Abstract Background The order and extent of interactions across the factors affecting exertional dyspnoea (ED) and exercise intolerance (EI) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are not clear. We hypothesized that lung and non-lung variables were the primary variables, ED was the secondary variable and EI was the tertiary variable. Methods Data on demographics, blood tests, cardiac imaging, lung function tests and invasive dead space fractions (VD/VT) during incremental exercise test of 46 male COPD subjects were obtained. These variables were categorized by factor analysis and pair-wise correlation analysis was conducted. The best factor of each category was selected and then multivariate regression was conducted. Results Peak tidal inspiratory flow (VT/TIpeak), VD/VTpeak and tidal lung expansion capability, and resting diffusing capacity of the lungs (DLCO)% predicted were the primary pulmonary factors most related to ED, whereas body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin and cholesterol levels were the primary non-pulmonary factors. In multivariate regression analysis, VT/TIpeak, VD/VTpeak and DLCO% were the primary factors most related to ED (r 2 = 0.69); ED was most related to EI (r = −0.74 to −0.83). Conclusion Using hierarchical stratification and statistical methods may improve understanding of the pathophysiology of ED and EI in patients with COPD. KEY MESSAGES The pathophysiology of exertional dyspnoea (ED) and exercise intolerance (EI) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is complex. The order and extent of interactions across factors are not clear. In multivariate regression analysis, we found that tidal inspiratory flow, dead space fraction and resting diffusing capacity of the lungs % but not the non-pulmonary factors affected ED. Using correlation coefficients, we further found that ED was the secondary variable and EI was the tertiary variable. Hierarchical stratification of the important factors associated with ED and EI in patients with COPD clarifies their relationships and could be incorporated into management programmes and outcome studies for these patients.


In the studies reported here, we have analyzed the production and consumption of T cell growth factor, more recently termed interleukin 2 (IL-2), as well as some cell-mediated immune functions, in murine strains [MRL, BXSB, NZB, and (NZB x NZWF1] manifesting systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-like syndromes. Young (4-6 wk) or old (4-8 mo) autoimmune or normal mice were studied and compared with regard to the following T cell functions in vitro after stimulation with concanavalin A (Con A): (a) mitogenic response; (b) IL-2 levels in culture supernates; and (c) the ability to respond to and adsorb IL-2. In addition, proliferative activity in the allogeneic mixed leukocyte culture and frequency of alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors (CTLp) were analyzed in some of these strains. Reduced Con A-induced mitogenic responses and IL-2 production appeared at 3-6 wk of age in the early, severe SLE developing strains MRL-Mp-lpr/lpr (MRL/l) and male BXSB and progressed thereafter. Similar defects appeared at a later stage in MRL/Mp-+/+ and (NZB x NZW)F1 hybrid mice, which develop late disease. Detailed analysis of cells from the enlarged lymph nodes and spleens of older MRL/l mice demonstrated that such cells: (a) responded poorly to Con A or allogeneic stimulator cells, even in the presence of exogenous IL-2; (b) did not suppress IL-2 production by normal spleen cells; (c) were relatively incapable of adsorbing or inactivating IL-2; and (d) had a markedly reduced anti-H-2b CTLp frequency in the mesenteric lymph nodes but a normal one in spleen. These results indicate that the proliferating Thy-1.2+, Lyt-1+ T cells in MRL/l mice are defective in their responses to mitogenic stimuli, in IL-2 production, and in expression of acceptor sites for IL-2. The relevance of these defects to the MRL/l disease as well as to the role of IL-2 in autoimmunity in general remains to be determined.


The problem of thermal generation scheduling is considered in the framework of the short-term hydro-thermal coordination problem. Dual programming methods are applied to the large-scale problem deriving from a fine subdivision of the daily optimization horizon for networks with hundreds of thermal units. The starting point for the dual approach is obtained from the solution of a thermal scheduling problem with discarded generation ramp-rate constraints. The relaxed daily scheduling decouples into as many smaller dispatch problems as the number of subintervals. Two dual programming methods are implemented: the former is the dual active set algorithm by Goldfarb and Idnani; while the latter is based on the application of continuation method techniques. These approaches are extensively tested with reference to both a small sample system and to the daily thermal generation scheduling of the Italian (ENEL) system (over 100 thermal units and 96 quarter hour subintervals). Incorporating the dual programming approach within the ENEL hydro-thermal coordination procedure is also considered.


Red halos are faint, extended and extremely red structures that have been reported around various types of galaxies since the mid-1990s. The colours of these halos are too red to be reconciled with any hitherto known type of stellar population, and instead indicative of a very bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function (IMF). Due to the large mass-to-light ratios of such stellar halos, they could contribute substantially to the baryonic masses of galaxies while adding very little to their overall luminosities. The red halos of galaxies therefore constitute potential reservoirs for some of the baryons still missing from inventories in the low-redshift Universe. While most studies of red halos have focused on disk galaxies, a red excess has also been reported in the faint outskirts of blue compact galaxies (BCGs). A bottom-heavy IMF can explain the colours of these structures as well, but due to model degeneracies, stellar populations with standard IMFs and abnormally high metallicities have also been demonstrated to fit the data. Here, we show that due to recent developments in the field of spectral synthesis, the metallicities required in this alternative scenario may be less extreme than previously thought. This suggests that the red excess seen in the outskirts of BCGs may stem from a normal, intermediate-metallicity host galaxy rather than a red halo of the type seen around disk galaxies. The inferred host metallicity does, however, still require the host to be more metal-rich than the gas in the central starburst of BCGs, in contradiction with current simulations of how BCGs form.


We explore the suitability of a virtually imaged phased array as a spectral-to-spatial mode-mapper (SSMM) for applications in quantum communication such as a quantum repeater. To this end, we demonstrate spectrally resolved Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference with weak coherent states (WCSs). Spectral sidebands are generated on a common optical carrier, and WCSs are prepared in each spectral mode and sent to a beam splitter followed by two SSMMs and two single-photon detectors, allowing us to measure spectrally resolved HOM interference. We show that the so-called HOM dip can be observed in the coincidence detection pattern of matching spectral modes with visibilities as high as 45% (maximum 50% for WCSs). For unmatched modes, the visibility drops significantly, as expected. Due to the similarity between HOM interference and a linear-optics Bell-state measurement (BSM), this simple optical arrangement figures as a candidate for the implementation of a spectrally resolved BSM. Finally, we simulate the secret key generation rate using current and state-of-the-art parameters in a measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution scenario and explore the trade-off between rate and complexity of a spectrally multiplexed quantum communication link.


Biobased elastomers (bioelastomers) with high strength and good biocompatibility have emerged as promising biomaterials for soft tissue engineering. In the present work, we synthesized a series of biobased copolyesters, converting semicrystalline copolyesters into elastomers by introducing isosorbide, a bicyclic carbohydrate-based diol. The molecular weights, polymer structures and thermal transitions of the synthesized bioelastomers were characterized by GPC, NMR, FTIR, TGA, DSC and WAXD. The composition, melting point, and crystallinity of the bioelastomers could be tuned by changing the content of isosorbide. Furthermore, high strength composites could be prepared by compositing the synthesized bioelastomers with nanosilica. To substantiate the potential biocompatibility of the reinforced bioelastomers, the cell adhesion and proliferation were evaluated, and the results indicated that the reinforced bioelastomers were essentially noncytotoxic. The combination of sustainability, high strength and noncytotoxicity makes these bioelastomers potential candidates for high-strength biomedical materials.


In this paper, A telemetering control system for the HDTV SMPS Aging System is developed. Manual Aging System is usually used to measurement of a produced SMPS. But in this system, the respective operator is arranged and monitoring the test cycle visually. According to an excess of the test time and mistakes of an operator, the reliability makes come to be low. Therefore as using the telemetering control system, it improves a productivity and a reliability of the HDTV SMPS. In the developed system, electrical signal is measured from aging system, and converted into the digital signal. Also the telemetering control system is composed of many units - telemetering control units for collecting the data, data relay units for the digital transmission service, data division for the multichannel realization.


bacteria and fungi isolated from the soil after the cultivation of spring rye and common vetch. The studies were conducted in laboratory conditions. The antagonistic effect of the isolates of Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Trichoderma hamatum and Trichoderma koningii was determined towards such pathogenic fungi as Alternaria alternata., Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Phoma exigua var exigua, Pythium irregulare, Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. It turned out on the basis of the obtained results that the highest antagonistic effect was characteristic of the isolates of Trichoderma koningii, while the smallest of Trichoderma hamatum. Among the examined bacteria isolates Pseudomonas spp. appeared to be a poorer antagonist than Bacillus spp.


The power system state estimation and prediction are very important for operation. Because that accidents of the Power system are the cause that many devices and etc are damaged. Currently, almost every power systems have 2nd,3rd back-upsystem for prevention of accident. But prevention of accident by miss-operation, due to operator or miss data, has not acounter plan. Because, we need to estimate the power system for correcting miss data and preventing miss operation by operator. We suggest algorithm for integrity of power system network data.


Objectives: To report robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) outcomes from a single tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive cases of patients undergoing RPN at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between January 2008 and January 2018. The study reports patient's demographics, tumor characteristics, operative details, and perioperative outcomes, using descriptive statistics of median and range values. Results: One hundred and one patients underwent RPN during the study period. Average tumor size was 3 (1.3-6.4) cm and average radius exophytic nearness anterior/posterior location (RENAL) score was 6 (4-10). Perioperative parameters were blood loss 200 (5-1500) ml and warm ischemia time 17 (8-40) minutes, excluding off-clamp surgery in 12 (11.9%); operative time was 166 (66-381) minutes. Conversion to open partial nephrectomy occurred in 9 (8.9%) patients, major complications in 3 (3%) patients, positive surgical margins in 5 (5%) patients, and the hospital stay was 4 (2-14) days. A total of 73 (73%) patients achieved a trifecta of freedom from any complication, negative surgical margins, and ischemia time ≤25 minutes. Study limitations included the retrospective design and small cohort size. Conclusions: The initial experience of robotic partial nephrectomy was associated with a surgical outcome comparable to that reported by higher-volume centers.


NOD mice spontaneously develop type I diabetes resulting from autoimmune destruction of their insulin-producing beta cells. Among the self-antigens targeted by NOD autoimmune T cells is a peptide, p277, from the sequence of the 60 kDa heat shock protein (hsp60). Common to the anti-p277 T cell populations of NOD mice is an idiotope, C9, that spans the CDR3 region of the C9 TCR. We now report: (i) that the C9 idiotope peptide can be presented directly to anti-C9 anti-idiotypic T cells by C9 T cells, (ii) that spontaneous anti-C9 anti-idiotypic T cell activity falls as disease progresses, but immunization can activate the anti-idiotypic T cells to regulate the autoimmune process, (iii) that the anti-idiotypic T cells secrete IFN-gamma, but appear to control the disease by down-regulating the IFN-gamma produced by the pathogenic population of anti-p277 T cells, (iv) that intrathymic administration of the C9 idiotope peptide at 1 week of age can accelerate the disease, and (v) that administering the p277 target peptide can up-regulate the anti-idiotypic T cells and arrest the disease process. Thus, the development of NOD diabetes can be regulated by a balance between anti-idiotypic and anti-target peptide autoimmunity, and anti-idiotypic regulation can lead to changes in the cytokine secretion of the autoimmune T cells involved in the disease process.


Abstract Feeding intolerance is a common occurrence in preterm infants, yet there are no precise measures for clinically assessing this potentially serious manifestation. This article reports the results of a study designed to evaluate neonatal intensive care (NICU) nurses' precision in abdominal and emesis assessments, considered the most objective, observable signs of feeding intolerance. Forty-six NICU nurses participated in the study by observing pictures of preterm infant abdomens and pictures of "staged" emesis. There was little agreement among the participants regarding the infant abdomen pictures or the amount of emesis observed in the pictures. There was no relationship between years of NICU experience nurses' assessments. The ability of nurses to assess clinical signs of potentially serious complications in preterm infants is critically important. Standardized education and training as well as precise assessment tools are needed.


Abstract. With the rapid development of autonomous vehicles (AV) and high-definition (HD) maps, up-to-date lane marking information is necessary. Over the years, several lane marking extraction approaches have been proposed with many of them based on accurate and dense Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point cloud data collected by mobile mapping systems (MMS). This study proposes a normalized intensity thresholding strategy and a deep learning strategy with automatically generated labels. The former extracts lane markings directly from LiDAR point clouds while the latter utilizes 2D intensity images generated from the LiDAR point cloud. Additionally, the proposed approaches are also compared with state-of-the-art strategies such as original intensity thresholding and a deep learning approach based on manually established labels. Finally, each strategy is evaluated in asphalt and concrete pavements separately to assess their sensitivity to the nature of pavement surface. The results show that the deep learning model trained with automatically generated labels performs the best in both asphalt and concrete pavement area with an F1-score of 84.9% and 85.1%. In asphalt pavement area, original intensity thresholding strategy shows a lane marking extraction performance comparable to the other strategies while in concrete pavement area, it is significantly poor with an F1-score of 65.1%. Between the proposed normalized intensity thresholding and deep learning model trained with manually labeled data, the former performs better in asphalt pavement area while the latter obtains better results in concrete pavements.


The introduction of in vitro fertilization in 1978 provoked a broad debate about the ethical problems of technological intervention on the human reproduction. It is obvious, that the issue of whether the human embryo is or is not a person seems to be most important in current debates on the morality of selected abortion, cryopreservation and embryo experimentation. The seeking of the moral status of embryo addresses this fundamental question in a multidisciplinary manner. It is clear, that the philosophical or ontological approach to the embryo has a direct bearing upon a practical issues. This work deals with the moral status of embryo. The author claims, that we can establish his or her moral status by two different way. First it is a substantial approach. Then the embryo is the person since the conception. Second is the historical approach. Then the person is a concept of human being, that is unintelligible apart from social and historical context. But when we are not sure whether embryo is a person or not, it is wise to treat the embryo like a person.


The endocrine correlates of infertility in primates are not well understood. On the basis of the levels of gonadotropins in the systemic circulation, infertile men can be classified as eugonadotropic, hypergonadotropic, or hypogonadotropic. Men who have "normal" gonadotropin levels and oligospermia are sometimes treated with one of the following: testosterone, human menopausal gonadotropin, or clomiphene citrate. Fertility is improved in a small percentage of the patients thus treated. In syndromes such as Klinefelter's gonadotropins are elevated in the systemic circulation, testosterone levels are low, and there are varying degrees of seminferous tubule failure. The hypogonadotropic syndromes seem to be an extension of the prepubertal state. Infertility in men can be classified according to the amount of testicular damage estimated by testicular biopsy. Generally speaking, the greater the degree of damage to the seminiferous tubule, the greater the quantities of gonadotropin, especially FSH, that can be found in the systemic circulation. In nonhuman primates many behavioral defects contribute to infertility. Testosterone in male rhesus monkeys is secreted on a diurnal schedule. Although the significance of this pattern is not known, differences in the diurnal rhythms of breeders and nonbreeders have been detected. Measurements of gonadal steroids in the systemic serum of fertile and infertile male gorillas did not reveal differences in steroid concentrations that could be correlated with infertility. The possibility remains that some type of infertility in great apes may be related to immunologic factors.


Optical and electrical properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by pulsed laser ablation of graphite target at different substrate temperatures are reported. By varying the deposition temperature from 400 to 25° C, the film optical transparency and electrical resistivity increase severely. Most importantly, the transparency and resistivity properties of the DLC films can be tailored to approaching diamond by adjusting the deposition temperature, which is critical to many applications. DLC films deposited at low temperatures show excellent optical transmittance and high resistivity. Over the same temperature regime an increase of the sp3 bonded C content is observed using visible Raman spectroscopy, which is responsible for the enhanced transparency and resistivity properties.


Objective It is unknown whether epicardial and endocardial validation of bidirectional block after thoracoscopic surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation is comparable. Epicardial validation may lead to false-positive results due to epicardial tissue edema, and thus could leave gaps with subsequent arrhythmia recurrence. It is the aim of the present study to answer this question in patients who underwent hybrid atrial fibrillation ablation (combined thoracoscopic epicardial and endocardial catheter ablation). Methods After epicardial ablation of the pulmonary veins (PVs) and connecting inferior and roof lines (box lesion), exit and entrance block were epicardially and endocardially evaluated using an endocardial His Bundle catheter and electrophysiological workstation. If incomplete lesions were found, endocardial touch-up ablation was performed. Validation results were also compared to predictions about conduction block based on tissue conductance measurements of the epicardial ablation device. Results Twenty-five patients were included. Epicardial validation results were 100% equal to the endocardial results for the left superior, left inferior, and right inferior PVs and box lesion. For the right superior PV, 85% similarity was found. Based on tissue conductance measurements, 139 lesions were expected to be complete; however, in 5 (3.6%) a gap was present. Conclusions Epicardial bidirectional conduction block in the PVs and the box lesion corresponded well with endocardial bidirectional conduction block. Conduction block predictions by changes in tissue conductance failed in few cases compared to block confirmation. This emphasizes that tissue conduction measurements can provide a rough indication of lesion effectiveness but needs endpoint confirmation by either epicardial or endocardial block testing.


Simultaneously improving project management, product development and engineering processes is for many companies crucial to surviving in a fast changing environment. However, the integration of these activities often falls back due to methodology wilderness, lack of vision or organizational misalignment. To stay competitive with its systems and software development, Alcatel has put in place an orchestrated improvement program of its processes and the underlying engineering tools environment. We will in this overview present Alcatel's engineering process improvement initiatives over the past years. Results are impressive. For instance, with moving to a CMM(I) maturity level 3, we reduced delays of projects to half. We also pinpoint some challenges, such as the need of appraisal model stability in order to facilitate timeline benchmarking.


This paper presents the latest version of the European Quality of Government Index ('EQI'). The data builds on previously published data from 2010 (Charron, Lapuente and Rothstein 2013; Charron, Dijkstra and Lapuente 2013). Based on the largest regionally-focused survey to date, collected in the spring of 2013, the EQI 2013 is draws on over 84,000 respondents in 212 NUTS 1 and NUTS 2 regions in 24 countries. Together with national estimates from the World Bank Governance Indicators (Kaufmann, Kraay and Mastruzzi 2009), we report data on Quality of Government ('QoG') for all EU 28 countries, Turkey and Serbia, for a total of 236 political units. In addition, we present survey data for 6 regions in Ukraine. The QoG questions are aimed at capturing average citizens' perceptions and experiences with corruption, and the extent to which they rate their public services as impartial and of good quality. The EQI data is intended to provide scholars and policy makers with a more nuanced metric when comparing governance across political units in Europe and is the first to provide comparable QoG data that can be used to compare regions within and across countries.


Mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders (MRCD) are inherited neurological disorders that occur 1 in 5000 live births. Currently, muscle biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis of MRCD due to the lack of sensitive biomarkers discovered. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) have been proposed as potential biomarkers for detection of MRCD. This would be a very useful for first-line diagnostic tool, instead of the invasive muscle biopsy. We aimed to validate the utility of these two factors as promising biomarkers in MRCD using both biochemical and molecular tools. We evaluated 41 plasma samples from high-risk neurological symptom of MRCD (group1), 104 samples with non-high risk of MRCD but abnormal findings through screening tests (group2) and 45 samples from healthy control (group3) by ELISA. Skin fibroblasts from 9 high risk patients were tested for their GDF-15 and FGF-21 levels, super-complex 1-V immunological activity and mutation analysis. Statistically, the level of GDF-15 and FGF-21 in group1 were significantly high compared to the group3 (mean 84560 pg/ml±24808 SEM and 33086 pg/ml±25845 SEM respectively, p<0.05). In group2, GDF-15 and FGF-21 were elevated between 4-34 times compared to group3 (mean1017 pg/ml±167 SEM and 1467 pg/ml±515 SEM respectively, p<0.05). The area under receiver-operating-characteristic curve for GDF-15 was 0.7187±0.0556 SE indicating that it has a good discriminatory power in group1 compared to FGF-21 (0.6301±0.0603 SE). The overall sensitivity and specificity of GDF-15 for cut-off value of 300 pg/ml was 90.24% and 75.56% (p<0.05). However, we found no significant correlation between GDF-15 and FGF-21 (p value=0.465).  GDF-15 shows more precise plasma/fibroblasts quantitative biomarker in comparison to FGF-21 in diagnosing of MRCD. This was supported by fibroblasts tests in which 5 out of 9 patients showed abnormal results in their protein immunological activity and mutations were detected. Keywords : Biomarkers ; respiratory chain disorders; GDF-15; FGF-21; fibroblasts


Certain isolates of the plant-pathogenic fungus Stemphylium botryosum produce a phytotoxin, stemphyloxin I. This toxin (C21H34O6) was crystallized and its structure was determined by x-ray crystallography to be a β-ketoaldehyde trans-Decalin. This compound is a highly unusual natural product. Iron (Fe3+) controls production of toxin by this fungus. Furthermore, iron reacts with the toxin to yield a colored product which aids in its detection on chromatograms and in its quantitative estimation by colorimetry.;


Abstract. The aim of this study is the utilization of the concentration-volume (C-V) fractal method based on geoelectrical data including induced polarization (IP) and resistivity (RS) in targeting areas hosting different sulfidic mineralization zones in Nowchun Cu-Mo porphyry deposit, SE Iran. The C-V fractal model employed in this research in order to separate high and moderate sulfidic zones from low sulfidic zone and barren wall rocks in the deposit is corresponding to chargeability and resistivity. Results obtained from the C-V method indicate that there is a positive correlation between subsurface mineralization and sulfide mineralized zones; additionally, use of the C-V method based on geophysical data is recognized as an accurate approach for delineation of various mineralization zones in the depth for optimization of mineral exploration operation, particularly in porphyry deposits.


Diabetes is a metabolic disorders disease characterized by the abnormal high levels of blood sugar due to incomplete or relative deficiency of insulin secretion as well as disorders in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. The study aims to evaluate the physiological effects of aging on oxidative stress and mineral levels in diabetes type II by measuring F.B.S,HbA1c%, levels of a number of important indicators of oxidative stress, level of ferritin ,copper and zinc in the serum. The study included the collecting of 70 blood samples from patients with NIDDM for both sexes in the center of Diabetes and Endocrinology in Sulaimaniyah city. The age of each group in this study ranged between 40-70 years. The study concluded that the rate of both FBS and T.GSH increased with age in diabetic females, the MDA increased with age in diabetic males, and ferritin increased with age in both sexes. Moreover, copper decreased with age in diabetics for both sexes


All orchids have showy flowers and many are therefore popular as exotic houseplants as well as contributing significantly to eco-tourism. A special attribute of some orchid genera is the production of edible tubers, an attribute that can contradict eco-tourism if harvesting is not done sustainably. Such is the case in the Southern Highlands where for example, Kitulo Plateau has been gazetted to be a National Park but where edible orchid harvesting is a serious conservation problem. Botanically, unsustainable harvesting can mean the loss of important germplasm even before some species are known to exist. A field survey was undertaken for three weeks in March 2002 in the Southern Regions of Tanzania (Iringa, Mbeya, Rukwa and Ruvuma) to study aspects of the extent of the distribution, diversity and density of edible orchids. Tools for identification included structured questionnaire, on-the-spot identification as well as using herbarium voucher samples and keys. Analytical tools included Shannons' diversity index and Canonical Community Ordination (CANOCO) and ANOVA in Microsoft Excel. A total of 13 edible species of orchids were documented during the survey all of them from the genera Habenaria, Disa and Satyrium. While Tandala and Molo hills had the highest species Diversity Index (over 1.2), Kitulo Plateau showed the greatest species density of over 200/30m2 quadrants. Local communities in Madaba in Ruvuma, Molo, and Mbisi in Rukwa regions used the orchids as vegetables and snacks in lieu of animal meat. The rest of the studied areas used orchids as a source of cash by selling to Zambian traders and or to their middlemen. More research is needed to monitor growth phases, reproductive/propagation studies as well as taxonomic and systematic studies preferably using molecular techniques to determine relationships amongst edible orchids and their non edible relatives. Tanzania Journal of Science Vol. 31 (1) 2005: pp. 45-54


This article provides a brief theoretical framework as well as literature review and describes the activities of an on-going research program which examines the experiences of students and professors at a specialized bilingual teacher´s college in the Republic of Colombia, South America. It follows the development of a new pedagogical model as these sa,e students amd professors adapt their higher Education academica practices to Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), which integrates English instruction into content-courses


This perspective paper highlights the potentials, limitations, and combinations of openly available Earth observation (EO) data and big data in the context of environmental research in urban areas. The aim is to build the resilience of informal settlements to climate change impacts. In particular, it highlights the types, categories, spatial and temporal scales of publicly available big data. The benefits of publicly available big data become clear when looking at issues such as the development and quality of life in informal settlements within and around major African cities. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) cities are among the fastest growing urban areas in the world. However, they lack spatial information to guide urban planning towards climate-adapted cities and fair living conditions for disadvantaged residents who mostly reside in informal settlements. Therefore, this study collected key information on freely available data such as data on land cover, land use, and environmental hazards and pressures, demographic and socio-economic indicators for urban areas. They serve as a vital resource for success of many other related local studies, such as the transdisciplinary research project "DREAMS—Developing REsilient African cities and their urban environMent facing the provision of essential urban SDGs". In the era of exponential growth of big data analytics, especially geospatial data, their utility in SSA is hampered by the disparate nature of these datasets due to the lack of a comprehensive overview of where and how to access them. This paper aims to provide transparency in this regard as well as a resource to access such datasets. Although the limitations of such big data are also discussed, their usefulness in assessing environmental hazards and human exposure, especially to climate change impacts, are emphasised.


Nanoscopic heterojunction stacks are prevalent in nature as well as in artificial material systems, such as the nanoscopically blended components in soil or artificial catalytic layers on device surfaces. Despite the enormous attention placed on studying individual heterojunctions, the advantageous catalytic performance of heterojunction aggregates has not been recognized. In this study, we employ the ordered N-doped TiO2 nanosheets and Au nanoparticle heterojunction multilayers obtained by a layer-by-layer technique to investigate the functional merits stemmed from heterojunction aggregates. The study demonstrates that nanoscopic heterojunction stacks promote the internal electric field that stemmed from charge separation and boost carrier separations. The aggregate-enhanced carrier separation can be harnessed in chemical conversions. The enhancement effect is influenced by both the dimensions of the entire aggregates as well as the dimensions of the nanoscopic building units. We expect the study to promote the understanding of heterojunction catalysts and corresponding matter conversion from the individual particulate level to the nanoscopic aggregate level and facilitate better harnessing of the photovoltaic effects or catalytic power in nanoscopic heterojunction aggregates.


Background. Little is known about the extent to which embodied digital mediation may support social engagement between children with or without autism in free play settings. This study draws on Affordance theory and Sociocultural theory to investigate social play behaviours associated with use of a Tangible User Interface (TUI) during free play.Method. The study used a detailed observational and descriptive design. Two groups of children with autism (ASD) and two groups of typically developing (TD) children were filmed during a 20 minute play session with either a passive toy, or a digital toy with a TUI. Behaviours were coded according to a scheme based on Parten's Play States. Data were described in terms of duration, frequency and the likelihood of transition toanother state, given the current state.Results. For TD children, Parallel and Associative were the most frequently observed Play States across both conditions. For those with ASD, Parallel Play and Non-Play-Related Conversation were the most frequent states in the passive condition, while Parallel and AssociativePlay were the most common in the TUI condition. This group demonstrated a longer duration of co-operative play with the TUI toy compared to TD children. Both groups showed higher frequencies of social play in the TUI condition.Conclusions. Social play states can be effectively mediated by TUIs for both TD and ASD groups. For the ASD group, repetitive behaviour with a TUI may not be inhibitory to social engagement. Practitioners may consider making TUI enabled toys available during free play opportunities


Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) is the direction of airspace surveillance development. Research analyzing the benefits of Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and ADS-B data fusion is almost absent. The paper proposes an ADS-B minimum system from ADS-B In and ADS-B Out. In ADS-B In, a fusion model with a variable sampling Variational Bayesian-Interacting Multiple Model (VSVB-IMM) algorithm is proposed for integrated display and an airspace traffic situation display is developed by using ADS-B information. ADS-B Out includes ADS-B Out transmission based on a simulator platform and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform. This paper describes the overall implementation of ADS-B minimum system, including theoretical model design, experimental simulation verification, engineering implementation, results analysis, etc. Simulation and implementation results show that the fused system has better performance than each independent subsystem and it can work well in engineering applications.


Abstract A new lyssacinosan hexactinellid, Rossella bromleyi n. sp., is described from the Upper Cretaceous of Arnager Pynt, Bornholm (Denmark). The sponge shows a cup-shaped form with a broad, moderately dense root tuft, which contains three- and four-rayed orthotropal anchors characteristic for Rossella. The skeleton is composed of bundles of diactines, hexactines of two orders, and pentactines. Diactine bundles are mainly in the growth direction or diagonal to it. Prostalia lateralia are pentactines with the paratangential rays protruding beyond the outer surface of the sponge body. Hypodermalia are absent.


Quantitative in-depth profiling with glow discharge optical emission spectrometry is discussed. Recent experimental work on the variations in emission intensity with the discharge parameters is presented. An improved empirical intensity expression, which has been incorporated in a quantification model, is proposed. In particular, the proposed model compensates for variations in the emission yield (emission intensity per sputtered atom). Some examples of quantitative in-depth profiles, obtained with the proposed calculation model, are presented.


During COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many cities and areas were shutdown to control the virus spread. The shutdown introduced reduced emissions from vehicles and power plants. In this study, we studied the impact on pollution by analyzing Suomi NPP satellite Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aerosol optical depth (AOD); AOD is a proxy for particulate pollution in the atmosphere. The investigation is performed over several areas and cities around the globe, i.e. China, India, Europe, the United States, New York city, Los Angeles, etc. In general, reductions in AOD compared to the previous years are found in these areas but with some differences. In China, where the pollution in general is high than the other areas, the reduction in AOD is the most obvious. However, in Europe and the United States, the reduction in AOD is less obvious. In India, the effect is in between. Comparing reductions in S5P Tropospheric Ozone Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and AOD, we found that they sometimes co-vary and sometimes do not. The possible reason is that NO2 and aerosols do not have the same life time and therefore may not always co-exist at the same time and place. NO2 has a shorter life time and therefore tends to be observed close to the source region. Because of longer life time of aerosols, the aerosols from smoke, dust, and pollution can be transported with long distance and interfere with those from local sources. To tease out the AOD reductions from lockdown compared to business as usual (BAU), AOD data were analyzed using NO2 as a filter. Using this approach we found marginal reductions to particulate pollution in some regions to reductions of up to 20% in other regions. Analysis of particulate


Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important mechanism for phenotypic conversion in normal development and disease states such as tissue fibrosis and metastasis. While this conversion of epithelia is under tight transcriptional control, few of the key transcriptional proteins are known. Fibroblasts produced by EMT express a gene encoding fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP1), which is regulated by a proximal cis-acting promoter element called fibroblast transcription site-1 (FTS-1). In mass spectrometry, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and siRNA studies, we used FTS-1 as a unique probe for mediators of EMT and identified a complex of 2 proteins, CArG box-binding factor-A (CBF-A) and KRAB-associated protein 1 (KAP-1), that bind this site. Epithelial cells engineered to conditionally express recombinant CBF-A (rCBF-A) activate the transcription of FSP1 and undergo EMT. The FTS-1 response element also exists in the promoters modulating a broader EMT transcriptome, including Twist, and Snail, as well as E-cadherin, beta-catenin, ZO 1, vimentin, alpha1(I) collagen, and alpha-smooth muscle actin, and the induction of rCBF-A appropriately alters their expression as well. We believe formation of the CBF-A/KAP-1/FTS-1 complex is sufficient for the induction of FSP1 and a novel proximal activator of EMT.


The successes of the Green Revolution highlighted the importance of agricultural research for Third World development. The dramatic impact of improved technologies both underscored the contributions of increased agricultural productivity to economic growth and demonstrated the benefits of strengthening developing country research capacities. Indications of the substantial returns being reaped from research investments stimulated significant growth in research related expenditures. As a result, many national research institutions have begun to play a major role in national agricultural development strategies. The paper identifies eight basic administrative activities required for the establishment and maintenance of developing country institutions. A few of the most important decisions characterizing each activity are highlighted and some of the tradeoffs underlying these decisions are reviewed. The analysis hypothesizes why certain national programs have been managed much more successfully than others. More generally, it simply attempts to specify what managerial variables are most important in the institution-building process.


Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts. ABSTRACT: Marshes located on the Mayo Peninsula between the South and Rhode rivers, Maryland, were measured to determine acreage per tract, total upland and seaward edge lengths. For these marshes, 54% of the total area is associated with tracts of less than 5 acres. Of total upland edge length, 68% is along tracts less than 5 acres, while 72% of seaward edge length is associated with these smaller tracts. Comparison of edge length to area ratios shows that tracts of I acre or less have significantly higher edge length than tracts of 5 acres or more. While this should be extrapolated to other geographic regions with care, the findings suggest that regulatory agencies revise wetland management principles to include greater protection and enhanced survival of small tracts.


We report the discovery of new pre-main sequence (PMS) stars in the Lagoon Nebula (M8) at a distance of 1.25 kpc, based on intermediate resolution spectra obtained with the Boller & Chivens spectrograph at the 6.5m Magellan I telescope (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile). According to the spectral types, the presence of emission lines and the lithium λ 6708 absorption line, we are able to identify 27 classical T Tauri stars, 7 weak-lined T Tauri stars and 3 PMS emission objects with spectral type G, which we include in a separated stellar class denominated "PMS Fe/Ge class". Using near-infrared photometry either from 2MASS or from our own previous work we derive effective temperatures and luminosities for these stars and locate them in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, in order to estimate their masses and ages. We find that almost all of our sample stars are younger than 3×10 years and span over a range of masses between 0.8 and 2.5 M⊙. A cross-correlation between our spectroscopic data and the X-ray sources detected with the Chandra ACIS instrument is also presented.


We present an algorithm for computing the semantic similarity between two sentences. It adopts the hypothesis that semantic similarity is a monotonically increasing function of the degree to which (1) the two sentences contain similar semantic units, and (2) such units occur in similar semantic contexts. With a simplistic operationalization of the notion of semantic units with individual words, we experimentally show that this hypothesis can lead to state-of-the-art results for sentencelevel semantic similarity. At the SemEval 2014 STS task (task 10), our system demonstrated the best performance (measured by correlation with human annotations) among 38 system runs.


Epidemics or outbreak is a sudden spread of the disease within a short time to a large number of people in a given population. Ayurveda is an ancient system of medicine, clearly mentioned about such diseases causing epidemic under a broad term 'Janapadodhwamsa'. There is no term as Epidemiology in Ayurveda, but the principles were described in piecemeal when com-piled, analysed and interpreted the same as a modern theory of Epidemiol-ogy. Many of today's medical sciences coincide with some of the basic principles of Ayurveda. Today whole world is suffering from the COVID-19 pan-demic. To assess the concepts of epidemiology in Ayurveda and to com-pare the same with recent COVID-19 pandemic. Literary study of the epidemic was done thoroughly, including classical treatises like Charak Samhita, Sushrut Samhita & modern textbooks of epidemiology. Most of the concepts of Ayurveda about Janapadodhwamsa are found relevant to current theories of pandemic/epidemic. When COVID-19 pandemic compares with Janapadod-hwamsa, it shows similarity in concepts like aetiology, modes of transmis-sion, principles of prevention of outbreaks etc. Also, control measures of COVID-19 can be compared with Hetu-viparit&Vyadhi-viparitchikitsa. The concepts described in Ayurveda regarding Janapadodhwamsa are more or like the present modern concept of the pandemic/epidemic. Thus, the ancient Indian medicinal systems were well known to the fact of the epidemics & outbreaks of infectious diseases.


BACKGROUND
Engineering or administrative methods are often insufficient or impractical to control exposure to chemicals in anatomy laboratories. This study explored the feasibility of wearing one or a combination of respirators and goggles used as personal protective equipment (PPE) to control exposure in one such laboratory.

METHODS
A group of 28 subjects were briefly trained in wearing PPE, fit-tested, and asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their subjective reaction after wearing the assigned PPE ensemble while working in the laboratory. The subjects' exposure to formaldehyde was also measured and generally exceeded the recommended limits.

RESULTS
When a full-face respirator or the combination of a half-mask respirator and goggles was worn, a majority of subjects reported no odor problem and no irritation to eyes or upper respiratory system. Subjects accepted the PPE to certain degrees, but those using respirators encountered difficulties communicating with others.

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of a half-mask respirator and goggles was the most feasible ensemble to control exposure to air pollutants in an anatomy laboratory.


ABSTRACT Introduction The persistent inflammation that characterizes COPD and affects its natural course also impacting on symptoms has prompted research to find molecules that can regulate the inflammatory process but still available anti-inflammatory therapies provide little or no benefit in COPD patients. Consequently, numerous anti-inflammatory molecules that are effective in animal models of COPD have been or are being evaluated in humans. Areas covered In this article we describe several classes of drugs that target the cellular components of inflammation under clinical development for COPD. Expert opinion Although the results of many clinical trials with new molecules have often been disappointing, several studies are underway to investigate whether some of these molecules may be effective in treating specific subgroups of COPD patients. Indeed, the current perspective is to apply a more personalized treatment to the patient. This means being able to better define the patient's inflammatory state and treat it in a targeted manner. Unfortunately, the difficulty in translating encouraging experimental data into human clinical trials, the redundancy in the effects induced by signal-transmitting substances and the nonspecific effects of many classes that are undergoing clinical trials, do not yet allow specific inflammatory cell types to be targeted.


OBJECTIVE: To describe the pattern of labor progression and risk of cesarean delivery in women whose labor was electively induced. METHODS: We analyzed data on all low-risk, nulliparous women with an elective induction or spontaneous onset of labor between 37 + 0 and 40 + 6 weeks from January 2002 to March 2004 at a single institution. The median duration of labor by each centimeter of cervical dilation and the risk of cesarean delivery were computed for 143 women with preinduction cervical ripening and oxytocin induction, 286 women with oxytocin induction, and 1,771 women with a spontaneous onset of labor. An intracervical Foley catheter was used to ripen the cervix. RESULTS: Electively induced labor with cervical ripening had substantially slower latent and early active phases. After controlling for potential confounders, women who had an elective induction with cervical ripening had 3.5 times the risk of cesarean delivery during the first stage of labor (95% confidence interval 2.7–4.5), compared with those admitted in spontaneous labor. Elective induction without cervical ripening, on the other hand, was associated with a faster labor progression from 4 to 10 cm (266 compared with 358 minutes, P < .01) and did not increase the risk of cesarean delivery, compared with those in spontaneous labor. CONCLUSION: The pattern of labor progression differs substantially for women with an electively induced labor compared with those with spontaneous onset of labor. Furthermore, elective induction in nulliparous women with an unfavorable cervix has a high rate of labor arrest and a substantially increased risk of cesarean delivery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2


In this talk I will describe some examples of quantum phase transitions with disorder and explain in what ways these transitions diier from conventional phase transitions at nite temperature. It will be explained that the-expansion does not work and so much of what we know has come from numerical simulations. A novel feature is the importance of \Griiths singularities", which come from rare, strongly correlated, regions of the system. Some recent results on the quantum spin glass will be discussed in a little more detail.


In this study, the problem of stochastic stability of non-linear impulsive semi-Markov jump systems is investigated. Using the method of stochastic Lyapunov functions, the authors develop some sufficient conditions about stochastic stability for a class of non-linear impulsive semi-Markov jump systems with unbounded transition rates. Particularly, the obtained results generalise and complement some published literatures. Finally, some examples are given to show the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed results.


Background: Physical activity has numerous health and well-being benefits for older adults, but many older adults are inactive. Interventions designed to increase physical activity in older adults have typically only produced small effects and have not achieved long-term changes. There is increasing interest in participatory approaches to promoting physical activity, such as co-production, co-design and place-based approaches, but they have typically involved researchers as participants. This study aimed to understand the experiences of decision-makers and service developers with the introduction of such participatory approaches when developing new physical activity programmes outside of a research setting. Methods: Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 individuals who were involved in commissioning or developing the Greater Manchester Active Ageing Programme. This programme involved funding eight local authorities within Greater Manchester, England, to produce physical activity projects for older adults, involving participatory approaches. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted, structured using the Framework approach. Results: Interviewees identified important benefits of the participatory approaches. The increased involvement of older adults led to older adults contributing valuable ideas, becoming involved in and taking ownership of projects. Interviewees identified the need to move away from traditional emphases on increasing physical activity to improve health, towards focussing on social and fun elements. The accessibility of the session location and information was considered important. Challenges were also identified. In particular, it was recognised that the new approaches require significant time investment to do well, as trusting relationships with older adults and partner organisations need to be developed. Ensuring the sustainability of projects in the context of short-term funding cycles was a concern. Conclusions: Incorporating participatory approaches was perceived to yield important benefits. Interviewees highlighted that to ensure success, sufficient time needs to be provided to develop good working relationships with older adults and partner organisations. They also emphasised that sufficient funding to ensure adequate staffing and the sustainability of projects is required to allow benefits to be gained. Importantly, the implementation of these approaches appears feasible across a range of local authorities.


Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have emerged as the core enabler of many major applications on mobile devices. To achieve high accuracy, DNN models have become increasingly deep with hundreds or even thousands of operator layers, leading to high memory and computational requirements for inference. Operator fusion (or kernel/layer fusion) is key optimization in many state-of-the-art DNN execution frameworks, such as TensorFlow, TVM, and MNN, that aim to improve the efficiency of the DNN inference. However, these frameworks usually adopt fusion approaches based on certain patterns that are too restrictive to cover the diversity of operators and layer connections, especially those seen in many extremely deep models. Polyhedral-based loop fusion techniques, on the other hand, work on a low-level view of the computation without operator-level information, and can also miss potential fusion opportunities. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a novel and extensive loop fusion framework called DNNFusion. The basic idea of this work is to work at an operator view of DNNs, but expand fusion opportunities by developing a classification of both individual operators and their combinations. In addition, DNNFusion includes 1) a novel mathematical-property-based graph rewriting framework to reduce evaluation costs and facilitate subsequent operator fusion, 2) an integrated fusion plan generation that leverages the high-level analysis and accurate light-weight profiling, and 3) additional optimizations during fusion code generation. DNNFusion is extensively evaluated on 15 DNN models with varied types of tasks, model sizes, and layer counts. The evaluation results demonstrate that DNNFusion finds up to 8.8 × higher fusion opportunities, outperforms four state-of-the-art DNN execution frameworks with 9.3× speedup. The memory requirement reduction and speedups can enable the execution of many of the target models on mobile devices and even make them part of a real-time application.


1. Twenty-three amidine and two guanidine compounds belonging to five different classes have been examined for toxicity to mice and rabbits and their effect on carbohydrate metabolism has been studied. 2. Certain of these compounds after a preliminary period of hyperglycaemia produced marked hypoglycaemia, whilst others produced hyperglycaemia only. 3. The two most active hypoglycaemic compounds were sebacamidine and n-decane-1:10 diamindine. Neither of these compounds was as active as synthalin and neither produced hypoglycaemia in any but lethal doses. 4. It is shown in a homologous series of diamidines that the toxicity and hypoglycaemic properties increase with the number of methylene groups uniting the amidine residues and that maximum activity occurs where either 8 or 10 such groups are present. 5. Where hypoglycaemia did occur it was not insulin-like in character, and was probably due to liver damage. It is suggested that the immediate effect of the hepatic injury is to deplete the liver of its stores of glycogen and to increase the blood sugar. Later, normal glyconeogenesis is prevented resulting in hypoglycaemia. 6. The extent of the liver and kidney damage was followed by amino acid and blood urea determinations and by histological examination. 7. It is suggested that amidine hyperglycaemia may, in part, be due to sympathetic stimulation. 8. Various inferences are drawn on the relationship of chemical structure to hypoglycaemic and toxic action. 9. None of the compounds examined possess any value as hypoglycaemic drugs for use in clinical medicine.


Low molecular mass, heparin-binding proteins from seminal plasma play an important role in gametes interaction whereas plasmatic Zn2+-binding proteins stabilize chromatin and plasmalemma structures and protect spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract. By means of affinity chromatography the heparin- and Zn2+-binding proteins were isolated from boar seminal plasma and both preparations were analyzed by reverse HPLC. Most of the proteins bound to heparine and Zn2+-ions were classified as spermadhesins. Three fractions binding exclusively Zn2+ were isolated. They differ in amino-acid composition, content of glucosamine and content of protein components revealed by SDS/PAGE.


ObjectivesZZThe aim of this study was to understand pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods of dementia prevention. MethodsZZAn internet searchof literature published from 2006 thru 2008 was done using combinations of the words'dementia' and'prevention'. These publications were subsequently reviewed. ResultsZZ1) Reduction of risk factors:control of vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, hyperhomocysteinemia, and platelet aggregation) and medical risk factors (head trauma, depression, herpes simplex, hyperthyroidism, and alcohol problems). 2) Pharmacological trial:NSAIDs, selective COX-2 inhibitors, estrogen replacement therapy, and antioxidants. 3) Healthy diet and nutrition:macronutrients (polyunsaturated fatty acid such as omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid) and micronutrients (vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin B1, 3, 6, 9, 12, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K;minerals such as iron, iodine, magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt, selenium;trace elements;and non-essential micronutrients such as polyphenols). 4) Regular excercise and activities:physical activities including aerobics, flexibility, and strength exerrcises;Recreational activities including participation in religious or social activities, healthy sex life with partner, and stimulating cognitive activities. ConclusionZZThe final goal of dementia treatment is primary prevention. However, there is no proven method to achieve this. Therefore, secondary prevention or preventative maintenance through risk reduction and introduction of a healthy lifestyle in an attempt to postpone the onset of disease is a realistic goal.


This study examines the use of oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotube/iron (O-MWCNT/Fe) nanohybrids modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as multifunctional cellular imaging agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescence microscopy. The PEGylated MWCNTs with embedded iron particles were investigated as T2-weighted contrast agents for MRI. The number of PEG molecules attached to the MWCNT surface was calculated. The PEG–MWCNT/Fe complex was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies. Covalent surface modification of the MWCNTs improves their solubility and enables the attachment of further biomolecules to their surface. The PEGylated nanostructures were labeled with the MDC organic dye and internalized inside HeLa cells for cellular imaging. Additionally, the minimal cytotoxic effect of PEGylated complexes in comparison to non-PEGylated samples was measured using the WST-1 test and an In Cell Analyzer. A confocal microscopy study of the organelle morphology also confirmed that the HeLa cell morphology was unchanged after treatment with PEGylated MWCNTs.


StatisticaJ properties of binary phase system with semi-macroscopic random interfaces are studied. Singularity and symmetry of the correlation function are discussed in the case of smooth interface. Characteristic length scales,are defined by using the interface statistics. The existence of the equivalent sphere system is shown for the non-spherical irregular droplet. The irregularity of simple droplets is characterized by an inequality related to the topological invariant. It is shown that statistically self complementary, smooth system is mutually percolating. As a statistical foundation of the random interface problem, the relations to the theory of excursion set of random field are discussed. The expression of area density of the boundary set is obtained for the Gaussian field in Euclidean space with arbitrary dimension d. The cross-over phenomena in the spinodal decomposition process is also discussed using the statistical analyses on the interface.


RESULTS: The decision tree shows the associated QALYs, costs and probabilities used to calculate the ICUR of $3,699/QALY with gain of 2.7 QALYs at an additional cost of $9,987 proving that LVOS is cost-effective. One-way sensitivity analysis showed that LVOS became cost-ineffective when its clinical effectiveness had a QALY of less than 30.187. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis using Monte-Carlo simulation showed that even with varying multiple variables at once, results tended to favor our conclusion.


Covalent immobilisation of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) on underwater surfaces to combat marine biofouling is of great interest as it is an efficient, broad-spectrum and environmentally friendly strategy. Similar to post-translational modifications of natural proteins, artificial modifications of antimicrobial peptides can introduce important impacts on their properties and functions. The present work revealed the enhanced effect of PEGylation on the antifouling properties of marine antimicrobial peptides (LWFYTMWH) through grafting the modified peptides on aluminium surfaces. PEG was coupled to the peptide by solid-phase peptide synthesis, and the PEGylated peptides were bioconjugated to the aluminium surfaces which was pre-treated by aryldiazonium salts to introduce carboxyl groups. The carboxy group has been activated through the reaction with 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysuccinimide. The successful modification was confirmed via FT-IR and XPS. Interestingly, the PEGylated peptides modified surfaces could kill 90.0% Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and 76.1% Bacillus sp. (Gram-positive), and showed better antifouling performance than the original peptides modified surfaces. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations showed PEGylation could enhance the ability of peptides to destroy membrane. The PEGylated peptides inserted into the membrane and induced the change in local curvature of membrane, leading to the rupture of membrane. The presence of PEG changed the antimicrobial peptides into more flexible conformations and the high hydrophilicity of PEG hindered the settlement of bacteria. These might be the two main working mechanisms for the increased antifouling efficiency of PEGylated peptides modified surface. This study provided a feasible modification strategy of antimicrobial peptides to enhance their antifouling properties.


Introduction: Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing-ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily. TRAIL, a valuable agent for cancer therapy, induces apoptosis in the majority of cancer cells, but development of resistance limits its clinical use in many malignancies including prostate cancer. We have demonstrated that Tetrandrine derivatives (TET), promote apoptosis in PCa cells in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we investigated the ability of TET to sensitize tumor cells to TRAIL. We also investigated the role of two-death receptors- DR4 and DR5 in overcoming TRAIL resistance in prostate cancer cells. Methods: Prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and LNCaP derived C4-2b were used for this study. Cell lines were treated with TET and TRAIL alone or in various combinations of these two for different time points. mRNA levels were quantitated via Real Time-PCR and changes in protein expression were analyzed by Western Blot. Cytotoxicity was evaluated using the Crystal violet and MTT survival assay. Cells were transfected with Lentiviral-shRNA to generate stable DR4 and DR5 single and double knockdown cells. Apoptosis assay was done using BD Pharmingen FITC Annexin-V Apoptosis Detection kit I. Results: LNCaP and C4-2b cells did not show a significant response following exposure to TRAIL. Exposure of LNCaP and C4-2b cells to TET resulted in increased mRNA and protein levels of death receptors DR4, DR5. Pretreatment of both cell lines with TET for 12h, followed by TRAIL treatment for another 24h increased the apoptosis inducing potential of TRAIL in these cells. Exposure of TET treated cells in vitro to soluble h-TRAIL in combination with TET resulted in synergistic apoptosis response. shRNA targeting DR4 and DR5 significantly reduced the levels of DR4 and DR5 protein. There was a reduced expression of DR4 and DR5 in the knock down cells in response to TET in time-dependent and concentration-dependent manner. In comparison to scrambled cells, DR4, DR5 single knockdown and DR4/DR5 double-knock down cells showed reduced sensitivity to TRAIL and TET. These cells were less apoptotic as compared to scrambled LNCaP cells as revealed by our apoptosis assay data. Taken together these data suggest that TET induced sensitization of PCa cells to TRAIL is mediated in part by DR4/DR5. Conclusion: Our results suggest that TET induces apoptosis in part by inducing the expression of DR4 and DR5, and provide the proof-of-principle for a novel therapeutic strategy to sensitize cancer cells to apoptosis. Acknowledgement: Financial support from following Sources is gratefully acknowledged: (VA Merit Award 1BX001258; NCI RO1-CA161880); Carroll W. Feist Endowed Chair Funds, FWCC support and Chair commitment LSUHSC-Shreveport). Citation Format: Gauri Shishodia, Sweaty Koul, Qin Dong, Sergey Slepenkov, Hari K. Koul. Tetrandrine promotes prostate cancer cell apoptosis in part by up-regulation of death receptors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 253.


Recent work has made the case for geo-distributed analytics, where data collected and stored at multiple datacenters and edge sites world-wide is analyzed in situ to drive operational and management decisions. A key issue in such systems is ensuring low response times for analytics queries issued against geo-distributed data. A central determinant of response time is the query execution plan (QEP). Current query optimizers do not consider the network when deriving QEPs, which is a key drawback as the geo-distributed sites are connected via WAN links with heterogeneous and modest bandwidths, unlike intra-datacenter networks. We propose CLARINET, a novel WAN-aware query optimizer. Deriving a WAN-aware QEP requires working jointly with the execution layer of analytics frameworks that places tasks to sites and performs scheduling. We design efficient heuristic solutions in CLARINET to make such a joint decision on the QEP. Our experiments with a real prototype deployed across EC2 datacenters, and large-scale simulations using production workloads show that CLARINET improves query response times by ≥ 50% compared to state-of-the-art WAN-aware task placement and scheduling.


Abstract Previous computational studies have shown that Cu+ can act as a substitute for H+ to support formation of cytosine (C) dimers with similar conformation to the hemi-protonated base pair found in i-motif DNA. Through a range of biophysical methods, we provide experimental evidence to support the hypothesis that Cu+ can mediate C–C base pairing in i-motif DNA and preserve i-motif structure. These effects can be reversed using a metal chelator, or exposure to ambient oxygen in the air that drives oxidation of Cu+ to Cu2+, a comparatively weak ligand. Herein, we present a dynamic and redox-sensitive system for conformational control of an i-motif forming DNA sequence in response to copper cations.


Recently, Gutiérrez-Naranjo and Leporati considered performing basic arithmetic operations on a new class of bio-inspired computing devices-spiking neural P systems (for short, SN P systems). However, the binary encoding mechanism used in their research looks like the encoding approach in electronic circuits, instead of the style of spiking neurons (in usual SN P systems, information is encoded as the time interval between spikes). In this work, four SN P systems are constructed as adder, subtracter, multiplier, and divider, respectively. In these systems, a number is inputted to the system as the interval of time elapsed between two spikes received by input neuron, the result of a computation is the time between the moments when the output neuron spikes.


Electronic doping of magnesium oxide catalysts has an effect on the oxidative coupling of methane. Highly active sites can be created by co-modification of MgO with iron and gold in ppm quantities.


The integrity of the posterior cruciate ligament is necessary for the stability of the knee. The popliteus tendon is a promising, practical, and anatomical donor for reconstructing the posterior cruciate ligament. The procedure can be performed relatively easily using a posterolateral Henderson incision in association with the standard anteromedial parapatellar approach. We have performed the operation in 2 patients, produced good results at 4 and 6 month follow-up examination.


Concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of immunization in patients with SLE have persisted for over 60 years, despite the increased risk of infection in these patients. There are many anecdotal case reports of SLE induction or exacerbation following immunization, but overall, these events seem to be very rare. Evidence from prospective trials suggests that inactivated and component vaccines are probably safe in patients with SLE. Live vaccines are contraindicated in patients on immunosuppressive agents or high dose steroids (prednisone 20 mg/day or greater). There is limited evidence regarding efficacy of vaccination in patients with SLE. Studies assessing serological response to vaccination have generally shown that the majority of patients have an appropriate response, but a significant minority do not. Response to hepatitis B vaccination may be impaired and serological responses should be assessed post vaccination. It is not clear if disease activity or immunosuppressive medications are risk factors for a poor response, rather than intrinsic abnormalities of immune function in patients with SLE. The majority of patients appear to have a reasonable serological response to vaccination.


Background Environmental pollution is one of the major problems that world is facing to date. Several approaches are been studied and oxidative enzymes from microbial organisms represent an eco-friendly and cost–effective processes, amenable to biotechnological applications, as for instance industrial dye decolorization. The aim of this study was to screen marine-derived fungal strains isolated from three coastal areas in Tunisia, to identify laccase-like activities, and to produce and characterize active fungal secretomes of interest for dye decolorization. Results Following the screening of twenty fungal strains isolated from the harbours of Sfax and Monastir (Tunisia), five strains were identified displaying laccase-like activities. Molecular based taxonomic approaches allowed us to identify these strains as belonging to the species Trichoderma asperellum , Stemphylium lucomagnoense and Aspergillus nidulans . Among these five isolates, one T. asperellum strain ( T. asperellum 1) gave the highest level of secreted oxidative activities, and as such it was chosen for further studies. Optimization of the growth medium for liquid cultures was first studied to improve the level of laccase-like activity in culture supernatants. Finally, T. asperellum 1 secretome allowed decolorizing different synthetic dyes belonging to diverse dye families, in the presence or absence of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT) as a mediator. Conclusions The optimal growth conditions to produce laccase-like active secretomes from T. asperellum 1 were 1.8 mM CuSO 4 as an inducer, 1% NaCl to mimic seawater environment and 3% sucrose as a carbon source. T. asperellum 1 secretome was effective to decolorize different synthetic dyes belonging to diverse chemical classes, and the presence of HBT as a mediator improved the decolorization process.


Molar-incisor hypomineralisation is a qualitative defect of dental tissue of systemic origin affecting one or more permanent first molars and sometimes the permanent incisors as well. There are still no conclusive data on the aetiology of this hypomineralisation, however, systemic factors such as respiratory diseases and prenatal and perinatal complications are regarded as possible causes. The objective is to present three clinical cases of twins, one Monozygotic Twins , and two Dizygotic Twins with molar-incisor hypomineralisation, besides showing evidence of its manifestation as well as clinical the characteristics and aetiological factors involved. The clinical findings involving twins show that ameloblasts are specifically affected in their developmental phase, which includes a number of factors although prenatal and perinatal complications not decisive in the development of molar-incisor hypomineralization and suggest a possible genetic susceptibility to the disease. Prospective observational studies using a population sample containing data on the last three months of gestation to the eruption of permanent teeth are needed to confirm the cause-effect relationships.


This paper presents an architecture model for the development of intelligent systems for public passenger transport by road. The main objective of our proposal is to provide a framework for the systematic development and deployment of telematics systems to improve various aspects of this type of transport, such as efficiency, accessibility and safety. The architecture model presented herein is based on international standards on intelligent transport system architectures, ubiquitous computing and service-oriented architecture for distributed systems. To illustrate the utility of the model, we also present a use case of a monitoring system for stops on a public passenger road transport network.


In-network processing, involving operations such as filtering, compression and fusion, is a technique widely used in wireless sensor networks (WSN) for reducing the communication overhead. In many tactical stream-oriented WSN applications, especially in military scenarios, both link bandwidth and node energy are critically constrained resources. For such applications, in-network processing itself imposes non-negligible computing cost. In this work, we have developed a unified closed-loop control framework that permits distributed convergence to both a) the optimal level of compression performed by a forwarding node on sensor streams, and b) the best set of nodes where the operators of the stream processing graph should be deployed. In particular, we enhance the Network Utility Maximization (NUM) paradigm, where resource sharing among competing WSN applications is modeled as a form of distributed utility maximization. We also show how the generalized model can be adapted to more realistic cases, where the in-network operator may be varied only in discrete steps, and where a fusion operation cannot be fractionally distributed across multiple WSN nodes.


The authors developed a traffic prediction system which enhances a traffic information service. The prediction method is based on time series analysis and is applicable to short to long term prediction. Traffic information system are real-time and real-world system therefore it suffers various kind of disturbance from environment. To preserve traffic prediction quality, we need fundamental treatment on overall system so that the prediction engine be tolerant toward incomplete traffic data feed or non-stationary traffic data. A solution for incomplete data feed is a combination of data for multiple links. A solution for non-stationary traffic is a traffic simulation dedicated to traffic accidents. With these enhancements toward cyber disturbance and physical disturbance, the system resiliency can be higher.


The project has developed a variety of new multifunctional and flexible building components for a healthier indoor environment. [H] house solutions are durable, energy efficient, safe and affordable. They are suitable for use in new buildings and for renovation. [H] house solutions cover aspects of long service life, reduced maintenance and long-term improvement of energy efficiency.


Growth characteristics of corn stunt spiroplasma, a helical, motile mycoplasma, were studied over a range of osmolality, pH, and temperature in a simple medium containing 20% (v/v) agamma horse serum, 1.5% (w/v) PPLO broth, and various concentrations of sucrose. The spiroplasma was able to grow in a wide spectrum of osmolalities from 360 to 1120 mosm. Optimal growth was observed in media that contained 0.25-0.35 M sucrose. The organism became longer and thinner in media adjusted to 0.65 M sucrose or more. The spiroplasma lost helicity and motility immediately after transfer to media at pH 5.4 or lower. Optimal pH for growth was 7.2. No growth was observed at pH lower than 5.4 or higher than 8.0. Optimal temperature for growth was 32 degrees C. Very little or no growth was observed at temperatures lower than 15 degrees C or higher than 35 degrees C.


Recent studies suggest the existence of a natural rejuvenation event during early embryonic development of mice, followed by epigenetic aging. Here, by profiling embryonic DNA methylation in the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, we found that the epigenetic entropy basepoint maps to the gastrulation stage of embryogenesis and corresponds to a rapid increase in embryo transcript abundance. We further developed a frog aging clock, revealing that this species epigenetically ages. Application of this clock to developmental stages identified a decrease in epigenetic age during early embryogenesis, with the minimal age reached around gastrulation. By examining individual developmental trajectories of 6,457 embryos, we found that this stage is also accompanied by a higher incidence of disrupted development. Taken together, our data point to gastrulation as a critical stage for aging and natural rejuvenation, characterized by the lowest epigenetic age, increased mortality, nadir of DNA methylation entropy and rapid increase in embryo transcript abundance, defining aging ground zero as the basepoint where rejuvenation ends and the aging process begins.


The effective index method is very useful for studies of waveguides with index variations in both directions perpendicular to the direction of propagation, e.g., semiconductor lasers. In this paper we investigate the case of nonplanar layers and simultaneous presence of an index perturbation. The accuracy of the first order expression is investigated and formulas for the higher order terms are given.


This study aims to identify robust push and pull factors of human trafficking. I test for the robustness of 70 push and 63 pull factors suggested in the literature. In doing so, I employ an extreme bound analysis, running more than two million regressions with all possible combinations of variables for up to 153 countries during the period of 1995–2010. My results show that crime prevalence robustly explains human trafficking both in destination and origin countries. Income level also has a robust impact, suggesting that the cause of human trafficking shares that of economic migration. Law enforcement matters more in origin countries than destination countries. Interestingly, a very low level of gender equality may have constraining effects on human trafficking outflow, possibly because gender discrimination limits female mobility that is necessary for the occurrence of human trafficking.


Sustainable socioeconomic development is a widely accepted best business practice. Due to its complex nature, it is not easy for policymakers and community leaders to implement these practices without the help of an in-depth master analysis to guide them. The purpose of this report is a twofold. First, we analyze the challenges that restrain the economic development in Middlesex County area. Secondly, informed by the initial analyses, we advance a series of recommendations to help implement a sustainable socioeconomic development within Middlesex County and the surrounding area. The analysis relies on local demographics, and an overview of the ongoing activities and projects in Middlesex County along with comparisons to adjacent counties and national statistics. This analysis utilized data from a 2014-2015 detailed survey distributed among the leadership of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce to assess extant business views and strategies in the area, as well as current census data and industry trends. This report concludes with general recommendations to aid the sustainability and continuity of business in the area.


Reduction of both the test suite size and the download time of test vectors is important in today's System-On-a-Chip designs. In this paper, a method for compressing the scan test patterns using the LZW algorithm is presented. This method leverages the large number of "Don't-Cares" in test vectors in order to improve the compression ratio significantly. The hardware decompression architecture presented here uses existing on-chip embedded memories. Tests using the ISCAS89 and the ITC99 benchmarks show that this method achieves high compression ratios.


Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) assisted physical layer key generation has shown great potential to secure wireless communications by smartly controlling signals such as phase and amplitude. However, previous studies mainly focus on RIS adjustment under ideal conditions, while the correlation between the eavesdropping channel and the legitimate channel, a more practical setting in the real world, is still largely under-explored for the key generation. To fill this gap, this paper aims to maximize the RIS-assisted physical-layer secret key generation by optimizing the RIS units switching under the eavesdropping channel. Firstly, we theoretically show that passive eavesdropping significantly reduces RIS-assisted secret key generation. Keeping this in mind, we then introduce a mathematical formulation to maximize the key generation rate and provide a step-by-step analysis. Extensive experiments show the effectiveness of our method in benefiting the secret key capacity under the eavesdropping channel. We also observe that the key randomness, and unmatched key rate, two metrics that measure the secret key quality, are also significantly improved, potentially paving the way to RIS-assisted key generation in real-world scenarios.


The aim of this project is to calculate how much energy could be saved in the School of Jadraas, in the municipality of Ockelbo. The objects of study were the lighting and the ventilation systems, not only because of the energy saving but due to the comfort also. After our study, the municipality wants to use our results to improve all their municipality buildings and save as much energy as it is possible in the whole municipality. We analyzed the hours when the ventilation system is working during the whole year, and we calculated how much energy could be saved if the amount of working hours were decreased or if new devices, as heat exchangers, were installed. In the lighting system part, the aim was not only the energy saving, but the comfort also. The currently lighting system is quite bad, specially in the dinning room, where bulbs are still lighting the room. These bulbs, anyways, should not be changed in the next ten years. The lighting system in the learning rooms is also old. Although there are fluorescent lamps already, some new lamps with lower energy consumption and better efficiency can be installed.


Recently, there is a growing tendency that fine-pitch electronic devices are increased due to higher density and very large scale integration. Finer pitch printed circuit board(PCB) is to be decrease insulation resistance between circuit patterns and electrical components, which will induce to electrical short in electronic circuit by electrochemical migration when it exposes to long term in high temperature and high humidity. In this research, the effect of soldering flux acting as an electrical carrier between conductors on electrochemical migration was investigated. The PCB pad was coated with OSP finish. Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder paste was printed on the PCB circuit and then the coupon was treated by reflow process. Thereby, specimen for ion migration test was fabricated. Electrochemical migration test was conducted under the condition of DC 48 V, 85 ℃, and 85 % relative humidity. Their life time could be increased about 22% by means of removal of flux. The fundamentals and mechanism of electrochemical migration was discussed depending on the existence of flux residues after reflow process.


Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid (TREM)‐1 is integral to the inflammatory response occurring during septic shock, although its precise function has yet to be determined. Here we show that in vivo silencing of TREM‐1 using siRNA duplexes in a fecal peritonitis mouse model resulted in a blunted inflammatory response and increased mortality. This was associated with impaired bacterial clearance related to marked inhibition of the neutrophil oxidative burst. By contrast, TREM‐1‐silenced mice were highly resistant to a lethal endotoxin challenge, while partial silencing of TREM‐1 in the bacterial peritonitis model produced a significant survival benefit. These data highlight the crucial role of the TREM‐1 pathway in mounting an adequate inflammatory and cytotoxic response to polymicrobial sepsis, and both the therapeutic promise and potential risks of its modulation.


: The representations of extreme weather during the landfall of Typhoon Songda (2004) in regional simulations at 1-km resolution are described and compared for two cloud-resolving models: Non-hydrostatic Model (NHM) and the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). Both models, using the same 5-km-mesh outputs from NHM as their initial and boundary condi- tions, successfully reproduced the observed typhoon track and intensity. The comparison of surface winds indicated that WRF evaluates more enhanced extremes than NHM; on the other hand, the representations of rainfalls indicated that the extremes of hourly and accumulated rainfalls simulated by the two models are evaluated differently. Slight differences in the model topography between the two models, though produced by the same terrain dataset, were shown to significantly affect the representations of the extremes in each model. It should be recognized that not only the differences in model numerics and physics but also slight changes in the reproduction of topography induce differences in the representations of extreme weather.


We investigated the correlation of inhomogeneous magnetisation transfer ratio (ihMTR), myelin water fraction (MWF) and intra/extra-cellular water geometric mean T2 (I/EW gmT2) with the distribution of inflammatory cells as measured by HLA-DR and CD68 histological staining for macrophages and activated microglia in human traumatic spinal cord injury. We found that ihMTR and MWF decreases were strongly correlated with the presence of HLA/CD68+ immune cells in white matter and both ihMTR and MWF were strongly correlated with LFB, a stain for myelin lipids. Our results demonstrate a strong link between ihMTR and MWF and inflammation.


The most common bladder specimens are obtained from endoscopic biopsies and transurethral resections (TURB), both of which sample subepithelial tissue of varying depth. Other specimens can be obtained from cystectomy, cystoprostatectomy, pelvic exenteration ("en bloc" resection), and partial cystectomy including resection of diverticulae and surgical excision of a urachal carcinoma. The correct assessment of bladder specimens may provide clinically relevant diagnostic and prognostic data. This protocol is intended to assist pathologists in providing clinically useful information as a result of examination of surgical specimens.


Objective. This study aimed to analyse the influence of physical fatigue, resulting from a simulated aquatic rescue, at a swimming pool, on the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) delivered by the rescuer. Design, setting and participants. An intragroup design with 27 lifeguards was used in this study. The quality of CPR delivery was evaluated for two minutes for all subjects while they were at rest (test 1), as well as after a simulated aquatic rescue at a swimming pool (test 2). A Resusci Anne® SkillReporter™ (Laerdal Medical Limited, Norway) manikin was used to retri-eve reports on CPR delivery, compliant with the most recent international guidelines (30:2, chest compression: ventilation ratio). Results. Rescue-related physical fatigue had a significant influence on the total number of chest compressions as well as on the ratio of correct chest compressions. Physical fatigue triggered by a swimming pool water rescue negatively influenced CPR delivery quality. These results show that the detrimental effects of physical fatigue on CPR delivery remain important, even in a swimming pool environment. Conclusions. Training programs should reflect this finding, and focus on enabling lifeguards to deliver proper CPR, even while exhausted and for long periods of time.