry are presented. We will also demonstrate how, based on such techniques, highly stereospecific bis(amidinate) titanium complexes may be designed and applied in the polymerization of propylene.


Background

Walnut is one of the most important dry fruit crops worldwide, typically green leaves and yellow-brown or gray-yellow seed coats. A specific walnut type, red walnut 'RW-1' with red leaves and seed coats was selected as plant material because of higher anthocyanins contents. Anthocyanins are important colorants with strong antioxidant activity, especially, benefic for human health. However, few studies focused on the molecular mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis in walnut.
Results

From the results of Widely Targeted Metabolome and anthocyanidin detection analysis, 395 substances, including 4 procyanidins and 26 anthocyanins, were identified from the red-leaf walnuts of RW-1 natural hybrid progenies (SR) and the green-leaf walnuts of RW-1 natural hybrid progenies (SG). Among these, all the anthocyanins in SR were significantly up-accumulated comparing with SG. Also, delphinidin 3-O-galactoside, cyanidin 3-O-galactoside, delphinidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-glucoside were identified to the primary components of anthocyanidins because of the higher contents. It was noted that 9 anthocyanins including malvidin 3-O-galactoside, malvidin 3-O-arabinoside, cyanidin 3-O-(6-O-malonyl-beta-D-glucoside), delphinidin 3-O-glucoside, delphinidin 3,5-O-diglucoside (Delphin), peonidin 3-O-(6-O-malonyl-beta-D-glucoside), petunidin 3-O-(6-O-malonyl-beta-D-glucoside), petunidin 3-O-arabinoside and pelargonidin 3-O-(6-O-malonyl-beta-D-glucoside) were detected only in SR walnut. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis demonstrated that the expression of structural genes (C4H, F3H, F3'5'H and UFGTs), and four MYBs in anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway were significantly higher in SR walnut.
Conclusions

We identified the color formation of SR leaves is due to the accumulation of anthocyanins. And our results obtained the valuable information on the anthocyanin metabolites and candidate genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis, which provided new insights into the anthocyanin biosynthesis in walnuts.


One hundred patients were treated with arterial counterpulsation over a 52‐month period, indications being acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock or refractory cardiac failure, or elective cardiac surgery complicated by continued dependence on cardiopulmonary bypass. Virtually all patients showed initial improvement and 45 were hospital survivors. Serious complications of treatment were relatively infrequent. Long‐term results were good, particularly in patients treated early, and in those with infarction who suffered mechanical complications that could be corrected surgically. Results suggest an important role of arterial counterpulsation in acute coronary artery disease.


Controlling weak grid-connected systems is very challenging. In transient, frequency and voltage oscillations may lead to voltage and/or frequency stability problems and finally lead to system collapse. During steady-state operation and at the point of common coupling (PCC), voltage degradation and grid voltage background harmonics restrict the inverter's functionality, reduce the power flow capability and cause poor power quality. With weak grid connection, grid impedance variance will contaminate the voltage waveform by harmonics and augment the resonance, destabilizing the inverter operation. In this paper, complete mathematical modeling is carried out and state feedback-plus-integral control is implemented to support the stabilization of the system. The proposed controller is adopted to provide a smooth transient under sudden load change by controlling the injected grid current under different grid inductance values. Furthermore, the proposed control is used to reduce the order and size of the inverter output filter while maintaining system stability. The proposed control has been compared with the conventional proportional integral (PI) controller under different scenarios to validate its effectiveness and to strengthen its implementation as a simple controller for distributed generator applications.


BACKGROUND: Uterine anomalies are frequently diagnosed in reproductive-aged women and are generally considered a contraindication to the use of intrauterine contraception. We elected to offer this method to a woman with uterus didelphys and a poorly controlled seizure disorder who wished to avoid hormonal and barrier contraceptives. CASE: A 17-year-old woman (gravida 1, para 1) with a seizure disorder desired an intrauterine device (IUD). She was found to have uterus didelphys and a complete vaginal septum. After obtaining informed consent, an IUD was placed in each uterine horn. The patient retained both IUDs and was satisfied with the method 9 months after IUD insertion. CONCLUSION: Intrauterine contraception should be considered an option for women with uterine anomalies on a case-by-case basis.


The texture of cooked chicken breast is usually determined on intact pieces or strips that are representative of the muscle. Researchers emphasize the importance of uniformity of sample size and orientation of fibers to the shearing blades to ensure consistent data from instruments such as shear devices. For sensory evaluations, sample pieces of chicken breasts presented to panelists are often sized as single 2-cm2 or several 1-cm2 pieces. In this study, two sensory and two mechanical procedures were evaluated for efficacy in discerning texture differences in 1-cm2 pieces of cooked chicken. Three postmortem deboning times (2, 6, and 24 h) provided a texture quality spectrum. Sensory characteristics were evaluated by descriptive analysis trained panel (DA-TP) and by category scales-untrained panel (CS-UP). Twenty-gram breast portions of 1-cm2 pieces were evaluated using a multi-blade Allo-Kramer (AK) shear blade. Warner-Bratzler (WB) shear values of intact 1.9-cm-wide strips were also recorded. Discriminant analysis classification based on CS-UP gave higher error rates (probabilities of misclassification) than classification based on DA-TP. The CS-UP error rates were 0.36 (tender) and 0.65 (juiciness). The error rate of classification by DA-TP was 0.21. Error rates for classification by mechanical devices were 0.30 for WB and 0.21 for AK. Sample size is a consideration in texture evaluation protocols. Smaller sample pieces appear to mask differences in initial chew characteristics and in juiciness that are due to deboning time.


We extend the Constraint Logic Programming (CLP) formalism in order to handle semiringbased constraint systems. This allows us to perform in the same language both constraint solving and optimization. In fact, constraint systems based on semirings are able to model both classical constraint solving and more sophisticated features like uncertainty, probability, fuzzyness, and optimization. We then provide this class of languages with three equivalent semantics: model-theoretic, fixpoint, and proof-theoretic, in the style of CLP programs.


Very recently, the locally stationary wavelet framework has provided a means to describe the dependencies of co-varying time-series over a range of multiple scale levels. However, describing the many interactions between data-streams at different scale levels with only finite data poses some serious statistical estimation challenges. We illustrate that existing approaches suffer from large variance and are sometimes difficult to interpret. We here propose a sparsity-aware estimator which furnishes a set of multiresolution, dynamic graphs that describe how the dependency structure of the variables evolves through time and over multiple levels of scale. We show that the regulariser mitigates the variance and that, since the inference is performed using convex optimisation, it converges quickly to a global optima and scales well with respect to samples and nodes. Basic properties of the new method are established on simulated data. The method is applied to inferring dependency structure in multivariate EEG data-sets during epileptic seizures where it reveals evidence of band-limited dependency structure.


All 10 monoclonal antibodies generated reacted with deglycosylated ZP3 alpha both in ELISA and Western blots, thereby suggesting that these do not recognize carbohydrate determinants. Moreover, 7 antibodies (MAs -402, -403, -405, -412, -420, -421 and -423) recognized reduced and carboxyamidomethylated ZP3 alpha in Western blot suggesting that these antibodies recognized linear epitopes. The epitopes recognized by MAs -410, -413 and -425 were sequential or conformational, stabilized by disulphide bonds. Three antibodies namely, MA -405, -420 and -421 inhibited in vitro, zona lysis by trypsin.


This article approaches the relationship between the Odyssey's nostos and other Nostoi from the perspective of the epic's treatment of Cassandra. In doing so, I emphasize two perspectives. First, rather than privileging either "lost" poems or our extant epic as primary in a "vertical" relationship, I assume a horizontal dynamic wherein the reconstructed poems and the Odyssey influenced each other. Second, I assume that, since little can be said with certainty about lost poems, references to other traditions attest primarily to the compositional methods and the poetics of our extant poem. After outlining the major narrative features of the story of Cassandra that were likely available to Homeric audiences, I argue that the suppression of her story in the Odyssey is both part of the epic's strategy to celebrate Odysseus and Penelope and a feature of the enforcement of a male-dominated ideology.


ABSTRACT The intravascular trematode Schistosoma mansoni is a causative agent of schistosomiasis, a disease that constitutes a major health problem globally. In this study we cloned and characterized the schistosome tegumental phosphodiesterase SmNPP-5 and evaluated its role in parasite virulence. SmNPP-5 is a 52.5-kDa protein whose gene is rapidly turned on in the intravascular parasitic life stages, following invasion of the definitive host. Highest expression is found in mated adult males. As revealed by immunofluorescence analysis, SmNPP-5 protein is found prominently in the dorsal surface of the tegument of males. Localization by immuno-electron microscopy illustrates a unique pattern of immunogold-labeled SmNPP-5 within the tegument; some immunogold particles are scattered throughout the tissue, but many are clustered in tight arrays. To determine the importance of the protein for the parasites, RNA interference (RNAi) was employed to knock down expression of the SmNPP-5-encoding gene in schistosomula and adult worms. Both quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting confirmed successful and robust gene suppression. In addition, the suppression and the ectolocalization of this enzyme in live parasites were evident because of a significantly impaired ability of the suppressed parasites to hydrolyze exogenously added phosphodiesterase substrate p-nitrophenyl 5′-dTMP (p-Nph-5′-TMP). The effects of suppressing expression of the SmNPP-5 gene in vivo were tested by injecting parasites into mice. It was found that, unlike controls, parasites whose SmNPP-5 gene was demonstrably suppressed at the time of host infection were greatly impaired in their ability to establish infection. These results demonstrate that SmNPP-5 is a virulence factor for schistosomes.


We present simulations and performance results of nuclear burning fronts in super- novae on the largest domain and at the finest spatial resolution studied to date. These simulations were performed on the Intel ASCI-Red machine at Sandia National Laboratories using FLASH, a code developed at the Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes at the University of Chicago. FLASH is a modular, adaptive mesh, parallel simulation code capable of handling compressible, reactive fluid flows in astrophysical environments. FLASH is written primarily in Fortran 90, uses the Message-Passing Interface library for inter-processor communication and portability, and employs the PARAMESH package to manage a block-structured adaptive mesh that places blocks only where resolution is required and tracks rapidly changing flow features, such as detonation fronts, with ease. We describe the key algorithms and their implementation as well as the optimizations required to achieve sustained performance of 238 GFLOPS on 6420 processors of ASCI-Red in 64 bit arithmetic.


Objective. To evaluate whether the adjusted rates of surgical site infection (SSI) and urinary tract infection (UTI) after cesarean delivery decrease in maternity units that perform active healthcare-associated infection surveillance. Design. Trend analysis by means of multiple logistic regression. Setting. A total of 80 maternity units participating in the Mater Sud-Est surveillance network. Patients. A total of 37,074 cesarean deliveries were included in the surveillance from January 1, 1997, through December 31, 2003. Methods. We used a logistic regression model to estimate risk-adjusted post–cesarean delivery infection odds ratios. The variables included were the maternity units' annual rate of operative procedures, the level of dispensed neonatal care, the year of delivery, maternal risk factors, and the characteristics of cesarean delivery. The trend of risk-adjusted odds ratios for SSI and UTI during the study period was studied by linear regression. Results. The crude rates of SSI and UTI after cesarean delivery were 1.5% (571 of 37,074 patients) and 1.8% (685 of 37,074 patients), respectively. During the study period, the decrease in SSI and UTI adjusted odds ratios was statistically significant (R = −0.823 [P = .023] and R = −0.906 [P = .005], respectively). Conclusion. Reductions of 48% in the SSI rate and 52% in the UTI rate were observed in the maternity units. These unbiased trends could be related to progress in preventive practices as a result of the increased dissemination of national standards and a collaborative surveillance with benchmarking of rates.


We study the problem of improving the user perceived quality of online games in which multiple players form a game session and exchange game-state updates over an overlay network. We propose an Indirect Relay System (IRS) to forward game-state updates over detour paths in order to reduce the round-trip time (RTT) among players. The IRS system efficiently identifies and ranks potential detour paths between any two players, and dynamically selects the most suitable one based on network and client conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first system that directly reduced RTTs among players in online games, while previous works in the literature mitigate the network latency issue by either hiding it from players or preventing players with high RTTs from being in the same game session. We implement the proposed IRS system and deploy it on 500 PlanetLab nodes. The results from real experiments show that the IRS system improves the online gaming quality from several aspects, while incurring negligible network and processing overheads. We also deploy the IRS system on a number of residential computers with DSL and cable modem access links and we successfully found several detour paths among them. To evaluate the IRS system with wider ranges of system parameters we conduct extensive trace-driven simulations using a large number of real game client IPs. The experimental and simulation results show that the proposed IRS system: (i) significantly reduces RTTs among players, (ii) increases number of peers a player can connect to and maintain good gaming quality, (iii) imposes negligible network and processing overheads, and (iv) improves gaming quality and player performance.


Recent evidence has provided a clear mandate for change in the way that registered nurses are educated-in both academic and continuing nursing education environments. This article explores strategies for changing the usual and customary approaches to better meet the needs of learners and prepare them to function effectively in a complex and challenging health care environment.


Requirements for gene regulation vary widely both within and among species. Some genes are constitutively expressed, whereas other genes require complex regulatory control. Transcriptional regulation is often controlled by a module of multiple transcription factor binding sites that, in combination, mediate the expression of a target gene. Here, we study how such regulatory modules evolve in response to natural selection. Using a population-genetic model, we show that complex regulatory modules which contain a larger number of binding sites must employ binding motifs that are less specific, on average, compared with smaller regulatory modules. This effect is extremely general, and it holds regardless of the selected binding logic that a module experiences. We attribute this phenomenon to the inability of stabilizing selection to maintain highly specific sites in large regulatory modules. Our analysis helps to explain broad empirical trends in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae regulatory network: those genes with a greater number of distinct transcriptional regulators feature less-specific binding motifs, compared with genes with fewer regulators. Our results also help to explain empirical trends in module size and motif specificity across species, ranging from prokaryotes to single-cellular and multi-cellular eukaryotes.


Autoclave devices are used to perform high‐temperature sterilization processes under pressure. Autoclaves can be integrated with an absorption refrigeration cycle to utilize the waste heat generated at high temperature during the process. Today, many studies are carried out on the evaluation of energy resources. In this study, it is designed to obtain a cooling load by adding an integrated sub‐cycle to the waste steam heat of the autoclave device in a sterilization unit. In the lower cycle, the ammonia/water absorption refrigeration cycle is used. According to the energy analysis; With the condition that the cooling temperature is 7°C, the generator temperature of 95°C and a cooling load of 130.9 W occurred with 531.7 W of waste heat received by the absorption cooling system. Accordingly, an efficiency of COP 0.246 was obtained. The energy analysis of the absorption refrigeration cycle can improve the energy efficiency of the autoclave and save energy. In addition, the obtained cooling load will be preserved in medical supplies that need to be kept cold.


The economic recession in Nigeria and the effect of COVID-19 on quoted companies has brought to fore the need for an effective working capital management. Managers need to understand the dynamics of investing, financing and managing of working capital in achieving business sustainability and maximization of shareholders' wealth. It is against this backdrop that this study assessed the link between working capital management (WCM), working capital policy (WCP) and corporate profitability of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. We used a sample of 109 Listed Non-financial Firms on the Nigeria Exchange Group from 2011 through 2020. The purpose of this paper is to establish a relationship that is statistically significant between profitability, Working Capital Management Policy and its components for listed firms in the NSE which was estimated by the static panel regression model computed in STATA 14 statistical software. The results of our research showed that there is statistical significance between profitability, measured through return on capital employed, and the components of working capital management (WCM): cash conversion cycle and working capital investment policy. Although, a negative and no statistical relationship is observed between profitability, measured through return on capital employed and working capital financial policy which is the proxy for working capital policy (WCP). Managers should take advantage of the effect observed by keeping CCC in a well-controlled and reasonable period as the level of impact achievable is based on management strategy. Furthermore, the study has shown that if firms invest more in current assets their profit will be significantly affected. Managers should however put into account the nature of their business and identify the optimal level that brings the highest return as the associated cost of holding current assets may outweigh the gain later.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate changes in activities of the intestinal mucosal mast cells (IMMC) in multiple organ failure(MOF).

METHODS
MOF model in rat was established by injection of zymosan. The concentrations of histamine and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) in plasma and intestine tissue were examined. Both the function and the pathological alterations of vital organs including intestine, liver, kidneys and lungs were measured or visualized under light microscope. Furthermore, the ultrastructure of the IMMC was observed with a transmission electronic microscope.

RESULTS
The injection of zymosan resulted in obvious inflammatory response in multiple organs, as well as significantly impaired function. Compared with the normal rats, the histamine levels in the intestinal tissue from rats with MOF remarkably decreased [(11.63+/-1.97) ng/g vs.(8.67+/-1.16) ng/g], while the plasma histamine levels did not show any significant changes. For TNF-alpha, apparently increasing levels in both intestinal tissue and plasma were observed in MOF rats. Meanwhile, the increasing number and degranulation of IMMC during MOF were impressive.

CONCLUSION
The histamine and TNF-alpha released from activated IMMC may play an important role in the development of MOF.


Background: Different techniques with different drugs have been suggested to attenuate haemodynamics in responses to laryngoscopy and intubation. Some of these are: topical and intravenous lignocaine, deep inhalational anesthesia, ganglion blockers, pre-cauterization, narcotics, adrenoceptor blocking drugs, vasodilator, nitroglycerine ointment, and intra-nasal nitroglycerine, calcium channel blockers, reducing duration of direct laryngoscopy to less than 15 seconds, and avoiding laryngoscopy and resorting to blind nasal intubation.
Objective: To evaluate efficacy of intravenous nitroglycerine to attenuate hemodynamics to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation in healthy, normotensive ASA grade I patients.
Methods: A prospective study was undertaken for a period of two years. Institutional Ethics Committee permission was obtained. 80 patients with ASA grade me, scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia, aged between 20-40 years old, of either sex, and were included in the study after obtaining their informed and written consent. These 80 patients were randomly allocated to a study and a control group, (no = 40, each). The study group received intravenous nitroglycerine in the dose of 2.5 to 5 mcg/minute titrated till 5 minutes before intubation.
Results: There was an increase in hemodynamic parameters, which was less in the study group than in the control group, however still significantly to both groups. The values of pulse rate, blood pressure and rate pressure product returned to basal levels at the end of third minute in the study group; whereas in the control group it lasted for more than five minutes.
Conclusion: The present study established the usefulness of the intravenous nitroglycerine to attenuate hemodynamics to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation. No side effects were noted with nitroglycerine in the present study.

Keywords: Nitroglycerine, Hemodynamics, Intubation


Roughly a third of ovarian cancer patients are intrinsically resistant to platinum-based treatment. However, predictive and therapeutic strategies are lacking to treat these patients due to a poor understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. We previously identified and validated a "reactive stroma" gene signature that is associated with primary chemoresistance in epithelial ovarian cancers (EOCs). In addition this signature was further validated in an independent dataset and high expression level of the signature genes predicts shorter progression free survival following front line chemotherapy. One of the key components of this gene signature is periostin (POSTN), an extracellular matrix protein known for its role in a variety of tissue remodeling conditions as well as overexpression in many types of cancers. Interestingly, POSTN is also involved in aspects of allergic inflammation and is used as a circulating biomarker for TH2-driven asthma. To investigate whether circulating POSTN could be used to predict chemoresistance in EOC, we developed an ELISA assay for detecting circulating POSTN in serum and plasma. Serum POSTN levels were measured in panels of serum samples from 143 EOC patients, 102 normal healthy subjects (NHS) and from 126 patients with other cancers. The serum POSTN ELISA was sensitive down to 1.88ng/mL and POSTN was detected in the serum of all patients and NHS. Although the range of POSTN expression in the EOC patients was highly overlapping with that of normal healthy subjects, a positive correlation was observed with the stage of disease. Retrospective and prospective studies are underway to determine whether baseline serum-POSTN levels can predict chemoresistance in EOC patients. Our study may lead to the development of a novel diagnostic strategy for predicting response to chemotherapy in ovarian cancer. Citation Format: Lisa Ryner, Amy Noyes, Denise Nazzal, Paul Vu, Yinghui Guan, Shan Lu, Alyssa Morimoto, Sue Brignoli, Yulei Wang. Circulating periostin as a potential biomarker to predict platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research: Exploiting Vulnerabilities; Oct 17-20, 2015; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2016;22(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B31.


Never affiliated with any group or school, Anne Stevenson grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was educated at the University of Michigan where, in 1954, she won a Major Hopwood Prize for poetry. Since 1964 she has lived in the United Kingdom where a restless career as a mother, teacher, bookseller, and skep-tical enthusiast for some poetry has produced many volumes of verse, a highly controversial biography of Sylvia Plath, and two critical introductions to the work of Elizabeth Bishop.Feminist critics will find much to invigorate and infuriate them in these essays. Stevenson believes that the "takeover" of poetry by critical theorists has, in recent years, all but brought about its demise in England and America. But she also fears that the media's doctrine of mass marketability may have a detrimental effect on the future of poetry. Her essays on Plath, Bishop, Irish poetry, and other subjects are as witty as they are challenging, upsetting many of the easy assumptions of our putatively "postmodern" era.Anne Stevenson is the author of numerous books, including "Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath, The Other House, Four and a Half Dancing Men," and most recently, "Collected Poems 1955- 1995."


Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a life-threatening disease with unclear vascular mechanisms. We tested whether PH involves abnormal pulmonary vasoconstriction and impaired vasodilation. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to hypoxia (9% O2) for 2 weeks or injected with single dose of monocrotaline (MCT, 60 mg/kg s.c.). Control rats were normoxic or injected with saline. After the hemodynamic measurements were performed, pulmonary and mesenteric arteries were isolated for measurement of vascular function. Hematocrit was elevated in hypoxic rats. Right ventricular systolic pressure and Fulton's Index [right/(left + septum) ventricular weight] were greater in hypoxic and MCT-treated rats than in normoxic rats. Pulmonary artery contraction by phenylephrine and 96 mM KCl was less in hypoxic and MCT-treated rats than in normoxic rats. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation was less in the pulmonary arteries of hypoxic and MCT-treated rats than of normoxic rats, suggesting reduced effects of endothelium-derived vasodilators. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester, and the guanylate cyclase inhibitor, 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one, inhibited acetylcholine relaxation, suggesting that it was mediated by nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP. The NO donor sodium nitroprusside caused less relaxation in the pulmonary arteries of hypoxic and MCT-treated than of normoxic rats, suggesting decreased responsiveness of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to vasodilators. Phenylephrine and KCl contraction and acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside relaxation were not different in the mesenteric arteries from all groups. In lung tissue sections, the wall thickness of pulmonary arterioles was greater in hypoxic and MCT-treated rats than in normoxic rats. The specific reductions in pulmonary, but not systemic, arterial vasoconstriction and vasodilation in hypoxia- and MCT-induced PH are consistent with the possibility of de-differentiation of pulmonary VSMCs to a more proliferative/synthetic and less contractile phenotype in PH.


ABSTRACT There is little information about the clinical effectiveness of cefepime and piperacillin-tazobactam in the treatment of infections caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing pathogens. Some inferences have been drawn from laboratory studies, which have usually involved only one or a few strains of ESBL-producingKlebsiella pneumoniae or Escherichia colithat produced only a limited range of ESBLs. Such studies are indirect, sometimes conflicting, indicators of efficacy. To extend previous laboratory findings, a study was designed to investigate organism-drug interactions by determining the in vitro activities of eight parenteral β-lactam agents against 82 clinical and laboratory strains ofKlebsiella, Escherichia,Enterobacter, Citrobacter,Serratia, Morganella, andProteus species that produced 22 different ESBLs, alone or in combination with other β-lactamases. Activities were determined in broth microdilution MIC tests using standard and 100-fold-higher inocula. An inoculum effect, defined as an eightfold or greater MIC increase on testing with the higher inoculum, was most consistently detected with cefepime, cefotaxime, and ceftriaxone and least frequently detected with meropenem and cefoteten. Piperacillin-tazobactam was intermediate between these two groups of agents. Although the inoculum effect is an in vitro laboratory phenomenon, if it has any predictive value in identifying increased risk of therapeutic failure in serious infections, these results support suggestions that cefepime may be a less-than-reliable agent for therapy of infections caused by ESBL-producing strains.


We monitored trap captures of Culex quinquefasciatus using an interrupted time-series study to determine if autocidal gravid ovitraps (AGO traps) were useful to control the population of this mosquito species in a community in southern Puerto Rico. Data for this report came from a previous study in which we used mass trapping to control Aedes aegypti, resulting in a significant 79% reduction in numbers of this species. The AGO traps used to monitor and control Ae. aegypti also captured numerous Cx. quinquefasciatus. Culex quinquefasciatus was monitored in surveillance AGO traps from October 2011 to February 2013, followed by a mosquito control intervention from February 2013 to June 2014. Optimal captures of this mosquito occurred on the 2nd wk after the traps were set or serviced, which happened every 8 wk. Changes in collection numbers of Cx. quinquefasciatus were positively correlated with rainfall and showed oscillations every 8 wk, as revealed by sample autocorrelation analyses. Culex quinquefasciatus was attracted to and captured by AGO traps, so mass trapping caused a significant but moderate reduction of the local population (31.2%) in comparison with previous results for Ae. aegypti, possibly resulting from female mosquitoes flying in from outside of the study area and decreased attraction to the traps past the 2nd wk of trap servicing. Because Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus are frequently established in urban areas, mass trapping to control the former has some impact on Cx. quinquefasciatus. Control of the latter could be improved by locating and treating its aquatic habitats within and around the community.


Implanted scaffold materials induce an inflammatory reaction known as the 'foreign body reaction' (FBR). We hypothesized that the observed difference in FBR between rats and mice correlate with different expression dynamics of cytokines and chemokines, which are key orchestrators of the FBR. After implantation of hexamethylene diisocyanate cross‐linked dermal sheep collagen, the overall gene expression pattern of IL‐1, IL‐6, IL‐10, TNFα, CXCL1/KC, CXCL2/MIP2 and CCL2/MCP1 was roughly similar for the two species. During the onset of the FBR these genes were maximally expressed in rats and mice, after which the expression decreased to basal levels. The expression of CCL3/MIP1α had a similar course, yet it increased after the progression phase of the FBR in both species. The expression of cytokines and chemokines in sham‐operated animals was low throughout, showing that the implanted material by itself exerted the changes in gene expression of the invading cells. During the progression, genes encoding the PMN attractants CXCL1/KC and CXCL2/MIP2 were more highly expressed in mice than in rats, which would explain the prolonged presence of PMNs in mice during the FBR. Additionally, the strong induction of IFNγ in rats coincided with a higher phagocytotic activity by macrophages. Throughout the FBR, the expression of TGFβ was constitutive and high in both species, but increased in mice during the progression phase. This could explain the extensive stroma formation during the murine FBR. Unexpectedly, the stronger expression of TNFα and CCL3/MIP1α in mice, did not result in high macrophage attraction or phagocytosis of the implanted collagen disks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

The objective of this research was to develop a biochemical assay to simultaneously analyze protein adducts of quinonoid metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and endogenous estrogen in pregnant women in Taiwan and to explore the correlations among them. The methodology, which employs trifluoroacetic acid anhydride (TFAA) and methanesulfonic acid (MSA) to selectively cleave cysteinyl adducts, had previously been applied to measure benzene and naphthalene adducts in albumin (Alb). In this study, we refined the assay to allow measurements of both naphthoquinone- and estrogen quinone-derived adducts in serum albumin derived from pregnant women in Taiwan. The isomeric forms of cysteinyl adducts of naphthoquinones, including 1,2-naphthoquinone (1,2-NPQ) and 1,4-naphthoquinone (1,4-NPQ) as well as estrogen quinones, including estrogen-2,3-quinones (E2-2,3-Q) and estrogen-3,4-quinones (E2-3,4-Q), are characterized by using isotopically-labelled bound internal standards after adducts cleavage by the TFAA/MSA derivatization procedure. We applied this method to analyze the background levels of cysteinyl adducts of naphthalene- and estrogen-derived quinones on human serum albumin(Alb)derived from healthy pregnant women (n=40) and their respective umbilical cords (n=40). Results showed that the background levels of cysteinyl adducts of 1,2-NPQ and 1,4-NPQ on human serum albumin were at levels ranging from 89-941 and 33-615 pmol/g, respectively. Logged levels of 1,2-NPQ-Alb were correlated with logged levels of 1,4-NPQ-Alb (correlation coefficient r=0.500, p<0.001). In addition, cysteinyl adducts of E2-2,3-Q-1-S-Alb, E2-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb and E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb were detected in most of the subjects with median levels at 325, 457, and 592 pmol/g, respectively. We also found a significantly positive relationship between logged levels of E2-2,3-Q-4-S-Alb and those of E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb (r = 0.537, p<0.001). We noticed that logged levels of 1,2-NPQ-Alb are positively and significantly associated with increasing logged levels of E2-3,4-Q-2-S-Alb (r = 0.539, p<0.001). This evidence suggests that environmental exposure to PAHs may enhance the production of reactive quinone species of endogenous estrogen in human. Overall, we conclude that the methodology developed in this study may be applied to epidemiological study to serve as biomarkers of environmental exposure to PAHs and other modulators of estrogen homeostasis. (This work was supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan, through grant NSC99-2314-B-005-001-MY3)

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4641. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4641


In desert cities, securing sufficient water supply to meet the needs of both existing population and future growth is a complex problem with few easy solutions. Grass lawns are a major driver of water consumption and accurate measurements of vegetation area are necessary to understand drivers of changes in household water consumption. Measuring vegetation change in a heterogeneous urban environment requires sub-pixel estimation of vegetation area. Mixture Tuned Match Filtering has been successfully applied to target detection for materials that only cover small portions of a satellite image pixel. There have been few successful applications of MTMF to fractional area estimation, despite theory that suggests feasibility. We use a ground truth dataset over ten times larger than that available for any previous MTMF application to estimate the bias between ground truth data and matched filter results. We find that the MTMF algorithm underestimates the fractional area of vegetation by 5-10%, and calculate that averaging over 20 to 30 pixels is necessary to correct this bias. We conclude that with a large ground truth dataset, using MTMF for fractional area estimation is possible when results can be estimated at a lower spatial resolution than the base image. When this method is applied to estimating vegetation area in Las Vegas, NV spatial and temporal trends are consistent with expectations from known population growth and policy goals.


As Smart Cities have become more widespread, so too have concerns about their associated ethical issues. However, ethical debates in the current Smart City literature have tended to focus on issues related to the collection, processing, usage, storage and sharing of data. This paper argues that ethical debates should be extended to capture crucial decisions taken as part of Smart City governance, and the ethical references which underpin them. Using the Smart Cambridge programme as a case study, this paper draws empirical data from interviews with experts and actors involved in the programme, and highlights the ethical nature of decisions taken in key aspects of Smart City governance. The paper reveals that city officials and programme managers demonstrate acute consciousness of legal regulations, which they employ in decision-making, and are less cognisant of governance principles based on norms and values which are also drawn upon. This paper argues that there is nonetheless ethical content which can be traced in decision-making, regardless of whether ethical concerns are explicitly recognised as such.


Transmission of infectious diseases, propagation of information, and spread of ideas and influence through social networks are all examples of diffusion. In such cases we say that a contagion spreads through the network, a process that can be modeled by a cascade graph. Studying cascades and network diffusion is challenging due to missing data. Even a single missing observation in a sequence of propagation events can significantly alter our inferences about the diffusion process.
 We address the problem of missing data in information cascades. Specifically, given only a fraction C' of the complete cascade C, our goal is to estimate the properties of the complete cascade C, such as its size or depth. To estimate the properties of C, we first formulate k-tree model of cascades and analytically study its properties in the face of missing data. We then propose a numerical method that given a cascade model and observed cascade C' can estimate properties of the complete cascade C. We evaluate our methodology using information propagation cascades in the Twitter network (70 million nodes and 2 billion edges), as well as information cascades arising in the blogosphere. Our experiments show that the k-tree model is an effective tool to study the effects of missing data in cascades. Most importantly, we show that our method (and the k-tree model) can accurately estimate properties of the complete cascade C even when 90% of the data is missing.


The zirconia investments with calcia were studied of the compressive strength, setting expansion, thermal expansion, total expansion, thermogravitometry, differential thermal analysis on fabrication method, concentration, particle size of zirconia, calcia and mixing liquid. Addition of calcia caused the change from contraction to expansion in setting expansion. The optimum concentration of calcia was determined to be 10 mol% as judged from total expansion, strength and operability.


Intermediate filaments are abundant cytoskeletal components of epithelial tissues. They have been implicated in overall stress protection. A hitherto poorly investigated area of research is the function of intermediate filaments as a barrier to microbial infection. This review summarizes the accumulating knowledge about this interaction. It first emphasizes the unique spatial organization of the keratin intermediate filament cytoskeleton in different epithelial tissues to protect the organism against microbial insults. We then present examples of direct interaction between viral, bacterial, and parasitic proteins and the intermediate filament system and describe how this affects the microbe-host interaction by modulating the epithelial cytoskeleton, the progression of infection, and host response. These observations not only provide novel insights into the dynamics and function of intermediate filaments but also indicate future avenues to combat microbial infection.


Experimental kinetics results of propane in Maxsorb III activated carbon is obtained at temperatures of 10°C and 30°C, and pressures up to 800kPa using a magnetic suspension balance. A multi-gradient linear driving force (LDF) approximation is used for adsorbate uptake as a function of time. The LDF mass-transfer-rate coefficients were thus determined. Using this approach, the experimentally derived LDF coefficients based on independently measured kinetic parameters for propane in the activated-carbon bed agree very well with experimental results. The computational efficiency is gained by adopting this extended LDF model.


A first case is reported of complete hydatidiform mole with two coexistent fetuses in a triple pregnancy following human menopausal gonadotropin human chorionic gonadotropin (hMG‐hCG) therapy. the molar mass and two fetuses were delivered separately at 17 weeks of gestation. the fetuses were female (155 g) and male (160 g) with individual placentae (85 g, 90 g). the hydatidiform mole (650 g) had a normal 46, XX karyotype. the sexes of the two fetuses and the karyotype of the mole are consistent with previous reports that the chromosomes of fetuses and moles are derived from both parents and the father, respectively.


Effect of light period length on the movement of exogenous phosphorus within aqueous eco-systems composed with water, Microcystis aeruginosa and sediments was studied by the method of phosphorus isotope tracer. Exogenous phosphorus was initially distributed rapidly in the systems in a mode of physical chemistry and then its movement was significantly influenced by the growth of M. aeruginosa. With the increasing of the light period length, the growth rate and cell density rose gradually and exogenous phosphorus level declined rapidly in the water. The light period length had nothing to do with the maximum of endocellular phosphorus per mg M. aeruginosa. After certain amounts of exogenous phosphorus were accumulated in M. aeruginosa, its growth didn't affect the amounts of endocellular phosphorus. When the light period length was long, the total amounts of exogenous phosphorus was high in M. aeruginosa. The exogenous phosphorus moved from water and cyanobacteria to sediment continuously until most of exogenous phosphorus transferred into sediment through the decline of M. aeruginosa.


Thin films of pure vanadium oxide (VOx) and Ge doped vanadium oxide (VOx:Ge) have been deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering on Si (100) substrates. These films were characterized by means of in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy to address the doping induced changes in the core‐level and valence‐band spectra of the material. Doped films exhibit a decrease in the density of states at the Fermi level, indicating the insulating character of said films compared with the undoped ones. Doped vanadium dioxide is a promising candidate for switchable absorber coatings for solar thermal collectors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper examines the effects of housing programs, disaster damage, community type, and other social determinants on household recovery following a major natural disaster-the 1976 Guatemalan earthquake. The domestic assets index, a measure of household living conditions, and a refined measure of household recovery are introduced and employed. The domestic assets scale is an index of the economic value of household equipment and is an adaptation of level-of-living scales. While reconstruction aid was the single most important determinant of recovery, it was the type and not the value of aid that was critical. Strong support exists for the conclusion that temporary housing as a form of aid retarded the recovery process while permanent housing programs actually produced net improvement in living conditions. There is also evidence that the unequal effects of different types of housing programs produced significant changes in the distribution of economic resources, thus effecting the stratification system in affected communities. In addition, while other factors associated with the social characteristics of households were found to be important, this analysis consistently suggests that households residing in small, rural, and politically removed communities experienced greater difficulty in overcoming the debilitating effects of a natural disaster.


In this letter, we study the scaling properties of multi-year observed and atmospheric model-generated wind time series. We have found that the extended self-similarity holds for the observed series, and remarkably, the scaling exponents corresponding to the mesoscale range closely match the well-accepted inertial-range turbulence values. However, the scaling results from the simulated time series are significantly different.


The oculomotor readiness hypothesis makes 2 predictions: Shifts in covert attention are accompanied by preparedness to move one's eyes to the attended region, and preparedness to move one's eyes to a region in space is accompanied by a shift in covert attention to the prepared location. Both predictions have been disconfirmed using an endogenous attention task. In the 2 experiments presented here, the same 2 predictions were tested using an exogenous attention task. It was found that participants experienced covert capture without accompanying oculomotor activation and experienced oculomotor activation without accompanying covert capture. While under everyday conditions the overt and covert orienting systems may be strongly linked, apparently they can nonetheless operate with a high degree of independence from one another. (PsycINFO Database Record


Heavenly signs played a considerable role in the legitimization of political power in the ancient world. During imperial Roman times, astrology was closely tied to philosophy, religion, and politics, and the Romans' expectation of a Golden Age had clear astrological and astral connotations. This chapter describes how these interpretations and expectations were adopted in Jewish politics, beginning with the Hasmoneans in the second century bce, continuing through the period of Herod the Great, up to the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the second century ce. In this discourse, the pagan prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 24:17) played a significant role. It influenced the motif of the Hasmonean Star that is prominent on coins and in other sources from that period and is often connected to astrological interpretations of Saturn and Jupiter. This chapter argues that the narrative about the Star of Bethlehem has a clear propagandistic function and must be regarded as fiction. It is based on a story about the mythical birth of a world leader and Jewish king, which was then probably linked to the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and seen as further confirmation of these political and religious claims.


OBJECT
Lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (LDS) is common and has generally been characterized as a homogeneous disease entity in the literature and in clinical practice. Because disease variability has not been carefully characterized, stratification of treatment recommendations based on scientific evidence is currently lacking. In this study, the authors analyzed radiographic parameters of patients with LDS at the L4-5 level to better characterize this entity.

METHODS
Demographic data were collected from 304 patients (200 women and 104 men) with LDS at the L4-5 level. Plain radiographs including anteroposterior, lateral, and flexion-extension lateral radiographs were analyzed for disc height, segmental angulation, segmental translation, and osteophyte formation. Correlations were sought between the variables of age, sex, disc height, segmental angulation, segmental translation, and osteophyte formation.

RESULTS
The mean patient age was 63.8 years (range 40-86 years). The mean mid-disc height was 7 mm (range 0-14 mm) on the neutral lateral view. The mean angulation between the superior endplate of L-5 and the inferior endplate of L-4 was 6° of lordosis (range 13° of kyphosis to 23° lordosis) on the neutral lateral view. The mean angular change between flexion and extension lateral radiographs was 5° (range 0°-17°). The mean translation on the neutral lateral view was 6 mm (range 0-15 mm). The mean change in translational between flexion and extension was 2 mm (range 0-11 mm). Twenty patients (7%) exhibited spondylolisthesis only on the flexion view. A significant positive correlation was found between the change in angulation and the change in translation on flexion and extension views (ρ = 0.18, p = 0.001). No significant correlation was found between anterior osteophyte size and mobility with flexion-extension radiographs.

CONCLUSIONS
The wide range in all radiographic parameters for LDS confirms the heterogeneous nature of this condition and suggests that a grading system to subclassify LDS may be clinically useful. On flexion and extension radiographs, increased translational motion correlated with increased angular motion. Anterior osteophyte size was not found to be predictive of segmental stability. This data set should prove beneficial to those seeking to subcategorize LDS in the future.


An important policy decision in managing invasive species is how to allocate resources between activities aimed at preventing the arrival of new pests - including additional arrivals of existing pests - and activities aimed at reducing the damages done by species that are already here. We develop a dynamic model for managing a generic invasive pest with an uncertain arrival date. The optimal conditions reveal that it is generally more efficient to spend a larger share of outlays for exclusion activities before a species arrives than after it is known to be here. They also show that outlays should be allocated such that the marginal costs of control measures equal the benefits from the marginal reduction of the species' population growth rate, and the marginal costs of exclusion measures equal the benefits from the marginal reduction of the rate of subsequent arrivals.


The use of a laser beam is a well-known technique to trigger latchup parasitic structures in ICs. Numerical analyses of this phenomenon are brought into play to study its sensitivity when a continuous wave laser as well as pulsed lasers are used. The impact location is also studied to demonstrate that different mechanisms are involved in the triggering phase of latchup. The structure is also more sensitive to the blue light when it is directed over the well-substrate junction while it is more sensitive to infrared light elsewhere. When using a CW laser, the curves giving the power supply current versus the photo-induced current provide direct information on the parameters of the parasitic structure.


In the last decades, digital manufacturing has constituted the headline of what is starting to be known as the 'fourth industrial revolution', where the fabrication processes comprise a hybrid of technologies that blur the lines between fundamental sciences, engineering, and even medicine as never seen before. One of the reasons why this mixture is inevitable has to do with the fact that we live in an era that incorporates technology in every single aspect of our daily lives. In the industry, this has translated into fabrication versatility, as follows: design changes on a final product are just one click away, fabrication chains have evolved towards continuous roll-to roll processes, and, most importantly, the overall costs and fabrication speeds are matching and overcoming most of the traditional fabrication methods. Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) stands out as a versatile set of fabrication techniques, being the closest approach to an all-in-one additive manufacturing method compatible with virtually any material. In this technique, laser radiation is used to propel the material of interest and deposit it at user-defined locations with high spatial resolution. By selecting the proper laser parameters and considering the interaction of the laser light with the material, it is possible to transfer this technique from robust inorganic materials to fragile biological samples. In this work, we first present a brief introduction on the current developments of the LIFT technique by surveying recent scientific review publications. Then, we provide a general research overview by making an account of the publication and citation numbers of scientific papers on the LIFT technique considering the last three decades. At the same time, we highlight the geographical distribution and main research institutions that contribute to this scientific output. Finally, we present the patent status and commercial forecasts to outline future trends for LIFT in different scientific fields.


Notary is a public official appointed by Government to help the society make present or emerging agreements in the society. The purpose of the making of these written agreements before a Notary is to guarantee the legal certainty of stakeholders of the agreements. The written agreement made before a Notary is called a Deed. The purpose of the Deed is, so that it can be used as powerful evidence in case of disputes among the stakeholders or any lawsuit from other parties. Based on this explanation, how important the function of the deed is obvious, thus, in order to prevent the deed from being invalid, Notary Public Institution is governed in Notary regulations which have been replaced by Law No 30/2004 on The Position of Notary.


The autoclaving studies which were performed to develop a formulation of iopentol are presented. The same formulation as used for iohexol was found to be suitable for iopentol. It was shown that it is essential to use a buffer such as trometamol to lower the pH during autoclaving in order to achieve a low level of deiodination after autoclaving. Results from the on-going stability studies indicate a good stability of iopentol finished product.


The thermal effects of a cellular phone electromagnetic (EM) field on the human head were studied by computer simulation. A structural heterogeneous realistic model of the human head was used. EM analysis was performed via the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method (Taflove, A. and Hagness, S.C., "Computational Electrodynamics: the finite difference time-domain method", Artech House, 2000). Specific absorption rate (SAR) was evaluated and further thermal effects were investigated using the bioheat (BH) equation (Bernardi, P. and Pisa, S., IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol.48, p.1118-26, 1998); the temperature field distribution and temperature rise were investigated for different frequencies, powers and exposure times. The results show that exposure time and environmental temperature must be two of the characteristic quantities in a safety standard.


The theoretical foundations of process management are currently ambivalent and continue developing, which has led to the emergence of a large number of interpretations of the essence of the process approach, many definitions of the concept of "business process" and other concepts of process management, classifications of business processes, opinions about the structural elements of business processes and approaches to their allocation, as well as process management methodologies. All this complicates the study of process issues, slows down the development of process control theory, and leads to certain difficulties in implementing process control in practice. This article discusses the existing definitions of the concept of "business process", the main features of process management, and the structure of business processes. The analysis identified the shortcomings of the existing definitions of the concept of "business process" and made it possible to propose an author's definition that takes into account three most important features: the maximum orientation of all structural elements of business processes to meet market needs; an agile business process management structure when changing customer requirements leads to changing requirements for input products throughout the enterprise's business process network; and higher efficiency compared to organizational management. The author's definition is as follows: a business process is a set of interrelated market-oriented and adaptively-driven structured activities that transform input resources (material, labor, information) into a marketable product in the most efficient way using certain technologies.
Keywords: concept, business process, process structure, analysis.


For the recent discussions on the status of English in the global context and its implication for English language teaching (Canagarajah, 2006; Jenkins, 2003, 2005, 2006a, 2006b; Kachru, 1985, 1991, 1992a, 1992b; Modiano, 1999a, 1999b; Rajagopalan, 2004), some ELT researchers (Lee, 2007; Park, 2006, 2007) have conducted a full-scaled documentation on a uniquely common set of English rules and expressions in South Korea and termed it as 'Korea English.' In alignment with this movement, the current study presents a first investigation on idiosyncratic syntactic features of Korea English in the domains of (1) word order, (2) ellipsis, (3) articles, (4) prepositions, (5) passive, and (6) miscellaneous. Corpus data of this study come from the Cross Cultural Distance Learning program established and conducted by both Korea and Waseda universities since the late of 1990s. The data display some syntactic aspects of Korea English as the result of contact with Korean language. For its organization, the present paper firstly reviews the theoretical framework in which (1) the emergence of varieties of English in diverse settings and their legitimacy, and the issue of standards in teaching English as an international language and (2) the emergence of 'Korea English' are discussed. Secondly, the study describes the data to be analyzed. The study thirdly investigates use of English in relation to the syntactic aspects. Finally, the study concludes and discusses the future directions for studies on local varieties of English based upon corpus data.


(2) Olive, aged 14 years, has been quite well apart from retardation of growth and transient jaundice following tonsillitis at 18 months of age. She is good at games, and normal for age in school-work. At the age of 3i years she measured 30 in. (normal 36 in.). The abdomen has been large since birth. She has not menstruated. There have been no hypoglycaemic symptoms. Present state.-Height 47 in. (normal for age 60 in.). Abdomen prominent, with firm, smooth liver extending to umbilicus. Spleen not palpable. Dentition considerably delayed, but appearance of centres of ossification within normal limits. Sella turcica normal. There are several small telangiectases on the face, and she has a muddy complexion similar to that of her brother whom she closely resembles. No secondary sexual characters have appeared. (3) Alma, aged 11 years, has also been free from symptoms. She appears in every way more normal than Albert and Olive, and her retardation in growth is less marked. She is particularly good at games. Present state.-Height 46i in. (normal for age 54 in.); dentition delayed; ossific centres and sella turcica normal for age. Liver extends three fingerbreadths below costal margin. No secondary sexual characters or menstruation. Biochemical investigations (Dr. Payne).-The essential findings are the presence of acetone in the urine under conditions of everyday life, and a low fasting bloodsugar. The two younger children show a delayed rise in blood-sugar following the injection of adrenaline. (It has not been possible to carry out this investigation on the boy.) The abnormalities are least marked in the youngest child. Blood-cholesterol: Olive, 346 mgm.%; Alma, 208 mgm.%.


Many students exhibit behavior problems in the classroom that can negatively affect academic performance and social/emotional functioning if not identified and appropriately accommodated (Sugai, Lewis-Palmer, and Hagan, 1998; Scott, DeSimone, Fowler, and Webb, 2000). In order to combat the increasing number of students with behavior problems, an efficient means of assessing and treating problem behavior is warranted (Nelson and Johnson, 1996). Traditional observation methods are limited in the number of behaviors recordable and elaborateness of data analysis (Sharpe and Koperwas, 2001), and do not lend themselves to direct treatment development (Nelson, Roberts, Bullis, Albers, and Ohland, n.d.). Computer-based data collection programs were developed to allow for the recording of multiple behaviors and immediate elaborative, extensive analysis of observational data (Sharpe and Koperwas, 2001 ), and lead to greater treatment efficacy and increased capability to treat problem behavior. The purpose of the current study is to replicate and extend functional assessment research by using computer software to determine the extent to which the program helps facilitate the collection of observation data, the extent to which the program aids in the development of hypotheses with regard to behavioral function, and the extent to which the program is used to develop and evaluated behavioral interventions. Computer Based Behavioral Observation 3 Table of


An object of the present invention include, for example, when the addition of the conductive impurity element into the polysilicon film at the after step in forming a film of polysilicon is used as a gate electrode on the gate insulating film, the thickness of the polysilicon film direction of the conductive impurity element so as to prevent penetration of, to form a polysilicon film containing an aggregate of spherical crystals. Heating the object to be processed, for example to 580 ℃ forming an amorphous silicon film, followed by heating to 620 g ℃ example the object to be processed, and poly screen the amorphous silicon film to form a polysilicon film. Is made of such a polysilicon film concrete mix of aggregate or spindle-shaped crystal and the spherical crystals of the crystal, grain boundaries of microcrystalline particles so directed to various directions, the time in the subsequent step the addition of an impurity element into the polysilicon film, conductive impurities element is trapped the grain boundaries, it is possible to prevent the penetration of the polysilicon film thickness of the impurity element direction. A semiconductor wafer, a reaction vessel, the wafer boat, gas supply unit, the control unit, a heating furnace


We propose an implicit finite-difference method to study the time evolution of the director field of a nematic liquid crystal under the influence of an electric field with weak anchoring at the boundary. The scheme allows us to study the dynamics of transitions between different director equilibrium states under varying electric field and anchoring strength. In particular, we are able to simulate the transition to excited states of odd parity, which have previously been observed in experiments, but so far only analyzed in the static case. AMS subject classifications: 76A15, 74H15, 74H60


The article basically examines the division of the Romanian unitary state taking into account constitutional factors such as: unity and indivisibility. The founding legislative reforms complex of national and territorial unity of Romania is mentioned in a temporary sequence. The issue of the national state achievement allowed the formation of a territorial framework, cohesion of the Romanian people by creating the appropriate framework ,namely the constitutional-democratic regime. The territorial division in territorial administrative units is limited by state law rules. In this socio-historical paper, the approach focuses on the part of the territorial factor in achieving the internal functions of the state, taking into consideration the internal demands of society and of state territory. The peculiarities of the legal regime are carried out by the state organs, at present administrative autonomy being granted to administratively organized territorial units. Presentation by the comparative method of constitutional regulation of non-division of the Romanian unitary state with examples from the constitutions of other unitary states such as: Sweden, France and Algeria.


ABSTRACT In Old Prussian there is one famous form, namely, poklausīmanas 'heard, answered'. The reason for its renown is that it is regarded by some to be a present passive participle, and, by the same token, directly continue the Proto-Indo-European medio-passive participle in *-mh1no- as reflected e.g. in Vedic -māna- and Greek -μενο-. However, such a supposition is problematic in a few regards. Firstly, Baltic, like Slavic, knows only present passive participle in -m-, which makes the Old Prussian form, at the very least, enigmatic. Secondly, if OPr. -manas truly reflects the ancestral PIE morpheme, it sheds doubts on the validity of the hitherto reconstructed Proto-Balto-Slavic participial suffix *-ma as reflecting PIE *-mh1no-. In the present paper it is argued that Old Prussian poklausīmanas indeed is a present passive participle and that the suffix -mana- does in fact derive from an earlier *-mna- which, in turn, continues PIE *-mh1no-. As for the shape of the Old Prussian suffix, it is proposed that -mana- contains a secondary anaptyctic vowel as suggested by other evidence. Furthermore, some light is shed on the possibility of reconstructing the Proto-Balto-Slavic participial suffix not as *-ma- but rather as *-mna-, which would be more consistent with the shape of the reconstructed PIE suffix from which it derives.


The process of wound repair is examined in the multiaxial thallus of Udotea petiolata. In response to cutting, the injured siphons form a plug, which quickly seals the wound surface. This plug is composed of a fibrillar substance, and of roundish bodies; the latter in unwounded siphons are present in the vacuole. A wound-wall is formed inside the plugs in every tested part of the thallus. Only the apical terminations of the fringe siphons are unable to form a complete wound repair. The composition and function of the two components are discussed.


We report the case of a 82-year-old woman, asymptomatic, subject to chest computed tomography for trauma. Then the patient underwent surgery. Before sternotomy, femoro-femoral bypass was starter in order to decompress the aneurysm; using deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest, ascending aorta and hemiarch replacement were performed with a Dacron graft. Post-operative course was uneventful.


Recent research indicates that the performance of machine learning models can be improved by aligning the geometry of the latent space with the underlying data structure. Rather than relying solely on Euclidean space, researchers have proposed using hyperbolic and spherical spaces with constant curvature, or combinations thereof, to better model the latent space and enhance model performance. However, little attention has been given to the problem of automatically identifying the optimal latent geometry for the downstream task. We mathematically define this novel formulation and coin it as neural latent geometry search (NLGS). More specifically, we introduce an initial attempt to search for a latent geometry composed of a product of constant curvature model spaces with a small number of query evaluations, under some simplifying assumptions. To accomplish this, we propose a novel notion of distance between candidate latent geometries based on the Gromov-Hausdorff distance from metric geometry. In order to compute the Gromov-Hausdorff distance, we introduce a mapping function that enables the comparison of different manifolds by embedding them in a common high-dimensional ambient space. We then design a graph search space based on the notion of smoothness between latent geometries and employ the calculated distances as an additional inductive bias. Finally, we use Bayesian optimization to search for the optimal latent geometry in a query-efficient manner. This is a general method which can be applied to search for the optimal latent geometry for a variety of models and downstream tasks. We perform experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets to identify the optimal latent geometry for multiple machine learning problems.


Our knowledge of the presence and the strength of magnetic fields in intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence stars remains very poor. We present new magnetic field measurements in six Herbig Ae/Be stars observed with HARPS in spectropolarimetric mode. We downloaded from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) archive the publically available HARPS spectra for six Herbig Ae/Be stars. Wavelength shifts between right- and left-hand side circularly polarised spectra were interpreted in terms of a longitudinal magnetic field 〈Bz〉, using the moment technique introduced by Mathys. The application of the moment technique to the HARPS spectra allowed us in addition to study the presence of the crossover effect and quadratic magnetic fields. Our search for longitudinal magnetic fields resulted in first detections of weak magnetic fields in the Herbig Ae/Be stars HD 58647 and HD 98922. Further, we confirm the previous tentative detection of a weak magnetic field in HD 104237 by Donati et al. and confirm the previous detection of a magnetic field in the Herbig Ae star HD 190073. Surprisingly, the measured longitudinal magnetic field of HD 190073, 〈Bz〉 = 91 ± 18 G at a significance level of 5σ is not in agreement with the measurement results of Alecian et al. (2013), 〈Bz〉 = –10 ± 20 G, who applied the LSD method to exactly the same data. No crossover effect was detected for any star in the sample. Only for HD 98922 the crossover effect was found tobe close to 3σ with a measured value of –4228 ± 1443 km s–1 G. A quadratic magnetic field of the order of 10 kG was detected in HD 98922, and of ∼3.5 kG in HD 104237. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Objective: Asian persons have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to non-Hispanic white persons, with approximately two in five individuals being diagnosed. The prevalence of T2D among this population has grown in recent years as Asian persons are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the US. We conducted a meta-analysis of US randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of T2D interventions at improving systolic blood pressure (SBP) , diastolic blood pressure (DBP) , and HbA1c among this population.
 Methods: An electronic search of literature in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Medline was conducted from 1985 to 2019 for studies evaluating T2D interventions among predominantly minority populations. This analysis was limited to RCTs with an average >6% of total participants identifying as Asian, utilizing the 2020 US Census as standard. Interventions focusing on the efficacy of a drug, device, diet, surgery, or procedure were excluded. A random effects meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled effect size of the various outcomes.
 Results: Of the articles reviewed, 9 met inclusion criteria. All 9 included HbA1c and 5 included SBP/DBP. Participants were 62.8% Asian and 40.3% female with a mean age of 53.4 years. Interventions included diabetes education programs, utilization of community health workers, bilingual counseling, and cognitive therapy. There was a 0.36% decrease in HbA1c in the experimental group when compared to the control group (95% CI -0.48 to -0.25, p=0.80, I2=0%) . Compared to control, these interventions had minimal effects on SBP (-0.08, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.07, p=0.73, I2=0%) and DBP (0.01, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.25, p=0.23, I2=29%) .
 Conclusion: This meta-analysis found that RCTs for T2D in Asian persons modestly lowered HbA1c, with minimal impact on SBP/DBP. Future analysis should include observational studies to evaluate a larger sample and investigate their impact on other markers of health, as well as characterize these effects by level of intervention to inform health policy.

 J. Xiao: None. J. Yu: None. A. Deckard: None. W. Wan: n/a. E. M. Staab: None. A. W. Rodriguez: None. R. Shetty: None. N. Laiteerapong: None.


Miscanthus, a promising bioenergy plant, has a high biomass yield with high cellulose content suitable for biofuel production. However, harsh climatic and poor soil conditions, such as barren lands or abandoned mines, pose a challenge to the survival and yield of Miscanthus feedstock on the marginal land. The selection from the interspecific hybrids of Miscanthus might combine high survival rates and high yield, which benefits energy crop development in multi-stressful environments. A total of 113 F1 hybrids between Miscanthus sacchariflorus and M. lutarioriparius together with the parents were planted and evaluated for multiple morphological and physiological traits on the mine land of the Loess Plateau of China. The majority of hybrids had higher establishment rates than M. sacchariflorus while M. lutarioriparius failed to survive for the first winter. Nearly all hybrid genotypes outperformed M. lutarioriparius for yield-related traits including plant height, tiller number, tiller diameter, and leaf area. The average biomass of the hybrids was 20 times higher than that of surviving parent, M. sacchariflorus. Furthermore, the photosynthetic rates and water use efficiency of the hybrids were both significantly higher than those of the parents, which might be partly responsible for their higher yield. A total of 29 hybrids with outstanding traits related to yield and stress tolerance were identified as candidates. The study investigated for the first time the hybrids between local individuals of M. sacchariflorus and high-biomass M. lutarioriparius, suggesting that this could be an effective approach for high-yield energy crop development on vast of marginal lands.


Time is a particularly powerful construct in postcolonial societies. Intermeshed with discourses of race, place and belonging, European ideas of time as linear, Cartesian and chronological function as enduring discursive categories that frame public debate within conceptual legacies from colonialism. There is substantial evidence internationally that modernist and mechanical temporal discourses of progress and efficiency have impeded Indigenous aspirations, including attempts to achieve sovereignty. In this article, we use a critical whiteness studies framework, and a critical discourse analysis methodology, to make visible the temporal assumptions in mainstream news articles from Aotearoa New Zealand. These articles, from influential, agenda-setting media, discuss crucial issues of indigenous rights, including Te Tiriti o Waitangi negotiations. Our analysis shows that they do so within a culturally specific, Western temporal framework, which limits their ability to provide balanced, informative coverage of the issues at stake.