The increase in left ventricular myocardial mass is a mechanism of adjustment of the ventricular pump to a normal process, such as growth or sports, or a pathological process (mechanical overload or cardiomyopathy). The associated geometrical changes tend to normalize systolic performance and/or strain--one of the main determinants of myocardial metabolic requirements. When left ventricular hypertrophy is inadequate quantitatively, geometrically and functionally, and when contractility and preload reserves are exhausted, the systolic performance of the ventricular pump becomes narrowly dependent upon the increased systolic strain. some types of "pathological" hypertrophy may ultimately result in alteration of myocardial intrinsic properties during contraction, relaxation and/or extension, and this in turn may induce or aggravate ventricular failure. The causes of left ventricular hypertrophy are imperfectly known, the views most commonly held being metabolic imbalance of the myocardium due to increased demands, and reduction of coronary reserve and exchange capacities.


Background In the assessment of chronic pain patients it is important to measure physical functioning. The National Institutes of Health's Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) initiative developed an item bank for measuring physical functioning. This PROMIS physical functioning item bank was translated into Dutch-Flemish language according to the FACIT methodology1. Objectives The aim of current study was to validate the Dutch-Flemish translation of the PROMIS physical functioning item bank (DF-PROMIS-PF) in patients with chronic pain. Methods A paper-and-pencil or web-based survey including the full DF-PROMIS-PF (124 items), was completed by 857 chronic pain patients (77% female, mean age 49y) referred to an outpatient secondary care center for rheumatology and rehabilitation in the Netherlands. One-dimensionality was evaluated by one-factor confirmatory factor analysis. With the future strategy to develop computer adaptive tests (CAT), item response theory (IRT) models were used to evaluate the item characteristics of the two item banks. A graded item response model (GRM) was fitted and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) was evaluated for e.g. language (Dutch vs. English), by ordinal regression models. Furthermore, construct validity was studied. Results Through computer technical limitation, the item bank was separated during statistical analysis into DF-PROMIS-PFA (51 PFA-items) and DF-PROMIS-PFBC (45 PFB- and 28 PFC-items). These interim analysis showed that the DF-PROMIS-PFA and DF-PROMIS-PFBC demonstrated good fit to a one-dimensional model (both CFI=0.976 and TLI=0.975). The first factor accounted for 57% of the questionnaire variance. The results showed acceptable testinformation (SE<0.3) for theta between -2.3 and 3.8 for DF-PROMIS-PFA and between -1.6 and 4 for DF-PROMIS-PFBC. 103 out of 1275 (8%) DF-PROMIS-PFA item pairs and 130 out of 1431 (9%) DF-PROMIS-PFBC item pairs were marked as possibly locally dependent. The items demonstrated no DIF with respect to survey version. DIF was present with respect to gender (2 items), age (4 items) and language (11 items). However, the impact of DIF on the total item scores was minimal. Conclusions The first results indicate that the DF-PROMIS-PF fits a GRM and demonstrates good coverage across the range of the physical functioning domain. Nearly all Dutch item parameters match the American item parameters and likely Dutch-specific item calibrations are not needed. The DF-PROMIS-PF can be used to develop a CAT. References Terwee CB, Roorda LD, de Vet HCW, Dekker J, Westhovens R, van Leeuwen J, Cella D, Correia H, Arnold B, Perez B, Boers M. Dutch-Flemish translation of 17 item banks from the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Quality of Life Research in press. Disclosure of Interest : None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.1721


Carbohydrate-binding modules have been shown to alter plant cell wall structural architecture. Hence, they have the potential application of being used to engineer the plant to produce tailor-made natural fibers in the cell wall. The Clostridium thermocellum xylanase, Xyn10B, contains two CBMs that belong to family 22 (CBM22). The C-terminal CBM22-2 of the glycoside hydrolase (GH) 10 had been characterized to interact with xylan, a major hemicellulosic component in the secondary cell wall of plants. In this work, the expression of the CBM22-2 in transgenic tobacco plants was evaluated. Histological examinations of the transgenic stems did not reveal marked cell wall phenotype. In addition, there were no observable changes in the height or the appearance of the transgenic plants expressing the CBM22-2 module. The results indicate that the family 22 carbohydrate binding module is not a potential candidate for use in in planta modification of the cell wall.


On the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory of Lebedev Physical Institute by radio telescope BSA (Big Scanning Antenna) in 2012 started daily multi-beam observations at the frequency range 109112 MHz. The number of frequency bands range from 6 to 32, while the time constants range from 0.1 to 0.0125 sec. This data is an enormous opportunity for both short and long-term monitoring of various classes of radio sources (including radio transients), the Earth's ionosphere, interplanetary and interstellar plasma monitoring, search and monitoring for different classes of radio sources, etc. A specialized database was constructed to facilitate the large amount of observational data (http://astro.prao.ru/ cgi/out_img.cgi ). We discuss in this paper method of allocation from the database for impulse data of various types. By using the database allocated 83096 individual impulses in declination from +3 to +42 degrees for July 2012 – October 2013 from pulsars, scintillation sources and so one. In result we constructed homogeneous sample suitable for statistical analyzes.


In this study, polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) is applied to silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) flash memory as a channel material and the physical and electrical characteristics are analyzed. The results show that the surface roughness of silicon nitride as charge trapping layer (CTL) is enlarged with the number of interface traps and the data retention properties are deteriorated in the device with underlying poly-Si channel which can be serious problem in gate-last 3D NAND flash memory architecture. To improve the memory performance, high pressure deuterium (D2) annealing is suggested as a low-temperature process and the program window and threshold voltage shift in data retention mode is compared before and after the D2 annealing. The suggested curing is found to be effective in improving the device reliability.


Increased focus on reducing CO 2 emissions has created growing interest in CO 2 capturing from industrial processes for storage in geologic formations or injection in oil reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Due to the scattered CO 2 sources and the uncertainty in the growth of the CO 2 market, a cost effective and flexible transport system is required. In this work a ship transport concept is developed as an alternative to pipeline transport. New technical solutions, cost-, energy-, exergy- and CO 2 emission analysis for ship-based transport of CO2 are presented. The concept includes all the elements in the transport chain, namely liquefaction, intermediate storage, loading system, semi-pressurized ship and offshore unloading system. Economical large-scale transport of CO 2 by ship could be done in semi-pressurized vessels of around 20 000 m 3 at pressures near triple point (6.5 bara and –52°C) in order to use well established design for commercial construction of LPG carriers and intermediate storage. This condition also gives the highest density in the liquid state, which reduces the transport unit cost. Liquefaction of CO 2 is best achieved in an open cycle, where the refrigeration is partly or fully provided by the feed gas itself. The offshore unloading system will transport the liquid CO 2 from the dedicated CO 2 ship to the wellhead on the platform at the required temperature and pressure. During the unloading phase the ship is connected to a submerged turret loading (STL) system. The CO 2 is pumped to a pressure high enough to avoid phase transition in the transfer lines. A flexible riser, a subsea pipeline and an insulated pipeline in the platform shaft bring the CO 2 from the unloading location to the topside of the platform. The CO 2 is pumped to injection pressure and heated to avoid operational problems before it is injected into the reservoir for EOR using conventional water injection wells. The total specific energy requirement for the selected transport chain is 142 kWh tonne −1 CO 2 , where the liquefaction process accounts for 77%. An exergy analysis of the chain is performed showing that the minimum work required in the chain is 60 kWh tonne −1 CO 2 , giving a chain rational efficiency of 42%. The total CO 2 emissions are estimated to be approximately 1.4% of the inlet CO 2 . The total costs of ship-based transport are calculated to be 20–30 USD tonne −1 for volumes larger than 2 Mt y −1 and distances limited to the North Sea. Ship transport offers a flexible alternative for bringing CO 2 to offshore installations. Dedicated CO 2 carriers for transport of CO 2 directly from the source to the oil fields might be a key element in future CO 2 infrastructures.


One of the ways to improve the efficiency of Information Retrieval (IR) systems is through document clustering. The search result of an IR system can be grouped or clustered so that the retrieval is made faster. Efficiency of IR systems has to be improved without compromising the quality of clusters. This paper presents a comparative study of the quality of cluster results by solving the problem of document clustering using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm and Cuckoo Search Optimization (CSO) algorithms. The results of experiments done on Classic 4 dataset shows that both the algorithms are equally good in giving good quality clusters. The quality of clusters is measured in terms of F-measure and DB-index.


Objectives To identify risk factors of carcinoma of the extrahepatic biliary tract in men. Methods Newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed patients, 35–70 years old, were interviewed between 1995 and 1997 in Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany and Italy. Population controls were frequency-matched by age and region. Adjusted odds ratios and 95%-confidence intervals were estimated by logistic regression. Results The analysis included 153 patients and 1421 controls. The participation proportion was 71% for patients and 61% for controls. Gallstone disease was corroborated as a risk factor for extrahepatic biliary tract carcinoma in men (odds ratio 2.49; 95% confidence interval 1.32–4.70), particularly for gall bladder tumors (odds ratio 4.68; 95% confidence interval 1.85–11.84). For a body mass index [height (m) divided by squared weight (kg2)] >30 at age 35 years, an excess risk was observed (odds ratio 2.58; 95% confidence interval 1.07–6.23, reference: body mass index 18.5–25) that was even stronger if the body mass index was >30 for the lowest weight in adulthood (odds ratio 4.68; 95% confidence interval 1.13–19.40). Infection of the gall bladder, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis or smoking showed no clear association, whereas some increase in risk was suggested for consumption of 40–80 g alcohol per day and more. Conclusions Our study corroborates gallstones as a risk indicator in extrahepatic biliary tract carcinoma. Permanent overweight and obesity in adult life was identified as a strong risk factor for extrahepatic biliary tract carcinoma, whereas we did not find any strong lifestyle-associated risk factors. Inconsistent results across studies concerning the association of extrahepatic biliary tract carcinoma with overweight and obesity may be explained by the different approaches to assess this variable.


We develop the foundations of the deformation theory of compact complete affine space forms and affine crystallographic groups. Using methods from the theory of linear algebraic groups we show that these deformation spaces inherit an algebraic structure from the space of crystallographic homomorphisms. We also study the properties of the action of the homotopy mapping class groups on deformation spaces. In our context these groups are arithmetic groups, and we construct examples of flat affine manifolds where every finite group of mapping classes admits a fixed point on the deformation space. We also show that the existence of fixed points on the deformation space is equivalent to the realisation of finite groups of homotopy equivalences by finite groups of affine diffeomorphisms. Extending ideas of Auslander we relate the deformation spaces of affine space forms with solvable fundamental group to deformation spaces of manifolds with nilpotent fundamental group. We give applications concerning the classification problem for affine space forms.


This paper demonstrates that a simple rule system can be constructed that supports a more powerful view system than available in current commercial systems. Not only can views be specified by using rules but also special semantics for resolving ambiguous view updates are simply additional rules. Moreover, procedural data types as proposed in POSTGRES are also efficiently simulated by the same rules system. Lastly, caching of the action part of certain rules is a possible performance enhancement and can be applied to materialize views as well as to cache procedural data items. Hence, we conclude that a rule system is a fundamental concept in a next generation DBMS, and it subsumes both views and procedures as special cases.


Relevance. It is possible to significantly increase the multiplication factor of varieties of winter garlic by growing from air bulbs (bulbs). For successful culture using air bulbs, it is very important to correctly determine the most productive fraction for each variety and calibrate it for sowing.Material and methodology. In our collection, there are more than 70 samples of winter garlic collected from different regions of Russia and two CIS countries. The air bulbs were calibrated using a set of round sieves with apertures of 3, 5, 7, 10 mm.Results. On average, the samples of the collection have a high percentage of ripening of air bulbs - 75- 83%. The number of underdeveloped flowers on average for samples of different origins varies slightly – 37-48 pcs. in the inflorescence. The mass of inflorescence on average in specimens of local origin (Sverdlovsk region) is 4.2 g, of different origin (Ukraine, Uzbekistan, 5 regions of Russia) – 4.9 g, of southern origin (Dagestan) – 5.6 g. In specimens of local origin air bulbs of medium (5-7 mm) and small fraction (3-5 mm), different origin – large (7-10 mm) and medium fraction, southern origin – large, medium and small fraction. For reproduction by air bulbs, samples 9/5-1. 9/5-2 of local origin were allocated (Sverdlovsk region); 9/4 (Ukraine), 8/15, 10/5, 10/10 (Moscow), 9/3-1, 9/3-2 and grade Shadeyka (Perm); sample-5, 10/11, 10/13 (Dagestan).


In this book, the feasibility of the Gulf countries forming a common currency area is assessed using two distinct, but complementary, approaches. The empirical results based on the size of demand and supply disturbances, their cross-country correlations, and the speed of domestic adjustment identifies a grouping of countries (Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) for potential monetary unification. In addition, the empirical results show that the six member countries share common long-run and short-run cyclical movements. Furthermore, an estimate of the output loss in relinquishing policy autonomy to join a regional currency arrangement is provided. These estimates appear to be relatively small, and are likely to be less than the efficiency gains from adopting a common currency.


We use the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation to trace the quenching history of galaxies in its 10 most massive clusters. We use two criteria to identify moments when galaxies suffer significant changes in their star formation activity: {\it i)} the instantaneous star formation rate (SFR) strongest drop, $\Gamma_{\rm SFR}^{\rm SD}$, and {\it ii)} a "quenching" criterion based on a minimum threshold for the specific SFR of $\lesssim$ 10$^{-11}\rm yr^{-1}$. We find that a large fraction of galaxies ($\gtrsim 60\%$) suffer their $\Gamma_{\rm SFR}^{\rm SD}$ outside the cluster's R$_{200}$. This ``pre-processed" population is dominated by galaxies that are either low mass and centrals or inhabit low mass hosts ($10^{10.5}$M$_{\odot} \lesssim$ M$_{\rm host} \lesssim 10^{11.0}$M$_{\odot}$). The host mass distribution is bimodal, and galaxies that suffered their $\Gamma_{\rm SFR}^{\rm SD}$ in massive hosts ($10^{13.5}\rm M_{\odot} \lesssim M_{host} \lesssim 10^{14.0}M_{\odot}$) are mainly processed within the clusters. Pre-processing mainly limits the total stellar mass with which galaxies arrive in the clusters. Regarding quenching, galaxies preferentially reach this state in high-mass halos ($10^{13.5}\rm M_{\odot} \lesssim M_{host} \lesssim 10^{14.5}M_{\odot}$). The small fraction of galaxies that reach the cluster already quenched has also been pre-processed, linking both criteria as different stages in the quenching process of those galaxies. For the $z=0$ satellite populations, we find a sharp rise in the fraction of quenched satellites at the time of first infall, highlighting the role played by the dense cluster environment. Interestingly, the fraction of pre-quenched galaxies rises with final cluster mass. This is a direct consequence of the hierarchical cosmological model used in these simulations.


The installation of distributed generation (DG) introduces challenges to distribution systems operation. The distribution network operator needs to schedule DG outputs considering some constraints, such as DG characteristics, reactive power control mode of generators, automatic voltage regulation, compensator and power quality standard, etc. Based on an optimal power flow model, this paper proposes a dispatch model for DG embedded distribution systems. The model is proposed basing on energy prices, weather forecasting and load forecasting. The objective is to minimize the electricity supply cost of the distribution company. The proposed model is tested in the 33-buse system. The results show that DisCo's cost and losses of the distribution system can be reduced by enhancing system operation flexibility.


In 2012–2013, I conducted more than 50 semi-structured interviews with students in the United Kingdom and Russia about their understanding of the Arab Spring events unraveling at the time. My purpose was to explore public perception of an ongoing international crisis, and particularly observe how distant and largely uncertain events were interpreted by the general public. Although attitudes to the Arab uprisings among the British and Russian public were mostly opposite, in-depth semi-structured interviews enabled me to discover common factors behind public interpretation of international crises that other methods would overlook. This case study addresses the challenges of conducting non-elite semi-structured interviews and the added value of using this methodology as part of a mixed-method package to explore public perception of international crises and more generally, public opinion in politics.


Mutual Exclusivity and Vocabulary Structure Daniel Yurovsky Ricardo A. H. Bion email@example.com Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Indiana University email@example.com Department of Psychology Stanford University Linda B. Smith Anne Fernald email@example.com Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Indiana University firstname.lastname@example.com Department of Psychology Stanford University Abstract The words that children learn can be characterized as a semantic network, with links connecting related words. Recent analyses have shown these networks to have small- world structure, with a few highly-connected hub words facilitating short paths between otherwise distant words. This structure contributes to network robustness, and differences in structure can predict differences in language learning outcomes. While previous studies have shown that semantic network structure reflects linguistic input structure, we provide the first evidence that it is related also to children's own language learning biases. Two-year old children who show a mutual-exclusivity bias have significantly more hub- like networks than children who do not, even when they know the same number of words. This finding contributes to our understanding of both semantic networks and the origins of mutual exclusivity. Keywords: word learning; mutual exclusivity; semantic networks; language acquisition Introduction Although the earliest analyses of human memory and learning concerned the learning of lists of unrelated words (Ebbinghaus, 1885/1962), researchers quickly discovered that the words people learn in more natural contexts are intricately connected. Vocabularies were conceptualized as richly structured networks, with links connecting semantically related words (Collins & Loftus, 1975). These connections play an important role in both learning and memory, and can be observed empirically in semantic priming experiments. Because activation spreads from words to their semantic neighbors, presenting a word, even subliminally, leads to faster processing of related words (Anderson, 1983). Even two-year old infants show semantic priming, suggesting that vocabularies have network structure early in language learning (Arias-Trejo & Plunkett, Recently, the application of graph-theoretic methods to the study of these networks has begun to provide insight into their structural properties. For instance, Hills, Maouene, Maouene, Sheya, & Smith (2009a) analyzed the semantic network structure of 130 nouns typically learned before 30 months. Compared to randomly-connected control networks, these semantic networks showed significant small-world structure, in which most words are sparsely connected, but a few are highly-connected hubs. This kind of structure results in networks robust to malfunction (e.g. forgetting a word; Albert, Jeong, & Barabasi, 2000), and can help to explain some of the remarkable efficiency of human semantic memory (Raaijmakers & Shiffrin, 1981). Further, semantic networks lacking this structure are associated with slower language-learning, characterizing the vocabulary structure of late talkers (Beckage, Smith, & Hills, 2011). But why do children learn these words? Why do semantic networks have this structure? Undoubtedly, one answer to this question is that structure comes from the environment. Because children learn words from the language they hear, language input is a strong predictor of the words that children will learn. For instance, the frequency with which a child hears a word in isolation can predict how likely a child is to learn that word (Brent & Siskind, 2001). Similarly, the semantic networks constructed from corpora of both adult-directed and child- directed language have many of the same structural properties as networks constructed from the words 30- month-old children are likely to know (Hills, et al., 2009a; Steyvers & Tenenbaum, 2005). But perhaps a more complete explanation of the origin of semantic network structure is that it emerges from an interaction between structure in the linguistic environment and the child's own learning system. Because children are not unbiased samplers of linguistic input, their attentional and learning biases mediate the link between language input and language learned (Hudson Kam & Newport, 2005; Smith, 2000). For instance, children who learn to attend to shape are likely to learn shape-based categories, and those who learn to attend to other properties (e.g. material) learn other kinds of words (Colunga & Sims, 2011; Smith, Jones, Landau, Gershkoff-Stowe, & Samuelson, 2002). Can word- learning biases predict and explain semantic network structure? In this paper, we consider the case of disambiguation through mutual exclusivity. In the disambiguation task, a child is presented with a novel object among one or more familiar object competitors. The child then hears a novel label (e.g. 'can you find the dax?') and is asked to select an object. Both toddlers and adults reliably select the novel object as the target of the novel label (Markman & Wachtel, 1988; Golinkoff, Hirsh- Pasek, Bailey, & Wenger, 1992), and studies with infants suggest that this disambiguation may arise as early as 18 to 22.5 months (Halberda, 2003; Mather & Plunkett, 2009). Preferential


The cluster synchronization problem aims to understand how a multi-agent system can evolve into several clusters such that agents belonging to the same cluster get their system states synchronized. This paper studies this problem in multi-agent systems with identical generic linear dynamics. Under nonnegative assumptions for the interaction graph, this paper designs for each agent a distributed control law, and shows that cluster synchronization can be achieved if the graph topology admits directed cluster spanning trees with respect to the clustering structure. This graph topology is further proven to be a necessary condition when the clusters connect with each other without forming cycles. Numerical simulations are conducted to illustrate the theoretical results derived in this paper.


The main purpose of this paper is to explore the present mathematics assessment practices in local and global contexts. For this, I decisively review educational policies, practices, curricular documents and contemporary researches. In doing so, I select the Finland, China, USA, as they have stood in the significant positions in an international comparative study such as TIMSS, PISA and Nepal. It reveals that the assessment practices in mathematics are not an isolated phenomenon that have been executed by an external authority at the end of the academic sessions to quantify the individual attributes relating to mathematical performances. It is largely embedded in educational activities from the very beginning and simultaneously works throughout the programme for enriching mathematical outcomes and performances of students. I capture two major trends of assessment practices of these countries; post-positivist approaches of assessment and integral approaches of assessment. The post/positivist perspective incorporates summative evaluation techniques and assessment of learning whereas integral perspectives concentrate on assessment for learning as having broad goals of reconstructing, reframing and transforming the entire programs. These trends of assessment practice largely blend with philosophy of mathematics education. The comparing and contrasting views of assessment practices would be helpful for the policy makers, educators, mathematicians and other related personnel for critically re-evaluate their respective assessment practices and thus encourage to transform the deep-rooted conventional assessment practice that is one of the major hindrance to sanction the mathematics education within the positivistic paradigm. The Sapta Gandaki JournalVol. IX, 2018 Feb. Page: 1-16


The blanket structure of the SlimCS has been studied under coolant condition of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) to improve the compatibility with F82 H. The neutronic and thermal calculation are performed for the simplified blanket structure, which Li4SiO4 pebbles or Li2O pebbles for tritium breeding and Be12Ti pebbles for neutron multiplication are mixed and these pebbles are filled in the blanket. As a result, the TBR of blanket by PWR water condition is higher than those of sub-critical water condition because the tritium breeding area in the blanket is extended by decreasing thickness of coolant tube in comparison with sub-critical water condition. The blanket with PWR water condition can attain target of the net TBR (≥ 1.05) and satisfy condition of conducting shell for MHD stability.


Abstract This paper explores the sensitivity of analytical results using contours as the topographic data. In visualizing the topography of a landscape using contours, the two parameters under investigation are the size of the contour interval and the base contour chosen. Different contour intervals will generate different descriptions of the landscape. This is labeled as the interval effect. Choosing different base contours to compile the contour database can produce different landscape characteristics. This is called the placement effect. Using viewshed analysis in GIS as an application example, this paper assesses the interval effect and placement effect systematically based upon two study areas in northern Virginia, US. Contour data of 5-foot interval were resampled to derive data of different intervals and of different base contours. In general, larger contour intervals overestimate visible areas but visible locations are not consistently visible with increasing intervals. Results from using different base contours do not exhibit identifiable patterns, but the placement effect can truncate the edge of the landscape by excluding low lying areas. Finally, a probability viewshed approach is suggested to handle the two effects in analyzing contour data. This paper demonstrates that expert and novice users alike using contour data for topographical analysis have to realize that the result is only one of many possible outcomes and this issue is independent of GIS software adopted.


The distributed satellite cluster network (DSCN) is a novel concept in satellite communication field. Considering the dynamism and heterogeneity of the DSCN, the resource allocation algorithm must make adjustments dynamically according to the requirements of users as well as the utility and availability of the resource. This paper investigates the evaluation problem of the resource allocation utility in DSCN. Considering the heterogeneity of DSCN and the multi-dimensional of the resource, a distributed evaluation architecture and a multi-index evaluation system are constructed. To solve the multi-index evaluation problem, a comprehensive evaluation approach based on analytic hierarchy process and back-propagation (AHP-BP) neural network is proposed. Via several simulation results, we verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


OBJECTIVE
Statins (3-hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitor) are widely used to treat hypercholesterolemia. They are generally well tolerated, but myotoxic effects have been reported and the corresponding mechanisms are still a matter of debate. The aim of the present study was to determine whether impairment of calcium homeostasis and/or mitochondrial impairment could account for the adverse effects of statins in skeletal muscle.

METHODS
Eleven patients with increased creatine kinase levels and myalgias after statin treatment were evaluated using in vitro contracture tests (IVCTs), histology, and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS).

RESULTS
IVCT results were abnormal in 7 of the 9 patients, indicating an impaired calcium homeostasis. The 31P-MRS investigation disclosed no anomaly at rest, and the aerobic function assessed during the postexercise recovery period was normal. On the contrary, the pH recovery kinetics was significantly slowed down as indicated by a reduced proton efflux, which could be ultimately linked to a failure of calcium homeostasis. Overall, our observations indicate a normal mitochondrial function and raise the possibility that statins may unmask a latent pathology involving an impairment of calcium homeostasis such as malignant hyperthermia (MH).

CONCLUSION
In case of susceptibility to MH, statins treatment must be administered with caution, and signs of adverse effects should be checked.


Cell selection and resource allocation (CS-RA) are processes of determining cell and radio resource which provide service to mobile station (MS). Optimizing these processes is an important step towards maximizing the utilization of current and future networks. In this paper, we investigate the problem of CS-RA in heterogeneous wireless networks. Specifically, we propose a distributed cell selection and resource allocation mechanism, in which the CS-RA processes are performed by MSs independently. We formulate the problem as a two-tier game named as inter-cell game and intra-cell game, respectively. In the first tier, i.e. the inter-cell game, MSs select the best cell according to an optimal cell selection strategy derived from the expected payoff. In the second tier, i.e., the intra-cell game, MSs choose the proper radio resource in the serving cell to achieve maximum payoff. We analyze the existence of Nash equilibria of both games, the structure of which suggests the interesting property that we can achieve automatic load balance through the two-tier games. Furthermore, we propose distributed algorithms named as CS-Algorithm and RA-Algorithm to enable the independent MSs converge to Nash equilibria. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms converge effectively to Nash equilibria and that the proposed CS-RA mechanism achieves better performance in terms of throughput and payoff compared to conventional mechanisms.


Abstract : The results of two laser scintillation experiments in the atmosphere are presented, as is a revised laser eye-hazard evaluation procedure incorporating these results. The objective of the research is to determine the influence of atmospheric thermal turbulence on laser eye safety. The experimental work on a 3.5-km near-ground horizontal propagation path was designed to determine the effect of range upon laser scintillation magnitude, represented by the log intensity standard deviation (sigma). It was found that for very short ranges and low thermal turbulence, the measured values (sigma sub m) agree well with theory (sigma sub t). However, for longer ranges and higher thermal turbulence, the values of sigma sub m reached a maximum value of approximately 1.25 at sigma sub t = 2.50, and then decreased beyond, fitting the empirical function sigma sub m = sigma sub t/(1 + 0.16(sigma sub(t))squared) fairly well. This 'supersaturation effect' is quite significant in reducing eye- damage probabilities for typical ranges and thermal turbulence conditions. The second experiment was an attempt to confirm that scintillation saturation occurs on a slant path between a bround-based laser and a receiver on an orbiting aircraft. Some evidence of saturation was found, but the effect was not clearly established because of the limited ranges necessitated by the laser used. The eye-hazard evaluation procedure is quite generally applicable, and requires only readily available input data. The method covers propagation on a slant path with either a ground-based or airborne laser, as well as near-ground horizontal propagation.


This paper discusses problems associated with post-colonial cohesion of African armed forces due to the influence of their colonial orientation and past antecedents. The study focuses on the Nigerian Army and captures the fact that various constructions, conditionsand tendencies could either escalate or de-escalate the level of army cohesion depending on the need or otherwise for the system itself to integrate into a larger system. When an army originally has a mandate to protect a colonial system, its orientation might not necessarily change after a transition, which leads to emancipation.  The Case of Nigeria saw the problems of initial recruitment into the army, the processwas based on needs that required ethnic and regional accumulation in various sectors, and this brought about an inconvenient pattern, which negated unity after independence. The process of Nigerianisation too encouraged regional animosities due to various suspicions of ethno-regional domination. Keywords: Nigerian Army, Colonial Recruitment, Post-Independence Recruitment, Partitioned Cohesion


In this paper, we discuss the quantitative characterization problems of the exponential stability and trajectory convergence property of nonlinear discrete dynamical systems on a bounded set of the state space. Through introducing two new concepts-the Lip constant of a nonlinear operator and strongly equivalent metrics of a norm-we show that the nonlinear discrete dynamical systems are exponentially stable on the bounded set if and only if the corresponding nonlinear operator is contractive under some strongly equivalent metrics, or if and only if the Lip constant of the nonlinear operator is less than one. In the latter case, we further show that the infimum of the exponential bounds of trajectories of the system equals exactly to the Lip constant. Based on the obtained results, we clearly explain how trajectory convergence properties of the systems are determined quantitatively by the Lip constant and strongly equivalent metrics. The obtained results not only are of importance in understanding the essence of exponential stability and trajectory convergence properties of nonlinear discrete dynamical systems on bounded sets of the state space but also provide some new, useful criteria of testing exponential stability and estimating convergence speed of trajectories of the systems.


The effects of radiatively decaying, long-lived particles on big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) are discussed. If high-energy photons are emitted after BBN, they may change the abundances of the light elements through photodissociation processes, which may result in a significant discrepancy between the BBN theory and observation. We calculate the abundances of the light elements, including the effects of photodissociation induced by a radiatively decaying particle, but neglecting the hadronic branching ratio. Using these calculated abundances, we derive a constraint on such particles by comparing our theoretical results with observations. Taking into account the recent controversies regarding the observations of the light-element abundances, we derive constraints for various combinations of the measurements. We also discuss several models which predict such radiatively decaying particles, and we derive constraints on such models. Typeset using REVTEX


As new informational technologies emerge and ever more innovative applications of existing technologies are found, new circumstances will also evolve. The ethical issues involved in these situations will challenge forward-looking nurse leaders to become aware of the matters in question and to employ critical thinking to ensure that information technology serves all stakeholders well.


We investigate the band-gap narrowing in silicon caused by the introduction of additional electron carriers together with a neutralizing uniform positive background charge. The local-density approximation (LDA) is shown to be inadequate for calculating the band-gap narrowing. Using a first-principles technique and the GW approximation for the self-energy operator, we show that the change in the screening of the electron-electron interaction is the dominant effect. By employing the nonlocal inhomogeneous and energy-dependent dielectric function of the intrinsic material, we obtain significant corrections at high doping densities to previous model theories that use the simple static dielectric constant. While the inclusion of local-field effects is shown to give a negligible contribution, it is the energy dependence of the dielectric function that gives the main improvement. The inclusion in the screened Coulomb interaction of the ''true'' wave functions (calculated using the LDA), which we assume the additional carriers to occupy, is found to have no significant effect compared with the results obtained from a calculation using plane-wave functions. This is due to the fact that the changes in the electron-electron interaction occur predominantly at long wavelengths, so that the microscopic details of the wave functions are unimportant.


Multiple single-unit recording has become one of the most powerful in vivo electro-physiological techniques for studying neural circuits. The demand has been increasing for small and lightweight chronic recording devices that allow fine adjustments to be made over large numbers of electrodes across multiple brain regions. To achieve this, we developed precision motorized microdrive arrays that use a novel motor multiplexing headstage to dramatically reduce wiring while preserving precision of the microdrive control. Versions of the microdrive array were chronically implanted on both rats (21 microdrives) and mice (7 microdrives), and relatively long-term recordings were taken.


The tetramerization domain of p53 is required for efficient tumor suppressor activity. This domain, however, also allows wild-type p53 to heterooligomerize with dominant negative tumor-derived p53 mutants. We explored the feasibility of substituting the native tetramerization domain of wild-type p53 with an engineered leucine zipper that assembles as a four-stranded coiled coil. The engineered zipper drove p53 tetramerization in vitro and p53 function in vivo. Furthermore, it alleviated transdominant inhibition by tumor-derived p53 mutants, implying that dominant negative mutants act by hetero-oligomerizing with wild-type p53. The ability of the engineered zipper to drive tetramerization was critical for p53 function, since p53 dimers, formed by substituting the p53 tetramerization domain with a native leucine zipper, were weak tumor suppressors.


(with chapter highlights) 1. Introduction to Business in the United States. Introduction of the Conceptual Framework of Accounting. Revised organization of the chapter to include coverage of the basic standard setting process and explain the purpose of the independent audit. Appendix introduces the student to information found in an annual report and Form 10-K plus information gathering techniques. Introduces the student to the annual report project. 2. Economic Decision Making. Consolidated and condensed decision-making and economic decision-making into one chapter. Increased use of business examples in chapter and end-of-chapter materials. 3. Tools of the Trade, Part I: The Balance Sheet: Initial Financing-Investments by Owners. Increased coverage of preferred stock, quotation of prices, and corporate structure. 4. The Balance Sheet (Continued): Additional Financing-Borrowing from Others. Expanded material on notes, bonds, and interest, including more computational material on the cost of borrowing. 5. Tools of the Trade, Part II: Income Statement and Statement of Owners Equity. Introduction to the four components of equity. Inclusion of owner contributions and owner distributions in the statement of owners equity. Increased coverage of treasury stock. 6. Keeping Score: Bases of Economic Measurement. Increased references to the Conceptual Framework of Accounting as justification for accrual basis. Introduction to the four functions of the firm and the reality of cash as a prelude to the statement of cash flows. Expanded explanations of recognition, realization, and revenue and expense recognition under both cash and accrual bases of accounting. 7. Accumulating Accounting Data. New chapter on the complete accounting process. Includes several comprehensive practice sets to illustrate the accounting cycle for a proprietorship, partnership, and corporation. Practice sets can be completed using the PH General Ledger available on the PHLIP website. 8. Challenging Issues under Accrual Accounting: Long-Lived Depreciable Assets-A Closer Look. New coverage of the units of production as an alternative straight-line method of depreciation. Enhanced coverage of historical cost of assets as distinguished from operating expenses. Discussion of functional and technological obsolescence. Appendix illustrates the journal entries for recording depreciation and the disposal of long-lived assets to complement material in Chapter 7. 9. Challenging Issues under Accrual Accounting: Merchandise Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold. Completed coverage of a periodic inventory system. Introduction of specific identification cost allocation method. Appendix covers freight terms and cash discounts from a conceptual and mathematical perspective. Second appendix to the chapter illustrates the journal entries for both periodic and perpetual inventory purchases and sales, including closing entries for periodic systems, adjustments for physical counts, freight terms, and cash discounts. 10. The Balance Sheet and Income Statement: A Closer Look. Introduction to investments and intangible assets. Illustrated coverage of earnings per share computations and reporting for both basic and diluted earnings per share. Brief introduction to comprehensive income under SFAS No. 130. Appendix includes accruals for income tax expense and payment of prepaid taxes and tax liabilities. 11. Tools of the Trade Part III: The Statement of Cash Flows: Bringing the Focus Back to Cash. Enhanced coverage of the direct method. Disclosure requirements for the supplemental schedules. Financial reporting cases include real companies who use the direct method. 12. Financial Statement Analysis. Step-by-step guide to financial analysis.


A novel Physical Optics algorithm to compute the far field of dual reflector antennas is presented. The algorithm can be also used with single reflector antennas and is particularly useful for many reflector antenna design problems where optimization techniques involving iterative analysis are required. It is based on the discretization of the surfaces in a number of quasi-equal area and quasi-squared patches that are substituted by their planar and square equivalents for a fast computation based on analytical beams. A good compromise is found between the number of patches and the complexity of the representation of the fields at any patch. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the algorithm and its efficiency in terms of CPU time consumption.


The Mediterranean Basin has been the cradle of world civilization since the first settlements in Jericho in 9000 BC. Known in English and the Romance languages as the sea "between the lands", the Mediterranean goes and has gone by many names: Our Sea, for the Romans, the White Sea (Akdeniz) for the Turks, the Great Sea (Yam Gadol) for the Jews, the Middle Sea (Mittelmeer) for the Germans and more doubtfully the Great Green for the ancient Egyptians. David Abulafia.


A range of bismuth trihalide and arylbismuth(III) halide complexes with pyridine ligands has been prepared and structurally characterised. The complex [BiI3(py)3] (py = pyridine) is octahedral with the iodide and pyridine ligands arranged in a mer configuration. A seven-co-ordinate complex [BiCl3(py)4] is also described. The compounds [BiCl2Ph(4-Mepy)2] (4-Mepy = 4-methylpyridine), [BiBr2Ph(4-Mepy)2], [BiBr2Ph(4-Butpy)2] (4-Butpy = 4-tert-butylpyridine) and [BiI2Ph(4-Butpy)2] all have a five-co-ordinate, square-based pyramidal bismuth centre in which the phenyl group occupies the apical position with two trans halides and two trans pyridine ligands residing in the basal plane. In the solid state these moieties are dimerised through a pair of weak asymmetric halide bridging interactions. The complexes [BiBr2Ph(py)2] and [BiI2Ph(4-Mepy)2] have similar monomeric units but in the former case these are weakly associated into polymeric chains rather than dimers whereas, for the latter, dimers are formed through a single bridging iodide. In the structure of the ionic compound [4-ButpyH][BiCl3Ph(4-Butpy)] the [BiCl3Ph(4-Butpy)]– anion is monomeric with a square-based pyramidal structure in which the phenyl group is in an apical site whilst the three chlorides and 4-Butpy ligand occupy the basal positions. An example of a diphenylbismuth halide complex is seen in the structure of [BiIPh2(4-Mepy)], the monomeric unit of which contains a four-co-ordinate bismuth centre with a geometry based on an equatorially vacant trigonal bipyramid in which the two phenyl groups are equatorial and the iodide and 4-methylpyridine ligand are axial. A weak association into polymeric chains occurs through long Bi· · ·I interactions approximately trans to one phenyl group. All compounds are discussed in terms of their structure and bonding and compared with related materials previously characterised.


Background High seminal plasma HIV-1 RNA loads (SVL) have been reported during gonococcal, non-gonococcal and chlamydial urethritis in patients not taking antiretroviral therapy. Objective To examine if urethritis leads to increased SVL in HIV-positive patients taking antiretroviral therapy. Methods Men who had been taking therapy for at least 3 months were recruited: 24 had urethitis (PWU) and 16 were without urethritis (controls). At three visits, 1 week apart, blood plasma viral load (BVL) and SVL were assayed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction or the NASBA assay. Results Most subjects had undetectable SVL (18 PWU, 13 controls). Among those with undetectable BVL prior to first study visit, virus was undetectable in semen in 5/5 episodes of chlamydial urethritis, 6/7 episodes of non-gonococcal urethritis and 4/5 cases of gonococcal urethritis. Two PWU with undetectable BVL just prior to the first study visit had low to moderate SVL, which became undetectable by visit 2 following treatment. Of nine subjects with detectable SVL, eight had detectable BVL (3/3 controls and 5/6 PWU). Of these, 1/3 controls and 4/5 PWU (all with gonococcal urethritis) had poorly controlled BVL just prior to the first study visit. These four PWU had high SVL and one had higher levels in semen than in blood. This patient's SVL was reduced more than 20-fold following treatment for gonococcal urethritis. Conclusions Effective antiretroviral therapy appeared to limit the effect of urethritis on SVL. When BVL was poorly controlled by antiretroviral therapy, high SVL occurred during gonococcal urethritis, increasing the potential risk of transmitting both wild type and drug resistant strains of HIV-1.


Globally, policy implementation in the education system has been found to be a challenging area of development. The South African education system is no exception to the ineffective implementation of policies. For example, in South Africa, the progression policy was introduced by the Department of Education in 2013 for the purpose of minimising school drop-out rates. It was intended particularly for learners who had been retained for more than 4 years in a phase. However, progressed learners have been said to be contributing to the decline of Grade 12 national results in 2015 and 2016. We argue that due procedures in the implementation of this policy could have affected the performance of progressed learners, and in turn the overall matriculation results. A qualitative approach was followed and a descriptive case study design was adopted in the study reported on here. Data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews from 2 secondary schools in the Dimamo circuit, Limpopo province. We found that the progression policy was not implemented according to the stipulations. Communication breakdown, negative teacher attitude, overcrowded classrooms, a lack of knowledge and support were found to be contributory factors in the ineffective implementation of the policy.


Many mutations cause neural tube closure defects (NTDs, exencephaly or spina bifida) in mice and the gene loci are widely distributed in the mouse genome. This compilation summarizes the map position of 40 mouse NTD mutations and the corresponding human linkage homology of each. It includes the nature of the gene product where known, and whether the NTD is part of a syndrome involving other developmental systems. Also listed are the several mouse strains known to have genetic susceptibility to exencephaly, with multifactorial genetic cause in at least one case. The purposes of this mouse NTD compilation are to enable recognition of patterns in genetic causes of NTDs, of molecular pathways essential for closure of specific regions of the mammalian neural tube, and of candidate regions for mapping loci contributing to human multifactorial NTDs.


In this paper we propose a novel method for audio watermarking which is appropriate for real-time applications. Here the energy proportion of two successive low-middle frequency bands of each audio signal frame is computed and through the use of index modulation technique we embed the watermark bits into these proportion values. Low complexity is the most important characteristic of the proposed method making it appropriate for real-time applications. The method is a blind one, that is it does not need the original signal for extracting watermark bits. Experimental results have shown that it has a very good robustness against common watermarking attacks such as MP3 compression, low pass filtering, resampling, requantizing and adding noise.


This study was performed to estimate the prevalence of abortions and to evaluate its association with the socio-demographic factors in an urban slum. The data was collected based on recall obstetric history from186 females through systematic random sampling from 01.04.2001 to 30.06.2001. It was found that the abortion rate was 419.35 / 1000 women of reproductive age group. Abortion ratio was 109.39 / 1000 live births. There was strong association of induced abortion with non-Muslim family, working of female and illiteracy of husband. On the other hand gravidity 5 or above (increasing gravidity) was statistically associated with total abortions. It was concluded that there is an unmet need for controlling unwanted pregnancies and promoting birth spacing among Pakistani women. Some important social and demographic factors determine the abortion behavior in Pakistan.


This paper is concerned with the problem of adaptive fuzzy tracking control for a class of uncertain multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) pure-feedback nonlinear systems with immeasurable states. The dynamic output feedback strategy begins with a state observer. Fuzzy logic systems are utilized to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions. The filtered signals are introduced to circumvent algebraic loop problem encountered in the implementation of the controller, and an adaptive fuzzy output feedback is obtained via a backstepping recursive design technique. It is shown that the proposed control law can guarantee that all the signals of the resulting closed-loop system are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded and that the observer and tracking errors converge to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation studies are included to illustrate the effectiveness and potentials of the proposed techniques.


Introduction: The acute management of bipolar depression presents particular challenges. In most cases, it responds poorly to traditional antidepressants – chronicity and partial response are commonly observed. In a subset of patients, antidepressants provoke a switch into mania and/or cause rapid cycling over the long term. Areas covered: The evidence supporting emerging and existing pharmacological treatments for bipolar depression, with particular reference to response and remission rates and risk of switching into mania, is reviewed. Novel modes of action and future pharmacological strategies are considered. Expert opinion: Drugs with greater efficacy, tolerability and speed of action are required in the treatment of bipolar depression. Novel antidepressant agents, including NMDA antagonists, GABA-ergics, 5HT-7 and 5HT-2 antagonists and adjunctive dopaminergics, offer promise, perhaps with a low risk of switching. Newer dual-action antidepressants (e.g., milnacipran) may have good efficacy but the risk of switching is not known. More randomized controlled trials and naturalistic studies are required.


Effective immunotherapy for cancer depends on both cellular and humoral immune responses to tumor antigens. MUC1, which is expressed at increased levels on breast cancer, also exhibits altered glycosylation that contributes to the formation of novel antigens. The identification of MHC class I and II binding peptides derived from tumor-associated MUC1 has facilitated the development of MUC1 based cancer vaccines. We have shown that the MHC class I binding epitopes from MUC1 tandem repeat, when given as emulsification with adjuvants, has always resulted in strong cellular response with no antibody response. It is possible that better immunogenicity would be obtained using glycopeptides more representative of the novel forms of MUC1 as seen in cancer to which individuals may be less tolerant and that direct linking of the vaccine components would result in a superior immune response than delivering them as a mix. Here we show that a three-component vaccine composed of a TLR2 agonist, a helper epitope and a T cell epitope, which is also a B cell epitope, derived from the MUC1 can break tolerance and elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses. Immunization with the MUC1 glycopeptide vaccine led to a significant reduction in tumor burden compared to mice treated with adjuvants only and empty liposomes. The tri-component vaccine activated MUC1 glycopeptide-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and elicited robust titers of IgG antibodies that lyse relevant tumor cells by ADCC.


Two orders of zooblankton,were studied Cladocera and Copepeda in two classes Calanoida and Cyclopoda, where it was studied inside floating cages and for breeding fish placed in the Tigris River in the Rashidiya area. Has been study The population density of zooplankton groups and measure some chemical and physical characters, was studie where she collected samples of zooplankton and water from two locations of cages (inside the cages, after 100m from cages). The study was conducted within six months from January to the end of June 2014 during which there was study of the Wallace pH, water temperature, biological oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen, as to the zooplankton study the species disappeared inside cages of fish and existed after 100 meters from the cages also the different between the individual through the month study the highest range in June reached to 16.55 individual/ liter and the lowest range record in January reached to 6.60 individual/ liter, in addition to having changes in the physical and chemical factors, where the high water temperature ranged to 32C˚ where the density of three zooplankton in this range is 16.10 per individual/ liter and the low range record in January amounted to 10C˚ and three phytoplankton density are 6.50 per individual/ liter and highest rate of pH recorded in April to 8.02 and the lowest rate was recorded in May reached to 7.42 also recorded the density of phytoplankton in this rate between 9.02 and 7.46 individual/ liter, respectively. Also ranged dissolved oxygen values in the water has highest rate recorded in March amounted to 7.70 mg/L, while the three phytoplankton density reached to 12.14 individual/ liter, and its lowest rate was recorded in May to 5.95 mg/L and density of the three individual phytoplankton to 7.46 per individual/ liter. The value of the BOD has shown highest in February reached to 6.50 mg/L and lower rate in April reached to 4.20 mg/L and recorded phytoplankton density during these rates between 8.61 and 9.02 individual/ liter, respectively


Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is the prototypic and most prevalent and debilitating spondyloarthropathy, a group of arthritides where the spine and pelvis are specifically targeted. Unlike many other forms of arthritis in which joint damage is mediated through tissue destruction, in AS uncontrolled bone formation occurs, frequently resulting in joint fusion and consequently significant disability. It is estimated that there are 2.4 million spondyloarthritis sufferers in the U.S., twice as many as rheumatoid arthritis. The pathogenesis of AS is very poorly understood and both genetics and gene expression profiling approaches have been utilized to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and pathways that drive the disease. Using powerful genome-wide association study approaches a number of candidate genes have been found to be associated with AS. However, although such approaches can identify genes that can contribute to the disease process, they do not inform us of the actual changes in gene/cell activity at any point in the disease process. Expression profiling allows us to take a "snapshot" of cellular activity and what gene activity changes are underlying those changes. A number of expression profiling studies have been undertaken in AS, looking at both circulating cells and tissues from affected joints. The results to date have been somewhat disappointing with little consensus on gene activity changes due to the low power of the studies undertaken. Some more recent better powered studies have identified diagnostic expression profiles that do point to a possible role for expression profiling in early AS diagnosis. Future studies will require collaborative approaches to target specific disease stages and sites with larger numbers of samples.


In this study, the outage performance of a multi-relay cooperative network operating in a spectrum sharing environment is analysed. Focusing on the secondary communication process, a relay selection procedure is performed prior to the communication process, where the selected relay is the one maximising the instantaneous end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and, at the same time, satisfying the power restrictions imposed by the primary receivers. The secondary destination employs a selection combining strategy, selecting the best path (direct link or relaying link) with the highest instantaneous SNR. Two kinds of relaying protocols are considered: decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward. For the former, an exact closed-form expression for the outage probability (OP) is derived, whereas for the latter an accurate approximation for the OP is obtained. Then, an asymptotic analysis is carried out and reveals that the system diversity order is N + 1 for both relaying protocols, with N denoting the number of relays. Monte Carlo simulations assess the accuracy of the authors' results.


Listeners have to overcome variability of the speech signal that can arise, for example, because of differences in room acoustics, differences in speakers' vocal tract properties, or idiosyncrasies in pronunciation. Two mechanisms that are involved in resolving such variation are perceptually contrastive effects that arise from surrounding acoustic context and lexically guided perceptual learning. Although both processes have been studied in great detail, little attention has been paid to how they operate relative to each other in speech perception. The present study set out to address this issue. The carrier parts of exposure stimuli of a classical perceptual learning experiment were spectrally filtered such that the acoustically ambiguous final fricatives sounded relatively more like the lexically intended sound (Experiment 1) or the alternative (Experiment 2). Perceptual learning was found only in the latter case. The findings show that perceptual contrast effects precede lexically guided perceptual learning, at least in terms of temporal order, and potentially in terms of cognitive processing levels as well.


The conditions for a matrix to have all its eigenvalues inside an ellipse are obtained and explained in terms of a vector norm. A set of functions orthogonal on the ellipse is obtained and the relation between the Chebyshev filter and these functions is presented. The Butterworth filter is derived as a particular case.


BACKGROUND
Stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEM) reflect a deviation from normal site-specific methylation patterns. Epigenetic mutation load (EML) captures the accumulation of SEMs across an individual's genome and may reflect dysfunction of the epigenetic maintenance system in response to epigenetic challenges.

OBJECTIVE
We investigate whether EML is associated with PD risk and time to events (i.e., death and motor symptom decline).

METHODS
We employed logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression to assess the association between EML and several outcomes. Our analyses are based on 568 PD patients and 238 controls from the Parkinson's disease, Environment and Genes (PEG) study, for whom blood-based methylation data was available.

RESULTS
We found an association for PD onset and EML in all genes (OR = 1.90; 95%CI 1.52-2.37) and PD-related genes (OR = 1.87; 95%CI 1.50-2.32). EML was also associated with time to a minimum score of 35 points on the motor UPDRS exam (OR = 1.28; 95%CI 1.06-1.56) and time to death (OR = 1.29, 95%CI 1.11-1.49). An analysis of PD related genes only revealed five intragenic hotspots of high SEM density associated with PD risk.

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest an enrichment of methylation dysregulation in PD patients in general and specifically in five PD related genes. EML may also be associated with time to death and motor symptom progression in PD patients.


PurposeProstate cancer (PCa) imaging has been revolutionized by Positron emission tomography (PET) tracers targeted to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). Identification and characterization of non-PCa tumors has become an increasing clinical dilemma with growing use. The primary aim of this retrospective multicenter analysis was to determine atypical PSMA expression in PCa and expression in non-PCa tumors to aid providing clinically relevant reports and guiding multidisciplinary discussion.MethodsRetrospective multicenter study examining 1445 consecutive 18F-DCFPyL PSMA PET/CT between 2016-2020. Referrals were from public and private, secondary and tertiary referral centres serving New Zealand and Melbourne. Repeat studies were excluded. Lesions atypical for PCa were categorized into four groups: 1. Atypical PCa metastases 2. Non-PCa tumors 3. Benign and 4. Indeterminate.Results67 patients had lesions atypical for PCa metastases; 11.9% atypical prostate cancer metastases, 25.4% non-PCa tumors, 40.3% indeterminate, 10.4% benign. With the exception of Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), the non-PCa tumors, indeterminate and benign lesions demonstrated low PSMA expression. Most atypical PCa metastases demonstrated significant expression. Limitations included retrospective design and lack of histopathological correlation/follow up in some.Conclusions: Non-PCa tumor detection is low. Lesions demonstrating significant PSMA expression were almost exclusively PCa metastases. Differentiation of atypical PCa metastases from second primary malignancies is vital to avoid unnecessary investigation, delayed therapy and additional costs.


We hypothesized that in preeclampsia (PE), contribution of endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) and the mechanism/s of its action differ from that in normal pregnancy (NP). We aimed to assess endothelial function and morphology in arteries from NP and PE with particular focus on EDHF. Arteries ( approximately 200 mum) were dissected from subcutaneous fat biopsies obtained from women undergoing cesarean section. With the use of wire myography, responses to the endothelium-dependent agonist bradykinin (BK) were determined before and after inhibition of pathways relevant to EDHF activity. The overall responses to BK in arteries from PE (n = 13) and NP (n = 17) were similar. However, in PE, EDHF-mediated relaxation was reduced (P < 0.05). All women within the PE group were divided into two subgroups: with more (group 1) or less (group 2) than 50% reduction of EDHF-typed responses after 18-alpha-glycyrrhetinic acid (an inhibitor of myoendothelial gap junctions, MEGJs). The division showed that 1) MEGJs are principally involved when the EDHF contribution is reduced; and 2) when the EDHF contribution is similar to that in NP, the H(2)O(2) and/or cytochrome P-450 epoxygenase products of arachidonic acid (AA), along with MEGJs, confer EDHF-mediated relaxation. In contrast, MEGJs were the main pathway for EDHF in NP. The abundant presence of MEGJs in arteries from NP but deficiency of them in PE was observed using transmission electron microscopy. We conclude that PE is associated with heterogeneous contribution of EDHF, and the mechanism behind EDHF-typed responses is mediated either by MEGJs alone or in combination with H(2)O(2) or cytochrome P-450 epoxygenase metabolites of AA.


This chapter reviews the laws of apostasy and blasphemy in the Muslim world, by looking particularly at Pakistani and Malaysian cases. It strongly argues that the death penalty in the laws of apostasy and blasphemy is untenable in the modern period. The chapter demonstrates that these laws conflict with a variety of foundational teachings of Islam and with the current ethos of human rights, in particular the freedom to choose one's religion and the freedom to express oneself.


OBJECTIVE
The effect of phototherapy on tissue repair was determined by aggregating the literature and using statistical meta-analysis to analyze pertinent studies published between 2000 and 2007.

BACKGROUND DATA
Phototherapy has been used for more than 40 y; however, its efficacy on tissue repair remains contentious.

METHOD
Related original studies were gathered from every available source. The papers were then screened and coded; those meeting pre-established inclusion criterion were subjected to meta-analysis, using Cohen's d statistic to determine treatment effect size.

RESULTS
Seventy effect sizes were computed from the 23 papers that met the inclusion criteria. The overall mean effect obtained was highly significant, d = +1.94 (95% confidence interval = 0.58-2.50). Further analyses revealed a similarly positive effect of phototherapy on tissue repair in experimental animal studies, d = +2.60, and a small to moderately positive effect in human cases of tissue repair, d = +0.34. The fail-safe number associated with the overall effect was 869; i.e., the number of additional studies in which phototherapy has negative or no effect on wound healing needed to negate the overall large effect size of + 1.94. The corresponding fail-safe numbers for experimental animal and human tissue repair studies were 612 and 64, respectively.

CONCLUSION
These findings indicate that phototherapy is a highly effective form of treatment for tissue repair, with stronger supporting evidence resulting from experimental animal studies than human studies.


Abstract The impact of the built environment on health prompted nurse faculty to implement a new physically engaging educational offering. A 10-mile bicycle ride was piloted with two senior-level baccalaureate community clinical nursing students (n = 17). Facilitated discussions with an interdisciplinary panel took place at 10 scheduled stops along the ride, highlighting health, terminology, environmental legislation, and community advocacy. Specific learning outcomes were established and evaluated. Feedback reflected positive student learning. This activity highlights a new approach to meeting core baccalaureate essentials and demonstrates the importance of the nurse's role as community advocate for healthy built environments.


Thyroid morphology and function are likely affected by the cyclic hormonal environment during different reproductive events in females. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the variation of thyroid morphology at different reproductive events (anestrus, estrus, lactation, and pregnancy) in a captive group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) measured using sonography. Sonographic examinations of the thyroid gland and ovaries in nine sexually mature female subjects were performed weekly for 2.5 yr. A generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the effects of the reproductive events for thyroid volume. Reproductive event was found to be a significant predictor for thyroid volume measurement and significant variation in thyroid volume was found between different reproductive events. A significantly larger thyroid volume in lactating females was observed when compared with estrous and anestrous females, possibly due to the high energy requirements and milk production during lactation. Taken together, thyroid volume variation during different reproductive events in female dolphins should be considered so as to obtain a diagnostically meaningful assessment when conducting routine examinations.


Essential proteins as a vital part of maintaining the cells' life play an important role in the study of biology and drug design. With the generation of large amounts of biological data related to essential proteins, an increasing number of computational methods have been proposed. Different from the methods which adopt a single machine learning method or an ensemble machine learning method, this paper proposes a predicting framework named by XGBFEMF for identifying essential proteins, which includes a SUB-EXPAND-SHRINK method for constructing the composite features with original features and obtaining the better subset of features for essential protein prediction, and also includes a model fusion method for getting a more effective prediction model. We carry out experiments on Yeast data to assess the performance of the XGBFEMF with ROC analysis, accuracy analysis, and top analysis. Meanwhile, we set up experiments on E. coli data for the validation of performance. The test results show that the XGBFEMF framework can effectively improve many essential indicators. In addition, we analyze each step in the XGBFEMF framework; our results show that both each step of the SUB-EXPAND-SHRINK method as well as the step of multi-model fusion can improve prediction performance.


This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of a representative pro-oxidant (manganese stearate) on the degradation behavior of 70 ± 5 μ thickness films of LDPE, LLDPE and their blends. Films were prepared by film blowing technique in the presence of varying quantities of manganese stearate (0.5–1% w/w) and subsequently subjected to accelerated degradative tests: xenon arc exposure and air-oven exposure (at 70°C). The physico–chemical changes induced as a result of aging were followed by monitoring the mechanical properties (Tensile strength and Elongation at break), carbonyl index (CI), morphology (SEM), melt flow index (MFI), oxygen content (Elemental analysis), and DSC crystallinity. The results indicate that the degradative effect of pro-oxidant is more pronounced in LDPE than LLDPE and blends, due to the presence of larger number of weak branches in the former. The degradation was also found to be proportional to the concentration of the pro-oxidant. Flynn-Wall-Ozawa iso-conversion technique was used to determine the kinetic parameters of degradation, which were used to determine the effect of the pro-oxidant on the theoretical lifetime of the polymer. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010


We describe and illustrate three new species of Freziera collected from the "ceja de monte yunguena" cloud forests in Bolivia and Peru. Freziera apolobambensis and F. erickitae , both endemic to Bolivia, have small leaves and pink-magenta flowers, whereas F. magnibracteolata, found in Peru and Bolivia, is characterized by its adaxially pubescent leaves with whitish beige trichomes and inflorescences with large bracts and bracteoles. An extinction risk assessment based on the IUCN Red List categories and criteria indicates that F. apolobambensis should be considered Critically Endangered (CR), whereas F. erickitae and F. magnibracteolata should be considered Endangered (EN). The distribution, phenology, and habitat of the new taxa are provided, and affinities with their presumed closest relatives are discussed.


Trying to prove the validity of Eysenck's theories for the biological basis of personality many data for the differences between extraverts and introverts were collected. It was obtained, that the ERP differences between extraverts and introverts depend on the intensity and frequency of stimulation, but the papers concerning task difficulty dependence are very limited. The purpose of this work was to investigate how the task complexity affects ERP differences between extraverts and introverts. For testing the extraversion we used Eysenck Personality Questionary (EPQ). We recorded EEG under four equal audio series of pseudo-randomized low and high tones. We changed the level of task complexity by different instructions: 1 - passive listening; 2 – answering with the right index finger to the low tone and the left index finger to the high tone; 3 – counting the low tones; 4 – answering with the right index finger to low tones; We averaged stimulus locked ERP across each series and tones for extraverts and introverts separately. It was evident that the ERP differences between extraverts and introverts depend on the task complexity. We found P2, N2 and P3 latency differences and N1, P2, N2 and P3 amplitude differences. As whole extraverts showed larger N2 amplitudes and shorter N2 latencies. The differences were more pronounced in the task supposed less complexity and decreased with the increase of task complexity.


Cloud computing is a new paradigm that provides end users with a secure, personalized, dynamic computing environment with guaranteed service quality. One popular solution is Google cloud firestore, a global-scale not only structured query language (NoSQL) document database for mobile and web apps. Recent research on cloud-based NoSQL databases often discusses the difference between them and SQL databases and their performance. However, using cloud-based NoSQL databases such as firestore is tricky without any scientific comparison methodology, and it needs analysis of how its particular systems work. This study aims to discover what is the best design that could be implemented to optimize data read cost, response size, and time regarding the cloud firestore database. In this study, we develop a grade point average (GPA)-report mocking application to assess data read based on our institution's needs. This application consists of three functions. Add the graduated GPA and students' names, and view the ten highest GPAs, GPA average, and total graduated students. The finding indicates that aggregating data on the client side or utilizing the Google cloud function trigger, then updating aggregation data in one transaction significantly reduces document read count (cost), response size, and time.


Little empirical work has been done on the effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and green supply chain management (GSCM) on firm outcomes. The literature on environmental disclosure suggests that it is a useful practice to improve a firm's reputation and its financial performance and also to establish a dialogue with stakeholders improving environmental performance. Recent conceptual contributions in the supply chain management literature state that stakeholder expectations and informational needs increasingly concern firm supply chains. Thus, the authors propose that positive effects of inclusive environmental disclosure practices are enhanced in presence of GSCM practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues.,To test these relationships a combination of primary data on environmental disclosure practices, GSCM practices and environmental performance, and secondary data on financial performance was used. A series of hierarchical regression models were performed to test the disclosure-outcome relationships and the moderation of GSCM practices.,Results provide empirical support for the impact of inclusive environmental disclosure practices on financial performance but no support for the impact on environmental performance. Specifically, the more inclusive the environmental disclosure practices the greater and positive is the impact on financial performance in presence of GSCM practices.,This study provides empirical evidence of the joint effects of inclusive environmental disclosure and GSCM practices on environmental and financial performance. Doing so, it reinforces the recent conceptual foundation that firms should align and leverage on supply chain management for disclosure practice effectiveness.


SUMMARY
Previously we developed the stand-alone SNAP Workbench toolkit that integrated a wide array of bioinformatics tools for phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. We have now developed a web-based portal front-end, using the Mobyle portal framework, which executes all of the programs available in the stand-alone SNAP Workbench toolkit on a high-performance Linux cluster. Additionally, we have expanded the selection of programs to over 189 tools, including population genetic, genome assembly and analysis tools, as well as metagenomic and large-scale phylogenetic analyses. The Mobyle SNAP Workbench web portal allows end users to (i) execute and manage otherwise complex command-line programs, (ii) launch multiple exploratory analyses of parameter-rich and computationally intensive methods and (iii) track the sequence of steps and parameters that were used to perform a specific analysis. Analysis pipelines or workflows for population genetic, metagenomic and genome assembly provide automation of data conversion, analysis and graphical visualization for biological inference.

AVAILABILITY
The Mobyle SNAP Workbench portal is freely available online at http://snap.hpc.ncsu.edu/. The XMLs can be downloaded at http://carbonelab.org/system/files/snap_xmls.tgz. Each XML provides links to help files, online documentation and sample data.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Energy spectra of 5-20 eV electrons from 1-25 keV Cl--He, Ne and Cl-He, Ne collisions have been measured. The electron spectra show that only one doubly excited autodetaching Cl- state is formed. Some of the electron peaks previously assigned to doubly excited Cl- states are shown to originate from the decay of neutral Cl states with the configurations 3s3p5nl or 3s23p3nln'l'.


Online distance education can take many forms, from a correspondence course with materials online to fully synchronous, live instruction. This paper describes a fully synchronous, live format using web-conferencing. Some useful features of web-conferencing and the way they are employed in this course are described. Instructor observations and perceived benefits are presented, along with some challenges.


Background: Unintended pregnancy is an important public health challenge in many corner of the world especially in developing countries. Different efforts have been applied to reduce unintended pregnancy, but it is still increasing in Africa specifically in Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the magnitude and associated factors of unintended pregnancy among pregnant women in Arba Minch town, Southern Ethiopia.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study design was conducted from February 15th to March 11th 2015 among 288 randomly selected pregnant women. Data on demographic and other risk factors of unintended pregnancy were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. The result was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Logistic regressions employed to assess the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Level of significance determined at p-value <5%.
Results: Magnitude of unintended pregnancy was 19.4%. This problem was affected by different factors positively or negatively. Predictor like age at first marriage ≤18 and husband refusal to use family planning were found to be positively associated with unintended pregnancy as evidenced by statistical result of [AOR=4.60 (95%CI):(2.88, 7.34)] and [AOR=3.5 (95%CI):(1.97, 6.24)] respectively. On the other hand, knowledge on family planning [AOR =0.40 (95%CI) :(0.075, 0.37)] and utilization of family planning [AOR=0.35 (95%CI): (0.20, 0.61)] were found to be protective factors for unintended pregnancy.
Conclusions: The magnitude of unintended pregnancy was relatively high in this study. Age at first marriage, husband refusal to use family planning, lack practicing family planning and knowledge about family planning were determinants of unintended pregnancy. Therefore, well-tailored family planning, and organized family discussion education program targeting both women and men should be initiated.


Work in Progress—In-depth coverage of arithmetic operations in an introductory digital logic course equips students with the background knowledge necessary for high-level Computer and Electrical engineering and Computer Science courses. In this paper, we propose a new method of teaching digital logic based on including a module on fixed-point and floating-point arithmetic operations during the first four weeks of the course, and then theming the whole course around this module without sacrificing the recommended course outcomes. The paper shows that theming the whole course around arithmetic operations helps students to achieve the course outcomes, makes the course interesting, ties the course to real-life applications, and teaches students how to implement and compare alternative designs.


In one general aspect, various embodiments of the present invention can include a motorized surgical cutting and fastening instrument having a drive shaft, a motor selectively engageable with the drive shaft, and a manual return mechanism configured to operably disengage the motor from the drive shaft and retract the drive shaft. In at least one embodiment, a surgeon, or other operator of the surgical instrument, can utilize the manual return mechanism to retract the drive shaft after it has been advanced, especially when the motor, or a power source supplying the motor, has failed or is otherwise unable to provide a force sufficient to retract the drive shaft.


Statistical classification techniques and machine learning methods have been applied to some Information Retrieval (IR) problems: routing, filtering and categorization. Most of these methods are usually awkward and sometimes intractable in highly dimensional feature spaces. In order to reduce dimensionality, feature selection has been introduced as a pre-processing step. In this paper, we assess to what extent feature selection can be used without causing a loss in effectiveness. This problem can be tackled since a couple of recent learners do not require a preprocessing step.

On a text categorization task, using the Reuters-22,173 collection, we give empirical evidence that feature selection is useful: first, the size of the collection index can be drastically reduced without causing a significant loss in categorization effectiveness. Then, we show that feature selection speeds up the time required to automatically build the categorization system.


In two experiments, the authors explored whether there are any age differences associated with the ability to process outdated information during news reports comprehension. Younger and older participants (mean age: 70 years old) read passages in which a cause was first said to be responsible for the occurrence of a news event. New elements emerged from the investigation in progress and revealed that the original cause was incorrect. Inference response times indicated that older adults more than younger ones took advantage of an alternative cause mentioned in the text to put the outdated information in the background, whereas younger readers probably kept both causes activated. The research tested the concepts involved with age differences in updating situation model.


Acetic acid is one of the important weak acids which had long history in chemical industries. This weak organic acid has been widely used as one of the key intermediate for many chemical, detergent, wood and food industries. The production of this acid is mainly carried out using submerged fermentation system and the standard strain Acetobacter aceti. In the present work, six different media were chosen from the literatures and tested for acetic acid production. The highest acetic acid production was produced in medium composed of glucose, yeast extract and peptone. The composition of this medium was optimized by changing the concentration of medium components. The optimized medium was composed of (g/L): glucose, 100; yeast extract, 12 and peptone 5 and yielded 53 g/L acetic acid in shake flask after 144 h fermentation. Further optimization in the production process was achieved by transferring the process to semi-industrial scale 16-L stirred tank bioreactor and cultivation under controlled pH condition. Under fully aerobic conditions, the production of acetic acid reached maximal concentration of about 76 g/L and 51 g/L for uncontrolled and controlled pH cultures, respectively.


The parameter identification of a mathematical model of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) is presented. The model is spatially distributed in two dimensions and describes the strongly non-linear coupling of the temperature field and reactions inside a MCFC. It contains a high number of unknown parameters that need to be validated by experimental means. Therefore, measurements from an industrial 250 kW fuel cell power plant are used. This validation approach requires an elaborate strategy, which is presented in detail. The resulting set of parameters can predict the behavior of the MCFC over a broad operating range with a very good precision. The validated model is an important basis for further process optimization and for control system design.


Child stunting is an important household, socio-economic, environmental and nutritional stress indicator. Nationally, 33% of children under 5 in Rwanda are stunted necessitating the need to identify factors perpetuating stunting for targeted interventions. Our study assessed the individual and community-level determinants of under-5 stunting essential for designing appropriate policy and program responses for addressing stunting in Rwanda. A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 6 and October 9, 2022, in five districts of Rwanda including, Kicukiro, Ngoma, Burera, Nyabihu and Nyanza. 2788 children and their caregivers were enrolled in the study and data on the individual level (child, caregiver/household characteristics), and community-level variables were collected. A multilevel logistic regression model was used to determine the influence of individual and community-level factors on stunting. The prevalence of stunting was 31.4% (95% CI: 29.5–33.1). Of this, 12.2% were severely stunted while 19.2% were moderately stunted. In addition, male gender, age above 11 months, child disability, more than six people in the household, having two children below the age of five, a child having diarrhea 1–2 weeks before the study, eating from own plate when feeding, toilet sharing, and open defecation increased the odds of childhood stunting. The full model accounted for 20% of the total variation in the odds of stunting. Socio-demographic and environmental factors are significant determinants of childhood stunting in Rwanda. Interventions to address under-five stunting should be tailored toward addressing individual factors at household levels to improve the nutritional status and early development of children.


The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative effect on university students' mental health worldwide. The pandemic has resulted in individuals experiencing increased levels of anxiety and stress as well as intensified concerns about the future due to a rise in uncertainty. To eliminate the anxiety and stress caused by uncertainty, individuals who have high cognitive closure needs are strongly motivated to achieve certainty and seek answers, even if the decisions they make in the process are inappropriate or even irrational. This study attempts to analyze the influence of anxiety and stress on university students' academic involution behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic through the mediating effect of the need for cognitive closure. Analyzing the survey data collected from 402 university students from 3 different universities through the mediating effect model and path analysis with latent variable (PA-LV), our results indicate that: (1) The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the levels of anxiety and stress experienced by university students. The path coefficient of the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 to perceived emotions (including anxiety and stress) was 0.352 (p < 0.01), (2) anxiety and stress significantly and positively affect academic involution behavior. For each unit of increase in the scores of anxiety and stress, the scores of academic involution behavior increased by 0.408 (p < 0.01) and 0.398 (p < 0.01) units, respectively, and (3) The need for cognitive closure had a complete and partial mediating effect on the relationship between the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 and academic involution behavior, as well as anxiety and academic involution behavior, respectively. The results of PA-LV showed that the mediating effect values were 0.106 and 0.044, respectively. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet come to an end and so clarifying the relationship between anxiety and academic involution behavior will assist university students to optimize the relationship in their own subjective situations, to establish good learning habits, and reduce psychological distress.


A new rolling process of the 304/Q345R composite plate based on a corrugated interface was developed. Through numerical simulation and rolling experiments, the metal deformation law, the stress and strain field distribution, and the bond strength of the corrugated plate were studied. By comparison, the corrugated interface effectively increased the length of the composite interface. Also, the composite interface from the 2D corrugated surface became a 3D corrugated surface, and a combination of the 304/Q345R composite plate metallurgy was achieved with a low reduction rate. Simultaneously, the interface bonding strength was improved.


PURPOSE
Hematopoietic growth factors have been shown to ameliorate the side effects of chemotherapy. Here we assess the ability of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) to increase the dose-intensity and reduce the side effects of escalated methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (MVAC) chemotherapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A prospective randomized trial to compare escalated MVAC versus escalated MVAC with rhGM-CSF was conducted. All patients were treated at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (UTMDACC) and had a metastatic or unresectable urothelial tumor. Forty-eight patients were randomized (25 to MVAC with rhGM-CSF and 23 to escalated MVAC alone). The clinical characteristics of the study populations were similar (ie, degree of tumor dissemination and performance status).

RESULTS
The dose-intensity in the two arms of the study did not differ significantly. No difference in the frequency of bacteriologically documented infections occurred between the two study arms.

CONCLUSION
The use of the hematopoietic growth factor rhGM-CSF did not result in an increased dose-intensity of escalated MVAC. The inability to increase the dose-intensity of MVAC further was a result of nonhematologic side effects of the chemotherapy. Escalation of treatment delivered at its median-tolerated dose is unlikely to result in additional therapeutic benefit for patients with common solid tumors. Future development of therapy may require the development of new agents or concepts, rather than modification of existing therapies.


The importance of public attitudes in the adoption of reclamation projects has been recognized for some time. We know that people9s perceptions and opinions are forces that can mean the difference between survival or extinction…success or failure. This is a reality that must be recognized in the way we plan and implement a reuse program. While there is no "fool-proof" guarantee of success, a sound pro-active communication and education program is essential. This paper will give some guidelines that you can use to develop a planned communication program that can help you reach technical objectives, obtain public support, and win acceptance for your program.


An ego vehicle following a virtual lead vehicle planned route is an essential component when autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles interact. Yet, there is a question about the driver's ability to follow the planned lead vehicle route. Thus, predicting the trajectory of the ego vehicle route given a lead vehicle route is of interest. We introduce a new dataset, the FollowMe dataset, which offers a motion and behavior prediction problem by answering the latter question of the driver's ability to follow a lead vehicle. We also introduce a deep spatio-temporal graph model FollowMe-STGCNN as a baseline for the dataset. In our experiments and analysis, we show the design benefits of FollowMe-STGCNN in capturing the interactions that lie within the dataset. We contrast the performance of FollowMe-STGCNN with prior motion prediction models showing the need to have a different design mechanism to address the lead vehicle following settings.


Members of the genus Coxiella can be transmitted from ticks to humans during contact with animals; Coxiella may thus spread from the infected horses or ticks to humans. In this study, the presence of Coxiella burnetii and Coxiella-like endosymbionts (CLE) in ticks found on infested horses was determined using PCR and genotyping. A total of 213 ticks were randomly collected from 51 horses (4–5 ticks per horse) raised on Jeju Island, Korea, between 2009 and 2013. All ticks were morphologically identified as adult Haemaphysalis longicornis, a predominant tick species widespread in Korea. Based on the results of nested PCR and 16S rRNA sequencing, CLE were detected in 121 (52.4%, 95% CI: 45.9–58.8) ticks. CLE 16S rRNA sequences from 9 randomly selected ticks were 100% identical. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these 9 sequences were highly similar (97.9–100%) to the sequences of clade B species, like the CLE previously described to be found in Haemaphysalis spp. This study showed that CLE are prevalent in ticks that infest horses reared on Jeju Island, and this is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study to describe CLE occurrence in ticks infesting animals reared in Korea. Because of the high prevalence of CLE in ticks found on horses, CLE transmission from ticks to other animals and humans remains a possibility. This warrants a detailed study of other hosts and regions. Considering the zoonotic potential of Coxiella, further strategic surveillance of Coxiella transmission is necessary.