BACKGROUND Recent increase in skin biopsies has been attributed to an epidemic of skin cancer. This may be avoidable, with potential savings. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the increase in skin biopsies is attributable to increasing frequency of biopsies associated with histology lacking pathological cutaneous disease. Pathological cutaneous disease was defined as (1) a malignancy, precancerous lesion, or lesion of uncertain behavior; or (2) disease symptomatic or associated with adverse quality of life impact. PATIENTS AND METHODS Retrospective cohort study, 2006 to 2013 of dermatology practice serving Florida and Ohio. Data were a consecutive sample of skin biopsies for diagnosis of dermatologic disease. RESULTS A total of 267,706 biopsies by an average of 52 providers per month from January 06 to December 13 were analyzed. Number of biopsies per visit increased 2% per year (RR: 1.02, CI: 1.00–1.04). Likelihood of biopsy associated with histology indicative of nonpathological cutaneous disease did not increase over time (OR: 0.99, CI: 0.95–1.03, p = .6302). CONCLUSION Rates of biopsies associated with nonpathological cutaneous disease is not increasing. Overall biopsy rates per visit have gradually increased; this seems attributable to greater rates of detection of pathological dermatologic disease.


Purpose One of the most important long-term side effects of therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the elevation of liver function tests, with earlier studies reporting an elevation of more than 1× the upper limit of normal (>1 × ULN). The current study expands the literature by comparing the trends of transaminase changes caused by conventional and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Patients and methods The drug categories examined were methotrexate (MTX) and all other nonbiologic DMARDs. Where RA patients exhibited inadequate response to conventional DMARDs (cDMARDs), we added biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) to the treatment. We compared the trend of changes in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the patients receiving MTX with the trend observed in the patients whose treatment encompassed both bDMARDs and MTX. The comparison was conducted using random intercept models, which are a type of linear mixed effects model. Results This work involved 512 RA patients (MTX: 450, MTX + infliximab [INF]: 26, MTX + etanercept [ETA]: 36), whose ALT and/or AST levels were measured in 1,786 visits (MTX: 1,543, MTX + INF: 107, MTX + ETA: 136). ALT and/or AST elevations greater than 1 × ULN were observed in 344 (19.3%) visits (MTX: 295 [19.1%], MTX + INF/ETA: 49 [20.2%]). In this study, the trends of ALT and AST changes increased when receiving MTX, while the INF/ETA addition decreased these trends. The random intercept models indicated that changes in the mean ALT levels were significantly different over the time for MTX and MTX + INF/ETA groups (β [SE] =−0.190 [0.093], P= 0.040) but changes in the mean AST levels were nonsignificantly different over the time for such groups (β [SE] =−0.099 [0.064], P=0.120). Conclusion Despite a higher incidence of elevated transaminases during the use of MTX + INF/ETA, the combination of INF/ETA with MTX reduced transaminase levels and returned ALT levels to normal concentrations.


ABSTRACT Bipolar disorder (BD) is frequently associated with immune dysfunctions. Studying the genetic diversity of the immuno-modulatory human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G locus in a French BD cohort, we previously reported an association between a functionally relevant 14 bp Ins/Del polymorphism and BD risk. The present study investigated the genetic and expression diversities of HLA-G in a geographically distinct South Indian population-group BD patients, as well as the influence of exposure to the neurotropic Toxoplasma gondii pathogen. Three functionally relevant HLA-G polymorphisms, i.e. HLA-G 14 bp Ins/Del (rs66554220), +3142G>C (rs1063320) and +3187A>G (rs9380142) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR. Sub-samples of BD patients and healthy controls (HC) were investigated for plasma levels of soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) isoforms, as well as circulating stigma of T. gondii infection. Findings indicate: (i) the frequency of the HLA-G 14 bp Del/Del genotype was higher in BD cases, as compared to HC; (ii) the HLA-G + 3142 C allele and CC genotype were more prevalent in BD patients than in HC; (iii) sHLA-G levels were significantly higher in BD cases, especially in females and in the early onset sub-group; and (iv) the InsGA haplotype was more prevalent in HC. Our findings further support the genetic contribution of HLA-G to BD risk, as well as indicate relevant expression profiles. Such data may also indicate a potential developmental role in BD etiology, given that HLA-G is an important immune regulator from the intrauterine period and across development.


Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) can be linked to the surface of metal-oxide photocatalysts by immersion and UV illumination. The surfaces become hydrophobic and keep their hydrophobicity even under extended UV exposure. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a prominent example of a metal-oxide photocatalyst. Here, we studied the influence of a grafted PDMS layer on the photocatalytic activity and wetting properties of TiO2. By varying the molecular weight of PDMS, we controlled the thickness of the polymer layer from 0.6 to 5.5 nm. We recommend a PDMS molecular weight of 6.0 kDa. It leads to a grafted PDMS layer thickness of 2.2 nm, a receding contact angle of 94°, a low contact angle hysteresis of 9°, and the layer is still photocatalytically active.


An attempt is made in this study to estimate the noise level present in a chaotic time series. This is achieved by employing a linear least-squares method that is based on the correlation integral form obtained by Diks in 1999. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated using five artificial chaotic time series, the Henon map, the Lorenz equation, the Duffing equation, the Rossler equation and the Chua's circuit whose dynamical characteristics are known a priori. Different levels of noise are added to the artificial chaotic time series and the estimated results indicate good performance of the proposed method. Finally, the proposed method is applied to estimate the noise level present in some real world data sets.


A facile method to prepare a self-healing polymeric material with tunable mechanical properties is developed. The material has a remarkable self-healing efficiency via the formation of multiple dynamic hydrogen bonds. It can resist the corrosion of various organic solvents and can also be readily processed into a range of shapes.


Motivation: The transcriptomic diversity of the hundreds of cell types in the human body can be analysed in unprecedented detail using single cell (SC) technologies. Though clustering of cellular transcriptomes is the default technique for defining cell types and subtypes, single cell clustering can be strongly influ-enced by technical variation. In fact, the prevalent unsupervised clustering algorithms can cluster cells by technical, rather than biological, variation. Results: Compared to de novo (unsupervised) clustering meth-ods, we demonstrate using multiple benchmarks that supervised clustering, which uses reference transcriptomes as a guide, is robust to batch effects. To leverage the advantages of supervised clustering, we present RCA2, a new, scalable, and broadly applicable version of our RCA algorithm. RCA2 provides a user-friendly framework for supervised clustering and downstream analysis of large scRNA-seq data sets. RCA2 can be seamlessly incorporated into existing algorithmic pipelines. It incorporates various new reference panels for human and mouse, supports generation of custom panels and uses efficient graph-based clustering and sparse data structures to ensure scalability. We demonstrate the applicability of RCA2 on SC data from human bone marrow, healthy PBMCs and PBMCs from COVID-19 patients. Importantly, RCA2 facilitates cell-type-specific QC, which we show is essential for accurate clustering of SC data from heterogeneous tissues. In the era of cohort-scale SC analysis, supervised clustering methods such as RCA2 will facilitate unified analysis of diverse SC datasets. Availability: RCA2 is implemented in R and is available at github.com/prabhakarlab/RCAv2


Purpose This study aimed to investigate the early childhood caries (ECC) prevalence among preschoolers aged 3-5 years in Xiangyun of Yunnan, China and explore the factors associated with the prevalence. Materials and methods A cross-sectional survey including 3-5-year-old children was conducted in Xiangyun County, China, between September and November 2020. According to the dental examination standard of the WHO 2013 criteria, the presence of ECC was recorded. Besides the dental examination for children, their parents completed questionnaires about caries-related factors, including demographic variables, family socioeconomic status, feeding, and oral health-related habits, parental dental knowledge, and the condition of dental service utilization. SPSS Statistics 25.0 (IBM, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The ECC prevalence among a sample of 1,280 children aged 3–5 years consisting of 665 boys and 615 girls in this study, was 74.3%, and the mean decayed-missing-filled teeth (dmft) was 4.9 ± 5.0. There were no statistically significant differences in the ECC prevalence between the sexes and among different ethnic groups. Children with different dietary and oral hygiene habits showed no significantly different prevalence of ECC. Logistic regression analysis showed that the most significantly associated factors were older age, lower family income, and worse parental perception of children's oral health status. Conclusion The ECC prevalence among 3–5-year-old preschool children in Xiangyun was higher than the average national ECC prevalence in China. This study implies that more attention should be given to children's caries prevention from early childhood; oral health education and promotion should be intensified to reduce the ECC prevalence and improve the oral health status of children in Xiangyun.


Therapeutic proteins are exposed to various potential contact surfaces, particles, and leachables during manufacturing, shipping, storage, and delivery. In this review, we present published examples of interfacial- or leachable-induced aggregation or particle formation, and discuss the mitigation strategies that were successfully utilized. Adsorption to interfaces or interactions with leachables and/or particles in some cases has been reported to cause protein aggregation or particle formation. Identification of the cause(s) of particle formation involving minute amounts of protein over extended periods of time can be challenging. Various formulation strategies such as addition of a nonionic surfactant (e.g., polysorbate) have been demonstrated to effectively mitigate adsorption-induced protein aggregation. However, not all stability problems associated with interfaces or leachables are best resolved by formulation optimization. Detectable leachables do not necessarily have any adverse impact on the protein but control of the leachable source is preferred when there is a concern. In other cases, preventing protein aggregation and particle formation may require manufacturing process and/or equipment changes, use of compatible materials at contact interfaces, and so on. This review summarizes approaches that have been used to minimize protein aggregation and particle formation during manufacturing and fill-finish operations, product storage and transportation, and delivery of protein therapeutics.


We study linear programming models that contain transportation constraints in their formulation. Typically, these models have a multistage nature and the transportation constraints together with the associated flow variables are used to achieve consistency between consecutive stages. We describe how to reformulate these models by projecting out the flow variables. The reformulation can be more desirable since it has fewer variables and can be solved faster. We apply these ideas to reformulate two well‐known workforce staffing and scheduling problems: the shift scheduling problem and the tour scheduling problem. We also present computational results. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2004.


Based on the partial-wave series expansion (PWSE) method in spherical coordinates, a formal analytical solution for the acoustic scattering of a zeroth-order Bessel acoustic beam centered on a rigid fixed (oblate or prolate) spheroid is provided. The unknown scattering coefficients of the spheroid are determined by solving a system of linear equations derived for the Neumann boundary condition. Numerical results for the modulus of the backscattered pressure (θ = π) in the near field and the backscattering form function in the far field for both prolate and oblate spheroids are presented and discussed, with particular emphasis on the aspect ratio (i.e., the ratio of the major axis over the minor axis of the spheroid), the half-cone angle of the Bessel beam, and the dimensionless frequency. The plots display periodic oscillations (versus the dimensionless frequency) because of the interference of specularly reflected waves in the backscattering direction with circumferential Franz' waves circumnavigating the surface of the spheroid in the surrounding fluid. Moreover, the 3-D directivity patterns illustrate the near- and far-field axisymmetric scattering. Investigations in underwater acoustics, particle levitation, scattering, and the detection of submerged elongated objects and other related applications utilizing Bessel waves would benefit from the results of the present study.


Nowadays, high quality education is the center of attention in every medical school. Searching for new ways to introduce the educational units is a natural drift for every discipline. Introducing new educational technique: "Solving of Clinical Case", aims at building a spontaneous bridge between preclinical knowledge and future work in the hospital in immediate and unattended contact with patients. Clinical case solving is a prerequisite for increasing the motivation of students, enhancing logical thinking and stimulating the student for additional investigation at home. The clinical case is based on real patients and the history of their diseases and it is related to the topic of the exercise. It includes the whole data from the moment the patient is seen by doctor for the first time until definitive diagnosis is formulated and medication prescribed. The clinical case is divided in two parts, discussed in two subsequent seminar classes. During the first part the tutor does not give any additional information about the case, he just guides the discussion. The students work by themselves, formulate hypothesis and argument them by building logical connections between causes and results, using the model: causes (and conditions) - altered structure - harmed function - clinical symptom – set of symptoms (syndromes) - disease. At the end of the first part hypothesis are rearranged by their probability. The students may use the time between the two parts to find additional information on the topic and gain some knowledge on the hypothesis that have been discussed, using either traditional forms of education - textbooks, monographs, lectures, original scientific issues and reviews or any kind of source including the www. The second part is used for discussing what kind of laboratory, functional or instrumental tests are still needed to prove or exclude the hypothetical diagnosis. The way it is created, every clinical case emphasizes not only on the biomedical side of the patient's problem, but also the socio-judicial aspects. Scripta Scientifica Medica 2008; 40(2): 117-120.


Normally the clock distribution network will consume about 70% of the total power consumed by the IC because this is the only signal which has the highest activity. Basically for a multi clock domain network we develop a multiple PLL to cater the need, but it consumes more power. So, the main aim of this project is developing a low power single clock multiband network which will supply for the multi clock domain network. It is highly useful and recommended for communication applications like Bluetooth, Zigbee, and WLAN. It is modeled using Verilog simulated using Modelsim and implemented in Xilinx. .


Little is known regarding how and to what extent the emerging concept of creating shared value (CSV) can be integrated into unique Asian market dynamics. In this paper, we conduct a comparative content analysis of 240 sustainability reports on Japan, Korea, and China, spanning the period of 2012–2105. We find that CSV in Asia is a discrepant phenomenon with little theoretical and empirical support. Each country has a disorderly approach toward CSV mainly because of unique cultural and institutional contexts. More substantively, in Korea, CSV—although in decline—is seen as a popular alternative to philanthropy, while the Japanese remain cautious. In China, there is little interest in CSV. Thus, there is a possibility of CSV disappearing altogether because of scant theoretical and empirical support. To address this gap, we propose a "CSV–SDGs Collaborative Model of East Asia" (where SDGs refer to sustainable development goals). This model could contribute to early-stage CSV–SDGs collaboration for sustainable development in Asia.


Viruses and other cellular cargo that lack locomotion must rely on diffusion and cellular transport systems to navigate through a biological cell. Indeed, advances in single particle tracking have revealed that viral motion alternates between (a) diffusion in the cytoplasm and (b) active transport along microtubules. This intermittency makes quantitative analysis of trajectories difficult. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to construct mathematical methods to approximate intermittent dynamics by effective stochastic differential equations. The coarse-graining method that we develop is more accurate than existing techniques and applicable to a wide range of intermittent transport models. In particular, we apply our method to two- and three-dimensional cell geometries (disk, sphere, and cylinder) and demonstrate its accuracy. In addition to these specific applications, we also explain our method in full generality for use on future intermittent models.


In this study which included 16 patients with inflammatory or non-inflammatory arthropathies, human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating activity was detected in synovial fluid. This was attributable to the presence of colony-stimulating factor(s) (CSF), as a direct action on human bone marrow progenitor cells was demonstrated using clone transfer experiments. Samples of synovial fluid also stimulated the growth of murine macrophage colonies and induced differentiation in the murine myelomonocytic leukemia cell line, WEHI-3B(D+), which are characteristic properties of human macrophage-CSF or granulocyte-CSF respectively. These findings and the results of preliminary fractionation procedures suggested that the colony-stimulating activity in synovial fluid was not explicable by the presence of any one of the well-characterized human CSF acting in isolation. This provides a new insight into the pathogenesis of inflammatory arthropathies and supports the hypothesis that CSF have important roles in vivo in addition to the regulation of haemopoiesis.


Observers can estimate the position of occluded moving objects, and this ability could be mediated by the oculomotor control system. However, other forms of motion cannot be tracked with pursuit eye movements. In Experiment 1, 2 kinds of motion extrapolation tasks were interleaved. In the Position extrapolation trials, participants observed a moving target that became occluded. They attempted to press a button when it arrived at the end of the occluder. In novel Accumulation extrapolation trials, they observed a matrix of Gabors with new elements appearing over time. The participants pressed when Gabors would have filled the entire matrix, had they continued accumulating at the same rate. In both tasks completion time estimates were related to presentation parameters in the same way. Moreover, there were robust intertask correlations: Participants who responded earlier in the position task also responded earlier in the accumulation task. Experiment 2 replicated these results with a third form of extrapolation. Although performance was not identical in all tasks, there were enough similarities to suggest that overlapping systems guide all forms of extrapolation. We propose that a common rate control mechanism guides extrapolation, like the velocity store in oculomotor control, but with a broader function than previously envisaged.


At low temperatures, amorphous and partly disordered solids exhibit properties which are different from those in crystals. These anomalies can phenomenologically be described y low-energy excitations which are characterized by a broad distribution of energy and relaxation times : the socalled tunneling states (TS). It was first believed that these TS can only occur in typical glass-forming amorphous solids with a low average coordination of the individual atoms, and also in partly disordered, low-coordinated solids such as neutron-irradiated SiO 2 , TS have been observed. In order to explore the possibility of the presence of TS in topological more constrained disordered solids, ultrasonic attenuation measurements were started on the fourfold coordinated silicon which was irradiated with fast neutrons to create large regions of lattice disorder. In this paper we will present and discuss the first results of these measurements and we will compare them with results of similar measurements on unirradiated, single-crystalline silicon.


This paper surveys the literature on strategy-proofness from a historical perspective. While I discuss the connections with other works on incentives in mechanism design, the main emphasis is on social choice models. This article has been prepared for the Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare, Volume 2, Edited by K. Arrow, A. Sen and K. Suzumura


Palliative care for chronically ill patients is an important strategy to relieve suffering and to maintain quality of life. However, few studies have investigated the problems in the palliative care of chronic patients. This study explored the willingness to accept palliative care and related factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The study adopted a descriptive-correlational design. A purposive sample of 101 patients from 2 teaching hospitals in central Taiwan was recruited. Structured questionnaires assessed patients' knowledge, attitude, and willingness to accept palliative care. The results showed that most participants were willing to accept symptom control and unwilling to accept intubation, mechanical ventilation, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Associations between knowledge scores, willingness to accept palliative care, and attitude scores were found. Education level and attitude toward palliative care variables were predictive factors of willingness to accept palliative care. However, knowledge of palliative care was noticeably low in the study; only 14.9% of the participants were aware of palliative care. Educating patients about palliative care is necessary. Health professionals should advocate for palliative care and provide patients and their families with opportunities to discuss their views about palliative care so that appropriate care can be provided.


Progesterone (P 4) decreases oxytocin (OT)-stimulated prostaglandin (PG)F 2α , but not PGE 2 secretion from bovine endometrial cells and this effect is partly elicited via a non-genomic route. The aim of this study was to determine whether P 4 and pregnenolone (P 5), in the presence or absence of OT, influence: (a) the gene expression of enzymes responsible for PG synthesis: cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), synthase of PGF 2α (PGFS) and PGE 2 (PGES), (b) protein expression of COX-2, PGFS and PGES, and (c) P 4 receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) gene expression in bovine endometrial cells. The epithelial endometrial cells (2.5 × 10 5 /ml) from Days 14–16 of the oestrous cycle were incubated for 72–96 h to attach the cells to the bottom of a well. Next, the cells were preincubated for 30 min with P 4 and P 5 (10 –5 M each) and incubated for 4 h and 6 h alone or with OT (10 –7 M). Thereafter, the medium was collected for PGE 2 and PGFM determination, while cells were harvested for gene and protein expression analysis. The used steroids: (a) inhibited OT-stimulated PGF 2α , but not PGE 2 secretion from endometrial cells, (b) did not affect the expression of mRNA for COX-2, PGFS, PGES and PGRMC1 in endometrial cells after 4 and 6 h, (c) they decreased OT-stimulated COX-2 mRNA expression only after 6 h incubation, and (d) did not influence COX-2, PGFS and PGES protein expression after 6 h. These results indicate that P 4 and P 5 inhibit OT-stimulated secretion/production of luteolytic PGF 2α by a transcription-independent mechanism and partly by down-regulation of COX-2 mRNA. Prostaglandins (PGs) produced in the uterus play an important role in the regulation of the oestrous cycle and the successful implantation of blastocysts in many species, including cattle (McCracken et al., 1999; Goff, 2004; Fortier et al., 2008). During the bovine oestrous cycle, Days 15–17 are crucial for the initiation of luteolysis or for maternal recognition of pregnancy (McCracken et al., 1999; Niswender et al., 2000). At this time, endometrial PGF 2α is released in a pulsatile manner in the first case (McCracken et al., 1999), while PGE 2 acts as luteotropic and antiluteolitic factor preventing luteolysis during early pregnancy (Goff, 2004). Both these PGs are synthesized in endometrial cells from arachidonic acid, which is converted into prostaglandin H 2 (PGH 2) by cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2). …


The efficacy of virus-specific T cells in clearing pathogens involves a fine balance between their antiviral and inflammatory features. SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in individuals who clear SARS-CoV-2 infection without symptoms or disease could reveal non-pathological yet protective characteristics. We therefore compared the quantity and function of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in a cohort of asymptomatic individuals (n=85) with that of symptomatic COVID-19 patients (n=76), at different time points after antibody seroconversion. We quantified T cells reactive to structural proteins (M, NP and Spike) using ELISpot assays, and measured the magnitude of cytokine secretion (IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-10) in whole blood following T cell activation with SARS-CoV-2 peptide pools as a functional readout. Frequencies of T cells specific for the different SARS-CoV-2 proteins in the early phases of recovery were similar between asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. However, we detected an increased IFN-γ and IL-2 production in asymptomatic compared to symptomatic individuals after activation of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in blood. This was associated with a proportional secretion of IL-10 and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β) only in asymptomatic infection, while a disproportionate secretion of inflammatory cytokines was triggered by SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell activation in symptomatic individuals. Thus, asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals are not characterized by a weak antiviral immunity; on the contrary, they mount a robust and highly functional virus-specific cellular immune response. Their ability to induce a proportionate production of IL-10 might help to reduce inflammatory events during viral clearance.


We examined the relative importance of male and home range quality on female-male spatial overlap in the tree agama, Acanthocercus atricollis atricollis. Specifically, we asked whether males in good condition had the greatest spatial overlap with females, whether these same males have the best home ranges, or whether females are simply occupying areas with the best habitat and highest food abundance. Tree structure and prey abundance were used as measures of male home range quality, and male snout-vent length and male body condition were used as indices of male quality. Males had significantly larger home ranges compared to females and female-male overlap was common, while male-male overlap was marginal in a few cases (n = 3). Contrary to prediction, larger males did not occupy larger areas and home range size was not influenced by prey abundance. However, there was significant variation in prey availability between male areas. Female-male overlap was linked to prey abundance in male home ranges, possibly because of the direct influence it has on female fitness. However, several high quality males with high spatial overlap with females also had relatively high prey abundance. Male quality may well be linked to resource availability, but small sample size requires a cautionary interpretation.


According to the Malaysia's biofuel policy, renewable fuels are crucial for energy sustainability in the transportation sector in the future. This study was aimed to evaluate the potential of bioethanol production from Sri Kanji 1 cassava in Malaysia in terms of energy efficiency and renewability, as well to estimate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in CO2 equivalent. Bioethanol production process from cassava includes cassava farming, ethanol production, and transportation in which the primary energy consumption was considered. The Net Energy Balance (NEB) and Net Energy Ratio (NER) of 25.68 MJ/L and 3.98, respectively, indicated that bioethanol production from Sri Kanji 1 cassava in Malaysia was energy efficient. From the environmental perspective, the GHG balance results revealed that the production and distribution of 1 L of Cassava Fuel Ethanol (CFE) could reduce GHG emissions by 73.2%. Although found promising in the present study, Sri Kanji 1 cassava as bioethanol feedstock should be further investigated by constructing an actual ethanol plant to obtain real life data.


This paper extends the idea of decoupling shrinkage and sparsity for continuous priors to Bayesian Quantile Regression (BQR). The procedure follows two steps: In the first step, we shrink the quantile regression posterior through state of the art continuous priors and in the second step, we sparsify the posterior through an efficient variant of the adaptive lasso, the signal adaptive variable selection (SAVS) algorithm. We propose a new variant of the SAVS which automates the choice of penalisation through quantile specific lossfunctions that are valid in high dimensions. We show in large scale simulations that our selection procedure decreases bias irrespective of the true underlying degree of sparsity in the data, compared to the un-sparsified regression posterior. We apply our two-step approach to a high dimensional growth-at-risk (GaR) exercise. The prediction accuracy of the un-sparsified posterior is retained while yielding interpretable quantile specific variable selection results. Our procedure can be used to communicate to policymakers which variables drive downside risk to the macro economy


Geomagnetic study was carried out to investigate the distribution and depth of formations of different magnetic rocks on an old quarry site, Abeokuta, Southwestern, Nigeria. Eight ground magnetic profiles were established with 10 m spacing intervals orientated in West-East and North-South directions, and ranged between 110 and 190 m. A total of 223 data sets were acquired and corrected for all forms of magnetic variations. The resulting residual anomalies were plotted against distance using Microsoft Excel tool. Also, these anomalies were modeled into 2D and 3D contour sections using Surfer 10. The depth to basement analysis was carried out using Peter's half slope graphical method. The resulting profiles and contour sections revealed variable anomalies which indicated contrast in the magnetic distributions of the subsurface. Mineral rocks with average (0-150 nT) magnetic susceptibilities dominated the profiles, and this indicated that the study area is on pegmatite or Quartz vein which probably harbored Beryl, Graphite, Sandstone, Quartz, Tantalite and Mica in both massive and disseminated quantities. Regions with high (150-300 nT) and low (0 to -150 nT) magnetic susceptibilities were also observed across the profiles. Mineral rocks with very thin bodies were observed at depths 3.48-17.42 m, intermediate bodies were buried at depths 2.61-13.06 m, while very thick bodies were located at depths between 2.09 and 10.45 m. The depth of the magnetic sources revealed that the major and minor mineral rock contact in the study area.


The efficient delivery of hydrophobic drugs into target cells without the use of organic solvents or chemical linkage to delivery carriers is an important theme in the biomedical and pharmaceutical field. In this study, we synthesized virus-like particles (VLPs) coupled with cyclodextrins (CDs) as hydrophobic pockets through disulfide bonds inside the VLPs, where hydrophobic drugs can be incorporated. We report here the intracellular delivery of hydrophobic dyes or drugs encapsulated in VLPs through CDs with high efficiency and their subsequent release in cells in response to glutathione. As a model anticancer drug, paclitaxel (PTX)-CD complexes were encapsulated inside VLPs and the cytotoxic drug activity of PTX loaded VLPs against NIH3T3 cells was evaluated by CCK-8 assay. PTX-loaded VLPs exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect with a 20-fold smaller IC(50) than that of free PTX dissolved in DMSO. These results indicate that VLPs with removable CDs afford highly promising carriers of hydrophobic drugs without chemical modification of drugs.


The mechanism of root formation and tooth eruption is a complex process which is not fully understood. Prior to a tooth emerging into the oral cavity, root genesis is initiated by derivatives of the enamel organ. The dental follicle mediates an eruption pathway allowing for movement of the developing tooth in a coronal direction. As the tooth moves towards the oral cavity, root formation occurs passively in the resulting space. Failure of the enamel organ and dental follicle to properly coordinate may result in complications in the eruption process. This clinical report presents 3 cases of isolated, unerupted teeth with dysmorphology of the roots. The process of root development and tooth eruption is also briefly reviewed.


Using autoantibodies from a Sjogren's syndrome pa- tient, we have previously identified a 230-kDa periph- eral membrane protein associated with the cytosolic face of the trans-Golgi (Kooy, J., Toh, B. H., Pettitt, J. M., Erlich, R. and Gleeson, P. A. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 20255-20263). Here we report the molecular cloning and sequence analysis of human p230 and the localization of its gene to chromosome 6p12-22. Partial cDNA clones, isolated from a HeLa cell cDNA library using autoanti- bodies, were used to obtain additional cDNAs, which together span 7695 base pairs (bp). The p230 mRNA is ;7.7 kilobases. Two alternatively spliced mRNAs for p230 were detected. These differed by 21- and 63-bp in- sertions in the 3*-sequence, resulting in differences in amino acid sequence at the carboxyl terminus. The pre- dicted 261-kDa protein is highly hydrophilic with 17- 20% homology with many proteins containing coiled-coil domains. Apart from two proline-rich regions (amino acids 1-117 and 239-270), p230 contains a very high fre- quency of heptad repeats, characteristic of a-helices that form dimeric coiled-coil structures. p230 also in- cludes the sequence ESLALEELEL (amino acids 538- 546), a motif found in the granin family of acidic pro- teins present in secretory granules of neuroendocrine cells. This is the first report of a cytosolic Golgi protein containing a granin motif. The structural characteris- tics of p230 indicate that it may play a role in vesicular transport from the trans-Golgi.


This Study is to analyse the community-consciousness depending on the location type of the neighborhood facility in apartment complex, in order to set up the fundamental criteria for the location type which can increase the community-consciousness. For the purpose of this study, Shopping center, Playground and Resting Area are selected among the neighborhood facilities and they were analysed on the basis of the Belonging-Sense, Affection-sense and the personnel Interchange. The results of this study are as follows: Shopping center should be located in the Main-Enterance of Apartment Complex and be constructed as low building along the street. In case of the Playground that was compared with the Central type and Decentral type, the Central type is proper for the increasing of community-consciousness. In case of the Resting Area that was compared with the Mixture type involving a playground and Independent type except for a playground, the independent type is acceptable for the location-type to increase the community-consciousness owing to all analyses.


The oxidative reaction of OH radicals or O atoms with carbon black (CB) particles is studied by using a silent discharge reactor operated at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The CB particles are oxidized by OH radicals or O atoms to produce approximately corresponding amounts of CO and CO2 through the silent discharge reactor. The OH radicals and O atoms are generated from the dissociation of H2O and O2 by silent discharge, respectively. The concentration of OH radicals is measured by resonance absorption spectroscopy while that of O atoms is estimated from a computer simulation by taking into consideration molecular dissociative reactions by electron impact.The amount of CB particles oxidized gradually decreases in the high H2O concentration range in spite of an increase in OH radical concentration. It is considered that the surface reactivity of the CB particles decreases upon adsorption of H2O on their surfaces. On the other hand, the amount of CB particles oxidized with addition of O2 is almost independent of the O2 concentration. The CO and CO2 concentrations produced are correlated with that of O atoms, which is estimated from O3 concentration. These results indicate that the O atoms are much more reactive than the O3 molecules for oxidation of CB particles.The sticking coefficient for oxidation of CB particles by OH radicals or O atoms is calculated from the experimental results. The OH radicals are more reactive than O atoms when H2O concentration is under 0.6%. However, beyond this value, the sticking coefficient of OH radicals suddenly decreases, and then becomes lower than that of O atoms.


Your Christmas Day came to a blurry end with quantities of port wine and Stilton cheese. You don't really remember going to bed, but soon afterwards you are aware that you have become a junior doctor working in an intensive care unit, trying to put in a central line. A sharp American voice from behind you snaps, "Doctor, your patient appears to be septicaemic. Are you aware that 20 000 US citizens die every year from catheter-related bloodstream infections?" In your panic, your hand jerks and the line flies out. Blood spurts over you, your patient, and the attending physician.

You wake up, dry mouthed and sweating. After groping for a couple of indigestion tablets you turn over and hope for better dreams. But now you are in front of a large audience in the Massachusetts General …


Magnetic hybrid assemblies of Ag and Fe3O4 nanoparticles with biocompatibly immobilized myoglobin (Mb) were designed to detect and capture toxic targets (NO2-, CN-, and H2O2). Mb was covalently attached to chitosan-coated magnetic silver hybrid nanoparticles (M-Ag-C) via glutaraldehyde that serves as a linker for the amine groups of Mb and chitosan. As verified by surface-enhanced resonance Raman (SERR) spectroscopy, this immobilization strategy preserves the native structure of the bound Mb as well as the binding affinity for small molecules. On the basis of characteristic spectral markers, binding of NO2-, CN-, and H2O2 could be monitored and quantified, demonstrating the high sensitivity of this approach with detection limits of 1 nM for nitrite, 0.2 μM for cyanide, and 10 nM for H2O2. Owing to the magnetic properties, these particles were collected by an external magnet to achieve an efficient decontamination of the solutions as demonstrated by SERR spectroscopy. Thus, the present approach combines the highly sensitive analytical potential of SERR spectroscopy with an easy approach for decontamination of aqueous solutions with potential applications in food and in environmental and medical safety control.


PURPOSE
To determine the aqueous humor levels of nitric oxide (NO) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the eyes of patients with Coats' disease and study the correlation between these levels.

METHODS
Samples of aqueous humor were obtained from 7 patients with Coats' disease and 15 age-matched patients with congenital cataracts as controls. Nitrite and nitrate (NOx), the stable end products of NO, were detected by the Griess reaction, and VEGF levels were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS
The aqueous humor NOx and VEGF levels were elevated in the eyes of patients with Coats' disease compared with those of controls (P=0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). The median NOx level was 55.2 μM (range, 23.0-75.3 μM) in the Coats' disease group and 18.8 μM (range, 8.7-36.2 μM) in the control group. The median VEGF level was 731.7 pg/mL (range, 288.3-1364.3 pg/mL) in the Coats' disease group and 33.3 pg/mL (range, 9.0-96.8 pg/mL) in the control group. No correlation was observed between the aqueous humor concentrations of NOx and VEGF.

CONCLUSIONS
NOx and VEGF are increased but not related in the aqueous humor samples of patients with Coats' disease. NO and VEGF may play roles in the pathogenesis of Coats' disease. Further studies are needed to clearly elucidate the relationship among VEGF, NO, and other cytokines in Coats' disease.


Medicinal plants are a source for a wide variety of natural antioxidants. In the study reported here, we have conducted a comparative study between two medicinal plants roots having the same geographic origin and growing in the same natural conditions. The present study is designed to evaluate the radical scavenging activity, total phenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of the MeOH roots extracts of Asphodelus microcarpus and Asphodeline lutea. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was examined by DPPH method. Total phenol and total flavonoid quantities of the samples were determined spectrophotometrically using Folin-Ciocalteu and AlCl3 reagents respectively. The roots in both plants exhibited the free radical scavenging property (IC50= 0.30, 0.54 mg/ml) for A. microcarpus and A. lutea, respectively compared to that of the positive control BHT (IC50= 0.017 mg/ml). As assumed, the amount of total phenolics was (17.90, 13.02 mg GAE/ g dry weight for A. microcarpus and A. lutea root extracts, respectively. Roots extract of Asphodelus microcarpus were the richest in total phenolic compounds and also it has been found to be rich in flavonoids (14.60 mg rutinoside/g dry weight). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the antioxidant activity of A. microcarpus and A. lutea root from Syrian origin and our findings suggest the possibility of using the roots as a novel source of natural antioxidant agent for the food and pharmaceutical industries.


ABSTRACT Tapaculo (Scytalopus) nests are difficult to find because they are well-hidden in cavities, hence, there is limited information available for this genus. We provide additional data for the nest and eggs and the first descriptions of the nestlings, their growth, and parental behavior of the Blackish Tapaculo (Scytalopus latrans) based on one nest found in western Colombia. The nest was an underground dome composed of moss and rootlets in the side of a slope covered with montane scrub. It contained 2 eggs, both of which hatched 13 days later; the nestlings fledged 13 days after hatching. Nest attentiveness was 76.1% with an average of 18.7 (SD 3.1) trips per day. The parents conducted longer, but more variable, on-bouts of 66.3 min (SD 158.1) compared to shorter off-bouts of 9.3 min (SD 8.7). Combined nestling growth rates averaged 8.7% (SD 4.9) for tarsus, 14.2% (SD 8.3) for wing, and 14.3% (SD 14.36) for weight (% daily growth). Twenty-six days after fledging, a color-banded nestling was caught in a mist net with an assumed parent nearby, approximately 150 m from the nest. Our S. latrans nest, eggs, and clutch size match previous Scytalopus tapaculo nesting reports, but we documented lower nest attentiveness and higher nestling growth rates than previously reported in the genus. Additionally, we observed a parent provisioning nestlings with a frog, which constitutes a significant expansion of the known diet for the family.


The discovery of novel anticancer chemotherapeutics is fundamental to treat cancer more efficiently. Towards this goal, two dyads consisting of a gold porphyrin appended to organotin(iv) entities were synthesized and their physicochemical and biological properties were characterized. One dyad contains a gold porphyrin connected to a tin(iv) cation via a malonate and two phenyl ligands (AuP-SnPh2), while the other contains two tin(iv) cations each chelated to one carboxylic acid group of the malonate and three phenyl ligands (AuP-Sn2Ph6). The mode of chelation of Sn(iv) to the malonate was elucidated by IR spectroscopy and 119Sn NMR. In the solid state, the complexes exist as coordination polymers in which the tin is penta-coordinated and bridged to two different malonate units. In solution the chemical shifts of 119Sn signals indicate that the tin complexes are in the form of monomeric species associated with a tetra-coordinated tin cation. The therapeutic potential of these new compounds was assessed by determining their cytotoxic activities on human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and on healthy human fibroblasts (FS 20-68). The study reveals that the dyads are more potent anticancer drugs than the mixture of their individual components (gold porphyrin and reference tin complexes). Therefore, the covalent link of organotin complexes to a gold porphyrin induces a synergistic cytotoxic effect. The dyad AuP-SnPh2 shows high cytotoxicity (0.13 μM) against MCF-7 along with good selectivity for cancer cells versus healthy cells. Finally, it was also shown that the dyad AuP-Sn2Ph6 exhibits a very high anticancer activity (LC50 = 0.024 μM), but the presence of two tin units induces strong cytotoxicity on healthy cells too (LC50 = 0.032 μM). This study underscores, thus, the potential of the association of gold porphyrin and organotin complexes to develop anticancer metallo-drugs.


Sarcheshmeh Copper Smelter in Kerman Province, Iran is equipped with a sulphuric acid plant that treats the smelter off-gases containing low SO2 concentrations to produce sulphuric acid with single absorption system. There is provision in the design to convert the plant from single to double absorption would allow it to handle higher SO2 concentrations and produce more sulphuric acid.This study examines various options for handling the off-gas connected with implementing new technology at NICICO's Sarcheshmeh Copper Smelter by steady state simulation of the sulphuric acid plant by ASPEN PLUS V.8 process simulation software and Plant data extracted from DCS (Distributed Control System) employed for validation of the model.The modeling results agree very well with the real plant data.There are two ways to increase production capacity in sulphuric acid plants: increase SO2-laden gas flow rate and increase SO2 concentration. In obedience to the plant design basis, gas flow limited by the plant blower. Increase SO2 concentration, increases converter first bed temperature which is harmful for catalysts. Also heat capacity of gas-gas heat exchanger for decrease 1 bed outlet temperature is another obstacle to increase SO2 concentration boundlessly. According to simulation results, via minor changes in available equipment, it is possible to increase production capacity about 50% rather to main design by increase SO2 concentration about 50% under strict environmental regulations. Beside increase production rate, SOx emissions from the plant keep under environmental regulations, less than 300 ppm. Besides controllability, operability and optimization studies the plant model is also useful for operator training and various scenario assessments. KeywordsSulphuric acid, Metallurgical, Simulation, Debottlenecking, Double Absorption.


The morphology of complex deposits of Pleistocene sediments covering the upper continental slope between Lindenkohl Canyon and South Toms Canyon results from both depositional and erosional processes. Small slump or slide features were detected primarily on the flanks of canyons or valleys and were observed to occur only within Pleistocene-aged sediments. Eocene to Miocene sediments are exposed over much of the mid- and lower slope in this area.


The majority of vertebrate mRNAs that encode secreted, membrane-bound or mitochondrial proteins contain elements at the 5' end of the ORF that activate an alternative mRNA nuclear export (ALREX) pathway. Here we demonstrate that these elements promote efficient export and proper cytoplasmic localization only when they are found at the 5' end of the transcript.


Novel technologies in genomics allow creating data in exascale dimension with relatively minor effort of human and laboratory and thus monetary resources compared to capabilities only a decade ago. While the availability of this data salvage to find answers for research questions, which would not have been feasible before, maybe even not feasible to ask before, the amount of data creates new challenges, which obviously need new software and data management systems. Such new solutions have to consider integrative approaches, which are not only considering the effectiveness and efficiency of data processing but improve reusability, reproducibility and usability especially tailored to the target user communities of genomic big data. In our opinion, current solutions tackle part of the challenges and have each their strengths but lack to provide a complete solution. We present in this paper the key challenges and the characteristics cutting-edge developments should possess for fulfilling the needs of the user communities to allow for seamless sharing and data analysis on a large scale.


Decomposition kinetics are fundamental for quantifying carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Several theories have been proposed to construct process-based kinetics laws, but most of these theories do not consider that microbial decomposers can adapt to environmental conditions, thereby modulating decomposition. Starting from the assumption that a homogeneous microbial community maximizes its growth rate over the period of decomposition, we formalize decomposition as an optimal control problem where the decomposition rate is a control variable. When maintenance respiration is negligible, we find that the optimal decomposition kinetics scale as the square root of the substrate concentration, resulting in growth kinetics following a Hill function with exponent 1/2 (rather than the Monod growth function). When maintenance respiration is important, optimal decomposition is a more complex function of substrate concentration, which does not decrease to zero as the substrate is depleted. With this optimality-based formulation, a trade-off emerges between microbial carbon-use efficiency (ratio of growth rate over substrate uptake rate) and decomposition rate at the beginning of decomposition. In environments where carbon substrates are easily lost due to abiotic or biotic factors, microbes with higher uptake capacity and lower efficiency are selected, compared to environments where substrates remain available. The proposed optimization framework provides an alternative to purely empirical or process-based formulations for decomposition, allowing exploration of the effects of microbial adaptation on element cycling.


Objectives: This research study aimed to find out the relationship between smoking of cigarettes and the pulmonary TB. Methodology : This transverse research study conducted in Jinnah Hospital, in Lahore city located South of Punjab and in the middle of the country Pakistan. We reviewed the medical charts of the patients from TB between 2016 to the year of 2018. Total 61 patients having age from 15 to 96 years with confirm pulmonary TB were the part of case group & one hundred and twenty two persons with matched age & gender with no TB (patients getting treatment in other wards of hospital) were the part of the control group. We collected the information about the smoking condition, amount of the cigarettes smoked in a day and smoking duration from the medical charts of the participants. SPSS. 22 was in use for the comparison of the collected information of both groups. Chi-square test was in use for the comparison of the rate of the smoking of cigarettes in both groups. Results : Out of total sixty one patients, 68.90% (n: 42) patients were smoker, whereas out of total one hundred and twenty two controls, 18.0% (n: 22) persons were smoker. The proposed OR (Odds Ratio) of the association between habit of cigarette smoking & TB was 10.10 with CI of 95%. The average pocket-year of smoked cigarette (Twenty per pocket) in patients & controls persons were 15.90 ± 13.70 & 13.50 ± 9.10 correspondingly. Conclusion : The results of this research study concluded that there is strong association between pulmonary TB and habit of cigarette smoking. Therefore, smoking of cigarette is a positive risk factor for the acquisition of the tuberculosis. Key Words : Pulmonary, tuberculosis, smoking, cigarette, TB, methodology, acquisition, SPSS, comparison, controls.


We are well acquainted with the concept of probability as a way of expressing the uncertainty of an event to happen (or not). Some typical examples are the flipping of a coin or the throw of dice. They are seemingly very simple problems, but they encapsulate some important aspects of probability theory that make this branch of mathematics a very powerful tool for a number of applications. The usage of probability in physics has become ubiquitous: thermodynamics, statistical mechanics and quantum theory rely on descriptions of the likelihood of a variety of events. Nonetheless, probability is by no means exclusively used in the natural sciences; social sciences do make use of it as well, and it is actually this connection that is the catalyst to the emergence of new interdisciplinary research fields, such as that of econophysics. Econophysics can be described as the application of methods developed originally by physicists into problems in economics, including those that deal with uncertainty in particular. Ubaldo Garibaldi and Enrico Scalas have written a book that is suitable to bridge these two disciplines. Finitary Probabilistic Methods in Econophysics is a book that would allow a physicist to approach recent advances in statistics which are not encountered in statistical physics for example. For the economist, the book serves as an introduction to distributions and models that are widely used in physics. The book starts with a problem that can be stated in very simple terms: what are the different ways in which n objects can be allocated in g different categories? Any student of physics deals with this sort of question when trying to understand, for example, the Maxwell distribution of velocities for a perfect gas. The book does not follow that path, instead it gives us a brief reminder of some key concepts from probability theory, which later are formalised in the powerful language of random variables and stochastic processes. This forms the first four chapters of the book. In Chapter 5, the authors analyse the allocation problem stated above in terms of a sampling problem. This gives rise to the discussion of Pólya processes, which can be described with an urn model in which whenever a ball of a particular colour is drawn, that ball is put back in the urn together with a new ball of the same colour. The discussion then turns to time evolution and Markov chains, which describe a system whose next state depends on the current state and not on previous ones. This means that, irrespective of the initial conditions, the chain is described by its invariant distribution. In the realm of finance and economics, Markov chains are used to model asset prices and market crashes, for example. Garibaldi and Scalas present some applications of these models into economics, for instance taxationredistribution models and sectoral productivity. The book finishes with the description of processes for which the number of categories is not known, giving rise to herding and innovation models. The book uses a finitary approach, i.e. a finite number of inputs are needed to produce a result and that is why the authors warn us that not all the derivations obtained are fully rigorous, since the infinite additivity axiom of probability theory is not used. Another important point is the fact that although the book makes use of Monte Carlo methods in some of the exercises proposed, it assumes that the reader is familiar with the technique. Finally, it is important to mention that this is not a textbook on econometrics, statistics or even probability; however, it does present some theoretical developments in these areas.


The contribution of this paper is a generalized formulation of correctional learning using optimal transport, which is about how to optimally transport one mass distribution to another. Correctional learning is a framework developed to enhance the accuracy of parameter estimation processes by means of a teacher-student approach. In this framework, an expert agent, referred to as the teacher, modifies the data used by a learning agent, known as the student, to improve its estimation process. The objective of the teacher is to alter the data such that the student's estimation error is minimized, subject to a fixed intervention budget. Compared to existing formulations of correctional learning, our novel optimal transport approach provides several benefits. It allows for the estimation of more complex characteristics as well as the consideration of multiple intervention policies for the teacher. We evaluate our approach on two theoretical examples, and on a human-robot interaction application in which the teacher's role is to improve the robots performance in an inverse reinforcement learning setting.


Changes in land use have a major effect on patterns of biodiversity. However, few studies have examined the demographic and genetic shifts associated with a return to semi-natural habitat following extended periods of human disturbance. Here we examine patterns of population structure in a spider restricted to the Pacific coastal strip of North America that exhibits an exuberant colour polymorphism. We use mitochondrial DNA and AFLP markers to examine genetic structure and estimate gene flow. The results show contrasting, gender-specific patterns between these markers that suggest limited dispersal, combined with area effects most likely caused by expansion from refugial habitat patches following land-management changes in a region of the San Francisco East Bay. Colour-morph frequencies are not correlated with this complex genetic structure. Thus, unlike the classical area effects that were based on colour morphs, we demonstrate in T. californicum signals of historical contingency at neutral loci but not at the Colour locus, where traces of past events have been obliterated by balancing selection. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104, 600–620.


In 186 patients with obstructive jaundice admitted to the clinic for diagnosis of its cause, the ultrasound scanning with duodenoscopy was employed. This permitted to establish the cause of jaundice in 84.9% of the patients and to choose proper therapeutic tactics at the shortest time after hospitalization. In 80% of the patients, an obstacle for bile outflow was liquidated by means of endoscopy. When it was not possible to established the cause of jaundice by the findings of ultrasound scanning and duodenoscopy, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography was performed, which has proved to be successful in 5.9% of cases. Use of the given methods for diagnosis permitted to define the optimal therapeutic tactics in patients with obstructive jaundice, to reduce the lethality.


BACKGROUND
Sperm-associated antigen 9 (SPAG9) has been recently proposed as a novel biomarker for early diagnosis of several human tumors, including ovarian, cervical and breast cancers. Its clinical value remains to be clarified for endometrial cancer (EC). In this study, we investigated the utility of serum SPAG9 levels in diagnosis of EC and its association with important clinicopathological parameters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This cross-sectional study was performed at a tertiary women's referral center in Ankara, Turkey. Preoperative serum samples were collected from patients surgically treated for endometrial cancer between June 2012-April 2013. Similar aged women with a biopsy proven benign endometrium were used as controls. Serum SPAG9 levels were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method and assessed for links with clinicopathological factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess power of SPAG9 levels for EC prediction. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS
A total of 63 women with EC and 27 with benign endometrium were included in the study. Mean age in the EC group was 58.7±1.1. Median SPAG9 levels in the EC and control groups were 18.3 (range, 12.7-53.8) and 14.1 (range, 4.3-65.3), respectively (p<0.001). A cut-off value of 17 ng/ml for SPAG9 predicted presence of malignant endometrium with 74% sensitivity and 83% specificity [Area under curve (AUC)=0.82, p<0.001]. SPAG9 levels did not demonstrate any significant association with histological type, FIGO stage, tumor grade, size, myometrial invasion, lymphovascular space invasion, cervical involvement, adnexal involvement, peritoneal cytology or lymph node status (all p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Testing for SPAG9 may be useful for early detection of EC in asymptomatic high-risk women. Its role in post-treatment follow-up and early detection of recurrence should be assessed in future trials.


Congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders (CCDDs) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental phenotypes caused by a primary disturbance of innervation due to deficient, absent, or misguided cranial nerves. Although some CCDDs genes are known, several clinical phenotypes and their aetiologies remain to be elucidated. We describe a 12‐year‐old boy with hypotonia, developmental delay, sensorineural hearing loss, and keratoconjunctivitis due to lack of corneal reflex. He had a long expressionless face, severe oromotor dysfunction, bilateral agenesis/severe hypoplasia of the VIII nerve with marked atresia of the internal auditory canals and cochlear labyrinth malformation. Trio‐exome sequencing identified a homozygous loss of function variant in the NEUROG1 gene (NM_006161.2: c.202G > T, p.Glu68*). NEUROG1 is considered a causal candidate for CCDDs based on (i) the previous report of a patient with a homozygous gene deletion and developmental delay, deafness due to absent bilateral VIII nerves, and severe oromotor dysfunction; (ii) a second patient with a homozygous NEUROG1 missense variant and corneal opacity, absent corneal reflex and intellectual disability; and (iii) the knockout mouse model phenotype which highly resembles the disorder observed in humans. Our findings support the growing compelling evidence that loss of NEUROG1 leads to a very distinctive disorder of cranial nerves development.


Titanium diboride (TiB2) appears to be an attractive candidate for a high-temperature fiber reinforced composites. Chemical Vapor Infiltration (CVI) has been carried out for the preparation of TiB2/C composites. Titanium diboride has been deposited from the gas mixtures of TiCl4, BCl3, and H2 in the furnace at the reaction temperatures between 850 to 950 °C and about 20 torr. Effects of infiltration parameters such as temperature, reaction time, and concentrations of BCl3 and H2 have been studied. Analyses with SEM, TGA and XPS were carried out. The amount of deposition in the preform increased with the increases of the reaction time, temperature and the flow rate of BCl3. The activation energy of the whole deposition reaction could be estimated from the Arrhenius plot.


A high-pressure Fourier-transform infrared technique was used to probe the evolution of 2H bonds inside the helical segments of myoglobin in relation to p2H, Tris concentration in the medium and iron-ligand nature. The analysis was focused on changes in the conformation-sensitive amide-I' band, reflecting the peptide C = O group stretching vibrations coupled to the in-plane N-2H bending and C = N stretching modes. From data obtained under high pressure, the strength of 2H bonds, inside the alpha-helical segments of the protein at atmospheric pressure, is not simply a function of p2H and salt concentration. At low Tris concentration (50 mM), the strength of these 2H bonds increases with p2H, whereas for a higher Tris concentration (100 mM) this strength is lower at p2H 7 than at p2H 6.0 or 8.5. It is also observed that the azidometmyoglobin molecule exhibits tighter intrahelical interactions and lower sensitivity to pressure than aquametmyoglobin. Information is also presented regarding interhelical interactions in relation to the solvent.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Persimmon leaves have been commonly used as traditional medicines in Asia. They have variety kinds of health benefits in such prevention of cancer, hypertension, and inflammation. However, a few of scientific evidences are reported to date. Recent study reported that the cell cycle checkpoint system is playing a pivotal role in DNA damage response, and it is expected that the discovery of checkpoint inhibitor will be an effective assistance of anti-cancer therapy. Checkpoint signaling cascades are critically modulated by ATM (Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated) and ATR (ATM-Rad3-related) protein kinases. Generally, ATM primarily responds to ionizing radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks, whereas ATR is activated by stalled replication resulting from UV and some genotoxic drugs. In the previous study, we demonstrated that a flavonoid-enriched persimmon leaf extract (FEPLE) promoted cytotoxic effect of cancer cells by chemotherapeutic agents inhibiting the checkpoint activity, especially in ATM dependent pathway. Here, we investigated whether FEPLE inhibits checkpoint activity during DNA damage response induced by radiation such as gamma irrradiation (γIR) and heavy ion (HI) treatment.

Dried persimmon leaves were prepared by a decoction for 30 min. A soluble extract was subsequently partitioned into ethyl acetate layer which is flavonoid-enriched persimmon leaves extract (FEPLE). FEPLE included eight flavonol components, non-galloylated flavonoids (kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, kaempferol 3-O-galactoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-galactoside) and galloylated flavonoids (their 2″-gallated flavonol glucoside). γIR (2.5 to 20 Gy) and HI (2.5 to 20 Gy) were performed in National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) and Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC), respectively.

Human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells were incubated with FEPLE (0, 1, 10, 30 μg/mL) at one hour prior to γIR or HI treatment. Intracellular levels of phosphorylation in each checkpoint molecule such as p53, SMC1 and Chk1 were determined by western blot using phospho-specific antibodies of Ser15, Ser966 and Ser345, respectively. Phosphorylation on Ser10 of histone H3 was measured by flow-cytometry as a marker of cells in mitosis.

The phosphorylation of p53, SMC1 and Chk1 were increased by the treatment of γIR and HI. FEPLE reduced the phosphorylation of checkpoint proteins in both γIR and HI. Furthermore, ATM activity, estimated by the phosphorylation of Ser1981, was inhibited by the treatment of FEPLE. The pre-treatment of FEPLE significantly prevented the decrease of mitotic cells in HI exposed cells. These results indicated that DNA damage checkpoint system in γIR or HI exposed cells were abrogated by FEPLE treatment through the inhibition of ATM-dependent signaling pathway. FEPLE might be useful for clinical application by combining γIR or HI cancer therapy.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3875.


Although various search services are available on the World-Wide Web, there are only a few services that can help people access web pages in a foreign language. In order to solve this problem we have developed a cross-linguistic WWW search engine, TITAN l, which provides users with an interface to query in their na~ tire languages (e.g.,Japanese) while performing multilingua] searches on the WWW. This paper outlines TITAN, and details two modules in the system, which are essentiM in cross-linguistic search of web pages; a module for identifying languages of the pages, and a simple MT module, which performs bi-directionaJ translation between Japanese and English, employed by the navigation interface of the system.


In action theoretical approaches to the study of mass communication processes, media production and reception activity is interpreted (or 'explained') from the point of view of individual consciousness. The intentionality of the actor is viewed as the starting point for human (social) action. Communication is regarded as a process in which actors intentionally engage to exchange their minds' contents and is therefore seen as a special case of human action. This view is challenged by Luhmann's social systems theory, which conceives of communication as taking place outside of consciousness. Although communication is a product of the mutual non-transparency of individual consciousnesses, both consciousness and communication should be seen as self-reproducing systems which cannot interfere in each other's operations. According to Luhmann, thoughts cannot be communicated only communications can be communicated, and thoughts can merely be thought. Actions should be seen as the products of communication, namely of the attribution (be it through communication or through thinking) of social descriptions to systems. Although it may appear to be a fundamental issue, this difference in opinion between action and systems theory can be made productive. In this article, arguments are presented for incorporating Luhmann's view of consciousness and communication as separate, but mutually observing systems into action theoretical approaches.


Endemic fluorosis can be caused by the drinking water with high-fluorine content. The groundwater with high-fluorine was observed in coastal regions of Shandong province, China. In this study, two sets of ten-year monitoring data from the coastal wells were analyzed. The groundwater properties are characterized by a mixture of seawater and freshwater, resulting in increasing of Na+, HCO3-, pH, hardness, salinity and decreasing of Ca2+. It is found that fluorine contents in groundwater are closely associated with high Na+, HCO3-, pH, hardness, salinity and low Ca2+. Seawater intrusion, especially the paleo-seawater intrusion, can greatly change the groundwater fluorine-releasing conditions under the rock-water interaction and cause the high fluorine in the groundwater. Thus, the geological process, seawater intrusion should be noticed when we study the fluorosis in coastal areas.


Linear matrix equations, such as the Sylvester and Lyapunov equations, play an important role in various applications, including the stability analysis and dimensionality reduction of linear dynamical control systems and the solution of partial differential equations. In this work, we present and analyze a new algorithm, based on tensorized Krylov subspaces, for quickly updating the solution of such a matrix equation when its coefficients undergo low-rank changes. We demonstrate how our algorithm can be utilized to accelerate the Newton method for solving continuous-time algebraic Riccati equations. Our algorithm also forms the basis of a new divide-and-conquer approach for linear matrix equations with coefficients that feature hierarchical low-rank structure, such as HODLR, HSS, and banded matrices. Numerical experiments demonstrate the advantages of divide-and-conquer over existing approaches, in terms of computational time and memory consumption.


Chronic otitis media, because of its many facets, continues to be an absorbing problem. Each case presents a fresh challenge and there is no routine treatment. A brief review of the changes in our thinking over the past 30 years may be instructive, always bearing in mind that latter-day developments have not been so consistently successful that we can afford to belittle the achievements of our predecessors, however insecure may have been the foundations they laid.


No matter what the cause of congenital pseudarthrosis, nearly all observers are convinced that it is local and not general. A sufficient number of calcium and phosphorous blood readings. have been made in this series and others to show, in the light of present knowledge, that it is purely a local condition.

Any deformity that may be present must be carefully corrected either before operation or at the time of operation, so that forces will not be acting to pull the fragments out of alignment.

Before operative procedures are undertaken, the child must be in the best possible state of general health and he should be walking erectly with a caliper, so that the lines of weight-bearing are as nearly normal as possible. Massage of the part should be carried out to stimulate the circulation: heliotherapy in the summer, the mercury-quartz light in the winter, and contrast baths of hot and cold. In the aggregate, I am sure that all of these help. Cod-liver oil should be given almost constantly, and of course the diet should be such that plenty of essential vitamins, and calcium and phosphorus are provided. The administration of preparations from endocrine glands is entirely empiric and although they were used occasionally in this series their effect was not definite.

The bones should be examined roentgenologically at intervals to note the increase in metabolism as evidenced by increase in the size of the lower fragment and the enhanced density, particularly in the area of the fracture.

In spite of the poor results reported by practically all surgeons, I believe that if the child is in excellent general health and an improvement in the condition of the fragments is noted after supervision for a time, a well planned and well executed operation is worthy of trial. Just what the exact details of that operation will be must depend, of course, on the surgeon. When possible, bony contact of the fragments should be secured, even at the cost of slight shortening. In certain cases, in order to secure this, the fibula will have to be fractured. An autogenous massive graft, held closely to the freshened fragments I believe to be the best; of almost equal value, however, is the packing of as much spongy bone as can be obtained about the fracture line and the edges of the graft where it comes in contact with the fragments. Spongy bone, which can be obtained from the vicinity of the epiphyseal line by running a curet up through the opening from which the graft was lifted, is rich in osteogenic properties. The good results with the osteoperiosteal graft reported by French surgeons is encouraging and worthy of more attention.

The younger the patient, the poorer are the chances for success. I would not advise operating on any child less than six years of age. About the time of or after puberty is better. Therefore, if one attempt has failed, rather than cause more scarring and risk of infection by another operation, the child should be carried along with a well-fitting walking caliper until the age of puberty. Amputation should not be countenanced until all other means have failed, and certainly not until after puberty.

In the series of cases herein reported operation was performed in five cases with successful results in two (forty per cent.).


Computational methods have been widely used to characterize the catalytic mechanisms of several chemical systems namely enzymes. However, enzymes are studied using big chemical systems containing several thousands of atoms generating huge amounts of data that are hard to manipulate and analyze efficiently. Therefore, we developed molUP that is a user-friendly plugin for VMD to handle QM and ONIOM calculations performed using Gaussian software. MolUP allows loading output files from Gaussian calculations and performs analysis concerning the structure of the chemical system as well as their energies and vibrational frequencies. Furthermore, molUP provides a graphical interface to manipulate the length of atomic bonds and the amplitude of angles and dihedral angles. Users can also easily choose which atoms belong to each ONIOM layer and the atoms that are free to move during a geometry optimization. At the end, molUP is capable of saving the new structure as a new Gaussian input file, ready to run a new calculation. Since molUP is a VMD extension, users can also benefit from the many features and resources available on VMD. In order to demonstrate the potential of MolUP, we will also present the results that have been carried out in our research group regarding the catalytic mechanism of Serine HydroxyMethylTransferase (SHMT), using a QM/MM approach. SHMT is a pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme [1-3] that catalyzes the α-elimination of L-serine, where a methyl group is transferred from the substrate to a second cofactor, tetrahydrofolate (THF). The reaction occurs in six sequential steps from which the first one is the rate-limiting step with an activation barrier of 18.3 kcal/mol that closely fits the experimental kcat of 0.98±0.06 s-1 [4] (∆G‡ ≈ 18.2 kcal/mol). This first step involves the nucleophilic attack of nitrogen from THF to the β-carbon of the substrate, promoting the α-elimination of the CH2OH group of the substrate. The subsequent steps involve an intramolecular cyclization within the THF cofactor where the elimination product of the first step is incorporated, generating the 5,10-methyl-THF. At the end, the quinonoid intermediate (substrate + PLP) is protonated, producing glycine.

References:
[1] Oliveira, Eduardo F.; Cerqueira, Nuno M. F. S. A.; Fernandes, Pedro A. and Ramos, M.J., Journal of the American Chemical Society 2011, 133, 15496-15505
[2] Cerqueira, N. M. F. S. A.; Fernandes, P. A.; Ramos, M. J., Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 2011, 7, 1356-1368
[3] Fernandes, H. S.; Ramos, M. J.; Cerqueira, N. M. F. S. A., Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 9162.
[4] Sopitthummakhun K.; Maenpuen S.; Yuthavong Y.; Leartsakulpanich U.; Chaiyen P., Febs Journal 2009, 276 (15), 4023-4036.


Ingenol, as the precursor of the marketed drug ingenol mebutate, has been proven to have a variety of bioactivities. The purpose of this study was to identify the metabolites of ingenol using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS) combined with UNIFI software. Plasma, urine and fecal samples of rats were obtained and analyzed. A total of 18 metabolites were detected and identified in rat, including five phase II metabolites (M14–M18). Moreover, as microbial biotransformation is helpful to obtain sufficient reference standards of metabolites, the co-culture of ingenol with the fungus Cunninghamella elegans bio-110930 was also studied and yielded 4 phase I metabolites, in which reference standards of three metabolites were further obtained by preparative scale biotransformation. By matching their retention times, accurate masses, and fragment ions with metabolites in rat, the structures of three metabolites (M2, M3 and M4) were unambiguously confirmed by NMR technology. The results revealed that C. elegans bio-110930 functioned as an appropriate model to mimic and prepare phase I metabolism of ingenol in vivo to a certain extent. It also revealed that hydroxylation, oxygenation, sulfonation, and glucuronidation were the major metabolic pathways of ingenol. Furthermore, the first systematic metabolic study of ingenol is of great significance to elucidate the metabolites and metabolic pathways in vivo, which is helpful to predict metabolites of ingenol in humans, understand the elimination mechanism of ingenol, and clarify its effectiveness and toxicity.


Motivated by the realization that is the knowledge management plays an increasing important role in the establishment of organizational competitive advantage, a plenty of academicians and practitioners contribute themselves into solving the question that is how to improve the performance of organizational knowledge management. The common measure deployed by most people is identifying some facilitators of organizational knowledge management, and then figure out how these identified facilitators influence on knowledge management. However, given such a large number of previous literature, quite few people is interested with exploring the knowledge concerned with the mutual linkages between these facilitators identified previously. Therefore, taking this situation as a motivation, the authors conducts this research aimed at studying the potential connections between the facilitators of knowledge management in practice by employing a case study as a central methodology; furthermore, triangulation which refers to a method of improving the validity of the findings in academic research through using the data collected in a different way to test the accuracy of the findings gained from the qualitative measure.


We study the three nucleon force in the triton channel using dynamical clover fermion lattice QCD. The Nambu-Bethe-Salpeter wave function is utilized to obtain the potentials among three nucleons. Since the straightforward calculation is prohibitively expensive, two different frame-works are developed to meet the challenge. In the first method, we study the effective two nucleon potentials in the three nucleon system, where the differences between the effective two nucleon potentials and the genuine two nucleon potentials correspond to the three nucleon system effect, part of which is originated from the three nucleon force. The calculation is performed using N f = 2 clover fermion at m p = 1 . 13 GeV generated by CP-PACS Collaboration, and N f = 2 + 1 clover fermion at m p = 0 . 70 , 0 . 57 GeV generated by PACS-CS Collaboration. In the second method, we study the three nucleon system with 3D-configuration of nucleons fixed. This en-ables us to extract the three nucleon force directly, if both of parity-even and parity-odd two nucleon potentials are provided. Since parity-odd two nucleon potentials are not available in lattice QCD at this moment, we propose a new general procedure to identify the three nucleon force using only parity-even two nucleon potentials. The calculation are performed with N f = 2 clover fermion at m p = 1 . 13 GeV generated by CP-PACS Collaboration, employing the linear setup for the 3D-configuration. Preliminary results for the scalar/isoscalar three nucleon force are presented.


In today's world, the problem of losses from the actions of malicious software (or ordinary software, which has the characteristics of undeclared functions) continues to be extremely relevant. Therefore, the creation and modification of anti-virus solutions for protection and analysis of malware (software) is a relevant and promising area of research. This is due to the lack of a single, universal method that provides 100% finding malicious code. The paper considers the composition and main components of static analysis. The main methods of static analysis is identified, and relevant examples of almost all of them are given. Got concluded that the main advantages of static analysis are that by using a relatively simple set of commands and tools, it is possible to perform malware analysis and partially understand how it works. Attention is drawn to the fact that static analysis does not give 100% certainty that the investigated software is malicious. With this in mind, to provide a more meaningful analysis, you need to collect as much data as possible about the structure of the file, its possible functions, etc. Analysis of files for the possible presence of malicious code is provided through the use of appropriate programs to view their structure and composition. A more informative way is to analyze the Portable Executable format. It consists of the analysis of various sections of the code of fields and resources. Since static analysis does not always provide the required level of guarantees, it is better to use machine learning algorithms at the stage of making the final classification decision (malicious or not). This approach will make it possible to process large data sets with greater accuracy in determining the nature of the software is analyzed. The main purpose of this work is to analyze the existing methods of static malware analysis, and review the features of their further development.


Using the DensePak fiber-optic array on the KPNO WIYN telescope, we have obtained high signal-to-noise ratio echelle spectra of the Na I D wavelength region toward the central 27′′ × 43′′ of the globular cluster M15 at a spatial resolution of 4''. The spectra exhibit significant interstellar Na I absorption at LSR velocities of 3 km s-1 (local interstellar medium [LISM] component) and 68 km s-1 (intermediate-velocity cloud [IVC] component). Both components vary appreciably in strength on these scales. The derived Na I column densities differ by a factor of 4 across the LISM absorption map and by a factor of 16 across the IVC map. Assuming distances of 500 and 1500 pc for the LISM and IV clouds, respectively, these maps show evidence of significant ISM structure down to the minimum scales of 2000 and 6000 AU probed in these absorbers. The smallest scale N(Na I) variations observed in the M15 LISM and IVC maps are typically comparable to or higher than the values found at similar scales in previous studies of interstellar Na I structure toward binary stars. The physical implications of the small and larger scale Na I features observed in the M15 maps are discussed in terms of variations in the H I column density as well as in the Na ionization equilibrium.


The expansion of the swelling clays when subjected to moisture increase can be simulated to a hidden cancer. Growth of tiny molecules composed of silica tetrahedral and alumina octahedral can reach a stage that causes harm to light structures. The cost of annual maintenance is estimated into billions of dollars worldwide. Extensive research was conducted to stabilize this problematic soil using chemical methods. Stabilization of swelling clays using lime or cement is a well known efficient chemical approach. Research works on optimum lime or cement content is established for many types of clay. The use of lime is more popular than cement due to its lower cost. However, the cement is found to be better in reducing the expansion and improving the soil strength. In order to optimize the improvement with a yet tolerable cost it is intended to investigate treating the clay using a combination of cement and lime. The previous research works carried out by other researchers indicated that the optimum stabilization lime content is expected between 3.5 to 5% of the dry weight of the soil. A research study conducted on Al-Gatt clay shale focused on comparing the effect of adding a 4% lime content (The optimum content for lime only) with a lesser amount (2% by weight) consisting of cement and lime additives (1% lime and 1% cement). Stabilization of Al-Ghatt clay shale by using 4% lime reduced the swell percent by 3.3% in average. The use of 2% additive of cement and lime reduced the swell percent by 4.7% in average. The strength properties and bearing values were compared for the case of lime only and lime- cement additive. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) tests were carried out for pure clay shale, clay shale with 4% lime additive and clay shale with 2% cement-lime additive. The effect on mineralogy is observed through the position and intensity of the peaks of common clay minerals. It is concluded that cement can be introduced with lime to achieve a better improvement with a reduced cost.


Purpose: Patient safety has emerged as a global concern in the provision of quality health care, and yet, to date, few medical schools have created and/or implemented patient safety curricula. The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to one model of a patient safety undergraduate medical curriculum, as designed by a group of experts attending an annual interdisciplinary roundtable assembled for this purpose. Summary: The Annual Telluride Interdisciplinary Roundtable met in 2005 and 2006 to design what it considered to be a comprehensive patient safety curriculum for medical students. Invited members included stakeholders from a variety of fields, including health care providers, senior health care administration, students, residents, patient advocacy leaders, and curriculum development/assessment experts. The group developed a list of general curricular principles, followed by 11 specific elements felt to be essential to an effective patient safety curriculum for undergraduate medical education students. It also identified a number of challenges to implementing such a curriculum. Conclusions: A patient safety curriculum, developed by a group of experts for an undergraduate medical education population, was successfully developed over a two-year period of time. Future meetings of the Telluride Roundtable group have centered on evaluation and refinement of these curricular elements as pilots occur in a number of medical schools, and new curricular ideas continue to be developed. Continued interprofessional dialogue and collaborative research will enable the development and implementation of a standardized longitudinal patient safety student curriculum.


Recently, vector control methods without a speed sensor for electric vehicles are under discussion. The authors propose a new method of slip detection without a speed sensor by focusing on the current of each motor. The proposed method makes it easier to detect small slips. Furthermore, the adhesion force is presumed in order to determine the current recovery value based on the behavior of motor current when a slip occurs. Thus the detection of small slip can be compatible with the hold of high motor current. We performed simulation to verify the effectiveness of the proposed readhesion control method that uses the presumed adhesion force.


Psychotherapy literature provides a theoretical understanding of parent-infant attachment. This article will reflect upon the specific need to give thoughtful consideration to those infants admitted to the acute-care setting, such as neonatal and paediatric intensive care units, and the potential for this environment to affect infant development and the parent-infant relationship. Infant-directed singing, as described in this article, is an improvised form of vocal interaction that is specifically informed by an understanding of the musical parameters of pitch, rhythm, phrasing, timbre, register, dynamic, tempo and silence. This article will detail a theoretical understanding of using infant-directed singing to foster parent-infant interaction within the acute care environment. In particular, the potentially sensitive, reciprocal and engaging nature of infant-directed singing, coupled with its ability to promote and support maternal demonstrations of empathy, will be discussed with a view to the psychological and physical development of the hospitalised infant.


Although many textbooks reported the innervation of three heads of the triceps muscle with the radial nerve, some studies showed the axillary nerve supply to this muscle. Herein, we report a 21-year-old male patients with a traumatic injury to the axillary nerve associated with paralysis of his triceps muscle. Based on the electrophysiological findings, it could be reasonable to conclude that the main branch innervating all heads of the triceps muscle originated from the axillary nerve. It is vital to look for concomitant paralysis of the triceps in patients with an axillary nerve injury in terms of surgical management, prognosis, and nerve repair.


With an increase in human population over the past 30 years, regional land use in southTexas has shifted from grassland and shrubland to a peri-urban matrix. Despite this shift from natural areas to more anthropogenically modified habitats, native red harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) have maintained nest sites within parts of these matrices. To determine which habitat characteristics in a peri-urban landscape may play a role in red harvester ant nest site selection, we mapped the location of nests in 2020 and 2021. We then evaluated nest presence and absence relative to elevation, percentage of surrounding impervious surfaces, distance to roadways, and tree canopy cover (using NDVI). For a sub-sample of the study site, we also measured soil moisture and estimated the potential foraging area per colony with Voronoi tessellation. We found that nests were clustered together near high human-use areas such as athletic fields, lawns, sidewalks, and railroad tracks. Nests were more likely to be found in areas with higher elevation and lower tree canopy cover, with no impact from surrounding impervious surfaces or soil moisture. In fact, many nests were observed immediately adjacent to roadways and in paved parking lots. Red harvester ants are highly adept at nesting in disturbed, urbanized matrices, but still appear to be constrained by certain environmental factors like shading, potential flood risk (elevation), and access to food resources (foraging area).


The Yb3+-doped non-linear rare-earth calcium oxoborate crystals GdCa4O (BO3)3 (GdCOB) and YCa4O(BO3)3 (YCOB) were investigated by low-temperature absorption and selective excitation spectroscopy. The selective excitation and emission spectra revealed the spectral features of the main Yb3+ centre and the principal minority one in both crystals. The energy level schemes for these centres in both hosts, as well as structural assignments, were proposed. It was established that the minority centre, which represents about 10% of the total intensity and was assigned to Yb3+ in a Ca2+ site, is not a trap but an energy donor for the main centre. Common features of and differences between the vibronic structure of the two centres in GdCOB and YCOB are discussed. The existence of additional features in YCOB:Yb spectra is pointed out.


The study of community radio management has not been given much attention by scholars because of its position and hierarchy in the stream of traditional and new media. Be that as it may, community radio remains a viable and the most proximate form of media for communities to dialogue with and engage themselves. However, its management has been problematic even in countries like South Africa where there have been favorable broadcast policies regarding community radio. The essence of this study was to identify and examine management practices or models present in community radio stations in South Africa using two community radio stations Mafikeng FM and Radio Mafisa as entry point. Using a qualitative method, the research explored the type of management model and practice present in these community radio stations. This was done using semi-structured interviews and data was analyzed using the analytical inductive approach. Community radio management goes beyond financial sustainability. Its social and institutional sustainability should be prioritized in order for community radio to be relevant, and for it [community radio] to be well managed. The major finding for this study is that both community radio stationsMafikeng FM and Radio Mafisa have no management models they are patterned after, rather they have carved out ways of managing their radio stations in view of their peculiar circumstances, which negates the mandate of the promoters of community radio.


SUMMARY Special studies of the heart were conducted at necropsy of two young soldiers who had died suddenly and unexpectedly. In the first case there was extensive myocarditis, an atretic main left coronary artery, special large interarterial anastomoses including the sinus node artery, old fibrosis in the His bundle and recent hemorrhages in the internodal pathways. In the second case there was a markedly narrowed atrioventricular (A-V) node artery with disruptive fibrosis of the left and right bundle branches, and lacunar faults in the central fibrous body near the A-V node. These dissimilar findings are discussed relative to the pathophysiological basis of sudden death.