Research related to climate variability is particularly important in the current conditions faced by Argentine agriculture. These include (a) increased specialization in soybeans, with resulting reduced possibilities of risk-reduction though "portfolio" effects, (b) increased importance of agriculture in "non-traditional" areas, generally characterized by lower yields, higher yield variability and higher production and transport costs, (c) macroeconomic instability resulting in severe contraction and increased interest rates of credit and (d) upward trend in input use and per-acre production costs with consequent increase in break-even crop yields. This paper summarize recent research related to production variability in Argentine agriculture, as well as the consequences of this variability on efficiency and resource allocation and present an overview of strategies for coping with climate variability. We estimate possible benefits to agricultural producers of improved risk-transfer mechanisms. In particular, we obtain estimates of Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) of selected index-type insurance mechanisms for soybean and milk production and outline the requirements for the development of a risk-transfer market for agricultural producers.


BACKGROUND
the increasing trend in opioid analgesic use among older drivers has raised concerns about their risk of being involved in car crashes.

AIM
to investigate if older drivers who started using opioid analgesics have a higher probability of being involved in injurious crashes.

METHODS
population-based matched case-control study. Data from population registers were merged using a personal identity number. Cases were drivers aged 50-80 years responsible for a single vehicle crash between 01.07.05 and 31.12.09 that led to at least one injured passenger (n = 4,445). Four controls were randomly matched to each case by sex, birth month/year, and residence area from persons holding a valid driving license who did not crash during the study period. New use was defined as at least one dispensation within 1-30 days prior to the crash, but none within the previous 31-180 days; frequent use when ≥3 dispensations were given within 0-180 days, with at least one within 31-180 days. Individuals using 1-2 non-opioid analgesic medications were used as reference category. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR; 95% CI) adjusting for benzodiazepine use, co-morbidity, civil status and occupation.

RESULTS
adjusted odds for new use were two-fold that of drivers using 1-2 non-opioid analgesics medications (2.0; 1.6-2.5). For frequent use, adjusted odds were also increased regardless of number of dispensations (3-4 = 1.7; 1.3-2.1, 5-6 = 1.6; 1.2-2.3, and ≥7 = 1.7; 1.3-2.1).

CONCLUSION
new, but also frequent opioid analgesic use, resulted in an increased probability of single vehicle crashes. While more epidemiologic evidence is needed, patients could be advised to refrain from driving when using opioid analgesics.


Background Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. Fractures associated with osteoporosis represent a major cause of public health burden in terms of mortality, disability and health care costs emphasizing the need of more effective diagnostic methods. Currently, osteoporosis is mainly diagnosed through dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) which provides quantitative measurements of bone mineral density (BMD). Spinal DXA, in particular, is the preferred technique for temporal monitoring of BMD variations, since it has been demonstrated that BMD measurement on this site is the most reliable to predict the global fracture risk. However, DXA cannot be used for early diagnoses through population mass screenings because of issues related to ionizing radiation employment. Objectives Aim of this work is to test the diagnostic accuracy of a novel ultrasound (US)-based method to perform spinal densitometry without employing X-rays. Methods A cohort of 358 female patients was recruited according to the following criteria: 45-65 years, body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m2, absence of significant severe deambulation impairments, medical prescription for a spinal DXA, signed informed consent. All the enrolled patients underwent two examinations: a conventional spinal DXA (Hologic Discovery) and an US scan of lumbar spine. US data were analyzed by a novel algorithm that processed both echographic images and "raw" radiofrequency signals and, performing a series of spectral and statistical analyses, calculated the same diagnostic parameters provided by DXA (bone mineral density (BMD), T-score, Z-score). Diagnostic accuracy of obtained results was evaluated through a direct comparison with DXA output as a function of patient age. Results For 83.0% of the patients US diagnosis (osteoporotic, osteopenic, healthy) was the same of the corresponding DXA one. In particular, diagnostic accuracy showed the following trend as a function of patient age range: accuracy was 86.4% in 45-50 y, 85.6% in 50-55 y, 87.1% in 55-60 y and 72.4% in 60-65 y. For patients in the same age range, Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between DXA and US measurements was also evaluated for each diagnostic parameter (BMD, T-score, Z-score): all the obtained values of r were within the interval 0.52-0.78 (p<0.001) and their trends against age qualitatively resembled the observed diagnostic accuracy profile. The lower diagnostic agreement and correlation values found in correspondence of the oldest analyzed patients can be at least partially due to spinal degenerations affecting the accuracy of DXA measurements. Conclusions The proposed method for US evaluation of BMD directly on the spine showed a very good and significant agreement with DXA diagnoses. This innovative non-ionizing approach has the potential to anticipate osteoporosis diagnosis by several years through extended screenings in younger populations and to become a useful tool for therapeutic outcome monitoring. Acknowledgements This work was partially funded by FESR P.O. Apulia Region 2007-2013 – Action 1.2.4, grant n. 3Q5AX31. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5446


The generalization of Dempster-Shafer (D-S) theory to fuzzy sets provides means for evidential reasoning on basis of fuzzy information. Fuzzy implication operators are used to turn partial fuzzy knowledge about a physical system into an inference engine. Presently there are more than 72 fuzzy implication operators known and investigated, evoking demand for strategies of finding the best performing fuzzy implication operator for the physical system under investigation. In this paper the authors propose such a concept based on generalized D-S theory. A convention to update prior knowledge regarding the applicability of fuzzy implication operators, with respect to fuzzy evidences pertaining to the physical system under consideration, is presented.


In this paper, the downlink performance of distributed antenna systems (DAS) in a multi-cell environment is investigated. The individual power constraints (IPC) for the distributed antennas and the total power constraint (TPC) for all the distributed antennas are proposed to characterize the inter-cell interference power limits and the total transmit power consumption, respectively. When the large-scale channel state information is available at the transmitter, the problem of power allocation among distributed antennas with the target of downlink ergodic capacity maximization is formulated with consideration of IPC and TPC. Based on system scale-up, an approximation of the objective function is derived, which is further proved to be concave on the transmit powers of the distributed antennas. Consequently, a simple sub-optimal power allocation scheme is proposed by substituting the approximation for the objective function. The system capacity with the sub-optimal power allocation is illustrated to be quite close to the optimal one obtained by numerical optimizations.


Energy-efficient sense amplifier (SA) circuits are essential for reliable detection of stored memory states in emerging memory systems. In this work, we present four novel sense amplifier (SA) topologies based on phase transition material (PTM) tailored for non-volatile memory applications. We utilize the abrupt switching and volatile hysteretic characteristics of PTMs which enables efficient and fast sensing operation in our proposed SA topologies. We provide comprehensive details of their functionality and assess how process variations impact their performance metrics. Our proposed sense amplifier topologies manifest notable performance enhancement. We achieve a ~67% reduction in sensing delay and a ~80% decrease in sensing power for current sensing. For voltage sensing, we achieve a ~75% reduction in sensing delay and a ~33% decrease in sensing power. Moreover, the proposed SA topologies exhibit improved variation robustness compared to conventional SAs. We also scrutinize the dependence of transistor mirroring window and PTM transition voltages on several device parameters to determine the optimum operating conditions and stance of tunability for each of the proposed SA topologies.


VoIP is one of the most emerging technologies in the area of speech communications. VoIP is widely deployed in fixed line access networks. However, user's requirements on the mobility within communication and on the quality of the speech communications are increasing. Therefore, VoIP technology is more and more integrated into broadband wireless networks with QoS support such as WiMAX. The latest version of WiMAX standard, based on IEEE 802.16e, has implemented a full mobility support. The mobility is allowed due to a handover procedure. IEEE 802.16e specifies only one mandatory handover procedure: hard handover. This handover type is easy to implement, but it increases end-to-end packet delay that is critical for delay sensitive services such as VoIP. This paper evaluates an impact of the handover on the speech quality in VoIP networks.


Abstract Background We aimed to recognize the predictors of long-term major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in the elderly candidates for elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in relation to gender at our center. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed the data of the elderly patients (age ≥70 years) who underwent elective PCI who met our study criteria in our institution during 2008 and 2018. Demographical data, clinical history, angiographic details, PCI procedure, and follow-up data of the patients enrolled in the study were studied by using the angiographic and PCI procedure details. Patients were characterized in the study group as those with or without MACE, which were then compared and analyzed using the statistical analysis in a univariable and binary linear regression analysis. Results A total of 355 elderly patients (older than 70 years) undergoing elective PCI were selected who fulfilled the inclusion criteria; 277 patients were men and had more comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, history of heart failure, previous coronary artery bypass graft, and presentation with acute coronary syndrome. MACE occurred in 24 events patients of whom 20 were suffering from DM. Binary logistic regression showed that the only determinant for the 1-year follow-up outcome is diabetes (p = 0.000). Even in univariate analysis, DM (0.01) is the determinant. DM is a strong predictor for death in univariate analysis (p = 0.00). Conclusion PCI is a safe and effective method of coronary revascularization in elderly patients, and some risk factors can predict long-term MACE in this group of patients.


In this paper, we propose an algorithm for doing reconstruction of general 3D-curves from a number of 2D-images taken by uncalibrated cameras. No point correspondences between the images are assumed. The curve and the view points are uniquely reconstructed, modulo common projective transformations and the point correspondence problem is solved. Furthermore, the algorithm is independent of the choice of coordinates, as it is based on orthogonal projections and aligning subspaces. The algorithm is based on an extension of affine shape of finite point configurations to more general objects.


This paper reports on and analyzes insights into diverse circus careers against the backdrop of the current neoliberal moment, taking recent developments within the circus world as reflective of contemporary social, economic, and political transformations and disciplinary discourses. It draws on an ethnographic inquiry into the contemporary circus scene in Turin. This case study is conceptually grounded in the increasing importance of creativity in neoliberal labour relations, and in the neoliberal emphasis on individual responsibility for constructions of identity and subjectivity. The redefinition of circus as a form of art and formalized educational path in Italy is an ongoing process, characterized by a lack of formal, explicit criteria to access and succeed in the labour market, contingent employment and individual career strategies, and the ambivalent role played by creativity in shaping professions and subjectivities. As such, it becomes a paradigmatic case of a neoliberal framework in which the status of "art" justifies labour and existential precariousness, highlighting the social role and the symbolic value of artistic professions and practices and new articulations of art as opposed to—or in compliance with—current notions of work, labour, and leisure.


Background: The O-Z flap is a kind of rotational flap that consists of a combination of two opposing rotation flaps. The double O-Z flap is a variant of the O-Z flap applied in multiple adjacent surgical defects that can simplify closure by combining closure into one technique. Objective: To report our experience with the O-Z flap and double O-Z flap in the reconstruction of surgical defects of the face after Mohs' micrographic surgery (MMS), using postoperative clinical and cosmetic results. Methods: Sixteen patients diagnosed with non-malignant melanoma skin cancer on the face were treated with MMS. The resultant surgical defects were reconstructed with an O-Z flap in 14 patients and with a double O-Z flap in 2 patients. Clinical outcomes were reviewed, and cosmetic results were scored as excellent, good, fair, poor, or very poor. Results: In the 14 patients using O-Z flap, 6 cases were located on the temple, 4 on the forehead, 2 on the cheek, and 1 of each on the nose and philtrum. Of the two patients using double O-Z flap, one had two adjacent basal cell carcinomas on the cheek, and the other had two adjacent squamous cell carcinomas on the forehead. The size of the primary defects ranged from 1.1 to 2.5 cm in greatest diameter (mean, 1.93 cm). There were no significant local complications. There was no tumor recurrence, and 14 of 16 patients showed satisfactory aesthetic outcomes scored as excellent or good. Conclusion: O-Z flap reconstruction was effective for the closure of surgical defects with limited skin laxity in the face. The double O-Z flap is ideally suited to combine closure of adjacent surgical defects into one technique without exerting undue tension or distorting the surrounding structures. We found these flaps were simple to construct and provided aesthetically pleasing results. Therefore, they could be useful reconstructive options in facial skin defects after MMS.


Learning accurate models of the physical world is required for a lot of robotic manipulation tasks. However, during manipulation, robots are expected to interact with un-known workpieces so that building predictive models which can generalize over a number of these objects is highly desirable. In this paper, we study the problem of designing deep learning agents which can generalize their models of the physical world by building context-aware learning models. The purpose of these agents is to quickly adapt and/or generalize their notion of physics of interaction in the real world based on certain features about the interacting objects that provide different contexts to the predictive models. With this motivation, we present context-aware zero shot learning (CAZSL, pronounced as casual) models, an approach utilizing a Siamese network architecture, embedding space masking and regularization based on context variables which allows us to learn a model that can generalize to different parameters or features of the interacting objects. We test our proposed learning algorithm on the recently released Omnipush datatset that allows testing of meta-learning capabilities using low-dimensional data. Codes for CAZSL are available at https://www.merl.com/research/license/CAZSL.


The clinical trial of a new drug "mamoclam" was carried out in patients with benign breast disease. The drug contains omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, iodine and chlorophyll derivatives and is produced from the brown sea alga laminaria. The study involved 33 patients (mean age 42.5 +/- 1.1 yrs). Two tablets were administered thrice a day for three months. Examination included clinical evaluation of symptoms of mastopathy and dysalgomenorrhea, breast sonography and mammography. Therapeutic response presented as reduced mastalgia, premenopausal syndrome, dysmenorrhea and algomenorrhea, breast cyst regression as well as attenuated pain associated with benign breast disease and palpation. Positive response was reported in 94%. The drug should be recommended for benign breast disease treatment.


Modal behaviors of an InGaAsP-InP Fabry-Perot laser emitting in a long-wavelength region were experimentally examined. The authors had predicted theoretically that the mode-competition phenomena induce quasi-periodic hopping among several longitudinal modes, which reveal multimode-like output spectra as the time-averaged spectra in long-wavelength lasers. In this paper, experimental measured data of the time variations of photon number and their frequency spectra in addition to the longitudinal mode spectra are reported together with theoretically simulated results. The previous theoretical predictions were well proved by these experimental measurements.


–  Spatial distribution of the fish community in the deep canyon-shaped Řimov Reservoir, Czech Republic, was studied using overnight gillnetting fishing in 1999–2007. Effects of depth, distance from the dam to the tributary and habitat type (benthic and pelagic) on fish community structure, catch per unit of effort (CPUE), biomass per unit of effort (BPUE) and average weight were tested. Fish were recorded in all sampled depths and parts of the reservoir. Redundancy analysis revealed that effects of three environmental variables were significant and most variability was explained by depth, then by distance from the dam and habitat type. CPUE and BPUE of all species decreased with depth and responses of individual species to depth were similar for juvenile and adult fish. Number of species, CPUE and BPUE of all species except perch increased heading towards the tributary and peaked close to or at the tributary part of the reservoir. Responses of juvenile fish to distance from the dam differed from that of adult fish. Structure of fish community differed in benthic and pelagic habitats with species preferably occupying epipelagic (bleak, asp, rudd and juvenile bleak, roach and bream) or littoral waters (perch, pikeperch, ruffe, roach, bream and juvenile percids). This study showed that fish distribution in the reservoir followed distinct patterns, which were probably shaped by a combination of physiological constraints plus trade-off between food resources and competition.


The Multi-Key Fully Homomorphic Encryption (MKFHE) based on the NTRU cryptosystem is an important alternative to the post-quantum cryptography due to its simple scheme form, high efficiency, and fewer ciphertexts and keys. In 2012, Lopez-Alt et al. proposed the first NTRU-type MKFHE scheme, the LTV12 scheme, using the key-switching and modulus-reduction techniques, whose security relies on two assumptions: the Ring Learning With Error (RLWE) assumption and the Decisional Small Polynomial Ratio (DSPR) assumption. However, the LTV12 and subsequent NTRU-type schemes are restricted to the family of power-of-2 cyclotomic rings, which may affect the security in the case of subfield attacks. Moreover, the key-switching technique of the LTV12 scheme requires a circular application of evaluation keys, which causes rapid growth of the error and thus affects the circuit depth. In this paper, an NTRU-type MKFHE scheme over prime cyclotomic rings without key-switching is proposed, which has the potential to resist the subfield attack and decrease the error exponentially during the homomorphic evaluating process. First, based on the RLWE and DSPR assumptions over the prime cyclotomic rings, a detailed analysis of the factors affecting the error during the homomorphic evaluations in the LTV12 scheme is provided. Next, a Low Bit Discarded & Dimension Expansion of Ciphertexts (LBD&DEC) technique is proposed, and the inherent homomorphic multiplication decryption structure of the NTRU is proposed, which can eliminate the key-switching operation in the LTV12 scheme. Finally, a leveled NTRU-type MKFHE scheme is developed using the LBD&DEC and modulus-reduction techniques. The analysis shows that the proposed scheme compared to the LTV12 scheme can decrease the magnitude of the error exponentially and minimize the dimension of ciphertexts.


An increasing amount of technology in cars makes new ideas and solutions necessary. This study will explore the idea of a personalized driver environment and investigate possible benefits and drawbacks with such a feature. The study consists of three parts: a pre-study exploring personalization, a survey investigating the attitudes towards personal settings, and finally an interview testing a specific solution. The survey was distributed in USA and Sweden while the interviews were conducted with Swedish subjects.Overall, the concept of a personalized car has been well received. This study has shown that the most requested settings are associated with the driver position, hi-fi system and climate. The study also suggests that feeling in control of the personalization is more important than the benefits associated with automation. The user prefers visible solutions, such as a personal button on the key before hidden (e.g. using a button sequence or a menu system). Such a button promotes the feature while allowing the user to interact with the car in a familiar way. However, since little real user experience exists with such solutions it is important to continue research when further developing personalization of a car.


The aim of this research was to find out the best treatment for the lechitin coating evaluated from water activity, adhesion and microstructure of Gouda cheese surface.  Result of the research showed that treatment of lechitin coating at different concentration gave a significant effect ( P<0.05) on water activity of Gouda cheese (0.484±0.0415 – 0.504±0.0408) and didn't give a significant effect on adhesion (2.470±0.0332 – 2.493±0.0310) edible film of whey protein. Microstructure of Gouda cheese surface showed different picture at every treatment, it was shown with colour indicator at edible film of whey protein. Lechitin 0.6% more able to improve adhesion edible film of whey protein and coating coverage at surface of  Gouda cheese, so that Aw of Gouda cheese can inhibit bacteria, mould and yeast growth. Keywords : Lechitin, edible film of whey protein, water activity, adhesion, and microstructure


The annual temperature deviations at over 400 meteorological stations are combined on a regional basis to give the integrated fluctuations over large areas and zones. These are shown in graphical form, and it is concluded that a solar or atmospheric dust hypothesis is necessary to explain the world-wide fluctuations of a few years duration. An important change in the relationships of the zonal fluctuations has occurred since 1920. The overall temperature trends found from the data are considered in relation to the homogeneity of recording, and also to the evidence of glacial recession in different zones. It is concluded that the rising trend, shown by the instruments during recent decades, is significant from the Arctic to about 45°S lat., but quite small in most regions below 35°N. and not yet apparent in some. It is thought that the regional and zonal distribution of recent climatic trends is incompatible with the hypothesis of increased solar heating as the cause. On the other hand, the major features of this distribution are not incompatible with the hypothesis of increased carbon dioxide radiation, if the rate of atmospheric mixing between the hemispheres is a matter of decades rather than years.


To quantitatively measure trace levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in infant urine, a simply improved high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)–tandem mass-spectrometry method was developed and validated. In the present work, a ZORBAX SB-C_18 column (2.1 × 30 mm, 3.5 μm) was used for trapping and isolating BPA from the HPLC mobile phase. The result showed that the trapping column can provide effective separation from the background BPA to the sample BPA. This method has a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.048 μg/L, spiked recoveries 85.4% (0.50–10.0 μg/L), and relative standard deviations of 1.8–15.9%. By using its low-LOD advantage, we firstly reported that Chinese infants ( n = 48 with age <6 months) have been ubiquitously exposed to BPA (detection frequency of 93%) with an median level of 0.13 μg/L (ranging from below LOD to 5.04 μg/L).


Vitamin D is associated to bone health and reduction in the incidence of fractures. However, this condition remains increasing specially during elderly, predisposing to frailty and increasing hospital stay days. The reduction in vitamin D levels could explain the high incidence of fractures as well as mortality. This is an observational transversal retrospective study. This study aimed to determine the relation between frailty and fractures in patients with low vitamin D levels. We found 914 patients with vitamin D levels; however, we included just 319 patients who had previous imaging study, vitamin D determination, and confirmed diagnosis of frailty. Patients with surgical fractures, chronic kidney disease or vitamin D supplementation were excluded from this study. The main fractures related to long hospital stay (> 5 days), frailty, and low vitamin D levels were clavicle fracture; however, scaphoids fracture was related to shorter hospital stay and higher vitamin D levels. Most of fractures happened over 60 years old in women and under 60 years old in men. Vitamin D deficiency was related to long hospital stay in all fractures, despite the deficiency, vitamin D levels over 12 ng/mL were related to better outcomes in all patients; however, serum vitamin D levels related to the incidence of fracture were lower than reported in literature.


Strict and simultaneous space temperature and humidity controls are often required in many applications, such as hospitals, laboratories, cleanrooms for pharmaceutical and semiconductor manufacturing. The energy intensity in such applications can be up to 100 times than typical office buildings, mainly due to the improper system design and control. Although some uncertainty-based design methods have been developed for air-conditioning systems, most of the existing systems are designed based on a certain ventilation mode while neglecting the life-cycle performance of the components. This study, therefore, proposes a robust optimal design method for cleanroom air-conditioning systems, considering the uncertainties in design parameters for inputs and operation strategies as well as the life-cycle performance of components. An adaptive full-range decoupled ventilation strategy, which incorporated five operation modes, was adopted in the design optimization. Two maintenance modes were adopted and compared to consider the flexibility of maintenance. The proposed design method has been implemented and validated in the design optimization of an existing air-conditioning system. The results showed that, compared with the conventional design, up to 54% reduction of life-cycle costs and superior satisfaction of services could be achieved by using the proposed method.


Objective: To determine the neurological consequences and short–term outcome of children with diagnosis of cyanotic congenital heart diseases (CHDs) at a tertiary care cardiac setup of Pakistan. Study Design: Single Center Observational Cohort study. Setting: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (NICVD), Karachi, Pakistan. Period: November 2021 to October 2022. Material & Methods: A total of 80 children of both genders, aged between 1 month to 12 years with known cyanotic CHD as per 2D transthoracic echocardiography were admitted in Pediatric Cardiology Department of NICVD, Karachi and were considered. At the time of enrollment, demographic characteristics along with presenting complaints were noted. Necessary baseline laboratory and radiological investigations were ordered and clinical neurological examination was done. Children were discharged and short term outcomes were labeled after 3 months follow up. Results: In a total of 80 children with cyanotic CHDs, most common underlying diagnosis was tetralogy of fallot, found in 41 (51.3%) children. The CT brain revealed ischemic infarct, brain abscess and gross oedema as the most frequent observations revealed in 47 (58.8%), 40 (50.0%) and 37 (46.3%) children. Surgical management of underlying neurological abnormality was advised in 23 (28.8%) children. After 3 months follow-up, complete recovery was observed among 43 (53.8%) children. CT findings at the time of enrollment as haemorrhagic infarct (p<0.001), brain abscess (p=0.001) and atrophic changes (p=0.032) were significantly associated with incomplete recovery. Surgery as a mode of treatment for the underlying neurological disease was associated with good recovery outcomes (p<0.001). Conclusion: Most common underlying diagnosis among children with cyanotic CHDs was tetralogy of fallot. CT findings at the time of enrollment as haemorrhagic infarct, brain abscess and atrophic changes, as well as hypotonia, down going plantars and developmental delay at the time of presentation were significantly linked with incomplete recovery.


The article addresses two questions: 1. Can Legal Realism be seen as a scientific research programme enabling growth of knowledge? To answer that question, the author uses Lakatos's  work on the methodology of scientific research programmes as a frame of reference. 2. What has been the role of American Legal Realism during the first part of the 20th century in helping to develop and implement the New Deal policy vis-a-vis its scientific work? After outlining some characteristics of American Legal Realism and Lakatos's concept, the author studies LR from this perspective and concludes that LR can at the maximum be seen as a research programme of a very rudimentary nature with largely only a focus on procedures/methods. Despite this conclusion, LR has been important in stimulating questions in which social science research and law came together. Next, the professor-realist-relationship that helped President Roosevelt to have his New Deal developed and implemented is also discussed. A downside of this 'professor-realist-advisor-partnership' may have been that a LR scientific research programme has not been developed. Given the increased visibility of New Legal Realism, the paper finally stresses the relevance of working with scientific research programmes and the importance of being on the alert when linking research to (legal) policies.


Alkali borosilicate glasses have been widely used as a matrix for the vitrification of high level radioactive waste (HLW) over the last 40 years. Increasing the waste loading of the HLW glasses could increase the efficiency of the vitrification process, but could also increase the tendency for devitrification, which could have a negative effect on the overall properties of the glass. Molybdenum (found in many HLW compositions) has a low (~1 wt%) solubility in borosilicates, and when present in higher concentrations in HLW melts, tends to combine with other elements from the HLW to form crystalline material phases termed "yellow phase". Yellow phase (a mixture of alkali molybdates, chromates and sulphates) increases the corrosion rate of the Inconel melting furnaces used in HLW vitrification in the UK, and can be water soluble in the solid state. It is therefore undesirable in a product that may eventually come into contact with ground water in an underground storage repository.
Simulated (non-radioactive) HLW glasses have been melted in various atmospheres, with a range of waste loadings, to investigate the factors influencing the formation of molybdenum containing crystalline phases. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy showed that molybdates with a powellite type structure formed upon heat treatment of highly loaded glasses melted in air, and that these molybdates were capable of incorporating the majority of mono, di and trivalent cationic species present in the simulated HLW. The distribution of the cationic species on the A sites of the powellite type molybdate structures was shown to be random using extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS).
Electron spin resonance and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to show that the oxidation state of the Mo in simplified simulated HLW glasses could be partially reduced by sparging the melt with a reducing (as opposed to a neutral or oxidising) gas. Heat treatments on these compositions showed that powellite molybdates were less likely to form in reduced melts, however sparging glasses containing a full simulated HLW with a reducing gas during melting increased the tendency for powellite type molybdate formation upon heat treatment. EXAFS was used to show that, regardless of the waste loading or sparge applied during melting, the Mo was predominantly present as (Mo04)2- tetrahedra in the glasses, and also in a yellow phase sample taken from a full scale simulated HLW glass.


Recent literature has explored various ways to improve soft sensors using learning algorithms with transferability. Broadly put, the performance of a soft sensor may be strengthened when it is learned by solving multiple tasks. The usefulness of transferability depends on how strongly related the devised learning tasks are. A particularly relevant case for transferability, is when a soft sensor is to be developed for a process of which there are many realizations, e.g. system or device with many implementations from which data is available. Then, each realization presents a soft sensor learning task, and it is reasonable to expect that the different tasks are strongly related. Applying transferability in this setting leads to what we call multi-unit soft sensing, where a soft sensor models a process by learning from data from all of its realizations. This paper explores the learning abilities of a multi-unit soft sensor, which is formulated as a hierarchical model and implemented using a deep neural network. In particular, we investigate how well the soft sensor generalizes as the number of units increase. Using a large industrial dataset, we demonstrate that, when the soft sensor is learned from a sufficient number of tasks, it permits few-shot learning on data from new units. Surprisingly, regarding the difficulty of the task, few-shot learning on 1-3 data points often leads to a high performance on new units.


Deficient cochlear nerves (CN) have been associated with poor cochlear implant performance. Normative data on CN diameter based on radiographic imaging have not been published. The objectives of this study were to determine if CN diameter could be reproducibly measured on parasagittal constructive interference in steady state (CISS)‐sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to establish a normative range for CN diameter.


The importance of contexts has been widely recognized in recommender systems for individuals. However, most existing group recommendation models in Event-Based Social Networks (EBSNs) focus on how to aggregate group members' preferences to form group preferences. In these models, the influence of contexts on groups is considered but simply defined in a manual way, which cannot model the complex and deep interactions between contexts and groups. In this paper, we propose an Attention-based Context-aware Group Event Recommendation model (ACGER) in EBSNs. ACGER models the deep, non-linear influence of contexts on users, groups, and events through multi-layer neural networks. Especially, a novel attention mechanism is designed to enable the influence weights of contexts on users/groups change dynamically with the events concerned. Considering that groups may have completely different behavior patterns from group members, we propose that the preference of a group need to be obtained from indirect and direct perspectives (called indirect preference and direct preference respectively). In order to obtain the indirect preference, we propose a method of aggregating preferences based on attention mechanism. Compared with existing predefined strategies, this method can flexibly adapt the strategy according to the events concerned by the group. In order to obtain the direct preference, we employ neural networks to directly learn it from group-event interactions. Furthermore, to make full use of rich user-event interactions in EBSNs, we integrate the context-aware individual recommendation task into ACGER, which enhances the accuracy of learning of user embeddings and event embeddings. Extensive experiments on two real datasets from Meetup show that our model ACGER significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art models.


Abstract Objective  Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) requires close surveillance of blood glucose to prevent perinatal morbidity. Self-monitoring of capillary blood glucose (BGM) comes with considerable psychosocial burden. Intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitor (isCGM) devices are discreet and could considerably impact the lifestyle of the patient. They are designed to replace BGM testing in nonpregnant patients. Data on this technology in pregnancy are scant. The aim of this study was to assess concordance of BGM with isCGM in GDM. Study Design  Institutional review board approved prospective single-arm study evaluating agreement of isCGM (Freestyle Libre 14-day system) compared with BGM when determining glucose levels fasting and 2-hour postprandial for 14 days. This was documented as percentage of results within Zone A (clinically accurate measurements with no effect on clinical action) or Zone B (values that deviate from reference by >20% but would lead to benign/no treatment) of the Parkes Error Grid (developed for nonpregnant patients with diabetes). Per International Organization for Standardization criteria, agreement was defined as >95% within Zone A or B. Analytical agreement was evaluated using mean and median absolute relative difference (ARD), mean and median absolute difference (AD). Results  There were 1,604 pairs of BGM/isCGM observations for 41 patients. Mean glucose values were 102.0 (standard deviation [SD] = 20.5) and 89.4 (SD = 20.1) mg/dL for BGM and isCGM, respectively. Mean and median AD were 15.9 and 13.0 mg/dL, respectively. Mean and median ARD were 15.9 and 12.5%, respectively. Zones A and B contained 76.9 and 22.9% of values, respectively, in the Parkes Error Grid, for a total of 99.8%. Conclusion  BGM and isCGM demonstrate clinical agreement. However, glucose values with isCGM trended lower, with greater mean and median ARD than prior studies. Given the strict glycemic control required during pregnancy, physicians should be aware of these differences and their possible clinical implications. Key Points Gestational diabetes mellitus requires close surveillance of blood glucose. isCGM is painless and discreet; however, values trend lower than capilary blood glucose. Physicians should be aware of these differences and possible clinical implications.


Bovine diseases are the common infection occurs in cattle sector, which comes in varieties of forms. Getting the information about these diseases is tedious process. To get the information and optimize the query result of the user, we used Information Extraction in Text Mining. Text mining is the process of analyzing unstructured, natural language texts in order to discover information and knowledge that are difficult to retrieve directly. Information extraction is one of the most important techniques used in text mining, which the process of scanning text for information relevant to some interest, including extracting entities, relations, and events.


Darwin's three mistakes were that (1) he dismissed mass extinctions as artifacts; of an imperfect geologic record; (2) he assumed that species diversity, like individuals of a given species, tends to increase exponentially with time; and (3) he considered biotic interactions the major cause of species extinction. Those mistakes led to the theory propounded in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Darwin, 1859), which has been adopted by many as the scientific basis of their social philosophies.


Automatic seismic P- and S-phases arrival identification has been a challenging scientific goal for the last two decades for seismologists, as it provides them with important seismological information. Based on recent bibliography, various approaches result in efficient P-phase identification, while S- phase identification is still an open problem, since there is an overlap of the S- phase arrival and the P- phase coda. They usually employ simple energy ratio criteria, the linear seismic wave polarity assumption, neural networks or heuristic methods based on seismologists' experience, but they seem to have moderate performance, especially for noisy cases. The proposed method uses a Wavelet Transform-based filtering technique that separates the STationary from the NonSTationary parts of a mixed signal, namely the WTST-NST filter, combined with Higher-Order Statistics (HOS). Initially, the WTST-NST filter is used to remove the undesired P-phase coda (given the P-phase arrival) and the background noise from the seismic data. Then, the HOS are applied on the de-noised signal to detect the S-phase arrival at the location of the maximum value of HOS. The method has been applied on real seismic data recorded in Greece, characterized by human experts as highly noisy cases. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method identifies the S-phase arrival efficiently, since evaluation analysis proves high identification accuracy, when compared to the analysts' findings and due to its low computational complexity, real-time implementation is feasible.


AIMS
Intravenous amiodarone has recently emerged as an important drug for the acute treatment of ventricular tachyarrhythmias. However, electrophysiological actions and the efficacy of the drug in the suppression of ventricular tachycardia inducibility have not yet been fully established. The present study was designed to address these issues.

METHODS AND RESULTS
The study group consisted of 18 patients (all males, mean age 75 +/- 14 years), who underwent electrophysiological study due to a history of sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia or syncope with non-sustained ventricular tachycardia detected on ambulatory ECG monitoring. The effects of 5 mg.kg(-1) or 10 mg.kg(-1) of intravenous amiodarone on (1) ventricular refractoriness (QTc interval, right ventricular effective refractory period and monophasic action potential duration), (2) intraventricular conduction (paced-QRS and signal-averaged QRS duration), and (3) ventricular tachycardia inducibility, were examined. The drug had no significant effect on ventricular refractoriness. However, a relatively small but significant slowing of intraventricular conduction was seen (paced-QRS duration: 182 +/- 27 ms vs 191 +/- 28 ms, P<0.0007; 183 +/- 32 ms vs 195 +/- 33 ms, P<0.0007; and 177 +/- 21 ms vs 192 +/- 24 ms, P<0.003, at the cycle lengths of 600, 500 and 400 ms, respectively). This effect was more evident during extrasystolic beats than during stable pacing (for example, at the cycle length of 600 ms, the magnitude of amiodarone-induced lengthening of QRS duration was 23.9 +/- 17.6 ms vs 9.7 +/- 7.2 ms, P<0.009, respectively). Intravenous amiodarone did not prevent induction of sustained ventricular tachycardia in any of five patients inducible at baseline. Of six patients with non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, five had sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation induced after amiodarone infusion.

CONCLUSION
Intravenous amiodarone does not prolong ventricular refractoriness, slows intraventricular conduction and may facilitate inducibility of sustained ventricular arrhythmias.


In perfect capital markets, the futures price of an asset should be an unbiased forecast of its realized spot price when the contract matures. In reality, futures prices are often higher for some assets and lower for others. However, there is no stability in the relationship between futures prices and the realized spot prices. This instability has been a puzzle in the existing financial literature. The key to this puzzle may lie in the nature of the model and the lack of market imperfections. In this study, we take a theoretical approach in a dynamic multi-period environment. We incorporate competition between disparate economic agents and impose financial frictions (i.e., imperfections) that are in the form of hedging and borrowing limits on them. Our model gives rise to multiple equilibria, each with unique market clearing prices, with the market switching between these equilibria. Our analysis incorporates a comprehensive consideration of the risks faced by the futures markets participants (i.e., speculators and hedgers) and leads to a better understanding of the puzzle. JEL Classification Codes: D58, D74, G13, N20


Etodolac and naproxen were compared using a randomized double-blind, crossover method in 39 hospital out-patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Patients received 200 mg etodolac twice daily or 500 mg naproxen twice daily each for a 6-week period with 2-week wash-out periods at baseline and crossover. Objective and subjective clinical assessments were made before and after treatment. These included number of swollen and painful joints, pain intensity, grip strength, morning stiffness, functional class, articular index, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and global evaluations by the patient and investigator. The results of the assessments indicated that, overall, both drugs were equally effective. After 6-weeks' therapy, patients receiving etodolac showed a statistically significant improvement in their global self-evaluation and erythrocyte sedimentation rate compared to naproxen. Articular index, investigator's global evaluation, pain intensity and grip strength all showed an improvement over baseline greater than with naproxen although the improvement did not attain significance. Patient complaints and laboratory parameters were analyzed for treatment differences to evaluate tolerance. Patient complaints were similar in nature and incidence with both groups, gastro-intestinal side-effects being the most commonly reported. There were no clinically significant changes in laboratory variables during treatment with either drug.


Background—Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a Class I recommendation. Although referral to CR after an AMI has recently become a performance measure, many patients may not participate. To illuminate potential barriers to participation, we examined the prevalence of, and patient-related factors associated with, CR participation within 1 and 6 months after an AMI. Methods and Results—We studied 2096 AMI patients enrolled from 19 US sites in the Prospective Registry Evaluating outcomes after Myocardial Infarction: Events and Recovery (PREMIER) registry. Analyses were limited to those patients referred for CR at the time of AMI hospitalization. A multivariable, conditional logistic regression model, stratified by hospital, was used to identify sociodemographic, comorbidity, and clinical factors independently associated with CR participation within 1 and 6 months of AMI hospital discharge. Only 29% (419/1450) and 48.25% (650/1347) of AMI patients who received referral for CR participated within 1 and 6 months after discharge, respectively. Women (odds ratio [OR], 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44–0.86), uninsured (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.21–0.71), and patients with hypertension (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.43–0.78) and peripheral arterial disease (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.22–0.85) were less likely to participate at 1 month. At 6 months after AMI, older patients (OR, 0.85 for each 10-year increment; 95% CI, 0.74–0.97), smokers (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.44–0.80), and patients with economic burden (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.38–0.81) were less likely to participate. Caucasians (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.16–2.58) and educated patients (OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.42–2.30) were more likely to participate at 6 months. Patients with previous percutaneous interventions were less likely to participate at both 1 and 6 months post-AMI. Conclusions—Among patients referred for CR post-AMI, participation remains low both at 1 and 6 months after AMI. Because CR is associated with beneficial changes in cardiovascular risk factors and better outcomes after AMI, more aggressive efforts are needed to increase CR participation after referral. (Circulation. 2012;126:1587-1595.)


Wilted Tribulus terrestris plants were harvested from a camp in which geeldikkop had just previously broken out. The plants were treated in various ways in an attempt to preserve their toxicity. The only successful method of preservation found was rapid freezing of harvested material. Three kg of plants were kept frozen for six weeks and then dosed via rumen fistula to a sheep which subsequently developed characteristic symptoms and lesions of geeldikkop.


Lignite, as an abundant and low-cost material, was tested for lead (Pb(II)) removal from aqueous solutions under various experimental conditions for both static (batch) and dynamic (column) experiments. Static assays showed that Pb(II) removal efficiency increases with rising in its initial concentration, aqueous pH, and adsorbent dosage values. Adsorption kinetic and isothermal data were well fitted with the pseudo-second-order and Freundlich models, respectively, suggesting that lead removal by lignite is mainly governed by chemical processes and occurs heterogeneously on multilayer surfaces. The maximum Langmuir's adsorption capacity was equal to 61.4 mg·g−1, which is high in comparison to various natural materials. The laboratory column experiments showed that Pb(II) breakthrough curves and subsequent lignite adsorption efficiency is highly dependent on the bed height. Due to the short time contact between Pb(II) and lignite particles inside the column, the highest adsorption capacity was about 21%, which is lower than the one found in the batch mode. Even under dynamic conditions, lignite exhibits a high adsorption capacity compared to other adsorbents, which promotes its use as a low-cost and efficient material for Pb(II) and the removal of other heavy metals from wastewaters. ∗Corresponding author. ISSN (electronic) : 1878-1543 https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/chimie/ 2 Ammar Mlayah et al.


With the introduction of carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a means to reduce carbon emissions, a need has arisen for accurate and efficient simulation tools. In this work, we propose a method for dynamic simulations of carbon dioxide using the Span–Wagner reference equation of state. The simulations are based on using the density and internal energy as states, which is a formulation naturally resulting from mass and energy balances. The proposed numerical method uses information about saturation lines to choose between single-phase and two-phase equation systems, and is capable of handling phase transitions. To illustrate the potential of the method, it is applied to simulations of tank depressurization, and to fluid-dynamic simulations of pipe transport.


Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and SCD-related functional limitations among people with diabetes and to identify socioeconomic and comorbidity risk factors associated with SCD. Methods This study analyzed data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) with background variables (race, gender, education, and age), health-related factors (self-rated health, BMI, insurance, and comorbid conditions), and health behaviors (smoking, exercise, alcohol consumption) entered simultaneously to estimate logistic regression models of SCD. Results Within the sample (n = 5263 adults with diabetes), 48% were age ≥65 years; 50% were male; 55% were non-Hispanic White; and of the 15% who reported having SCD, 57% had functional limitations. Increased odds of reporting SCD were observed among individuals who were Hispanic (odds ratio [OR] = 2.21, P < .001), male (OR = 1.47, P < .01), depressed (OR = 3.85, P < .001), or had arthritis (OR = 1.43, P < .03). Participants with better self-rated health had a reduced likelihood of SCD (OR = 0.51, P < .001). Conclusions Health care providers should assess high-risk patients for self-rated cognitive dysfunction and offer early interventions.


In this paper a new wide tuning range CMOS voltage controlled oscillator has been introduced. Two techniques have been used simultaneously to increase the tuning range of a ring oscillator. By combining current control and bulk forward biasing techniques the oscillation frequency can be controlled over a large frequency range with a low phase noise of -86dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset from 5.8GHz center frequency. The TSMC 180nm CMOS process with 1.8V supply voltage has been used for the design. The proposed voltage controlled oscillator has 1.73-9.27GHz frequency range with control voltage of 0-1V and consumes 5.17mW of power at center frequency oscillation.


A 48-year-old man had an unremarkable past medical history. His current illness began 8 years prior to medical consultation with a non-painful, progressive increase in volume at the base of the penis in the dorsal region. The patient had adequate erections but was unable to perform coitus due to the presence of a mass. He complained of no other symptomatology. Physical examination revealed an uncircumcised cylindrical penis and a central meatus. A non-painful, mobile, stony hard tumor measuring approximately 6 cm × 5 cm was located at the dorsal region of the base of the penis. It was not fixed to the deep planes and there were no color changes. MRI of the penis identified a round, solid, well-circumscribed tumor with a heterogeneous content and extremely vascularized aspect. It was not dependent on the corpora cavernosa but caused compression and displacement to the left. The penile tumor was completely extirpated using the VTI 20 MHz Microvascular Doppler System, sparing the neurovascular bundles. The histopathologic report and immunohistochemistry study confirmed the diagnosis of Schwannoma of the penis. At follow-up at more than two years, the patient has no signs of tumor activity and erections are adequate.


Multi-primary display are now wildly researched and used. There are few researches concerning with color temperature design. It is easy in three-primary display. But it is difficult when the number of primaries gets more than three, because the coefficient matrix is not in a square form, which always yields an infinite solution set. This paper presents a method to design the relative primary luminances of multi-primary color display.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of inclusion of acidifer in a blood meal based diet on broiler performance and carcass characteristics. One hundred and eighty un-sexed 4-week old broiler chicks raised on a common starter diet were randomly distributed into four experimental diets of 3 replicates and fifteen birds per replicate consisting of a control diet devoid of blood meal and acidifier (T1). Birds on treatment 2 (T2), in addition to common ingredients, had blood meal and acidifier; birds on treatment 3 (T3) had blood meal without acidifer and birds on treatment 4 (T4) had acidifier without blood meal. The birds were fed respective diets and watered ad libitum for four weeks. Daily feed intake was not significantly (p> 0.05) affected by dietary treatment. However, birds on treatment 3 had the poorest average daily body weight gain and feed conversion ratio. The addition of acidifier to diet containing blood meal however alleviated depressed daily body weight. The final body weights were 1.78, 1.74, 1.53 and 1.71 kg for birds on diets 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Carcass yield expressed in percent live body weight were not significantly (p< 0.05) affected. The inclusion of blood meal in the diet without the addition of acidifier caused a mortality of 22% in the chickens and that addition of acidifier at 0.3% improved the growth performance and livability of chickens. Key words : Acidifer, blood meal, broiler, growth performance, carcass characteristics


Blade disk rotor system is a typical structure of industrial equipments such as aeroengines and gas turbines. The research on the response characteristics and mechanism of the system under the coupling effects of aerodynamic force and blade crack is of great significance to the interpretation of vibration phenomena and diagnosis of faults. From the numerical solution based response characteristic analysis to the kinematics and dynamics based essential response mechanism revealing, from the model based special case study to the Number Theory based general law establishing, in this paper, the response mechanism of blade disk rotor system under the coupling effects of crack and aerodynamic force is studied comprehensively and deeply. Firstly, a simplified dynamic model of typical blade disk rotor system is constructed by using the classical continuous parameter modeling method. Based on the dynamic model, for two structural forms of moving and stationary blades, the typical characteristics of vibration response under the actions of aerodynamic force and blade crack are analyzed by means of numerical solution. Then, from the perspective of kinematics and dynamics, the internal mechanism between the vibration responses and the excitations are revealed. Finally, based on Number Theory, the response characteristics and mechanism of typical structures are summarized, and the general laws of responses with general structural forms are established.


A new syndrome of ocular maldevelopments in infants born prematurely has been reported previously. 1 No conclusive statement can be made at this time as to the exact cause or causes of this entity. However, a discussion of the various etiologic factors, stressing the theory that now appears most logical, is of value in bringing the problem to the attention of many observers. By this means the solution may be arrived at more quickly, with regard not only to the most satisfactory preventive measures but to the best treatment, perhaps soon enough to be of practical value for infants now under observation. This syndrome, consisting primarily in bilateral fibroplasia, is based on : (1) persistence of some part of the tunica vasculosa lentis system, (2) growth of embryonic connective tissue behind the crystalline lens and/or (3) persistence of the fibrillar structure of the vitreous humor. It has been pointed out 1c


Background: Bronchiectasis guidelines recommend antibiotics for treating acute respiratory exacerbations, but no RCTs of antibiotics vs placebo exist.

Aim: We hypothesized that oral amoxicillin-clavulanate (amox-clav) and azithromycin (azitho) are both superior to placebo for achieving resolution by day-14 when treating non-severe exacerbations in children.

Methods: Our multicentre (n=4), double-dummy, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial randomized children aged 1-19 years at exacerbation start to amox-clav (45mg/kg/day) + azithro-placebo; azithro (5mg/kg/day) + amox-clav-placebo; or placebo + placebo for 14-days. The primary outcome was exacerbation resolution by day-14. Secondary outcomes were exacerbation duration, time-to-next exacerbation, quality-of-life, laboratory and FEV1 assessments and nasopharyngeal microbiology. Statistical significance was set at P<0.0245.

Results: 197 children were randomized (amox-clav n=63, azithro n=67, placebo n=67). By day-14, exacerbations resolved in 41 (65%), 41 (61%) and 29 (43%) children in the respective groups. Compared to placebo, the relative risk of resolution by day-14 for amox-clav was 1.50 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-2.09; P=0.02, number needed-to-treat for benefit=5, 95%CI 3-20) and for azithro 1.41 (95%CI 1.01-1.97; P=0.04). Compared to placebo, the median exacerbation duration was significantly shorter for amox-clav (7 vs. 10-days, P=0.02), but not for azithro (8 vs 10-days, P=0.24). Other secondary between-group outcomes were not significantly different. Respiratory viruses were identified in 53% of exacerbations.

Conclusion: Oral amox-clav, but not azithro is superior to placebo for treating non-severe bronchiectasis exacerbations in children.


: Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have attracted considerable research interest because of their potential application as alternative power sources for automotive systems and portable electronics. Pd-based catalysts represent one of the most popular catalysts for DAFCs due to their excellent electrocatalytic activities in alkaline electrolytes. Thus, it is of great importance to understand the structure-activity relationship of Pd electrocatalysts for alcohol electrocatalysis. Recently, size-and shape-controlled Pd nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized and subsequently used to study the size and shape effects of Pd electrocatalysts on alcohol electrocatalysis, in which the Pd (100) facet exhibited higher electrocatalytic oxidation activity for small alcohol molecules than the Pd (111) and (110) facets. Although it is well known that capping ligands, which are widely used in wet chemistry for the size- and shape-controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals, likely chemisorb onto the surfaces of the resulting metal nanocrystals and influence their surface structure and surface-mediated properties, such as catalysis, this issue was not considered in previous studies of Pd nanocrystal electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic oxidation of small alcohol molecules. In this study, we prepared polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-capped Pd nanocrystals with different morphologies and sizes and comparatively studied their electrocatalytic activities for methanol and ethanol oxidation in alkaline solutions. The chemisorbed PVP molecules transferred charge to the Pd nanocrystals, and the finer Pd nanocrystals had a higher coverage of chemisorbed PVP, and thus exposed fewer accessible surface sites, experienced more extensive PVP-to-Pd charge transfer, and were more negatively charged. The intrinsic electrocatalytic activity, represented by the electrochemical surface area (ECSA)-normalized electrocatalytic activity, of Pd nanocubes with exposed (100) facets increases with the particle size, indicating that the more negatively-charged Pd surface is less electrocatalytically active. The Pd nanocubes with average sizes between 12 and 19 nm are intrinsically more electrocatalytically active than commercial Pd black electrocatalysts, while the activity of Pd nanocubes with an averages size of 8 nm is less. This suggests that the enhancement effect of the exposed (100) facets surpasses the deteriorative effect of the negatively charged Pd surface for the Pd nanocubes with average sizes between 12 and 19 nm, whereas the deteriorative effect of the negatively charged Pd surface surpasses the enhancement effect of the exposed (100) facets for the Pd nanocubes with average sizes of 8 nm due to the extensive PVP-to-Pd charge transfer. Moreover, the Pd nanocubes with average sizes of 8 nm exhibit similar intrinsic electrocatalytic activity to the Pd nanooctahedra with (111) facets block the surface sites on Pd nanocrystals that are accessible to the reactants, all Pd nanocrystals exhibit lower mass-normalized electrocatalytic activity than the Pd black electrocatalysts, and the mass-normalized electrocatalytic activity increases with the ECSA. These results clearly demonstrate that the size- and shape-dependent electrocatalytic activity of Pd nanocrystals capped with PVP for methanol and ethanol oxidation should be attributed to both the exposed facets of the Pd nanocrystals and the size-dependent electronic structures of the Pd nanocrystals resulting from the size-dependent PVP coverage and PVP-to-Pd charge transfer. Therefore, capping ligands on capped metal nanocrystals inevitably influence their surface structures and surface-mediated properties, which must be considered for a comprehensive understanding of the structure-activity relationship of capped metal nanocrystals.


In this close reading of The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition (1989), Caplan re-evaluates the Diary's importance in the face of recent doubts by tracing the author's process of revising her personal journal for publication as a "novel." As she added and deleted passages and whole letters, Frank constructed a narrative which would "give pleasure or be useful," distancing the reader into the spectator role of reader-response criticism. The unfinished, re-written Het Achethuis leaves us with a disarmingly chilling account of life in hiding in "The Secret Annex."


Existing methods for learning Bayesian network structures run into the computational and statistical problems because of the following two reasons: a large number of variables and a small sample size for enormous variables. Adopting the divide and conquer strategies, we propose a novel algorithm, called block learning algorithm, to learn Bayesian network structures. The method partitions the variables into several blocks that are overlapped with each other. The blocks are learned individually with some constraints obtained from the learned overlap structures. After that, the whole network is recovered by combining the learned blocks. Comparing with some typical learning algorithms on golden Bayesian networks, our proposed methods are efficient and effective. It shows a large potential capability to be scaled up.


All over the world, governments have a duty to protect public health, by controlling the safety, quality, and efficacy of medicines. The companies responsible for the discovery, testing, manufacture, and marketing of these medicines, also want to ensure that they supply products that are safe, and which make a worthwhile contribution to public health and welfare.


We report two types of plasma photonic devices using complex refractive index around an absorption edge. Cherenkov radiation using laser-produced electron beam having a Maxellian distribution is evaluated by theoretical calculation. In the calculation result, this Cherenkov radiation is monochromatic in spite of energy distribution. This monochromaticity is due to characteristic of real part of complex refractive index around an absorption edge. Nonlinear transmission in metal using EUV light pulse is also reported. Transmission becomes nonlinearly higher with increase in energy density of EUV light from 6 J/cm2. This nonlinear phenomenon is caused by change of absorption coefficient, that is, imaginary part of complex refractive index.


As autonomous systems (AS) increasingly become part of our daily lives, ensuring their trustworthiness is crucial. In order to demonstrate the trustworthiness of an AS, we first need to specify what is required for an AS to be considered trustworthy. This roadmap paper identifies key challenges for specifying for trustworthiness in AS, as identified during the"Specifying for Trustworthiness"workshop held as part of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) programme. We look across a range of AS domains with consideration of the resilience, trust, functionality, verifiability, security, and governance and regulation of AS and identify some of the key specification challenges in these domains. We then highlight the intellectual challenges that are involved with specifying for trustworthiness in AS that cut across domains and are exacerbated by the inherent uncertainty involved with the environments in which AS need to operate.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of Salvia Miltiorrhiza injection (SMI) on peritoneal dialysis solution (PDS) induced injuries of peritoneal structure and function in a rat model, and to observe the relationship between the failure of peritoneal dialysis and expressions of aquaporin-1 (AQP-1) and zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1) in peritoneal tissues.

METHODS
Fifty-six SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group, 1.5% PDS group, 4.25% PDS group, 1.5%PDS+1% SMI group, 1.5%PDS+2% SMI group, 4.25% PDS+1% SMI group and 4.25% PDS+2% SMI group. Two-hour peritoneal dialysis test was performed in rats in different groups by intraperitoneal injection for 8-week. Then rats were killed on the 8th week, and the bloods and peritoneal tissues were gathered. The rate of ultrafiltration, clearance rates of urea nitrogen, creatinine and glucose of peritoneum and content of total protein in PDS were detected. Peritoneal membrane histology was evaluated by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Expressions of ZO-1 and AQP-1 proteins in peritoneal tissues were detected by immunohistochemical method, and AQP-1 protein expression was also detected by Western blotting technique.

RESULTS
Compared with normal control group, using of 1.5% PDS and 4.25% PDS caused the changes of structure and function in peritoneum, such as pathological change of peritoneum, decreasing of the rate of ultrafiltration (P<0.05), clearance rates of creatinine and glucose (P<0.01) and the expression of ZO-1 protein (P<0.05), and increasing of the expression of AQP-1 protein (P<0.05). Compared with the simple PDS groups, the pathological damage of peritoneum was lessened and the rate of ultrafiltration and clearance rates of creatinine and glucose were increased in the 1.5% PDS+2% SMI group and 1.5% PDS+2% SMI group. Expression of AQP-1 protein was decreased by 1.5% PDS+2% SMI as compared with 1.5% PDS (P<0.05).[JP]

CONCLUSION
SMI can relieve the injuries of function and structure of peritoneum by down-regulating the expression of AQP-1 protein.


Large‐scale streamlined glacial landforms are identified in 11 areas of northwest Scotland, from the Isle of Skye in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north. These ice‐directional features occur in bedrock and superficial deposits, generally below 350 m above sea level, and where best developed have elongation ratios of >20:1. Sidescan sonar and multibeam echo‐sounding data from The Minch show elongate streamlined ridges and grooves on the seabed, with elongation ratios of up to 70:1. These bedforms are interpreted as mega‐scale glacial lineations. All the features identified formed beneath The Minch palaeo‐ice stream which was ca. 200 km long, up to 50 km wide and drained ca. 15 000 km2 of the northwest sector of the last British‐Irish Ice Sheet (Late Devensian Glaciation). Nine ice‐stream tributaries and palaeo‐onset zones are also identified, on the basis of geomorphological evidence. The spatial distribution and pattern of streamlined bedforms around The Minch has enabled the catchment, flow paths and basal shear stresses of the palaeo‐ice stream and its tributaries to be tentatively reconstructed. © British Geological Survey/Natural Environment Research Council copyright 2007. Reproduced with the permission of BGS/NERC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis commonly coexist in the elderly. In patients undergoing prosthetic total knee arthroplasty (TKA), the bone quality around the knee joint may affect the safety of prosthetic implantation and consequently satisfaction with the surgical outcome. We recruited 50 postmenopausal women undergoing TKA for primary osteoarthritis; 43 completed the study protocol. The bone quality parameters of the operated knee, including bone mineral density assessed using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry and microarchitecture variables assessed using micro‐computed tomography, were determined. Surgical outcomes were assessed according to immediate (<1 week) postoperative pain quantified using the visual analog scale and knee function quantified using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at 2 and 6 months postoperatively. The influence of bone quality parameters on surgical outcomes was analyzed using simple and multiple regression analyses. Volumetric bone mineral density (R2 = 0.187–0.234, p < 0.01), the structural model index (R2 = 0.103–0.181, p < 0.05), and trabecular separation (R2 = 0.289–0.424, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with postoperative pain and improvement according to the KOOS. In conclusion, local bone quality, including mineral content and microarchitecture, affects the surgical outcome of TKA. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:240–248, 2016.


BACKGROUND
Escitalopram is the single isomer responsible for the serotonin reuptake inhibition produced by the racemic antidepressant citalopram. The present randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, fixed-dose multicenter trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of escitalopram in the treatment of major depressive disorder.

METHOD
Outpatients with an ongoing DSM-IV major depressive episode (N = 491) were randomly assigned to placebo, escitalopram, 10 mg/day, escitalopram, 20 mg/day, or citalopram, 40 mg/day, and entered an 8-week double-blind treatment period following a 1-week single-blind placebo lead-in. Clinical response was evaluated by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scales, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A), and patient-rated quality-of-life scales.

RESULTS
Escitalopram, at both doses, produced significant improvement at study endpoint relative to placebo on all measures of depression; significant separation of escitalopram from placebo was observed within I week of double-blind treatment. Citalopram treatment also significantly improved depressive symptomatology compared with placebo; however, escitalopram, 10 mg/day, was at least as effective as citalopram, 40 mg/day, at endpoint. Anxiety symptoms and quality of life were also significantly improved by escitalopram compared with placebo. The incidence of discontinuations due to adverse events for the escitalopram 10 mg/day group was not different from the placebo group (4.2% vs. 2.5%; p = .50), and not different for the escitalopram 20 mg/day group and the citalopram 40 mg/day group (10.4% vs. 8.8%; p = .83).

CONCLUSION
Escitalopram, a single isomer SSRI, is well-tolerated and has demonstrated antidepressant efficacy at a dose of 10 mg/day.


These are hard days for companies: they have to survive in a market that has been hit
by a financial crisis. Many countries in Europe have severe problems trying to
overcome this financial crisis. The main remedy applied by governments is to cut
back on expenditure, but on the other hand it is said that it is important for a country,
and especially for companies, to invest in innovation. These innovations should lead
to innovative products that will lead to profitability turnovers for these companies
and, as a consequence, improve the economic conditions in a country. Universities
provide students with engineering competences, like develop innovation, with which
they can show a higher degree of ability to answer complex questions such as how to
become players in the market again. Teaching students to become more innovative
engineers, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Department of Engineering, has
designed a curriculum in which students are educated in the competence innovation.
An important element in the process of teaching innovation to students is the approach
of inquiring into possibilities of patents. In the second semester of the first year,
students can decide to join an innovative project called: 'The invention project'. The
basis of this project is that students are given the opportunity to create their own
invention and with their previously acquired knowledge and skills they design,
calculate, prototype and present their invention. In a research project, the experiences
of students in this Invention Project have been analysed. The goal of this study was to
understand what the success factors are for such a project. The basis of this inquiry is
a questionnaire to identify the opinions of students. The research was carried out in
the spring semester of 2012. In total 31 students were involved in this research. The
results show that there was a high degree of student satisfaction about the Invention
Project focused on innovation development. Success factors for this project in the first
year of the curriculum were seen: 1 to work on own inventions, 2 development of
student's perception of the total product creation process and 3 to make students see
the relevance of contacts with real professionals from industry and from the patent
office in their own project. Improvements can be made by: 1 helping students more
during the creativity stage in the project and 2 to coach them more on the aspect of
engineering a successful invention of which they can be proud. This Invention project
is a interesting with which collaborations with other universities can be set up.


This paper focuses on the experiences of visually and hearing impaired children in
Vietnam, a country where lay-based cultural beliefs predominantly shape
understanding of any form of disability. The practice of ancestral
worship informs a belief that disabilities are a punishment for wrong deeds in past
lives, and as a result people with disabilities are often marginalized. Such reactions
are sometimes taken to extremes: circumstantial evidence suggests that disabled
children are even likely to be killed at birth. Others might simply be hidden away or
rejected into the local orphanage. This paper discusses the therapeutic support on
offer to children attending two types of educational settings, and explores how the
wider school and local community considered and treated such children, examining
the chosen forms of intervention in each institution from an ethnographic perspective.
The first was a mainstream school with a specialist vocational training unit for
visually impaired children, and the second was a specialist school for children who
were hearing impaired and who were taught only to lip read and speak.


Although HIV‐infected patients are commonly infected by organisms that require an intact T cell immune system for control or eradication, there are some exceptions. The intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is one such organism. Listeriosis occurs primarily in neonates, elderly patients, patients on immune suppressive medications, cancer patients, and during pregnancy. However, listeriosis is an uncommon opportunistic infection in HIV‐infected patients. We report a case of listeriosis with cutaneous lesions in a neonate born to an HIV‐infected woman.


: OTP is considered as one of the most powerful authentication methods among several authentication protocols. But it has some security vulnerabilities. Like an unauthorized user could know a valid OTP value and be authenticated with this secret information. A secure OTP algorithm has been proposed to solve this type of problem. The proposed algorithm uses the IMSI number for registration of the user and captcha image along with OTP to it secure against MITM attack and MITPC/Phone attack.


The building air conditioning task always presents itself as a major energy consumption issue. Approximately 30% of the energy consumed by office sector in Australia used for building air conditioning. A green and eco friendly air conditioning systems are an ideal alternative for the traditional conventional system with a potential to reduce the green house gases emissions resulted by the energy production. The aim of this project was to examine a solar air conditioning system with absorption chiller contributions in a small office building cooled in different thermal efficiency scenarios by demonstrating and evaluating specific architectural improvements to the basic model of the building. These improvements took the form of double-glazed windows, overhanging window shades, and a combination of double-glazed windows and overhanging shades in the environment of Sydney, NSW. The work is a useful guide for the building and air conditioning system design, modification, simulation and analysis, which can be a manual for engineers and energy analysers interested in energy efficiency field, as well as present a help to utilise energy simulation software's such as TRNSYS and OpenStudio.


Background: Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations has an average time to progression (TTP) of 14 months (mo) and overall survival of 27 mo when treated with erlotinib. However, EGFR mutations can only imperfectly predict outcome. In NSCLC cell lines, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) induce p53 translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and subsequent up-regulation of Fas and caspase activation leading to apoptosis. This mechanism was defective in p53-null cells. We tested whether mutations in the TP53 gene influence outcome to erlotinib in EGFR-mutated patients (p). Expression levels of the p53 repressor MDM2 were also examined. Methods: We assesed p53 status in pretreatment paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 93 erlotinib-treated, EGFR mutated advanced NSCLC p. Mutations in exons 5, 6, 7 and 8 were screened by High Resolution Melting analysis (HRM) followed by sequencing of the amplified products with non-wild type melt curves. All mutant samples were re-confirmed by standard PCR and sequencing. Expression levels of MDM2 mRNA were determined by quantitative RT-PCR. Results: Mutations in exons 5-8 of the TP53 gene were detected in 26 of 93 p (28%). We found an unusually high frequency of in-frame and frameshift deletions (23% of mutations), indicating that the spectrum of p53 mutations might be different in EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Mutations in the TP53 gene were not associated with sex, age, smoking status, histology, exon 19 vs. 21 mutation, or response, but, within the study population, were significantly less frequent in p with ECOG 2 or above. The mutations were also associated with the presence of the pretreatment T790M mutation. 14 p had mutations in one of the p53 DNA binding motifs (DBMs), and showed TTP to erlotinib of only 9 mo, compared to 19 months for wt p and 27 mo for those carrying a non-DBM mutation. Survival was 24 mo vs. 31 mo, and not-reached, respectively. Finally, MDM2 mRNA levels were significantly lower in tumors with p53 mutations, especially when these affected DBMs. In the case of wt p, high MDM2 expression correlated with a better TTP and survival. Conclusions: TP53 mutations co-exist with EGFR mutations in a significant number of p; and those in the DBMs are associated with poorer response to erlotinib. This finding paves the way for the possibility of combining erlotinib with a drug restoring p53 function in those p harboring DBM mutations in the TP53 gene. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4596. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4596


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
During SWL, stone motion secondary to ventilatory motion can be as much as 50 mm. This is much larger than the 4- to 15-mm diameter of the focal regions on most clinical machines. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of stone motion on the fragmentation efficiency of a clinical lithotripter with a small (4-mm) focal spot.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A model stone (6.5 x 7.5 mm) made of gypsum cement was used as an in vitro target for a Storz Modulith SLX lithotripter with a custom-designed waterbath. A motorized positioner was used to translate the stone in order to simulate ventilatory motion. The excursion was variable up to 48 mm (+/- 24 mm about the focus). After treatment by 400 shockwaves, the remnants (> 2 mm) were dried and weighed.

RESULTS
Fragmentation efficiency was reduced (P < 0.05) for motion of > or = 10 mm. Similar results were found with different energy levels and firing rates. The reduction in fragmentation efficiency was consistent with calculations of the time the stone was outside the focal region.

CONCLUSIONS
Clinically relevant stone motion has a dramatic effect on in vitro comminution. Motion of 10 mm led to a significant reduction in comminution, and for motion > 20 mm, it appeared that three-quarters of the shockwaves missed the stone. These data imply that ventilatory gating or stone tracking may result in fewer shockwaves being required for successful treatment with this lithotripter.


We have prepared series of shape variant RNAs of a tRNA precursor and analyzed the substrate shape recognition by bacterial ribonuclease P ribozyme and holoenzyme. The results showed the evidence for the presence of subsites for the recognition of the trna shape. We will discuss a new model for substrate recognition and the role of the protein component.


Deletions of the uvrB gene were not obtained in polA1 strains of Escherichia coli either by selecting for spontaneous deletions or by transduction from strains carrying such deletions. A strain forming a temperature-sensitive deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I and carrying a deletion of the uvrB gene is inviable at the nonpermissive temperature.


Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems play a fundamental role in maintaining acceptable thermal comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) levels, essentials for occupants well-being. Since performing this task implies high energy requirements, there is a need for improving the energetic efficiency of existing buildings. A possible solution is to develop effective control strategies for HVAC systems, but this is complicated by the inherent uncertainty of the to-be-controlled system. To cope with this problem, we design a stochastic Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy that dynamically learns the statistics of the building occupancy and weather conditions and uses them to build probabilistic constraints on the indoor temperature and CO2 concentration levels. More specifically, we propose a randomization technique that finds suboptimal solutions to the generally non-convex stochastic MPC problem. The main advantage of this method is the absence of apriori assumptions on the distributions of the uncertain variables, and that it can be applied to any type of building. We investigate the proposed approach by means of numerical simulations and real tests on a student laboratory, and show its practical effectiveness and computational tractability.


Visceral leishmaniasis is a widespread and deadly disease. First-line drugs are antimonials, but amphotericin B and its lipid formulations B is used for treating visceral leishmaniasis that is unresponsive to antimony. New therapeutic approaches are being actively developed, including the following: use of drug carriers targeted specifically to the parasite location, thus reduce adverse effects of drug; use of immunomodulating drugs; evaluation of natural products; pharmacokinetic studies; and drug combinations. Recent clinical trials with paromomycin and miltefosine were successful and these drugs appear to be promising for the future therapy of visceral leishmaniasis. Furthermore, identification and therapeutic evaluation of specific targets in the Leishmania organism could lead to new compounds, such as antileishmanial drugs and reversal agents of drug resistance.


We present a methodology for the in‐process control of design inspection focusing on escaped defects. The methodology estimates the defect escape probability at each phase in the process using the information available at the beginning of a particular phase. The development of the models is illustrated by a case involving data collected from the design inspections of software components. The data include the size of the product component, as well as the time invested in preparing for the inspection and actually carrying it out. After smoothing the original data with a clustering algorithm, to compensate for its excessive variability, a series of regression models exhibiting increasingly better fits to the data as more information becomes available was obtained. We discuss how management can use such models to reduce escape risk as the inspection process evolves. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Multiple lines of evidence support the concept that the anterior pituitary hormone prolactin has a pathogenic role in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases including, but not limited to, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Reiter's syndrome, psoriatic arthritis, and uveitis. Conversely, the dopaminergic agonist bromocriptine appears to have therapeutic effects through suppression of pituitary prolactin secretion and, perhaps, through actions on peripheral dopamine receptors. This article reviews the experimental and clinical data supporting the therapeutic use of bromocriptine as a nonstandard or adjunctive therapy in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.

METHODS
Data addressing the potential therapeutic role of bromocriptine in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases, as well as frequently associated comorbidities, was accumulated from the author's work, online literature search of the National Library of Medicine, and references from these identified publications.

RESULTS
There have been a number of clinical therapeutic trials using 2.5 to 30 mg of bromocriptine per day in a single or divided dose, which have shown efficacy with minimal side effects in the treatment of rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. In RA, bromocriptine administration has induced immunosuppression of several immune parameters and has been associated with improvements in morning stiffness, grip strength, numbers of swollen/painful joints, and the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index. In two blinded studies, bromocriptine reduced the number of SLE flares and was as effective as hydroxychloroquine in reducing lupus disease activity indices, respectively. In case reports, bromocriptine has been used successfully in the treatment of Reiter's syndrome enthesopathy and psoriatic arthritis. The potential efficacy of bromocriptine in the treatment of uveitis and multiple sclerosis is suggested but remains to be verified.

CONCLUSIONS
Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are limited, but clinical observations and trials support the use of bromocriptine as a nonstandard primary or adjunctive therapy in the treatment of recalcitrant RA, SLE, Reiter's syndrome, and psoriatic arthritis and associated conditions unresponsive to traditional approaches. Additional investigation is needed to verify this conclusion and extend preliminary results.

RELEVANCE
In patients with rheumatic and autoimmune diseases, bromocriptine may be a relatively safe and efficacious alternative therapy. Semin Arthritis Rheum 31:21-32.


In this paper, the "sandwich" structured magnetoelectric composite films of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/ NiFe2O4/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/CoFe2O4/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 are epitaxially grown on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed-laser deposition. The crystalline quality and microstructures of these heterostructures are investigated by X-ray diffraction technique. The effects of strain on the ferroelectric, magnetic and magnetoelectric coupling properties of these thin films are systematically studied. The results show that the strain effect induced by lattice mismatch between the ferroelectric/ferromagnetic layers plays an important role in the ferroelectric and magnetic properties of these composite films. Compared to the strained Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/ CoFe2O4/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 heterostructure, improved ferroelectric properties with an out-of-plane polarization (2P(r)) of 34.2 microC/cm2 and electric coercivity field of 158 kV/cm are obtained in the strain-free Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/NiFe2O4/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 heterostructure. The ME measurement results not only show that the strain induced by lattice mismatch has great influence on the ME behavior, but also provide an understanding of the multilayers with full control over the interface structure at the atomic-scale.


Neurodegenerative disorders include different neurological conditions that affect nerve cells, causing the progressive loss of their functions and ultimately leading to loss of mobility, coordination, and mental functioning. The molecular mechanisms underpinning neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis are still unclear. Nonetheless, there is experimental evidence to demonstrate that the perturbation of mitochondrial function and dynamics play an essential role. In this context, mitochondrial biogenesis, the growth, and division of preexisting mitochondria, by controlling mitochondria number, plays a vital role in maintaining proper mitochondrial mass and function, thus ensuring efficient synaptic activity and brain function. Mitochondrial biogenesis is tightly associated with the control of cell division and variations in energy demand in response to extracellular stimuli; therefore, it may represent a promising therapeutic target for developing new curative approaches to prevent or counteract neurodegenerative disorders. Accordingly, several inducers of mitochondrial biogenesis have been proposed as pharmacological targets for treating diverse central nervous system conditions. The naturally occurring polyphenol resveratrol has been shown to promote mitochondrial biogenesis in various tissues, including the nervous tissue, and an ever-growing number of studies highlight its neuro-therapeutic potential. Besides preventing cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, resveratrol has been shown to be able to enhance mitochondria biogenesis by acting on its main effectors, including PGC-1α, SIRT1, AMPK, ERRs, TERT, TFAM, NRF-1 and NRF-2. This review aims to present and discuss the current findings concerning the impact of resveratrol on the machinery and main effectors modulating mitochondrial biogenesis in the context of neurodegenerative diseases.


Simple, reproducible, methods of achieving rapid rates of cooling in the range 100 degrees C min(-1) to 1000 degrees C min(-1) are described for straws and cryovial. These methods use the direct contact of straws or cryovials with pre-cooled granules or plates as the heat sink. Liquid nitrogen may be adsorbed into suitable material, for example activated charcoal, zeolites and molecular sieves as the matrix to achieve rapid cooling. Controllable rapid rates of cooling may also be attained by using non-adsorbants. The rate of cooling may be modified by changing the adsorbant material, the size of the adsorbant granules and the temperature of the adsorbant.


In this paper we analyzed the ignition of the wood samples subjected to the dynamic heat flux. The experimental setup was created on the base of the optical wave "Uran-1" with a radiation source. The intensity of the heat flux was changed during the experiment by moving the test sample along the optical axis of the elliptic reflector in the setup. Pine wood was used as the test samples. We received the delay times for ignition of pine wood during heating under conditions of the decreasing and increasing heat flux. The received data were compared with the data for a static heat flux.


In this paper, we consider a non-self-adjoint, singular, nonlinear fourth order boundary value problem which arises in the theory of epitaxial growth. It is possible to reduce the fourth order equation to a singular boundary value problem of second order given by w''-1/r w'=w^2/(2r^2 )+1/2 λ r^2. The problem depends on the parameter λ and admits multiple solutions. Therefore, it is difficult to pick multiple solutions together by any discrete method like finite difference method, finite element method etc. Here, we propose a new technique based on homotopy perturbation method and variational iteration method. We compare numerically the approximate solutions computed by Adomian decomposition method. We study the convergence analysis of both iterative schemes in C^2 ([0,1]). For small values of λ, solutions exist whereas for large values of λ solutions do not exist.


This article is devoted to the evaluation of the material parameters of the Heusler compound Co2Mn0.6Fe0.4Si via Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. Recently, cobalt-based Heusler compounds and, in particular, the compound Co2Mn0.6Fe0.4Si have attracted huge interest in the fields of spintronics and magnon spintronics. Thus, evaluation of the material parameters that govern spin dynamics in the gigahertz regime is essential to develop and understand advanced experimental scenarios as well as potential technical applications. We demonstrate the evaluation of these parameters based on wavevector as well as time-resolved Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. The focus of our study is the determination of the spin-wave damping in an individual microstructure as wells as of the exchange constant of Co2Mn0.6Fe0.4Si—parameters, that are difficult to estimate with alternative techniques.


The review is devoted to heterogeneous catalysts for selective hydrogenation of highly unsaturated impurities (dienes and acetylenes) in hydrocarbonic streams. The most promising systems are nanocomposites on the basis of palladium or gold.