Practical approaches to the use of multivariate data analysis of 2‐DE protein patterns are demonstrated by three independent strategies for the image analysis and the multivariate analysis on the same set of 2‐DE data. Four wheat varieties were selected on the basis of their baking quality. Two of the varieties were of strong baking quality and hard wheat kernel and two were of weak baking quality and soft kernel. Gliadins at different stages of grain development were analyzed by the application of multivariate data analysis on images of 2‐DEs. Patterns related to the wheat varieties, harvest times and quality were detected on images of 2‐DE protein patterns for all the three strategies. The use of the multivariate methods was evaluated in the alignment and matching procedures of 2‐DE gels. All the three strategies were able to discriminate the samples according to quality, harvest time and variety, although different subsets of protein spots were selected. The explorative approach of using multivariate data analysis and variable selection in the analyses of 2‐DEs seems to be promising as a fast, reliable and convenient way of screening and transforming many gel images into spot quantities.


Stroke is one of the predominant causes of long-term disability and death, and is characterized by the cessation of blood flow to part of the brain, preventing it from accessing oxygen and nutrients needed for ATP production and proper function. Ischemic stroke, the most prevalent type of stroke, involves an obstruction such as a blood clot in a blood vessel. Current treatments seek to remove the obstruction and restore blood flow, but are time-limited and do not reverse tissue damage once it has occurred. The endogenous response to ischemic stroke involves an increase in neurogenesis but falls short in producing functional recovery. Gene therapy that enhances neurogenesis has provided encouraging results in animal models. Preclinical studies in this area have utilized neurotrophic factors that can promote migration of cells from the subventricular zone (SVZ). The transcription factor NeuroD1 converts reactive glial cells, which increase during ischemia, into neurons that integrate into the existing circuits of the brain. The clinical value of gene therapy depends upon the development of safe and efficient administration methods. In this review, we draw from scientific literature to evaluate the relevant genes and vectors for treating ischemic stroke through neurogenesis, and discuss strategies to overcome current limitations of gene therapy in human patients.


Traditional ENG technology got the recording from the eye movement displacement parameters through contacting with skin indirectly. Modern nystagmus gets the eye movement image through video camera, then calculates the eye movement displacement parameters. Difficulties of this technology in so big noise image environment are how to judge the accurate location of the pupil and how to measure the eye rotational angle. In this paper, we use the template matching method to solve how to judge the accurate positioning pupil in case of large noise image environment, followed by the use of mutual information in image registration to solve the problem of measuration of the eye rotational angle. We test these two methods in the simulated test images, and the results are content.


We discuss how the properties of a single-channel Kondo lattice model are modified by additional screening channels. Contrary to current wisdom, additional screening channels appear to constitute a relevant perturbation which destabilizes the Fermi liquid. When a heavy Fermi surface develops, it generates zero modes for Kondo singlets to fluctuate between screening channels of different symmetry, producing a divergent composite pair susceptibility. Additional screening channels couple to these divergent fluctuations, promoting an instability into a state with long-range composite order.


Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a plant pathogenic fungus, can cause serious yield and quality losses in the winter lettuce field. For biological control of S. sclerotiorum, soil-born microorganisms that inhibit the mycelia growth of S. sclerotiorum and Fusarium oxysporum were isolated from diseased soil. Among the isolates, bacterial isolate, GG95, which was identified as Bacillus subtilis according to the morphological, physiological characteristics and by 16S rRNA similarity, showed the highest level of inhibitory activity. The growth conditions for B. subtilis GG95 were optimized in TSB media (pH 7) by culturing at 28oC for 24 hrs. Maltose or fructose and peptone were selected as the best carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Greenhouse experiment was performed to test effectiveness of B. subtilis GG95 in the control sclerotinia rot. Drench application (1×108 cfu/ml, 3 times) of the bacterial culture broth to lettuce showed an effectiveness value of 88%, suggesting that B. subtilis GG95 would be a promising biocontrol agent for control of sclerotinia rot.


ABSTRACT In Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency III (LTIII) infection, BHRF1 encodes three microRNAs (miRNAs). Herein we report that Drosha cleavage of LTIII BHRF1 RNA and cis-acting splicing effects inhibit splicing and inhibit BHRF1 RNA and protein expression. Evidence shown here supports the view that Drosha cleavage to generate mature miRNAs and cis-acting sequences that prevent mRNA maturation are independent processes that prevent LTIII BHRF1 expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines.


An ex vivo gene therapy strategy was used to achieve localized skeletal regeneration in vivo. When an adenovirus vector engineered to express bone morphogenetic protein 7 transduced human gingival fibroblasts or rat dermal fibroblasts, these nonosteogenic tissues formed bone and supported the development of hematopoietic tissue when transplanted into immunocompromised mice. Transduced gingival fibroblasts formed marrow-containing ossicles in 100% of transplants after 1-2 weeks in vivo (n = 30). Immunostaining with murine and human-specific antisera raised against osteonectin and in situ hybridization of human-specific Alu genomic sequence demonstrated that the newly formed bone organ was a chimera of both the human donor and the mouse recipient cells. In experiments of greater clinical relevance, AdCMVBMP-7-transduced dermal fibroblasts repaired critical size skeletal defects in rat calvariae (n = 6). The results of this study suggest a bifunctional role of BMP-7-transduced fibroblasts. The transduced, nonosteogenic cells not only secreted biologically active BMP-7 in vitro and in vivo, but also differentiated into bone-forming cells in vivo. This model exploits the use of an easily biopsied, self-regenerating tissue such as gingiva or skin and suggests that local regeneration of tissues by ex vivo gene therapy may not require that autogenous cells be cultured from the tissue that is to be regenerated.


Objective:The purpose of this representative, nationwide telephone survey was to collect information about postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) use in relation to women's knowledge about the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Trial 2002 (WHI-RCT) in Germany. Design:During July 2003, telephone interviews were conducted with randomly selected women aged 45 to 60 years (N = 10,030; response 59.9%; completed interviews n = 6,007). They were asked about information sources regarding the WHI-RCT, and use of HT in conjunction with it. Results:Most women stated that they knew about the WHI-RCT (88.6%), and those with high educational status appeared to have more information than those with middle or low educational status. Among informed women (uninformed excluded), 46.6% continued, 25.7% stopped, and 14.2% ceased use of HT before the WHI-RCT. The prevalence of lifetime use of HT was higher in West Germany (37.4%) than in East Germany (29.2%), the highest prevalence of use was in the group aged 55 to 59 years. The most common reason to continue HT was the benefit risk assessment by physicians (58%); the most common reason to stop HT were women's perceptions that the risks of HT exceeded the benefits (56%). If information was solely given by physicians, women were more likely to continue HT (60.4%), compared with mass media (46.1%), as a source of information. Conclusions:The survey demonstrates the impact of the WHI-RCT in Germany, and shows that both the media and advice given by physicians were important. Women who continued to use HT did so largely because of their physician's advice. Women who discontinued were mainly those who had a negative subjective perception about risk of HT.


Low-cost sensors, installed on mobile vehicles, provide a cost-effective way for fine-grained urban air pollution monitoring. However, frequent calibration is crucial for low-cost sensors to consistently deliver accurate measurements. Multi-hop calibration is a common practice to calibrate mobile sensor deployments, but is prone to severe error accumulation over hops. Prior research mitigates error accumulation by designing special calibration models, which only apply to linear models. In this paper, we propose an orthogonal approach by selecting reliable measurements for calibration at each hop. We analyze the impact of different data-induced uncertainties on calibration errors and devise a scheme to estimate these uncertainties of the calibrated outputs. We further propose an uncertainty-based metric for data filtering at each hop. We evaluate the effectiveness of our method in a real-world ozone sensor deployment. Experimental results show that our method works with both linear and non-linear calibration models and reduces calibration errors in multi-hop setups by up to 25% compared with existing techniques.


In a retrospective review, in order to describe the palliative care and prognosis of patients with advanced cancer of the esophagus, the clinical characteristics and the treatment modalities applied were explored in relation to survival and symptom relief for 261 patients treated without curative potential. The data were obtained from a study of all patients with cancer of the esophagus treated at the Norwegian Radium Hospital in the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999. Medical data of the patients were reviewed and missing clinical information was retrieved from local hospitals and general practitioners. The patients were divided into three groups based upon the overall survival from start of treatment to death. Survival ≤3 months is in this paper, defined as 'short,' while survival > 6 months is defined as 'long.' Median survival for the total group of patients was 4 months. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival was 8%, 3%, and 1%, respectively. Patients with short survival (n= 107) had more advanced disease, lower performance status, and more dysphagia, weight loss, and pain and used more analgesics than patients with long survival (n= 91). Tumor characteristics such as localization, tumor length, and histology were not significantly associated with survival. This result was confirmed in a logistic regression analysis (with backward stepwise elimination) including sex, age, clinical stage, tumor length, tumor localization, histology, performance status, dysphagia, weight loss, and pain, where clinical stage, performance status, weight loss, and pain were included in the final model. A large variety of first-line palliative treatments were applied within the studied time period; external radiotherapy ± brachytherapy (n= 149), brachytherapy alone (n= 44), endoluminal stent (n= 28), laser evaporization (n= 8), chemotherapy (n= 5), and best supportive care only (n= 27). There were no clear differences in the effect on dysphagia between the modalities. Fourteen percent of the patients had treatment related complications. In conclusion, symptoms, performance status, and use of analgesics seemed to better prognosticate survival than tumor characteristics other than stage of disease. Our study reveals that knowledge about prognostic factors is crucial for the choice of palliative treatment. Even though all of the different treatment modalities seemed to provide relief of dysphagia, several other factors should be considered when deciding which treatment modality to offer. The time to onset of relief, duration of response, level of complications, and time spent in hospital should be a part of the decision-making process when selecting the appropriate treatment.


One of the adaptations whereby phytoplankton can alleviate damage induced by ultraviolet radiation (280-400 nm) is the synthesis of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). The synthesis of MAAs was studied after exposure of the Antarctic diatom Thalassiosira sp. isolated from Potter Cove (South Shetland Is., Antarctica) to 2 treatments with a solar simulator: surface (Sfix) and vertical mixing (Mix) irradiance conditions. Light exposure was simulated in daily cycles with maximum irradiance at noon. Only 2 MAAs, Porphyra-334 (82-85%) and Shinorine (15-18%), were identified. The concentration of the two compounds increased during experimental light exposure (50-55%) and declined in the dark (10-15%). During the light period the synthesis rate of MAAs per unit of chlorophyll a was higher in the Sfix treatment (µ=0.17 h -1 ) than in the Mix treatment (µ=0.05 h -1 ). In spite of the higher MAA levels, low cell numbers were observed in the Sfix treatment, suggesting that the algae synthesized photoprotective compounds at the expense of growth. Our results document overlapping effects of both daily light cycles and vertical mixing affecting the synthesis of MAAs. This, and the high thermal dissipation of the ultraviolet B radiation energy (280-320 nm) absorbed by these substances, suggest a rapid photoadaptive response of Thalasiossira sp. upon exposure to elevated irradiance in a stratified water column, as well as the complementary role of vertical mixing in photo-protection.


The treatment outcome remains poor of severe facial injuries because of the high risk of compromised airway or massive bleeding. We experienced two successful treatment cases of severe facial injury by the chainsaw. A 52-year-male had his face injured by the chainsaw during his work. He was transferred to the Level I trauma center using the Doctor-Helicopter. During his flight, bleeding control was tried and the information was given to the trauma surgeons before his arrival. His consciousness was alert and the vital signs were stable. The crushing wound, mandible open fracture, deep laceration of tongue, lip, neck and arterial bleeding were noted around his mandible. Nasotracheal intubation was performed under the bronchoscope-guided. Emergency operation (open reduction & internal fixation, primary repair with neurorrhaphy) was performed. At 30 hospital days, he was discharged with facial palsy on left mandibular area. A 30-yearmale had his face injured by the chainsaw. He was transferred to our Level I trauma center from the local hospital. The deep-mutiple lacerations on right upper eyelid and forehead with the bony exposure were noted. The vital signs were stable and emergency operation was performed. He was discharged at 20 hospital days. Bone loss or tissue loss were not devastating than we expected even though the injury was occurred by the chainsaw. Aggressive treatment including airway manipulation or bleeding control and maximal opportunity of therapy are absolutely needed.


The importance of market globalisation and the consequent interest in international marketing has prompted a surge of work examining cross-cultural consumer behaviour. As part of this trend, this paper examines the generalisability of Sproles and Kendall's (1986) Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) in an extension of their work in the UK. Most of the original US traits were found in the UK, with the addition of new store-loyalty and time-energy saving traits. However, some problems were encountered with the CSI's reliability and validity. Extending the original study, the research also identified meaningful and distinct decision-making groups which suggests a possible use of the CSI in segmentation. Implications for scale development, segmentation and cross-cultural research are discussed.


English for Academic Purposes (EAP) emerged from the broad concept of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). EAP is intended to facilitate learners in academic setting whilst the latter is more general in its purpose and approach. As such, lack of fundamental knowledge and understanding among ESL educators on the differences of the two teachings could lead to ineffective EAP classroom practices. This study identifies 72 ESL educators' belief on EAP teaching for low level engineering undergraduates at four Malaysian technical universities. The study used an online reflective questionnaire adapted from Alexander (2012) and semi structured interviews with eight senior members of the institutions. The findings indicated a tension which might exist between the beliefs about general CLT and specific EAP teaching among the educators. The lack of awareness among the educators on the differences between the two has consequences on their EAP practices. The senior educators concurred with the findings and highlighted the need of specific EAP competency and formal trainings for the ESL educators in teaching EAP at the Malaysian technical and engineering based higher education institutions.


Livestream shopping has become the focus of current marketing practises, while theoretical research on it is still in initial stages. Thus, from the para-social interaction (PSI) theory perspective, this study draws on cognitive–affective system theory as an analytical framework to explore internal mechanisms of how anchors' characteristics influence consumer behavioural intentions in livestream shopping while considering the characteristics of consumer online interaction propensity. We conducted a survey questionnaire with a sample of 355 consumers who experienced livestream shopping and used structural equation modelling to assess their behavioural intentions. Our results reveal that anchors' physical attractiveness, social attractiveness, and professional ability influence consumers' intentions to follow the authors' suggestions and recommend anchors to others during live streams. PSI and affective trust in anchors are the chain-mediation mechanisms. Furthermore, consumers' online interaction propensity positively moderates the influence of anchors' characteristics on PSI and plays a moderating role on the whole chain mediation. However, this only affects anchors' physical attractiveness and social attractiveness while exert no effect on anchors' professional ability. This study advances the theoretical research on livestream shopping and provides practical inspiration for managers to develop more targeted livestream marketing strategies.


Glomerular diseases occurring in the course of malignancies remain rare. Diverse glomerular lesions can be observed in a variety of neoplasms and involve different pathophysiologic links between the glomerulopathy and the cancer. The pathophysiology of solid tumor-associated glomerulopathies remains obscure, whereas in hematologic malignancy-induced paraneoplastic glomerulopathies, a molecular link can usually be demonstrated. The aim of this review is to provide an update on glomerular diseases associated with carcinoma and hematologic malignancies, covering epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and therapy. Special emphasis will be placed on the potential usefulness of novel biomarkers, such as antiphospholipase A2 receptor antibodies, for the diagnosis of membranous nephropathy, and on new associations and recent entities, including (proliferative) GN with nonorganized monoclonal immunoglobulin deposits and myeloproliferative neoplasm-related glomerulopathy.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the cochlear micromechanics and the function of cochlear efferent system by detecting the distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) with or without contralateral acoustic stimulation.

METHODS
The DPOAE amplitude and latency of the cubic DPOAE (2f1-f2) were measured at f2 = 2, 4 and 6 kHz with or without 70 dB SPL broad-band noise contralateral stimulation in ears of 12 healthy pigmented guinea pigs, which were divided into two groups(A and B) and tested with different primary intensity level combinations. On the next day, an operation was made to open the acoustic bulla of right ear in Group A. Kainic Acid (KA, 1 microL of 60 mmol/L) was applied onto the round window membrane and wiped up carefully after three hours. The amplitude and latency of the cubic DPOAE from the left ear were measured after 6 hours of KA administration, with or without contralateral noise stimulation.

RESULTS
Before the KA treatment, the amplitude of DPOAE induced by primaries of equal levels (L1 = L2) presented no significant change and the latency prolonged significantly during contralateral acoustic stimulation (Group A). But the amplitude at 2, 4 kHz of DPOAE induced by primaries of different levels (L1 > L2) decreased significantly and the latency also prolonged significantly (Group B). After KA administration in the contralateral ear of Group A, the contralateral acoustic stimulation had no significant effect on either amplitude or latency of DPOAE measured ipsilaterally.

CONCLUSION
The result demonstrates that the latency is a sensitive index for the cochlear contralateral suppression. The efferent system may act as a negative feedback during the cochlear transduction.


The design of a differential distributed amplifier using close-packed transmission lines is discussed along with the implementation of a differential distributed oscillator. Efficient layout techniques for the implementation of these circuits are demonstrated. A differential distributed amplifier with 25 GHz of bandwidth and 7.5 dB of gain is presented as a design example. The amplifier can also be configured as a 9.2 GHz distributed oscillator with -6 dBm single-ended output power, phase noise of -103 dBc/Hz at a 1 MHz offset, and a 17% tuning range.


In this article the review of theoretical researches of the author, devoted to propagation of electromagnetic waves in the waveguide of arbitrary cross section, filled with space-time periodically modulated anisotropic magnetodielectric mediums, is given. The analytical method of decision of electrodynamics problems, developed by the author in similar mediums, is resulted. The propagation of transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) waves in the waveguide, mentioned above, is investigated. The peculiarities of interaction between the signal wave and the modulation wave in the waveguide are studied.


It is now generally agreed that subcellular organelles of living organisms, such as chloroplasts and mitochondria, do contain DNA, and that this DNA is responsible for the autonomy of these organelles within the cell. This concept has been biochemically established within this decade, and studies on various DNA species have greatly increased. From the results of one of my earlier studies on changes in the base composition of nucleic acids during the life cycle of Chlorella,l a heterogeneity of DNA as well as RNA in algal cells was conjectured, and attempts to fractionate the cell components led to the discovery of chloroplast DNA in this species. The isolation of a chloroplast DNA of high molecular weight and its characterization in my subsequent work gave rise to two working hypotheses. One was that DNA's of cell organelles may differ in base composition from nuclear DNA's, and the other was that there may be metabolic differences between them. The examination of cells of various kinds of living organisms has revealed that there certainly exist DNA's of cell organelles that differ in base composition from nuclear DNA's. There is gradually accumulating evidence for the existence of "metabolic DNA" in the sense that specific DNA species in the cell show a rapid labeling from precursors under certain metabolic conditions of the cell. Whether the labeling is due to a net synthesis of the DNA's, or to a kind of turnover, or to an extension of chains of the DNA molecules has not always been clarified in the known exampres. In this report, the development of studies on algal DNA, especially on chloroplast DNA, is briefly reviewed and my recent work on the plastid DNA of Chlorella cells is also presented. Several reviews on various DNA species in the cell in general have already been published, and these summarize much of the work of earlier 4 *


We present a strain analysis of an edge dislocation core, and a detailed discussion of the Foreman dislocation model. In order to examine the model, the quantitative measurement of strain field around an edge dislocation in aluminum is performed, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and geometric phase analysis are employed to map the strain field of the edge dislocation core in aluminum. The strain measurements are compared with the Foreman dislocation model, showing that they are in good agreement with each other when 0.7 < a < 1.5.


This article investigates the relationships between heart valve closure timing intervals and left ventricular systolic blood pressure (LVSBP). For this investigation, the cardiopulmonary system is modeled as an analog circuit, including heart chambers, the distal and proximal aorta, distal and proximal systemic arteries/veins, systemic capillaries, the vena cava, the distal and proximal pulmonary artery, distal and proximal pulmonary arteries/veins, pulmonary capillaries and physiological control of heart rate and cardiac contractibility. In this model, the ventricles, atria and arteries were modeled as advanced pressur-volume relationships. A vagal-sympathetic mechanism was adopted to simulate transient systemic and pulmonary blood pressure. Four intervals, i.e., the timing interval between mitral and aortic valve closure (TIMA), the timing interval between aortic and mitral valve closure (TIAM), the timing interval be- tween aortic and pulmonary valve closure (TIAP) and the timing interval between mitral and tricuspid valve closure (TIMT), are further defined in a heart cycle to illustrate their relationships to LVSBP. Simula- tions showed that the TIMA, TIAM and TIAP have strong negative correlations with LVSBP; meanwhile, the TIMT has a slightly negative relationship with LVSBP. To further validate the relationships, 6 healthy male subjects were experimentally evaluated. The intervals were extracted from non-invasively sampled heart sound signals taken from the surface of the thorax. The experiments showed relationships consistent with those obtained by simulations. These relationships may have potential applications for noninvasively accessing LVSBP in real-time with a high time resolution of one heartbeat.


A 4-year-old male neutered domestic shorthair cat was presented to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine for a 2-month history of severe weight loss, lethargy, anemia, and bilaterally hyperechoic kidneys with loss of corticomedullary distinction as reported by the referring veterinarian. Relevant initial laboratory results included severe non-regenerative normocytic hypochromic anemia, increased blood urea nitrogen, minimally concentrated urine, proteinuria, and an increased urine protein:creatinine ratio. Cytologic evaluation of a bone marrow aspirate revealed a markedly hypocellular marrow with abundant mucinous material. Gelatinous marrow transformation (GMT) was confirmed histologically by the presence of mucinous material in the bone marrow that stained positive for Alcian blue but negative for periodic acid-Schiff. The cat died despite repeated blood transfusions and supportive care. Gelatinous marrow transformation, immune complex-mediated membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage were observed on autopsy and histology. It is likely that the development of GMT was secondary to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and that CKD, GMT, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage contributed to the cat's non-regenerative anemia.


This work describes a new technique for analysis of Java 2, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) applications. In such applications, Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs) are commonly used to encapsulate the core computations performed on Web servers. Access to EJBs is protected by application servers, according to role-based access control policies that may be created either at development or deployment time. These policies may prohibit some types of users from accessing specific EJB methods.We present a static technique for analyzing J2EE access control policies with respect to security-sensitive fields of EJBs and other server-side objects. Our technique uses points-to analysis to determine which object fields are accessed by which EJB methods, directly or indirectly. Based on this information, J2EE access control policies are analyzed to identify potential inconsistencies that may lead to security holes.


A conjugate of lysozyme with avarone, a bioactive sesquiterpene quinone of marine origin, and its three derivatives were synthesized. MALDI TOF mass spectral analysis and tryptic digestion showed that the only residue in lysozyme that was modified by all derivatives was lysine 97. The identity of the residue was in full correlation with the prediction obtained by molecular modeling. All bioconjugates preserved most of the enzymatic activity of lysozyme. The melting point of the conjugates was slightly increased in comparison to lysozyme, indicating a slight stabilization of structure. The antibacterial activity of all the conjugates to both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria was stronger than the activity of either lysozyme or the quinones, the MIC values being in low micromolar range for some conjugates.


Background/Objective: Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is an etiology of gastrointestinal problems like gastric cancer. Its role in colorectal cancer is under investigations. Therefore, in this study we proposed the association of Hp infection with colon polyp and colorectal cancer. Methods: Patients who referred to Gastrointestinal Clinic of Firoozgar Hospital, Tehran, Iran from May 2014 to March 2015, were enrolled in a prospective case control study. Two groups of colorectal cancer (CRC) and colon polyps were compared with a group of healthy individuals. All participants underwent endoscopy, total colonoscopy, PCR test for Hp, Rapid Urease Test (RUT), stomach histological sections, anti- Hp IgG, CagA protein expression, and serum gastrin levels. SPSS v.20.0 used to analysis of variables. Results: a total of 240 participants, 138 (57.5%) males and 102 (42.5%) females, were divided into three groups of colon polyp (66/240), CRC (58/240), and health control (116/240). Results of PCR for Hp detection in colon samples were negative in all three groups. The association of presence of colorectal cancer and positive RUT in stomach was not significant ( p =0.09). There was no significant relationship between positive Hp in the stomach and the site and the type of polyps in colon and anti- Hp IgG, CagA protein expression and serum gastrin levels of three groups ( p >0.05). Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the Hp infection does not show a significant association with CRC and colon polyps.


Human language consists of at least three levels of representation, namely sound patterns, syntactic patterns, and semantic information. These three different levels of representation are acquired and stored in neocortical brain structures during the first years of life. They form the representational primitives at Marr's computational level. During language processing, these representational primitives are retrieved and unified on-line (i.e. in real time and from left to right), to produce and comprehend the complex utterances that speakers and listeners are capable of exchanging. This requires a specification of Marr's algorithmic level of analysis, here referred to as Unification. A system with the capacity to show complex language generation and interpretation has to meet these representational and algorithmic requirements. However, when it comes to neural implementations, it requires a mapping of representational and algorithmic levels onto the informational language of the brain itself. This mapping remains one of the major, and largely unmet challenges for a neurobiological account of human language.
As a way into this mapping problem, I will outline a computational approach to modeling language processing in spiking recurrent. Sequential input is non-linearly mapped into a high-dimensional neural state-space and the internal dynamics is subsequently decoded onto a set of read-out neurons using machine learning techniques. Read-outs are viewed as a measurement device to characterize the encoded information and provide a theory bridging between neuronal processes and concepts at computational and algorithmic levels. The approach is well-suited for testing the computational role of various neurobiological features, adaptation mechanisms, and network architectures. This will help to elucidate the role of (a) brain connectivity, (b) memory at various time-scales and (c) unsupervised, local learning and adaptation mechanisms supporting the language system's capacity to reconstruct hierarchically structured interpretations from sentence input. I will exemplify this approach within a neurobiologically motivated model which maps sentence input onto sequences of thematic roles and integrates these into sentence-level semantic representations.


Osteoclast lineage cells (OLCs), including osteoclast precursors (OCPs) and mature osteoclasts (MOCs), participate in bone remodeling and mediate pathologic bone loss. Thus, it is essential to obtain OLCs for exploring their molecular features in both physiological and pathological conditions in vivo. However, the conventional protocols for obtaining OLCs ex vivo are not only time-consuming, but also unable to capture the cellular status of OLCs in vivo. In addition, the current antibody-based isolation approaches, such as fluorescence-/ magnetic-activated cell sorting, are not able to obtain pure osteoclasts because no unique surface antigen for osteoclasts has been identified. Here, we develop a rapid protocol for directly isolating OLCs from mouse bone marrow through magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). This protocol can rapidly enrich OCPs and MOCs, respectively, depending on the expression of the distinctive surface markers at their differentiation stages. It is optimized to isolate OLCs from four mice concurrently, of which sorting procedure could be completed within ~5 h.


Results of numerous studies indicate that young people have improper eating habits. The aim of this study was to determine whether daily intake of vitamins, minerals and energy satisfies nutrition requirements for graduating classes of elementary and high school students. An epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted on 84 students, including 42 students from graduating class of an elementary school and 42 students from graduating class of a high school. The students were asked to write the amount and composition of food consumed over a week, their age, body weight and height. 'USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25' was used to calculate daily intake of vitamins, minerals and energy. Comparison was made with respect to recommendations of Dietary Reference Intake of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, US National Academy of Science. The mean, standard deviation and percentiles of daily intake of certain nutrients were determined. For nutrients for which there was defined value of Estimated Average Requirement the results are presented as percentages of individuals with intakes less than the Estimated Average Requirement as estimates of the prevalence of inadequacy, whereas for nutrients for which only Adequate Intake was defined the results are presented as percentages of individuals with intakes at or greater than the Adeqate Intake. Assessment of adequacy of energy intake was done with respect to calculated Estimated Energy Requirement for each participant in the study. It was shown that 47.6% of elementary and 38.1% of high school students have adequate energy intake. Daily intake of students from both elementary and high school does not meet the dietary recommendations for magnesium, calcium, vitamin C and liposoluble vitamins A, D, E and K. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of proper nutrition. There is a need for increased intake of milk, dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables among the elementary and high school students in order to satisfy daily nutritional requirements.


The Arabic language is considered one of the bonds that unite the Muslim community, and the connection between Islam and Arabic, is one of the most wonderful miracles of Islam. Islam has taken the language out of its narrow scope by making it a tool of thought, spirit and religion which paved the way for other people to join under the banner of Islam. Learn Arabic and create civilization, because Civilization only came through language and civilization in a kind of brief definition is a language, so the Arabic language has been able to bring together peoples of different races to manufacture a civilization advancement that the world has lived for a long period of time, and it is noted for the association of Islam and Muslims with the Arabic language, we find that the prosperous era of Islamic civilization in which Muslims connected with the Arabic language, and when it was established National and sectarian strife and Muslims abandoning the Arabic language was an indication of Muslims abandoning civilization leadership. The Classical Arabic language today faces serious challenges that are about to befall it, and it needs to help it withstand the challenges, and the hope was pinned on the various media; to play most of this role; The mass media - such as television, radio, satellite channels, the press and other important means of culture and education- they can play a role unparalleled in serving the Arabic language, spreading it among people, attractive it to them, and redressing it, from the tyranny of colloquialisms, and their infiltration into every activity. One of the activities of our Arab life; these devices have entered every home, and their seduction and lure have settled all souls and hearts, and have become a means of destruction and sabotage. Arab media have begun to openly promote colloquialisms (slang language) increasing their arrogance, and most of the programs presented on satellite channels are presented in the colloquial language instead of original/ root language. The matter went beyond dramas, serials, and films, and included some cultural and educational programs, political commentaries, and even news bulletins on some satellite channels. This abstract is containing to challenges for Classical Arabic language and the role of media in it.


Globalization of economy and increase in customer expectations in terms of cost and services have put a premium on effective supply chain re-engineering. As a result, decision support systems that can facilitate these efforts are in great demand. In this paper, we iden- tify essential elements that are required for modeling supply chains and embed them in a multi-agent framework. Our framework uses simulation analysis and provides a platform for rapidly devel- oping customized decision support tools for different supply chain problems with limited additional effort. A subset of concepts from this framework is being utilized by IBM for making supply chain re-engineering decisions.


Agricultural land abandonment is a globally significant threat to the sustenance of economic, ecological, and social balance. Although the driving forces behind it can be multifold and versatile, rural depopulation and urbanization are significant contributors to agricultural land abandonment. In our chosen case study, focusing on two locations, Ruen and Stamboliyski, within the Plovdiv region of Bulgaria, we use aerial photographs and satellite imagery dating from the 1950s until 1980, in connection with official population census data, to assess the magnitude of agricultural abandonment for the first time from a remote sensing perspective. We use multi-modal data obtained from historical aerial and satellite images to accurately identify Land Use Land Cover changes. We suggest using the rubber sheeting method for the geometric correction of multi-modal data obtained from aerial photos and Key Hole missions. Our approach helps with precise sub-pixel alignment of related datasets. We implemented an iterative object-based classification approach to accurately map LULC distribution and quantify spatio-temporal changes from historical panchromatic images, which could be applied to similar images of different geographical regions.


BACKGROUND
Delayed presentation of symptomatic breast cancer is a public health issue in Iran, making a major contribution to low survival. Despite the importance of this problem, current knowledge is insufficient to inform interventions to shorten patient delay. The aim of this study was to explore factors influencing patient delay in Iranian women with self-discovered breast cancer symptom.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This qualitative study was conducted during 2012-2013. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 20 Iranian women with self-discovered symptoms of breast cancer who attended the Cancer Institute of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth audiotaped interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed using conventional content analysis with MAXqda software version 10.

FINDINGS
Content analysis of the data revealed four main themes related to the delay in seeking medical help including: 1) attributing symptoms to the benign conditions; 2) conditional health behavior; 3) inhibiting emotional expression; and 4) barriers to access to health care systems.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that patient delay is influenced by complex and multiple factors. Effective intervention to reduce patient delay for breast cancer should be developed by focusing on improvement of women's medical knowledge, managing patients' emotional expression and reform of the referral system.


The selective oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde over iron molybdate catalysts has been investigated. It has been shown that when Fe2C 3 is present at the surface CO2 and H2 are observed from surface formates, while neighbouring pairs of molybdena sites leads to the production of formaldehyde and water from surface methoxys. When molybdenum sites are isolated then the surface methoxy is stabilised and a direct pathway to CO and H2 is created. On molybdena rich surfaces the production of CO is observed, but as a secondary oxidation product following the linear pathway: CH3OH → CH2O → CO → CO 2, established by varying bed lengths. Catalysts with addition of small amounts of molybdena added to the surface of Fe2O 3, are similar to those with a low bulk ratio of Mo:Fe showing increased activity over Fe2O3. Selectivity is dictated by the presence of isolated or pairs of molybdena sites, which guide the reaction to the primary products of CO and formaldehyde respectively. Structural analysis showed the phases of a-Fe2O3, (X-MoO3 and a-Fe2(MoO4)3, depending on the ratio of the cations present. Molybdenum has been shown to concentrate at the surface of iron molybdates by reactor results from low ratio catalysts, Raman spectroscopy, XP spectroscopy and STEM/EEL spectroscopy. The normal reaction of iron molybdates is via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism, so tests were made without the presence of gaseous oxygen. The reduction of the surface layer can occur at temperatures as low as 200°C. At temperatures above 250°C diffusion of lattice oxygen to replace the lost surface oxygen can occur, leading to the production of further oxidised products. If the oxidation state of surface molybdenum drops below +6 then formaldehyde selectivity drops markedly, with direct production of CO and secondary production of CO2 observed.


The creation and relaxation of double K-hole states $1s^02s^22p^6np$ ($n\geq3$) of Ne$^{1+}$ in the interaction with ultraintense ultrafast x-ray pulses are theoretically investigated. The x-ray photon energies are selected so that x-rays first photoionize $1s^22s^22p^6$ of a neon atom to create a single K-hole state of $1s2s^22p^6$of Ne$^{1+}$, which is further excited resonantly to double K-hole states of $1s^02s^22p^6np$ ($n\geq3$). A time-dependent rate equation is used to investigate the creation and relaxation processes of $1s^02s^22p^6np$, where the primary microscopic atomic processes including photoexcitation, spontaneous radiation, photoionization and Auger decay are considered. The calculated Auger electron energy spectra are compared with recent experimental results, which shows good agreement. The relative intensity of Auger electrons is very sensitive to the photon energy and bandwidth of x-ray pulses, which could be used as a diagnostic tool for x-ray free electron laser and atom experiments.


The developing human brain possesses a superior capacity to reorganize after focal lesions. This review describes mechanisms of reorganization following pre- and perinatally-acquired, unilateral brain lesions for motor, somatosensory, and language functions. In the motor system, unilateral damage to the corticospinal tract can lead to the maintenance of normally-transient ipsilateral corticospinal projections from the contralesional hemisphere. In some patients, this type of corticospinal (re)organization can achieve an active grasp function of the paretic hand, while in others no useful hand function develops although such projections exist. In the somatosensory system, periventricular lesions can be compensated by outgrowing thalamocortical projections forming "bypasses" around the defective white matter to reach the postcentral gyrus. By contrast, lesions in the postcentral gyrus often lead to marked somatosensory deficits. Finally, language functions can be taken over by the right hemisphere in cases of left hemispheric damage, often with excellent functional outcome. Knowledge of these mechanisms is necessary for establishing a "prognostic corridor" of development derived from neuroimaging in newborns with brain lesions.


In this paper, the results of the papillary myotomy and septal tricuspid valvotomy were studied. The 19 dogs were randomly divided into four groups so as to observe the blood supply, healing course, strength and functions of the anterior papillary muscle. It was confirmed that the traumatic rupture of the papillary muscle should be repaired early. In the clinic 31 patients of ventricular septal defect with tricuspid valve pouch were treated by the approach with septal valvotomy and cone papillary myotomy of tricuspid valve. The successful rate of VSD repair was up to 100%. Therefore, this approach is worthy to be used clinically.


Introduction. In dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), mutations in the GBA gene are associated with a more severe cognitive phenotype. In basic science, event-related oscillations have traditionally been used to explore the neurophysiological underpinnings of various aspects of cognitive performance. Here, we aimed to compare event-related oscillations in DLB patients who are carriers and non-carriers of GBA mutations.Method. EEG was recorded during a visual oddball task in eight clinically diagnosed Ashkenazi Jewish DLB patients with the N370S mutation in the GBA gene (GBA-DLB) and eleven DLB non-carriers. The time-frequency power and inter-trial phase coherence were calculated from the Morlet wavelet convolution from the Fz electrode.Results. Task performance and cognitive assessments were comparable between groups. While the within-non-GBA-DLB group analysis revealed a significant increase relative to the baseline in the delta-band power (p=0.01, Cohen's d=1.0), the within-GBA-DLB-group analysis did not detect any event-related power change. In contrast, both subgroups showed an increase relative to the baseline in the delta and theta bands inter-trial phase coherence (all p<0.03, d>1.3). The between-group analysis revealed that event-related power - but not coherence - was lower in GBA-DLB compared to non-carriers in the delta band (p=0.04, d=-0.9).Conclusions. GBA-DLB patients showed decreased delta-band power compared to non-carriers despite the similar cognitive performance, whereas inter-trial phase coherence was comparable in both groups. These findings suggest that in carriers, preserved inter-trial phase coherence possibly compensates for the impaired power by eliciting the appropriate functional configuration needed for stimulus processing and task performance.


We consider the scenario of finding the transfer function of an aberrating layer in front of an ultrasound array. We are interested in blindly estimating this transfer function without prior knowledge of the unknown ultrasound sources or ultrasound contrast image. The algorithm gives an exact solution if the matrix representing the aberration layer's transfer function is full rank, up to a scaling and reordering of its columns, which has to be resolved using some prior knowledge of the matrix structure. We provide conditions for the robustness of blind calibration in noise. Numerical simulations show that the method becomes more robust for shorter wavelengths, as the transfer function matrices then tend to be less ill-conditioned. Image reconstruction from simulated data using the k-Wave toolbox show that a well calibrated model removes some of the distortions introduced by an uncalibrated model, and improves the resolution for some of the sources.


In the practice of a doctor of any specialty, patients with hypercorticism – a syndrome of excess glucocorticoids level in the body – are not uncommon. Despite the fact that most of these patients have characteristic appearance and clinical manifestations, the correct diagnosis is often established months or even years after the first complaints.The objective of this article was to demonstrate the clinical cases of patients with hypercorticism of various genesis, as well as a short theoretical reference based on the National Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Cushing's Syndrome (2016).


This document specifies extensions to the IETF TRILL (Transparent
Interconnection of Lots of Links) protocol to support multi-topology
routing of unicast and multi-destination traffic based on IS-IS
(Intermediate System to Intermediate System) multi-topology specified
in RFC 5120.


Building applications on top of sensor data streams is challenging because sensor data is noisy. A model-based view can reduce noise by transforming raw sensor streams into streams of probabilistic state estimates, which smooth out errors and gaps. The authors propose a novel model-based view, the Markovian stream, to represent correlated probabilistic sequences. Applications interested in evaluating event queries-extracting sophisticated state sequences-can improve robustness by querying a Markovian stream view instead of querying raw data directly. The primary challenge is to properly handle the Markovian stream's correlations.


In computational sciences, including computational statistics, machine learning, and bioinformatics, it is often claimed in articles presenting new supervised learning methods that the new method performs better than existing methods on real data, for instance in terms of error rate. However, these claims are often not based on proper statistical tests and, even if such tests are performed, the tested hypothesis is not clearly defined and poor attention is devoted to the Type I and Type II errors. In the present article, we aim to fill this gap by providing a proper statistical framework for hypothesis tests that compare the performances of supervised learning methods based on several real datasets with unknown underlying distributions. After giving a statistical interpretation of ad hoc tests commonly performed by computational researchers, we devote special attention to power issues and outline a simple method of determining the number of datasets to be included in a comparison study to reach an adequate power. These methods are illustrated through three comparison studies from the literature and an exemplary benchmarking study using gene expression microarray data. All our results can be reproduced using R codes and datasets available from the companion website http://www.ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de/organisation/mitarbeiter/020_professuren/boulesteix/compstud2013.


PURPOSE This study evaluated single-center results of endovascular treatment in renal angiomyolipoma (AML) to determine whether there is clinical relevance of adding proximal coil embolization to distal particle embolization in terms of safety, efficacy, and retreatment rates. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate patients undergoing transarterial embolization for renal AMLs from January 2007 to October 2020. Parameters regarding patient and tumor characteristics, embolization technique, treatment outcome, and complications were recorded. Patients were divided into 2 groups as A (only particle group) and B (particle + coil group) based on the type of embolic agent used for treatment. Comparative analysis was performed between the 2 groups in terms of tumor size reduction, retreatment, and complication rates. RESULTS In this study, 42 patients (37 (88.1%) females and 5 (11.9%) males) harboring 48 AMLs were included. The mean age was 43.46 (range, 20-78). The technical success rate was 95.8% (46 of 48 procedures). The mean size reduction was 1.94 ± 1 cm (P  < .001) after treatments; however, no significant difference was seen between groups in terms of tumor size reduction. Retreatment rates were 3.1% (1 of 32 cases) in group A and 14.3% (2 of 14 cases) in group B (P  = .21). No significant difference was found between groups in terms of bleeding and complication rates during the perioperative period. Mean follow-up duration was 26.48 ± 25.71 (range, 2-102) months. CONCLUSION In this study, no clear supplementary benefit was observed in terms of safety and efficacy with the adjunction of coils to distal particle embolization in the management of AMLs.


Purpose
This paper aims to look at the linkage of foreign direct investments (FDIs) and round-tripping in the Cyprus–Russia corridor.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper is divided into two chapters. The first chapter looks at the relationship between FDIs and round-tripping in Cyprus and Russia. The second chapter discusses and combines statistical data from different sources about illiciting financial flows from Russia and the linkage of FDIs and round-tripping with Cyprus.

Findings
Evidence suggests that, despite the obviously numerous and varied legislative provisions and initiatives, the movement of vast amounts of capital to or through the Cypriot financial system is a phenomenon, which has absolutely not been removed. The illegal outflow of money seems to grow rapidly over the years instead of decreasing. What actually happens is that after a dramatic decline in the years 2013-2015, the FDIs of the Russians to and from Cyprus in 2016 returned to pre-crisis levels of 2013, and so far, it seems the inflows–outflows system returned to "normal" levels. Cyprus ranks first in inward FDI and outward FDI with almost 35 per cent of total flows from Russia. An element that demonstrates the presence of round-tripping, is the sharp and rapid parallel increase of inward FDI and outward FDI, and that the category of total deposits in Cyprus by nonresidents, including special-purpose entity, recorded significant fluctuations caused by not only the large size of deposits but also the short time remaining in the banking sector. Russia ranked second among the countries with the largest average illegal capital outflows in the years 2004-2013. Movement of capital to exploit the particularly beneficial Cyprus tax system is still a tax backdoor for Europe and worldwide (hence the neologisms like Cyp-Rus), especially after the "de-offshorization" law in Russia in practice since January 1, 2015.

Originality/value
Evidence presented in this paper is important for national and supernational supervisory anti-money laundering bodies and compliance authorities to understand bad practices in financial transactions between Russia and Cyprus.


Established metallographic methods of determining the cleanliness of bearing steels with respect to micro-inclusions, such as ASTM E 45, are capable of differentiating poor quality melts from good quality melts. However, as steelmaker capabilities improve, with increasing numbers being able to consistently produce good quality melts, the established methods of cleanliness assessment are unable to differentiate between melts. These established methods, which give single figure ratings based on both the size and number of inclusions, are extremely difficult to use in predicting the performance of a bearing component under conditions of rolling contact fatigue. In this work, the method of Extreme Value Analysis (EVA) is used to characterize the inclusion population of five different steel melts of known and varying quality. A link between the EVA distribution and the measured bearing life, performed on material with a low reduction ratio, is also presented.


N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor antibody (NMDAR-ab) encephalitis is the most common antibody-mediated encephalitis. We compared four NMDAR-Ab assay methods: 1) live (a, L-CBA) or fixed (b, F-CBA) cell-based assays (CBA); 2) immunohistochemistry (IHC); 3) a commercially available CBA (C-CBA, Euroimmun AG). 180 sera and 48 CSFs were tested. Sera previously positive by the Oxford L-CBA but with unlikely phenotypes were intentionally over-represented. The results of the four assays agreed in only 55.6% of sera and 82% of CSFs. C-CBA was least likely to agree with other methods (37.7% in serum). Diagnosis was available, so far, for 54 patients (NMDAR ab-encephalitis 'definite' in 34, 'unlikely' in 20). In serum, L-CBA detected NMDAR-abs in 88% of 'definite' patients, but had a high false-positive rate (consistent with the biased selection). IHC was negative in all unlikely patients, but positive in only 73.5% 'definite' patients. F-CBA and C-CBA had intermediate performances. There was a worrying lack of concordance between tests. Assay results should be interpreted in the light of clinical information and a combination of L-CBA and IHC may give the most useful results. Further clinical information is being made available in order to increase the serum numbers and determine assay performance using CSF alone.


The in vivo effect of bradykinin on mucociliary (m.c.) activity in the rabbit maxillary sinus was investigated by administering the substance (0.01-10.0 micrograms/kg) via arteria maxillaris and recording the responses with a non-invasive photoelectric technique. Bradykinin accelerated the m.c. activity in a dose-dependent manner in the dose range 0.05-10.0 micrograms/kg. While the action of bradykinin was resistant to pretreatment with indomethacin 10.0 mg/kg, it was considerably weakened by the substance P antagonist [D-Pro2, D-Trp7,9]SP 1 mg/kg. The initial effect of bradykinin was also suppressed by atropine, suggesting that bradykinin accelerates m.c. activity by a dual mechanism comprising both SP and acetylcholine. Bradykinin probably stimulates a reflex arc in the airways involving afferent SP neurons and efferent post-ganglionic parasympathetic neurons.


Meet the Cooke family: Mother and Dad, brother Lowell, sister Fern and Rosemary, who begins her story in the middle. She has her reasons. "I was raised with a chimpanzee," she explains. "I tell you Fern was a chimp and already you aren't thinking of her as my sister. But until Fern's expulsion...she was my twin, my funhouse mirror, my whirlwind other half and I loved her as a sister." As a child, Rosemary never stopped talking. Then, something happened, and Rosemary wrapped herself in silence.


[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate differences in selective voluntary motor control of the lower extremities by objective assessment and determine the relationship between selective voluntary motor control and knee extensor strength in children with spastic diplegia. [Subjects and Methods] Forty individuals who had spastic cerebral palsy, with Gross Motor Function Classification System levels ranging from I to III, were assessed using the Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity and by testing the maximum knee extensor strength. The unaffected side was defined as the lower limb with the higher score, and the affected side was defined as the lower limb with the lower score. [Results] The Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity score on the affected side had a lower average than that on the unaffected side. The scores showed a significant inverse correlation with the maximum knee extensor strength. [Conclusion] There was bilateral difference in the selective voluntary motor control of the lower extremities in children with spastic diplegia, and the selective voluntary motor control of the lower extremity was related to maximum knee extensor strength.


An influence due to non-spherical oceanic aerosol particles containing bubbles on estimation of the top of the atmosphere(ToA) radiance is clarified together with an influence due to relative humidity(RH). It is found that the difference of ToA radiance between the phase function of Maritime and Henyey-Greenstein with the same size distribution and refractive index is 0.5% for RH of 76% while that for RH of 99% is 1.3%. It is als o found that the influences due to bubbles in oceanic aerosol particles and due to non-spherical parameter on ToA radiance are within arange of 0.3%. Meanwhile, influence due to RH on ToA radiance ranges from0.3 to 0.6 % when the RH is changed from76% to 99%.keyword:Phase


Abstract Background Novel investigative tools (e.g., whole-genome sequencing) help characterize host and viral genetic contributions to disease severity in pediatric viral respiratory infection. However, a validated scoring system for quantifying illness severity is needed to properly contextualize results. Existing scoring systems are outdated, unvalidated and underpowered. We thus developed a scoring system to address these concerns. Methods Children hospitalized with viral respiratory infections were prospectively enrolled over 2 years, with 51 clinical variables abstracted from the medical record. 7 variables felt to be most predictive of disease severity and significantly correlated with each other (Spearman correlation coefficient P < 0.001) were included in the scoring system (duration of hospital and ICU stay, oxygen and high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) use and intubation; maximum nasal cannula and HFNC support), and combined into a disease severity index by converting each into an ordinal score and summing over the variables, with each variable sub-divided into 7 levels of exposure (based on equal interval length cutpoints). For a validation comparison, sampling algorithms utilizing a linear model selected a subset of 96 patients whose disease severity would be randomly assessed by 8 pediatricians in blocks of 12, using D-optimality and space filling criteria to protect against non-linearity (severity scored 1 to 10; 80% power for detection of correlation >0.28, two-sided α = 0.05). Mixed model regression analyses compared clinician-scored disease severity with the scoring system. Akaike Information criteria (AIC) and coefficients of determination (R2) ranked severity indices. Results 445 subjects (56.2% male, median age 1.2 years) were enrolled. Clinician scores of disease severity averaged 6.2 (SD = 2.2, range 1–10). A scoring system using 7 variables with 7 levels of exposure per variable produced the lowest AIC (0.00, R2 = 0.70 for predicting clinician-scored disease severity after adjustment for rater effects) (Figure 1). Conclusion A 7-variable scoring system quantifying disease severity in pediatric viral respiratory infections correlates well with clinician assessment, and may advance the study of such infections. Figure 1: Fitted model: Association of Clinician Score and Severity Scoring System. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


The Farm Revival Program of the Farm Land Bank, implemented in 2006, initiated as the Agricultural Land Bank's business proposal to achieve efficient usage of farm land. Also, expansion of Farm Revival Program will bring positive effects when considering the fact that Farm Revival Program contributes to farm liability issues and management improvements. However, despite the importance of Farm Revival Program, searching for improvement methods through a rural demand survey is very insufficient. The following research limits the target to farms that applied for the management redemption project within Gangwon Province and examined the application motivation, project satisfaction, and demands of the farms. This research holds value as a fundamental data which reflects the demands of farms to better manage Farm Land Purchasing of the Farm Land Bank.


Abstract Aim To understand how the social networks of a new recovery community can help sustain recovery, focusing on processes of social identity change, in the context of the wider UK recovery movement. Methods A cross-sectional, mixed-methods social network analysis (SNA) of ego-network sociograms to map network transitions, using retrospective measures. Ten men were recruited from a peer-worker programme, in the South Ayrshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP), West of Scotland. Network measures were compared between two timepoints, just prior to current recovery and the present time. Measures included size and density, closeness of members, and their positive or negative influence, proportion of alcohol and other drug (AOD) using and recovery peers, and extent of separate subgroups. These were complemented with qualitative interview data. Findings There was a significant transition in network composition, with the replacing of AOD-using peers with recovery peers and a broader transformation from relationships being framed as negative to positive. However, there was no significant transition in network structure, with AOD-using and recovery networks both consisting of strong ties and a similar density of connections between people in the networks. Conclusions The transition in network composition between pre-recovery and the present indicates a different set of social influences, while the similarities in network structure indicate that the recovery network replaced the role of the using network in providing close bonds. This helped reduce social isolation experienced in early-recovery and provided a pathway into more structured opportunities for volunteering and employment.


The poor performance of buildings does not only play a major role in energy consumption but is also responsible for thermal discomfort inside the building. Prior to planning the building retrofitting, decision-makers need to evaluate different retrofitting strategies and their potential measures of energy savings on the current energy scenario. Therefore, this paper aims to integrate these factors and provide guidance on the most appropriate building retrofitting solution for reduced energy demand and better thermal comfort using as reference a typical Indian single-family house. This house is evaluated under five different climates of India. The work is focused on the comparative energy and thermal comfort analysis by considering the building as a stand-alone object. The building envelope of the example house model is improved for each climatic zone by retrofitting and compared with the reference condition to determine the potential energy savings and thermal comfort using TRNSYS18. This work provides a competitive analysis of more than 20 building retrofitting scenarios. The research provides a suggestion by using the "feasible envelope features" for design codes which propose feasible and optimized retrofitting strategy by maintaining thermal comfort and a baseline reference specifically formulated for thermal energy efficiency.


Abstract Pollution of ecosystems with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has become a global problem with serious consequences for public health. The PTEs are hazardous to humans owing to their longevity, toxicity, and ability to accumulate in the biotic environment. As most PTEs cannot be degraded microbially or chemically, they can persist in soils for a long time. Besides posing a threat to landsphere, they may be transported to surrounding environmental spheres through movement of water, atmospheric circulation, and biological transmission. This can severely affect the ecological equilibrium. Accumulation of PTEs in soils pose serious health hazards to higher organisms leading to various diseases and disorders and significant relationships exist between the occurrence of PTEs and the toxic effects in humans. In natural soils, PTEs accumulate due to weathering of rocks and ores. Furthermore, locally or regionally significant accumulation of PTEs in soils may occur from industrial goods, pesticides and paints, municipal and industrial waste, fertilizer application, mining activities and atmospheric deposition. In response to the growing need to address PTE contamination, remediation methods have been developed employing mechanical, physico-chemical or biological based technologies. In this review, we discuss sources, sinks, pathways and mitigation measures related to natural and anthropogenic PTEs. We focus on As, Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb which are highly toxic and perform no physiological functions in biota. Further, these are the most widely studied PTEs.


This paper describes the development of a precipitation estimation model which considers the spatial variability inherent to measuring with meteorological radars. Data from radars is separated by 30km and 50km respectively using an ANFIS (Adaptive Network-based in Fuzzy Inference Systems) estimation system for each group. Each ANFIS system is fed by radar input data and a rain gauge located at corresponding distances to each group of input data. This article shows the results of a data classification study of an S-band radar in Brisbane, Australia, along with rain gauge data from the impact area of the radar. The result from the classification is regarded as the base for the data separation for the different ANFIS systems of the estimation model. The obtained results show improvement in the MSE compared to other traditional methods.


The first part of this thesis discusses developmental influences on the human connectome in relation to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conditions associated with alterations in brain connectivity and marked by social impairments. It reports an experiment investigating whether the connectomes of individuals with autism or ADHD differ from the connectome of neurotypical individuals, and what the underlying genetic basis could be for any differences in neural architecture. Chapter 2 reports an analysis of networks in children with autism or ADHD, using structural covariance magnetic resonance imaging (scMRI). We found overlapping as well as distinct network features across both conditions. Chapter 3 reports an analysis of how gene expression might be associated with the basic building blocs of these structural covariance networks. We found that synaptic and transcriptionally downregulated genes were replicably associated with cortical thickness differences in children with autism, but not in children with ADHD. In addition, the first part also aims to elucidate the potential modulation effects of sex on autism neurobiology. Chapter 4 reports an analysis of structural covariance networks in male and female adults with and without autism. We found that biological sex is a modulator of neurobiological heterogeneity in autism. Chapter 5 reports pilot data aiming to identify an electrophysiological signature of these network properties using electroencephalography (EEG). We find little evidence for theories about network asymmetry, but indications of altered frontal network integration. The second part of the thesis examines the acute effects of hormones on brain connectomics. Hormones are an integral part of the mechanism of social behaviour. In a series of hormone administration studies, we report experiments to test the acute effects of steroid and peptide hormones on brain functional connectivity (Chapters 6 and 7). Chapter 6 reports an oxytocin administration study that used a novel data-driven approach to assess resting-state fMRI connectivity in women. Although the number of fMRI studies on oxytocin have increased over past years, little is known about its effect on women. We found that oxytocin robustly enhances cortico-subcortical connectivity, and that this effect positively correlates with autistic traits. This is interesting given that oxytocin has been proposed as a potential therapeutic in autism. Chapter 7 reports an experiment testing if testosterone modulates connectivity in a specific social environment (a fear response). This was confirmed during the social task, but not during baseline resting-state, highlighting the role of testosterone in functional connectivity in this specific context. Chapter 8 is the concluding chapter that integrates all the empirical findings in the thesis. We discuss their implications for our understanding of autism and ADHD, and of the role of steroid and peptide hormones in the typically and atypically developing connectome. Chapter 8 also reflects on the limitations of the experiments reported, and sets out future directions for research in this area.


Soil resistivity depends on many overlapping factors, which influence it in various ways. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of some physical and chemical factors on soil apparent resistivity. The results of field, laboratory, and statistical studies revealed a complex relationship between water content, pH, and salinity with soil apparent resistivity. The results showed that water content had a clear effect on apparent resistivity, as it increased significantly when water content value decreased to less than about 5%. The results also showed that increasing the salinity ratio at the expense of water content led to an increase in the apparent resistivity values. The apparent resistivity values also increased significantly when pH values fell below about 7.7.
The increase in air temperature caused an increase in water evaporation from the soil, which led to increasing the apparent resistivity. The rise in air temperature also caused an increase in the concentration of salts at the expense of water content; since salts are considered to be insulators, unless they are dissolved in water, they cause an increase in the value of apparent resistivity.


Geomagnetic pulsations are small oscillatory changes in the earth's magnetic field. Their periods fall in the ULF (ultra low frequency) band and range from a second up to 600 seconds. First reported in the last century, significant progress in understanding the origin of these surprisingly sinusoidal signals only followed J. W. Dungey's suggestion, in the early 1950's, that they might be due to hydromagnetic waves in the earth's magnetosphere. The 1960's saw an accumulation of evidence, but in the 1970's the field blossomed.

A variety of factors were responsible. Most important was that theories of large-scale structure of signals were developed just as the first arrays of magnetometers were measuring the north-south signal structure along lines of longitude. Theory and experiment agreed probably better than theorists or experimenters had expected; thus began a healthy mix of collaboration between theorists and experimenters.


The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has been the consolidator for many ideas regarding the evolution of the World Wide Web (WWW), including the promotion of the so-called "Semantic Layer Cake" model for the development of the semantic web. The semantic layer cake provides a framework to discuss a variety of approaches to an integrated view of the meta-data that will support a broad range of machine and human manipulation of digital information. Our goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the potential role of the semantic layer cake, by investigating some of the detailed relationships between the components. We also attempt to articulate some of the issues regarding the development of the semantic layer cake for real application. The path to this goal covers many fundamental issues underlying all of knowledge representation research. Paramount in this discussion is the goal of identifying the potential role of machine learning within the semantic layer cake, and finding the tradeoffs between the extremes of a completely automated construction of the semantic web via machine learning, versus one that is completely hand-engineered using the tools emerging from each layer of the semantic layer cake.


To facilitate the mobile users on ships for communication effectively in the offshore areas at sea, this paper proposes an integrated wireless networking system that is composed of mobile ad hoc network, cellular mobile communication network, and satellite mobile network. The overall system architecture and relevant network elements of the proposed system are described. The proposed system can help to reduce the network deployment cost and calling charge, support more terminal types, and provide the mobile users richer maritime services.


The aim of the study was to explore the prevalence of Gastrointestinal Protozoan Parasites (PPP) among children with special reference to their source and type of drinking water. Besides, the study intended to explore the impact of gender on hemoglobin value of the respondents. 400 respondents were selected with the help of convenient sampling technique. The study was carried with the help of descriptive research design. 400 respondents were selected from Jammu Districts of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Further, all respondents were elected within the age group of 12-16 years. The results of the study reveal that that type of drinking water has significant impact on the prevalence of Gastrointestinal Protozoan Parasites (GPP) among children. Besides, it was found that source of drinking water has significant impact on the prevalence of Gastrointestinal Protozoan Parasites (GPP) among children. The impact of defecation site was reported significant on the prevalence of Gastrointestinal Protozoan Parasites (GPP). Further, it was seen that the impact of gender is significant on the level of hemoglobin value of the respondents.


Irony abounds in connection with demands and proposals made, in the wake of the Enron, Worldcom, and other corporate scandals, that firms be required or encouraged to waive attorney-client privilege. Justice Department officials speak to the importance of "getting at the truth" as trumping firms' interest in confidential internal communications as a prerequisite to compliance with law. They do so notwithstanding their own contrary arguments made on behalf of the secretive Bush administration that employs them. Corporate officers, for their part, speak as though Ralph Nader were the Attorney General when they denounce waiver proposals. They do so notwithstanding the business-friendly nature of the Bush administration. In this essay I suggest that, since what is actually at stake in these waiver debates is value for shareholders, the securities markets, if informationally efficient, are the most apt evaluators of particular firms' waivers of privilege. Provided that the semi-strong form of the efficient capital markets hypothesis is indeed well supported as the literature suggests, share-price response to voluntary ex ante waiver will be the optimal indicator of whether, and how much, waivers of privilege inure to the good or the ill of particular firms.


DNA repair pathways trigger robust downstream responses, making it challenging to select suitable reference genes for comparative studies. In this study, our goal was to identify the most suitable housekeeping genes to perform comparable molecular analyses for DNA damage-related studies. Choosing the most applicable reference genes is important in any kind of target gene expression-related quantitative study, since using the housekeeping genes improperly may result in false data interpretation and inaccurate conclusions. We evaluated the expressional changes of eight well-known housekeeping genes (i.e., 18S rRNA, B2M, eEF1α1, GAPDH, GUSB, HPRT1, PPIA, and TBP) following treatment with the DNA-damaging agents that are most frequently used: ultraviolet B (UVB) non-ionizing irradiation, neocarzinostatin (NCS), and actinomycin D (ActD). To reveal the significant changes in the expression of each gene and to determine which appear to be the most acceptable ones for normalization of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) data, comparative and statistical algorithms (such as absolute quantification, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, and independent samples T-test) were conducted. Our findings clearly demonstrate that the genes commonly employed as reference candidates exhibit substantial expression variability, and therefore, careful consideration must be taken when designing the experimental setup for an accurate and reproducible normalization of RT-qPCR data. We used the U2OS cell line since it is generally accepted and used in the field of DNA repair to study DNA damage-induced cellular responses. Based on our current data in U2OS cells, we suggest using 18S rRNA, eEF1α1, GAPDH, GUSB, and HPRT1 genes for UVB-induced DNA damage-related studies. B2M, HPRT1, and TBP genes are recommended for NCS treatment, while 18S rRNA, B2M, and PPIA genes can be used as suitable internal controls in RT-qPCR experiments for ActD treatment. In summary, this is the first systematic study using a U2OS cell culture system that offers convincing evidence for housekeeping gene selection following treatment with various DNA-damaging agents. Here, we unravel an indispensable issue for performing and assessing trustworthy DNA damage-related differential gene expressional analyses, and we create a "zero set" of potential reference gene candidates.


The bound state solutions of the relativistic Klein—Gordon equation with the Tietz—Wei diatomic molecular potential are presented for the s wave. It is shown that the solutions can be expressed by the generalized hyper geometric functions. The normalized wavefunctions are also derived.


Abstract There is a growing tide of global interest in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. The initiative has brought in its wake enormous opportunities for creating economic development infrastructure, strengthening open regionalism and accelerating the pace of trade and investment in nearly 70 countries including 27 Muslim countries. Although a large number of finance options for the BRI projects have been highlighted in literature, the strategic role of Islamic finance has not been adequately explored. This paper bridges the knowledge gap by examining the strategic role of Islamic finance in the context of the BRI. Based on an empirical study, the authors explore the dimensions of Islamic finance in attracting investments in BRI projects and test the psychometric properties of the underlying dimensions. The authors discuss important managerial implications of these findings.


Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) isoforms PI3Kbeta and PI3Kgamma are implicated in platelet adhesion, activation, and aggregation, but their relative contribution is still unclear or controversial. Here, we report the first comparative functional analysis of platelets from mice expressing a catalytically inactive form of PI3Kbeta or PI3Kgamma. We demonstrate that both isoforms were similarly required for maximal activation of the small GTPase Rap1b and for complete platelet aggregation upon stimulation of G protein-coupled receptors for adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) or U46619. Their contribution to these events, however, was largely redundant and dispensable. However, PI3Kbeta, but not PI3Kgamma, enzymatic activity was absolutely required for Akt phosphorylation, Rap1 activation, and platelet aggregation downstream of the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)-bearing receptor glycoprotein VI (GPVI). Moreover, PI3Kbeta was a major essential regulator of platelet adhesion to fibrinogen and of integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3)-mediated spreading. These results provide genetic evidence for a crucial and selective role of PI3Kbeta in signaling through GPVI and integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3).


Active chronic suppurative otitis media poses a management problem. Different types of treatment strategy were tried for 136 patients, 36 patients received systemic antibiotics, 26 patients received local antibiotics, 42 patients combined local and systemic, and the last group (32 patients) received no antibiotics. The majority of patients had moderate size tympanic membrane perforation (59%). Eighty-two patients had severe (active) symptoms (60%). The commonest types of bacteria isolated were streptococcus pneumoniae and staphylococcus aureus (29%, 21% respectively). It is found that, the best type of treatment was the local antibiotic therapy (84% improvement), followed by combined antibiotic therapy (local and systemic) which equal to 83% improvement. There was no benefit of using systemic antibiotics without aural toilet (5% improvement). It is important to mention that the use of antibiotic/ steroid ear drop gave good improvement result (95%), in comparison with the use of antibiotic ear drop (50%).


As the largest organ in the human body, skin is continuously exposed to intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli that impact its functionality and morphology with aging. Skin aging entails dysregulation of skin cells and loss, fragmentation, or fragility of extracellular matrix fibers that are manifested macroscopically by wrinkling, laxity, and pigmentary abnormalities. Age-related skin changes are the focus of many surgical and non-surgical treatments aimed at improving overall skin appearance and health. As a hallmark of aging, cellular senescence, a state of essentially irreversible cell cycle arrest with resistance to apoptosis and a secretory phenotype, manifests across skin layers by affecting epidermal and dermal cells. Knowledge about skin-specific senescent cells, such as melanocytes (epidermal aging) and fibroblasts (dermal aging), facilitates our understanding of age-related skin changes and how to optimize patient outcomes in aesthetic procedures. This review provides an overview of skin aging in the context of cellular senescence and discusses senolytic intervention strategies to selectively target skin senescent cells that contribute to premature skin aging.


Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) could result from the reactivation of an endogenous latent herpes simplex virus (HSV) in sensory ganglia or in brain parenchyma. Virus replication and a new lytic virus cycle may be triggered by a wide variety of factors. One of these might be irradiation as suggested by experimental evidence obtained in mouse trigeminal ganglia. Here we report the occurrence of HSE in a 52 years old woman two months after brain irradiation (40 Gray in 20 fractions) and dexamethasone administration for a metastatic brain tumor. HSE has already been observed in a clinical context very similar to that reported here, suggesting that brain irradiation together with corticoid therapy may, in some rare patients, favour the occurrence of HSV reactivation and HSE.


With the recent expanding attention of machine learning researchers and practitioners to fairness, there is a void of a common framework to analyze and compare the capabilities of proposed models in deep representation learning. In this paper, we evaluate different fairness methods trained with deep neural networks on a common synthetic dataset and a real-world dataset to obtain better insights on how these methods work. In particular, we train about 3000 different models in various setups, including imbalanced and correlated data configurations, to verify the limits of the current models and better understand in which setups they are subject to failure. Our results show that the bias of models increase as datasets become more imbalanced or datasets attributes become more correlated, the level of dominance of correlated sensitive dataset features impact bias, and the sensitive information remains in the latent representation even when bias-mitigation algorithms are applied. Overall, we present a dataset, propose various challenging evaluation setups, and rigorously evaluate recent promising bias-mitigation algorithms in a common framework and publicly release this benchmark†, hoping the research community would take it as a common entry point for fair deep learning.


This article revisits two vital questions largely ignored in the scholarly literature devoted to professionalism in government. First, is the public purchaser a professional? And second, is public purchasing a profession? Our reexamination of the first question led us to conclude that a public purchaser that meets certain requirements in government purchasing practices distinct from traits reserved for recognized traditional professions such as law, medicine and clergy can be a professional. Furthermore, when we analyzed the basic criteria that characterized a profession such as the existence of esoteric knowledge, rigorous formal training, codes of ethics, representative association, autonomy in practice, and criteria for admission into the occupation, we concluded that public purchasing is a profession.


The last decade, and particularly the last few years, have witnessed a remarkable transformation in the construction industry. Today, this industry is one of the most dynamic, innovative and technically advanced of any sector in the UK's economy. Unfortunately, the industry's image and its reputation lag a long way behind its true picture. Further aggravated by the lack of a cohesive, coordinated, all‐encompassing body to bring this very disparate industry together, little has been done to address the gap between the exciting reality and the depressing perception of construction among the public. Fundamental issues such as skills shortages and a dramatic fall in students entering the construction professions are a real threat to the sustainability of an industry so critical to delivering the ongoing development of the country's built environment. Nevertheless, the profound changes that have revolutionised the industry have, at the same time, demanded and even necessitated, an equally dramatic change in its approach to community relations. Of all the elements that comprise the corporate social responsibility concept that is being embraced by all businesses today, it is the success or failure of its community relations activities that will determine the outcome of several issues currently confronting the construction industry. This paper examines how the industry's structural changes have impacted on the industry's community relations and how, given the new importance of community, the industry is responding to the challenge of nurturing good relations with its public audience at site and project level. Guidance and guidelines are given for implementing a practical "best practice" community relations programme at this local level of construction operations.


Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that is transported globally through the atmosphere. Emissions of Hg from mineral reservoirs and recycling between soil/biomass, oceans, and the atmosphere are fundamental to the global Hg cycle, yet past emissions from anthropogenic and natural sources are not fully constrained. We use a sediment core from Yanacocha, a headwater lake in southeastern Peru, to study the anthropogenic and natural controls on atmospheric Hg deposition during the Holocene. From 12.3 to 3.5 ka, Hg fluxes in the record are relatively constant (mean ± 1σ: 1.4 ± 0.6 µg m−2 a−1). Past Hg deposition does not correlate with changes in regional temperature and precipitation or with most large volcanic events that occurred regionally (~300–400 km from Yanacocha) and globally. In 1450 B.C. (3.4 ka), Hg fluxes abruptly increased and reached the Holocene‐maximum flux (6.7 µg m−2 a−1) in 1200 B.C., concurrent with a ~100 year peak in Fe and chalcophile metals (As, Ag, Tl) and the presence of framboidal pyrite. Continuously elevated Hg fluxes from 1200 to 500 B.C. suggest a protracted mining‐dust source near Yanacocha that is identical in timing to documented pre‐Incan cinnabar mining in central Peru. During Incan and Colonial time (A.D. 1450–1650), Hg deposition remains elevated relative to background levels but lower relative to other Hg records from sediment cores in central Peru, indicating a limited spatial extent of preindustrial Hg emissions. Hg fluxes from A.D. 1980 to 2011 (4.0 ± 1.0 µg m−2 a−1) are 3.0 ± 1.5 times greater than preanthropogenic fluxes.


The aluminum alloy 7075-T6 is a structural alloy widely used for aeronautical applications due to its high relationship between mechanical resistance and weight. Depending upon the environmental conditions, many types of corrosion mechanisms such as intergranular, exfoliation, have been found to occur in aircraft structural aluminum alloys. A significant advance in order to improve the behavior of this alloy is related to the application of the autocatalytic Ni-P coating which confers an excellent corrosion resistance coupled with both reduced erosive wear and higher hardness. The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of the application of a Ni-P coating on the corrosion resistance of an aluminum 7075-T6 alloy. The results obtained indicated that the application of the Ni-P coatings diminishes the susceptibility to pitting and makes the aluminum 7075 T6 alloy immune to the exfoliation corrosion attack.


In a series of papers Barron, Goebel, and Jensen studied Partial Differential Equations (PDE)s for quasiconvex (QC) functions [BGJ12a, BGJ12b, BGJ13, BJ13]. To overcome the lack of uniqueness for the QC PDE, they introduced a regularization: a PDE for -robust QC functions, which is well-posed. Building on this work, we introduce a stronger regularization which is amenable to numerical approximation. We build convergent finite difference approximations, comparing the QC envelope and the two regularization. Solutions of this PDE are strictly convex, and smoother than the robust-QC functions.


There has been a recent proliferation of multinational, multi-institutional computer science education research exploring issues surrounding novice computer science student understanding. The large numbers of students studied in these efforts and their breadth in terms of student background (both technically and culturally) has led to significant interest in the work. In this paper, we summarize each study, identifying the populations studied, the types of data collected, the analyses performed and review the primary results. We also report on current ongoing work related to and derived from these efforts


Background. Among cardiovascular diseases, valve pathology of various aetiology comprises a primary factor of chronic heart failure. Mitral valve diseases afflict over half of all patients with acquired heart defects. Today's long-term outcomes of mitral valve replacement are not quite satisfactory, which urges the invention of novel vales. Such a modern artificial valve is the nationally developed bivalve full-flow MedInzh-ST prothesis.Objectives. Assessment of advantages of the novel MedInzh-ST full-flow mechanical valve vs. MedInzh-2 model in analyses of short-term postoperative outcomes.Methods. Over a five-year period, 116 patients underwent indicated mitral replacement with MedInzh valves. The full-flow MedInzh-ST was implanted in 55 patients, and MedInzh-2 — in 61. All patients had transthoracic echocardiography for structural and functional heart and implant control prior to surgery and discharge from hospital. Clinical and echocardiographic analyses were performed in the early postoperative period.Results. The choice of valve model had no effect on the rates of postoperative complications and hospital mortality. All lethal cases were not associated with the valve malfunction. All patients with predominant mitral stenosis revealed the reliably lower peak and mean transmitral pressure gradient and pulmonary artery systolic pressure, irrespective of the valve model. The novel full-flow valve implantation significantly more often associated with a reduced right ventricle size. All patients with predominant insufficiency were observed to reduce mitral regurgitation and the left ventricular size upon defect correction. Patients with full-flow protheses significantly more often had a reduced end-systolic dimension.Conclusion. The MedInzh-ST full-flow mechanical valve satisfies the modern requirements for efficacy and safety. Mitral stenosis correction with full-flow valves is shown to exert a greater effect on reverse right ventricular remodelling compared to the classical model.


How does rural-urban migration shape urban production in developing countries? We use longitudinal data on Chinese manufacturing firms between 2000 and 2006, and exploit exogenous variation in rural-urban migration induced by agricultural income shocks for identification. We find that, when immigration increases, manufacturing production becomes more labor intensive and productivity declines. We investigate the reorganization of production using patent applications and product information. We show that rural-urban migration induces both labor-oriented technological change and the adoption of labor intensive product varieties. (JEL D24, L23, L60, O33, P25, P31, R23)