This paper analyses the very successful popular youth magazine BRAVO as a central element of the West German youth culture. The focus is on BRAVO's contribution to the shaping of the sexual and erotic knowledge of the young in West Germany since the mid-1960s. Using a definition of popular culture that is inspired by the cultural studies and by an understanding of gender as a construct, the paper scrutinizes discourses on homosexuality, impotency and frigidity, moral debates on premarital sexual intercourse and changes of sexual behaviour of the young at the end of the 1960s, as well as discourses on the erotic body in the 1970s. By mediating authoritative knowledge about sex BRAVO contributed to stabilizing the heterosexual matrix in West Germany's youth culture.


Finger vein recognition deals with the identification of subjects based on their venous pattern within the fingers. It has been shown that its recognition accuracy heavily depends on a good alignment of the acquired samples. There are several approaches that try to reduce the impact of finger misplacement. However, none of this approaches is able to prevent all possible types of finger misplacements. As finger vein scanners are evolving towards contact-less acquisition, alignment problems, especially due to longitudinal finger rotation, are becoming even more important. One way to tackle this problem is capturing the vein structure from different perspectives during enrolment, but cost and complexity of capturing devices increases with the number of involved cameras. In this article, a new method to reduce the number of cameras needed for multi-perspective enrolment is presented. The reduction is achieved by introducing additional pseudo perspectives in-between two adjacent cameras. The obtained perspectives are used for additional comparisons during authentication. This way, the complexity of the enrolment devices can be reduced while keeping the recognition performance at a high level.


The electrical characterisation of graphene, either in plane sheets or in properly geometrised form can be approached using non-contact methods already employed for thin film materials. The extraordinary thinness (and, correspondingly, the volume) of graphene, however, makes the proper application of these methods difficult. The electrical properties of interest (sheet electrical resistivity/conductivity, concentration and mobility of charge carriers) must be indirectly derived from the measurement outcome by geometrical and electrical modelling; the assumptions behind such models (e.g., uniformity and isotropy, effective value of the applied fields, etc.) require careful consideration. The traceability of the measurement to the International System of units and a proper expression of measurement uncertainty is an issue.
This guide focuses on non-contact and high-throughput methods, that are methods where the graphene sample surface is not physically contacted with any metallic electrodes at any stage. A companion guide about contact methods is also available. The methods discussed are:
- Measurement of surface potential and work function using Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy (SKPM); - Measurement of sheet resistance by Microwave Resonant Cavity; - Measurement of sheet resistance by Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS); For each method, a corresponding measurement protocol is discussed, which describes: - The measurement principle; - Sample requirements and preparation; - A description of the measurement equipment / apparatus; - Calibration standards and ways to achieve a traceable measurement;


Active video games and other technology-based interventions can promote physical activity participation in children and adolescents, particularly those who are uninterested in traditional sports or lack access to gyms, sports clubs, or safe neighborhood recreational environments. Yet simply placing a game console in a home or school might not be sufficient for changing physical activity behaviors. Rather, social support and opportunities for structured group activity may be important aspects of pervasive health games. We know little, however, about how to design active video games and other technology based interventions in ways that explicitly allow for the provision of social support by other players as well as "spectators" of the game. Based on the results of a longitudinal study of an active video game used in American schools, this paper contributes design recommendations for features in pervasive health games that explicitly encourage social support.


Upon component design, there is a need to define rules regarding variability discovered during the development for business applications separately in order to increase extensibility and reusability of components. Component adaptation techniques through either interface wrapping or redefinition of the implementation class carry limitations in supporting the reuse of components. Consequently, designs which take future reusability of components into consideration during the component development process are very important. Within this research, we propose ACM (adaptable component model) for separating the stable and basic properties from variable properties. Also we propose new component architecture to include rule components defining the variable part. Also, reusability of components is verified through re-defining rules for application onto an insurance sales system.


Models of decisionmaking organizations supported by command, control and communication systems, are represented using the Petri Net formalism. A small set of primitives, defining the correspondence between decision models signals and functions and their Petri Net counterparts, is proposed. A new decision signal routing demultiplexer is added to the Petri Net formalism to represent internal decisionmaking in the model. Using the above primitives, any decisionmaking structure can be modeled by a Petri Net diagram. An array is introduced that describes the interactions between decisionmakers and an algorithm is presented for the calculation of delay when synchronous protocols are used.


ABSTRACT The majority of ophthalmic filters, whether they be in the form of spectacles or contact lenses, are absorbance type filters. Although color vision researchers routinely provide spectrophotometric transmission profiles of filters, filter thickness is rarely specified. In this paper, colorimetric tools and volume color theory are used to show that the color of a filter as well as its physical properties are altered dramatically by changes in thickness. The effect of changes in X‐Chrom filter thickness on predicted monocular dichromatic luminance and chromaticity discrimination is presented.


RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES.The authors compared oral cholecystography (OCG) with ultrasound (US) in the detection of chronic gallbladder disease using clinical outcome, rather than pathology results, as the reference standard. METHODS.The authors interviewed 269 patients who underwent either OCG, US, or both, for evaluation of chronic right upper quadrant abdominal pain. The authors considered patients who underwent cholecystectomy with improved symptoms 1 to 4 years after surgery to be reference-standard positive for gallbladder disease, and patients with objective evidence of an alternative diagnosis (eg, peptic ulcer disease), which improved with therapy as reference-standard negative. RESULTS.The sensitivity and specificity of OCG were 83% and 97%, respectively, and for US, 86% and 90%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS.OCG is comparable with US in evaluating of chronic gallbladder disease. In institutions where OCG is used for diagnosing chronic cholecystitis, it may be reasonable to continue using OCG.


A theoretical investigation was performed to predict the maximum achievable efficiency of radial inflow turbines for different design conditions. The analytical tool used in the investigation is a computer code able to perform the contemporary optimization of the main design variables, in order to obtain maximum efficiency. Since the results are strictly dependent on the loss correlations, reliability of the efficiency predictions was tested at first by comparison with several test-cases available in literature: good agreement with experimental data was found, pointing to the validity of the results presented here.A large number of cases were analyzed: the efficiency and the main design parameters, obtained after the optimization process, are presented for optimum specific speed. Turbine efficiency was found to be dependent both on compressibility effects, related to the volume expansion ratio, and on actual turbine size, accounting for geometric non-similarity effects. Influence of non-optimum specific speed is also discussed.By means of similarity rules, the results enable turbine design to be performed in a simple way, for a variety of working fluids and design conditions.Copyright © 1987 by ASME


Whole cells of Aspergillus oryzae 35 were used as a biocatalyst for the degradation of glycerol trioleate, which largely contributes to pitch deposits in papermaking. Different types of inducers in culture media showed various effects on both the biomass and lipase activity of whole-cell biocatalysts. The cells of A. oryzae 35 cultured with Tween 80 showed higher catalytic activity than the others. The effects of several key factors on A. oryzae 35-catalyzed treatment of a glycerol trioleate-containing whitewater model were investigated, and the optimal pH value, reaction temperature, substrate concentration, and shaking speed were determined to be 7.5, 45 °C, 50%, and 200 rpm, respectively. Results from a practical treatment of whitewater resin sediments with A. oryzae showed that the mean particle size of the original whitewater was sharply reduced from 534 nm to 356 nm after biocatalytic degradation. Aspergillus oryzae whole-cells are newly promising biocatalysts for whitewater treatment in papermaking industries because of their cost-effectiveness, simple preparation, and environmental friendliness.


Abstract High altitude (HA) exposure usually leads to a significant weight loss in non-acclimatized humans. Anorexia is believed to be the main cause of this body weight loss. Appetite regulatory peptides, i.e. leptin and neuropeptide Y play a key role in food intake and energy homeostasis. Recent studies suggests increased oxidative stress during HA exposure. In present study effect of HA exposure on levels of leptin and NPY was evaluated along with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and vitamin E supplementation in relation to food intake and body weight changes. The study was conducted on 30 healthy male volunteers (age 19 – 29 years). Subjects were divided randomly into three groups of 10 each. Group 1 (placebo) supplemented with 400 mg of calcium gluconate, group 2 and 3 were supplemented with 400 mg of NAC and 400 mg vitamin E, respectively per day. The study was conducted at low altitude (320 m, Phase I), at HA 3600 m (Phase II) and at an altitude of 4580 m (Phase III). On HA exposure significant reduction in plasma leptin levels was observed in all the groups on day 2 (Phase II) along with decrease in food intake and reduction in body weight. Statistically significant increase in blood malondialdehyde (MDA) levels was seen in all the groups on HA exposure (Phase II, Day 2), but the maximum increase was in case of placebo group (65.1%) on day 2 (Phase II) in comparison to low altitude values. The decrease in energy intake was almost same in all the groups indicating that antioxidant supplementation did not provide any protection against HA anorexia. From the study, it may be concluded that leptin and oxidative stress possibly are not the key players for HA anorexia.


Fluoride-polluted navel orange leaves, Citrus sinensis (Linn.) Osbeck, were fractionated into the subcellular components in hexane/carbon tetrachloride mixtures having various densities. Fluoride was determined at each fraction. Analyses were also made for the subcellular distribution of chlorophyll, nitrogen, and DNA to assess the extent of cross-contamination of each component. The fraction containing cell wall, nuclei, and partly broken cells apparently contained a major amount of fluoride. However, if allowance was made for the cross-contamination of chloroplasts and chloroplast fragments, the fraction of chloroplasts was found to be the site of the highest fluoride accumulation. When each particulate component was washed with water after drying, the combined washings contained more than 50% of the total fluoride of the isolated fractions. The usual method of subcellular fractionation with aqueous solvent shifted the major site of fluoride accumulation from the fraction of chloroplasts to that of the supernatant.


IL-7 has been proposed as a primary driver of homeostatic peripheral expansion (HPE) occurring in response to lymphopenia. We show here that systemic IL-7 levels rise during lymphopenia due to diminished IL-7 utilization, and that this milieu supports HPE of CD8+, but not CD4+ T cells. Rather, HPE of CD4+ T cells requires IL-7 production by Class II+ dendritic cells, which co-express IL7R! (IL7R!DCs). Elevated stroma derived IL-7 in lymphopenic hosts paradoxically diminishes IL-7 production and Class II expression by IL7R!DCs via an IL-7R!, "C, STAT5 dependent feedback loop, diminishing support for CD4 HPE. This paradigm establishes IL7R!DCs as primary regulators of the peripheral CD4+ niche and explains the longstanding observation that lymphopenic humans undergoing HPE replenish CD8+ but not CD4+ T cell pools.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have immunological or clinical evidence of gluten hypersensitivity.

METHODS
Antigliadin antibodies (AGA) and antireticulin antibodies (ARA) were determined in two groups of RA patients and in a control group of patients with spondylarthropathies. In the first group of 42 patients with recent-onset RA, AGA and ARA were studied longitudinally during a one-year follow up period. In the second group of 36 patients with advanced RA and various abdominal symptoms examined by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, AGA and ARA were determined cross-sectionally.

RESULTS
Increased AGA (IgA or IgG) levels were found in 37% (29/78) of all RA patients compared to 12% (3/25) of controls. ARA positivity (IgG) was found in 4% (3/78) of RA patients and in none of the controls. AGA positivity was increased in patients with early RA compared to patients with advanced disease (48% vs. 25%) but the difference was not statistically significant. However, no true gluten hypersensitivity with positive AGA and ARA together with villous atrophy was observed.

CONCLUSION
Despite the increased AGA positivity found distinctively in patients with recent-onset RA, none of the RA patients showed clear evidence of coeliac disease. AGA positivity in early RA may indicate a role of the gut immune system in the initiation of RA.


In this paper, a new Quaternion Discrete Fourier Transform (QDFT)-based digital color image watermarking method is presented. In addition, the Quaternion QR (QQR) decomposition is applied in digital watermarking technology for the first time. First of all, the QDFT and QQR decomposition are performed on the host image, respectively, to acquire the scalar part of the quaternion matrix for watermark information embedding. After that, we divide the scalar part of the quaternion matrix generated by the QQR decomposition into blocks and calculate the entropy. The block with high entropy is selected to embed the watermark information. Then the watermark information is embedded into the extracted block using the quantization index modulation method. We conducted a large number of tests and experimental results indicate that the presented approach obtains excellent robustness against Scaling, Rotation, Median filtering, 'Salt & Pepper' noise, and JPEG Compression. Compared with the existing methods, the presented method achieves better performance.


The linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex is composed of the outer and inner nuclear membrane protein families Klarsicht, Anc-1, and Syne homology (KASH), and Sad1 and UNC-84 (SUN) homology domain proteins. Increasing evidence has pointed to diverse functions of the LINC complex, such as in nuclear migration, nuclear integrity, chromosome movement and pairing during meiosis, and mechanotransduction to the genome. In metazoan cells, the nuclear envelope possesses the nuclear lamina, which is a thin meshwork of intermediate filaments known as A-type and B-type lamins and lamin binding proteins. Both of lamins physically interact with the inner nuclear membrane spanning SUN proteins. The nuclear lamina has also been implicated in various functions, including maintenance of nuclear integrity, mechanotransduction, cellular signalling, and heterochromatin dynamics. Thus, it is clear that the LINC complex and nuclear lamins perform diverse but related functions. However, it is unknown whether the LINC complex–lamins interactions are involved in these diverse functions, and their regulation mechanism has thus far been elusive. Recent structural analysis suggested a dynamic nature of the LINC complex component, thus providing an explanation for LINC complex organization. This review, elaborating on the integration of crystallographic and biochemical data, helps to integrate this research to gain a better understanding of the diverse functions of the LINC complex.


The need for deceased donor organs for kidney transplantation in the United States continues to increase. The increasing demand has fueled desperate attempts by patients to circumvent the long waiting list of the United Network for Organ Sharing. We report 4 patients with end-stage kidney disease who sought and obtained a live donor kidney transplant outside the United States. In each case, a nephrologist was following up with the patient regularly. Each patient experienced significant unexpected adverse events after the transplant surgery. Desperate attempts to obtain an organ are common and are likely to continue. Although patients with end-stage renal disease who obtain an organ transplant at an unregulated transplant center can have successful outcomes, transplant physicians should be aware of the common practice and should advise their patients of potential complications associated with acquisition of organs through means that circumvent standard oversight by the United Network for Organ Sharing and by institutions.


Abstract Rationale: Ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), due to diseases of the arteries supplying the optic nerve, is an ischemic damage of the optic nerve. This report highlights a case with monocular decreasing visual acuity caused by dissection of the internal carotid artery (ICA), which is a relatively rare cause for ION. Patient concerns: A 44-year-old woman presented with a decreasing visual acuity and defected visual field in the right eye for 1 week. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/400 in the right eye, and 20/20 in the left eye. In the right eye, the pupil showed little reaction to light with a relative afferent pupillary defect. The visual field test disclosed a defect in the inferior field connecting to the blind spot. Electroretinogram recording showed no obviously declined retinal function. No recognizable waveforms were presented in pattern visual–evoked potential (PVEP) examination, whereas the flash visual–evoked potential result revealed a delayed peak time and a reduced amplitude of P2-wave. Diagnosis: The patient was diagnosed as ION with the aid of computed tomographic angiography of the brain and neck, which revealed a stenosis in the right ICA and an occlusion in the right cerebral middle artery. The stenosis was verified as dissection of the ICA by digital subtraction angiography. Interventions: Based on the clinical findings, stent implantation inside the right ICA was performed. Outcomes: The ICA was recanalized soon and the BCVA of the right eye was improved to be 20/25 five months later. A second PVEP examination revealed a recognizable waveform in the right eye, although the peak time and amplitude of the P100-wave was a bit abnormal compared to that of the left eye. Lessons: ION with the sign of decreasing monocular visual acuity could occur due to dissection of the ICA, with no obvious neurologic symptom at the beginning. The present case emphasizes the importance of suspicion of ICA problems as the underlying cause for ION, which could help to take in-time measure to save the vision and avoid further complications.


The effects on an acute myocardial infarction of equipotent hypotensive doses of nitroglycerin and dipyridamole were studied using the thermographic technique in open-chest dogs. Nitroglycerin did not reduce the cool ischaemic area in any of the nine dogs studied. In six of the dogs, in which the ischaemic region could be properly measured, the cool area slightly grew in size. Dipyridamole reduced the size of the ischaemic area in all the 20 dogs used. In the 19 in which the size could be adequately digitalised, the decrease in infarction size was statistically significant.


The study was initiated with the objectives of analyzing dairy marketing chains in the Hawassa, Shashemane and Yergalem milk shed in southern Ethiopia. The milk shed encompasses Hawassa, Shashemane and Yergalem towns. Milk and butter were the two most important dairy products marketed in the areas. Data came from 180 dairy producing households, 97 butter traders, and 81 milk traders. The Heckman two-stage econometric estimation procedure was employed to identify factors that determine milk market participation decision and milk sale volume of the farm household in the area. The first step of the Heckman two stages procedures results showed that dairy household milk market entry decision was strongly and significantly affected by age of the household head, family size, education level, experience in dairy production, number of cross breed milking cows owned and distance from milk market center. In addition, the second stage estimation result revealed that marketable milk volume was found to be strongly and significantly affected by the number of cross breed milking cows owned, family size, age squared and annual non-dairy income source of sampled dairy household. Eighty five percent of sampled dairy household were identified to be milk market participants and about 65% of milk produced by sampled household was supplied to market. Dairy producers, retailers, farmer traders, ierate traders, dairy producers' cooperatives and semi-wholesale were found to be important milk and butter market intermediaries of the milk shed. The crossbreed and local breed dairy farm owner are respectively 67.4% and 32.6%. The S-C-P model identified that the markets for milk and butter in the study area was non-competitive type. The highest and the lowest net profit/lit in milk marketing respectively obtained by dairy producers and milk semi-wholesaler. In butter market, butter retailers enjoyed the highest net profit. Generally, milk and butter market in the study area seemed to be inefficient and underdeveloped. Thus, dairy development interventions should be aimed at addressing both dairy production technological gaps and marketing problems. The study further suggested that dairy processing industries formation, dairy producers and trader cooperatives, and improving access to services should receive due attention in order to improve dairy production in general and dairy marketing in


While tariffs have been substantially reduced under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), little progress has been made in reducing non-tariff measures (NTMs), and as a result, there has been little increase in intra-regional trade. An UNCTAD led study (Ing et al. 2016) has documented the current NTMs in the ASEAN region. While many NTMs are legitimate, such as sanitary and phyto-sanitary restrictions to protect health and the environment, many appear to function as protection of domestic producers from competition from imports. Six countries in ASEAN have 100 per cent of their imports covered by one NTM or another. For technical NTMs (SPS and TBT), we measure the similarity in regulations between two different countries. If a country has similar regulations, for example regarding SPS rules, then it is likely that these rules are not an impediment to trade. Using a gravity model to explain trade unit values, we find that regulatory convergence can substantially reduce the costs effect of NTMs. For example, a regulatory reform to realign existing NTMs and to maximize regulatory overlap, but without increasing or decreasing the number of NTMs in any country, could reduce the current net effects of NTMs by 15 to 25 per cent. For non-technical barriers, such as quotas or price controls, we estimate an ad valorem equivalent. In this analysis, we attempt to quantify the trade impacts of these NTMs using a computable general equilibrium model. Our results suggest that harmonising technical NTMs and eliminating nontechnical NTMs altogether would increase ASEAN countries net welfare by $3 billion if the barriers are reduced on intra-ASEAN trade only. Furthermore, these gains could be increased to $12 billion if technical measures on non-ASEAN imports were reformed or further to $18 billion if ASEAN technical measures could be matched to international levels so that ASEAN exporters could access European, American and Japanese markets.


BackgroundThe cognitive impairment pattern of deficit schizophrenia (DS) is centered on an impaired attention function. Previous studies have suggested that the exploratory eye movement (EEM) tests reflect attention deficits in patients with schizophrenia. However, no study has investigated the characteristics of eye movement in DS in the Chinese Han population. This study aimed to investigate the pattern of eye movement characteristics in DS patients and analyze its clinical correlation.MethodsA total of 86 male patients (37 DS and 49 NDS) and 80 healthy controls (HC) participated in this study. Clinical symptoms were assessed using the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Cognitive function was assessed using the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS-2). Eye movement data of subjects were collected using an eye movement tracking analyzer. ResultsThere were significant differences in the overall eye movement data and cognitive test scores among the three groups (all P<0.001). Both DS and NDS schizophrenia subgroups showed more severe eye movement and cognitive impairment compared with the control group. The number of eye fixations (NEF), total of eye scanning length (TESL), and cognitive function in DS patients were significantly lower than those in NDS patients. The discriminant analysis (D score) was higher than that of the control group (P<0.001). In the DS group, the inattention factor of SANS was negatively correlated with the attention factor (r=-0.545, P=0.001), and structure factor of cognitive (r=-0.389, P=0.023), the affective flattening factor of SANS was negatively correlated with TESL (r=-0.353, P=0.041) and initiation/retention factor of cognitive (r=-0.376,P=0.028). TESL was found to positively correlate with the MDRS-2 total score (r=0.427, P=0.012), attention factor (r=0.354, P=0.040), and memory factor (r=0.349, P=0.043) in the DS group, whereas the mean of eye scanning length (MESL) positively correlated with cognitive impairments in the NDS group. The negative symptoms showed no significant correlation with cognition in the NDS group. ConclusionsTotal of eye scanning length may be a characteristic eye movement symptom in DS patients, which is associated with serious negative symptoms and cognitive impairment in this schizophrenia subtype.


Appropriate technologies for small-scale, on-farm grain storage in sub-Saharan Africa are reviewed and assessed in the light of the current pressures resulting from the liberalisation of grain markets. The study was based on a literature survey of recent storage innovations, visits to countries in the SADC region and replies to questionnaires sent to agriculture ministries and other organisations to ascertain the extent to which improved procedures were being promoted and adopted. The reasons for storage, and the factors which may affect the choice of a particular storage system, are noted. The construction, uses, cost and efficiency of the six main storage methods (drying/storage crib, basket, metal tank, mud block/brick silo, pit and grain bag) are compared and contrasted; some suggestions for improvements are included. The problems with high-yielding, improved varieties of maize are assessed with reference to their retention on the farm. It is concluded that support for small-scale, post-harvest storage projects is justified and necessary, but recommendations should reflect social, agroclimatic and economic issues as well as individual need. In most cases, grain bags would be adequate for supplementing storage capacity.


BACKGROUND
Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders that most often have profound impact on a person itself, as well as on parents, caretakers, and family life in whole. Parents of a child with ASD often have higher levels of stress and psychological distress. Aim of this study was to examine the stress sources, its frequency and predictability in parents of children with ASD, in relation to the communication and language skills of their children.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
The sample consisted of 80 participants who are parents of children with ASD. The study was conducted using a questionnaire made for this research. Three groups of variables were analyzed: parental stress; child's communication; and child's language variables. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS and included basic statistical parameters and multiple regression analysis.

RESULTS
The most common sources of parental stress are caring for the child's future; difficulties of the child with speech, language and communication; difficulties of the child in establishing contact with peers and other persons; and inappropriate behavior of the child (anger, aggression, stereotypical behaviors…). Multiple regression analyses used to determine whether a child's communication and language skills were valid predictors of parental stress showed significance.

CONCLUSIONS
ASD child's skills like showing gestures; looking, answering, and turning when called by name; making it known when he/she needs help or wants an object; answering simple 'Yes/No' questions; and establishing contact with peers, are valid predictors of some stress sources of the parents. Proper involvement in the development of a child's communication and language skills has numerous benefits, not only for the child, but also for the parental stress recognition and its potential frequency decrease.


Background: One of the numerous challenges preterm birth poses for parents and physicians is prognostic disclosure. Prognoses are based on scientific evidence and medical experience. They are subject to individual assessment and, hence, will generally remain uncertain with regard to the individual. This can result in differences in prognostic framing and thus affect the recipients' perception. In neonatology, data on the effects of prognostic framing are scarce. In particular, it is unclear whether parents prefer a more optimistic or a more pessimistic prognostic framing.Objective: To explore parents' preferences concerning prognostic framing and its effects on parent reported outcomes and experiences. To identify predictors (demographic, psychological) of parents' communication preferences.Design, setting, participants: Unblinded, randomized-controlled cross-over trial (RCT) at the Division of Neonatology of the University Medical Center Mainz, Germany, including German-speaking parents or guardians of infants born preterm between 2009 and 2019 with a birth weight <1500g. Inclusion of up to 204 families is planned, with possible reduction according to a blinded sample size reassessment after enrollment of 50 to 70 families, depending on the number of participants per family.Intervention: Embedded in an online-survey and in pre-specified order, participants will watch two video-vignettes depicting a more optimistic vs. a more pessimistic framing in prognostic disclosure to parents of a preterm infant. Apart from prognostic framing, all other aspects of physician-parent communication are standardized in both videos.Main outcomes and measures: At baseline and after each video, participants complete a two-part online-questionnaire (baseline and post-intervention). Primary outcome is the preference for either a more optimistic or a more pessimistic prognostic framing. Secondary outcomes include changes in state-anxiety (STAI-SKD), satisfaction with framing, evaluation of prognosis, future optimism and hope, preparedness for shared decision-making (each assessed using customized questions), and general impression (customized question), professionalism (adapted from GMC Patient Questionnaire) and compassion (Physician Compassion Questionnaire) of the consulting physician.Discussion: This RCT will explore parents' preferences concerning prognostic framing and its effects on physician-parent communication. Results may contribute to a better understanding of parental needs in prognostic disclosure and will be instrumental for a broad audience of clinicians, scientists and ethicists.Trial registration: drks.de DRKS00024466. Registered on April 16, 2021


Platelets are key mediators of thrombosis. Many agonists of platelet activation are known, but there are fewer identified endogenous inhibitors of platelets, such as prostacyclin and nitric oxide (NO). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil can cause bleeding in patients, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We hypothesized that acetylcholine is an endogenous inhibitor of platelets. We measured the effect of acetylcholine or analogues of acetylcholine upon human platelet activation ex vivo. We characterized expression of components of the acetylcholine signaling pathway in human platelets. We tested the effect of a subunit of the acetylcholine receptor, CHRNA7, on acetylcholine signaling in platelets. Acetylcholine and analogues of acetylcholine inhibited platelet activation, as measured by P-selectin translocation and GPIIbIIIA conformational changes. Conversely, we found that antagonists of the acetylcholine receptor such as pancuronium enhance platelet activation. Furthermore, drugs inhibiting acetylcholinesterase such as donepezil also inhibit platelet activation, suggesting that platelets release acetylcholine. We found that NO mediates acetylcholine inhibition of platelets. Human platelets express members of the acetylcholine signaling pathway including CHRNA2, CHRNA7, CHRNB1, and ACHE. Platelets from mice lacking Chrna7 are hyperactive when stimulated by thrombin and resistant to inhibition by acetylcholine. Furthermore, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors prolonged bleeding in wild-type mice. Knockout mice lacking Chrna7 subunits of the acetylcholine receptor display prolonged bleeding as well. Our data suggest that acetylcholine is an endogenous inhibitor of platelet activation. The cholinergic system may be a novel target for anti-thrombotic therapies.


: This article examines the effects of inactivity or absence of activities that are strenuous. What is the effect of inactivity that is enforced for a period of time by disease? What modifications of function occur because of this restriction of activity separately from disease?


The legitimacy of the mother tongue subject in a changing political landscape: An analysis of Swedish parliamentary debate in the twenty-tens. This paper highlights and discusses the arguments in favor of, or against Mother Tongue Instruction (MTI) in Swedish parliamentary debate between 2010 and 2020. New to this decade is the entrance of yet another nationalist and populist party with the abolishment of MTI on its political agenda. Building on a critical discourse analytical frame and argumentation analysis, we discuss this party's rhetoric on MTI – based in an Othering discourse and the construction of MTI as a path to alienation – and the parliamentary counter-voices. The latter mainly concern the role of MTI for development of Swedish and learning in other school subjects, implying that MTI in its own right is subordinated. We argue that this counter-discourse represents a shift in how MTI is legitimized – and in fact plays into assimilationists' hands – compared to the pluralistic ideology that initially made way for MTI. The importance of scrutinizing political rhetoric is stressed to anticipate political action.


This paper will present a review of the use of Air coupled ultrasonics for nondestructive evaluation of wind turbine blades carried out at the CNDE, Iowa State University. Results will show the use of air coupled ultrasonics to scan thick composite sections of 40m wind turbine blades including the spar cap, the leading and trailing edges. Detection of defects such as slots, holes, fiber waviness (both in-plane and out-of-plane waviness), delaminations and dry fibers will be presented. Other features like adhesive thickness and length estimation in spar cap/shear web section and the trailing edge section will also be presented. The use of air coupled UT is not limited to just detection, but also characterization of the detected defects. Results highlighting the use of ultrasonic velocity to characterize defects will be presented. This includes defining damage index in terms of velocity, as well as development of stiffness maps to show reduction in structural stiffness based on the defect. Additionally, the challenges of NDT of wind turbine blades using conventional ultrasonics will also be presented.


To assess the effects of prolonged administration of a novel analog of GH-releasing peptide (MK-677), nine healthy young men participated in a randomized, double blind, three-period cross-over comparison of orally administered placebo and 5- and 25-mg doses of MK-677. Each period involved bedtime administration of the drug for 7 consecutive days. At the end of each period, plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were measured at 0745 h, and 24-h profiles of plasma GH and cortisol were obtained at 15-min intervals together with the 24-h urinary excretion of free cortisol. Profiles of plasma free cortisol were calculated at hourly intervals. The amounts of GH secreted were similar in all three conditions, but GH pulse frequency was increased with both dosages of the drug, primarily because of an increase in the number of low amplitude pulses. Plasma IGF-I levels were increased in a dose-dependent manner, whereas IGFBP-3 levels were increased only with the highest dosage. There was a positive relationship between GH pulse frequency and IGF-I increase. Except for an advance in the nocturnal nadir and in the morning elevation, MK-677 had no effect on cortisol profiles. In particular, 24-h mean levels of plasma total and free cortisol and urinary excretion of free cortisol were similar under all conditions. The present data suggest that the use of MK-677 for the treatment of relative somatotropic deficiency, particularly in older adults compromised by such deficiency, deserves further investigation.


Current distributed parallel platforms can provide the resources required to execute a scientific application efficiently. However when these platforms are shared by multiple users, performance prediction becomes increasingly difficult due to the dynamic behavior of the system. This paper addresses the use of stochastic values, represented by intervals, to parameterize performance models. We describe a method for using upper and lower bound information to parameterize application prediction models in order to make better predictions about the application's behavior in a contentious environment. We demonstrate this technique for a set of 3 applications under different workloads on a production network of workstations.


Abstract The ice-nucleating properties of cloud-seeding aerosols produced by burning a solution af AgI and NaI in acetone have been studied in a laboratory cloud chamber. The ice-forming ability of these mixed aerosols is not influenced as markedly by the supersaturation in the test cloud as is the case with "pure" AgI aerosols. This is ascribed to the hygroscopic nature of the particles which promotes drop formation at low supersaturations and allows the AgI to nucleate by a freezing mechanism. The relationship between nucleus size and nucleation temperature has been investigated and is compared with theory. Fletcher's theory, as recently modified to take account of the soluble component in mixed AgI aerosols,does not explain the rapid decrease in nucleation temperature with decreasing particle size and the wide size range of nuclei active at a particular temperature. A theory which assumes that nucleating sites of widely differing efficiencies are randonly distributed over the surface of the nucleating ...


Swift discovered the high-redshift GRB 050319 with the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and began observing with its narrow-field instruments only 225 s after the burst onset. The afterglow X-ray emission was monitored by the XRT up to 28 days after the burst. The light curve shows a decay with three different phases, each characterized by a distinct slope: an initial steep decay with a power-law index of ~5.5, a second phase characterized by a flat decay slope of ~0.54, and a third phase with a decay slope of ~1.14. During the first phase the spectral energy distribution is softer than in the following two phases, and the photon index is consistent with the GRB prompt spectrum. The extrapolation of the BAT light curve to the XRT band suggests that the initial fast-decaying phase of the XRT afterglow might be the low-energy tail of the prompt emission. The second break in the afterglow light curve occurs about 27,000 s after the burst. The spectral energy distribution before and after the second break does not change, and it can be tentatively interpreted as a jet break or the end of a delayed or continuous energy injection phase.


In the paper titled "Cell models for studying muscle insulin resistance" by Kasja Pavlović et al. published in Medical youth journal volumen 72, number 1, there occurred a technical error on the title page, where in the upper left corner the type of manuscript is marked as "ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE". The type of the mentioned manuscript is a mini-review article and in the upper left corner there should be written "Mini review article". On this occasion, we apologize to the authors and readers. With the consent of the author, we publish a correction in this issue.


We report a case of severe amnestic syndrome following theophylline overdose. A woman in her early 30s was admitted to hospital where she developed status epilepticus following an intentional overdose of theophylline and lansoprazole. She developed a profound acidosis and required intubation in the intensive care unit. Following extubation the patient was noted to have a severe amnestic syndrome with poor short-term memory. A work-up to exclude infectious, autoimmune and paraneoplastic causes for encephalitis was undertaken. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was normal and autoimmune encephalitis titres were negative. Initial MRI brain imaging demonstrated hyperintensities of the mesial temporal lobes bilaterally. Follow-up imaging at 4 months identified further interval reduction but persistent hippocampal hyperintensities. Theophylline toxicity with corresponding amnestic syndrome and hippocampal hyperintensities has been rarely reported. We believe this case with persistent abnormal Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score at 12 months correlates with persistent hippocampal abnormalities seen on imaging.


Caches are a fundamental component of latency-sensitive computer systems. Recent work of [ASWB20] has initiated the study of delayed hits: a phenomenon in caches that occurs when the latency between the cache and backing store is much larger than the time between new requests. We present two results for the delayed hits caching model.
(1) Competitive ratio lower bound. We prove that the competitive ratio of the algorithm in [ASWB20], and more generally of any deterministic online algorithm for delayed hits, is at least Omega(kZ), where k is the cache size and Z is the delay parameter.
(2) Antimonotonicity of the delayed hits latency. Antimonotonicity is a naturally desirable property of cache latency: having a cache hit instead of a cache miss should result in lower overall latency. We prove that the latency of the delayed hits model is not antimonotone by exhibiting a scenario where having a cache hit instead of a miss results in an increase in overall latency. We additionally present a modification of the delayed hits model that makes the latency antimonotone.


A 16-year-old male presented with primary complaint of worsening dorsal spinal kyphoscoliosis (SKS) for 3 years. More recently, he developed spasticity in legs, breathlessness on mild exertion, and sleep apneas. Apart from SKS, investigations revealed rotatory atlantoaxial dislocation. Atlantoaxial fixation resulted in rapid recovery from all symptoms including from spinal deformity. Observations in this patient suggest that rotatory dislocation can be a cause of spinal deformity.


Introduction: Inactivation of EAF2 has been shown previously to lead to tumorigenesis in multiple organs; however the mechanism of EAF2 tumor suppression remains unclear. Demonstrating functional interactions between p53 and EAF2 would link the newly discovered tumor suppressor EAF2 to the well-established p53 pathway, providing new insights into the mechanisms of p53 and EAF2 action. We previously have shown that EAF2 can co-localize and co-immunoprecipitate with p53 in transfected cells. In a TSP-1 promoter-driven luciferase reporter assay, p53 transfection suppressed the TSP-1 promoter activity and EAF2 co-transfection blocked the p53 suppression of TSP-1 promoter. However, EAF2 transfection alone had little or no effect on the TSP-1 promoter. In a murine model, EAF2 knockout caused TSP-1 down-regulation, supporting an in vivo role for EAF2 in regulation of TSP-1 expression. Methods: Mouse knockout, transient transfection, co-localization, co-immunoprecipitation, and luciferase-based promoter assay were employed in this study. Results: Ongoing animal studies show that loss of EAF2 and p53 displayed much more dramatic phenotypes than loss of EAF2 or p53 individually and resulted in more severe splenic extramedullary hematopoiesis, and further increased vessel density in the prostate and liver. Furthermore, double knockout of EAF2 and p53, but not knockout of EAF2 or p53 alone, resulted in prostate tumorigenesis. Conclusion: The above observations together suggest that EAF2 and p53 cooperate in prostate tumorigenesis and increased vascularity. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2400. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2400


The blood flow of esophageal substitute has been subjectively evaluated by surgeons. HyperEye Medical System (HEMS) allows for the visualization of the fluorescent image of indocyanine green (ICG) enhanced by near-infrared light among the surrounding vivid color images. We applied HEMS for evaluating the blood flow of right gastroepiploic artery and tissue blood flow of whole gastric tube during operation. Quantification of arterial blood flow and venous return has also been now developing for objective evaluation. We hope HEMS contributes to development of surgical results on various fields by establishing quantification of blood flow and clinical application.


BACKGROUND
University students drink more heavily than their nonstudent peers and are often unaware that their drinking is risky and exceeds normative levels. We tested the efficacy of a proactive Web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention program.

METHODS
A randomized controlled trial was conducted at an Australian university in 2007. Invitations were sent to 13 000 undergraduates (age range, 17-24 years) to complete a Web-based Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Of 7237 students who responded, 2435 scored in the hazardous/harmful range (> or =8) and were randomized, and 2050 (84%) completed at least 1 follow-up assessment. Intervention was 10 minutes of Web-based motivational assessment and personalized feedback. Controls received only screening. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 1 and 6 months with observers and participants blinded to allocation. Outcome measures were drinking frequency, typical occasion quantity, overall volume, number of personal problems, an academic problems score, prevalence of binge drinking, and prevalence of heavy drinking.

RESULTS
Mean (SD) baseline Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores for control and intervention groups were 14.3 (5.1) and 14.2 (5.1), respectively. After 1 month, participants receiving intervention drank less often (rate ratio [RR], 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-0.94), smaller quantities per occasion (RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.88-0.98), and less alcohol overall (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.78-0.90) than did controls. Differences in alcohol-related harms were nonsignificant. At 6 months, intervention effects persisted for drinking frequency (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.97) and overall volume (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82-0.96) but not for other variables.

CONCLUSION
Proactive Web-based screening and intervention reduces drinking in undergraduates, and such a program could be implemented widely.


This paper presents the conceptual designs of a new burnable absorber (BA) for the pressurized water reactor (PWR), which is named 'Burnable absorber-integrated Guide Thimble' (BigT). The BigT integrates BA materials into standard guide thimble in a PWR fuel assembly. Neutronic sensitivities and practical design considerations of the BigT concept are points of highlight in the first half of the paper. Specifically, the BigT concepts are characterized in view of its BA material and spatial self-shielding variations. In addition, the BigT replaceability requirement, bottom-end design specifications and thermal–hydraulic considerations are also deliberated. Meanwhile, much of the second half of the paper is devoted to demonstrate practical viability of the BigT absorbers via comparative evaluations against the conventional BA technologies in representative 17×17 and 16×16 fuel assembly lattices. For the 17×17 lattice evaluations, all three BigT variants are benchmarked against Westinghouse's existing BA technologies, while in the 16×16 assembly analyses, the BigT designs are compared against traditional integral gadolinia-urania rod design. All analyses clearly show that the BigT absorbers perform as well as the commercial BA technologies in terms of reactivity and power peaking management. In addition, it has been shown that sufficiently high control rod worth can be obtained with the BigT absorbers in place. All neutronic simulations were completed using the Monte Carlo Serpent code with ENDF/B-VII.0 library.


In our previous study, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (R. mucilaginosa) was selected via high throughput screening as a very active and selective whole-cell biocatalyst for the asymmetric reduction of ketones. In this study, the reduction of ketones to the desired chiral alcohols by immobilized cells of this strain was investigated. Characterization with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that whole R. mucilaginosa cells were successfully immobilized on support matrices composed of agar, calcium alginate, PVA-alginate and chitosan. The immobilized cells were applied to the enantioselective reduction of fourteen different aromatic ketones. Good to excellent results were achieved with R. mucilaginosa cells immobilized on agar and calcium alginate. The immobilized cells on the selected support matrix composed of agar exhibited a significant increase in pH tolerance at pH 3.5–9 and demonstrated highly improved thermal stability compared to free cells. The cells immobilized on agar retained 90% activity after 60 days storage at 4 °C and retained almost 100% activity after 6 reuse cycles. In addition, the immobilization procedures are very simple and cause minimal pollution. These results suggest that the application of immobilized R. mucilaginosa can be practical on an industrial scale to produce chiral alcohols.


In most dynamic networks, it is impractical to measure all of the system states; instead, only a subset of the states are measured through sensors. Consequently, and unlike full state feedback controllers, output feedback control utilizes only the measured states to obtain a stable closed-loop performance. This paper explores the interplay between the selection of minimal number of sensors and actuators (SaA) that yield a stable closed-loop system performance. Through the formulation of the static output feedback control problem, we show that the simultaneous selection of minimal set of SaA is a combinatorial optimization problem with mixed-integer nonlinear matrix inequality constraints. To address the computational complexity, we develop two approaches: The first approach relies on integer/disjunctive programming principles, while the second approach is a simple algorithm that is akin to binary search routines. The optimality of the two approaches is also discussed. Numerical experiments are included showing the performance of the developed approaches.


Siemens Oil & Gas introduced an enhanced SGT-800 gas turbine during 2010. The new power rating is 50.5MW at a 38.3% electrical efficiency in simple cycle (ISO) and best in class combined-cycle performance of more than 55%, for improved fuel flexibility at low emissions. The updated components in the gas turbine are interchangeable from the existing 47MW rating. The increased power and improved efficiency are mainly obtained by improved compressor airfoil profiles and improved turbine aerodynamics and cooling air layout. The current paper is focused on the design modifications of the combustor parts and the combustion validation and operation experience.The serial cooling system of the annular combustion chamber is improved using aerodynamically shaped liner cooling air inlet and reduced liner rib height to minimize the pressure drop and optimize the cooling layout to improve the life due to engine operation hours. The cold parts of the combustion chamber were redesigned using cast cooling struts where the variable thickness was optimized to maximize the cycle life. Due to fewer thicker vanes of the turbine stage #1, the combustor-turbine interface is accordingly updated to maintain the life requirements due to the upstream effect of the stronger pressure gradient.Minor burner tuning is used which in combination with the previously introduced combustor passive damping results in low emissions for >50% load, which is insensitive to ambient conditions. The combustion system has shown excellent combustion stability properties, such as to rapid load changes and large flame temperature range at high loads, which leads to the possibility of single digit Dry Low Emission (DLE) NOx. The combustion system has also shown insensitivity to fuels of large content of hydrogen, different hydrocarbons, inerts and CO. Also DLE liquid operation shows low emissions for 50–100% load.The first SGT-800 with 50.5MW rating was successfully tested during the Spring 2010 and the expected performance figures were confirmed. The fleet leader has, up to January 2013, accumulated >16000 Equivalent Operation Hours (EOH) and a planned follow up inspection made after 10000 EOH by boroscope of the hot section showed that the combustor was in good condition. This paper presents some details of the design work carried out during the development of the combustor design enhancement and the combustion operation experience from the first units.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


We present new high angular resolution observations toward the driving source of the HH 80–81 jet (IRAS 18162–2048). Continuum emission was observed with the Very Large Array at 7 mm and 1.3 cm, and with the Submillimeter Array at 860 μm, with angular resolutions of ∼0.″1 and ∼0.″8, respectively. Submillimeter observations of the sulfur oxide (SO) molecule are reported as well. At 1.3 cm the emission traces the well-known radio jet, while at 7 mm the continuum morphology is quadrupolar and seems to be produced by a combination of free–free and dust emission. An elongated structure perpendicular to the jet remains in the 7 mm image after subtraction of the free–free contribution. This structure is interpreted as a compact accretion disk of ∼200 AU radius. Our interpretation is favored by the presence of rotation in our SO observations observed at larger scales. The observations presented here add to the small list of cases where the hundred-AU scale emission from a circumstellar disk around a massive protostar has been resolved.


The purpose: of this study is to assess the relative influences of distributive (DJ), procedural (PJ), and interactional (Li) justice on customer satisfaction on service recovery and to examine the relationship between recovery satisfaction and subsequent customer relationships: trust, word-of-riwuth (WOM), and revisit intention. Methodology: On-site surveys were administered to collect data from insurance customer who bought, and experienced a service failure. Findings: The effect of DJ on satisfaction with service recovery was stronger than those of PJ and IL Since DJ, PJ, and II have significant effects on trust, WOM, and revisit intention through recovery satisfaction, recovery satisfaction was found to be an important mediating variable. In addition, the mediational role of trust between recovery satisfaction and WOM/revisit intention is substantial. Thus, in a case where strong trust is formed between the service provider and the customer, a long- term relationship can be expected Keyword : Service failure, Service recovery, Complaint handling, Perceived justice, Trust, Revisit Intention, Word of Mouth


Novel therapies are needed to overcome chemotherapy resistance for children with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Moxetumomab pasudotox is a recombinant anti-CD22 immunotoxin. A multicenter phase 1 study was conducted to determine the maximum-tolerated cumulative dose (MTCD) and evaluate safety, activity, pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity of moxetumomab pasudotox in children, adolescents, and young adults with ALL (N = 55). Moxetumomab pasudotox was administered as a 30-minute IV infusion at doses of 5 to 50 µg/kg every other day for 6 (cohorts A and B) or 10 (cohort C) doses in 21-day cycles. Cohorts B and C received dexamethasone prophylaxis against capillary leak syndrome (CLS). The most common treatment-related adverse events were reversible weight gain, hepatic transaminase elevation, and hypoalbuminemia. Dose-limiting CLS occurred in 2 of 4 patients receiving 30 µg/kg of moxetumomab pasudotox every other day for 6 doses. Incorporation of dexamethasone prevented further dose-limiting CLS. Six of 14 patients receiving 50 µg/kg of moxetumomab pasudotox for 10 doses developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), or HUS-like events, exceeding the MTCD. Treatment expansion at 40 µg/kg for 10 doses (n = 11) exceeded the MTCD because of 2 HUS/TMA/HUS-like events. Dose level 6B (ie, 50 µg/kg × 6 doses) was the MTCD, selected as the recommended phase 2 dose. Among 47 evaluable patients, an objective response rate of 32% was observed, including 11 (23%) composite complete responses, 5 of which were minimal residual disease negative by flow cytometry. Moxetumomab pasudotox showed a manageable safety profile and evidence of activity in relapsed or refractory childhood ALL. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00659425.


Recently, optimization has become an emerging tool for neuroscientists to study neural code. In the visual system, neurons respond to images with graded and noisy responses. Image patterns eliciting highest responses are diagnostic of the coding content of the neuron. To find these patterns, we have used black-box optimizers to search a 4096d image space, leading to the evolution of images that maximize neuronal responses. Although genetic algorithm (GA) has been commonly used, there haven't been any systematic investigations to reveal the best performing optimizer or the underlying principles necessary to improve them. Here1, we conducted a large scale in silico benchmark of optimizers for activation maximization and found that Covariance Matrix Adaptation (CMA) excelled in its achieved activation. We compared CMA against GA and found that CMA surpassed the maximal activation of GA by 66% in silico and 44% in vivo. We analyzed the structure of Evolution trajectories and found that the key to success was not covariance matrix adaptation, but local search towards informative dimensions and an effective step size decay. Guided by these principles and the geometry of the image manifold, we developed SphereCMA optimizer which competed well against CMA, proving the validity of the identified principles.


Biosensors have attracted a considerable attention in recent years due to their enormous potential to provide insights into the physical condition of individuals. However, the widespread use of biosensors has experienced difficulties regarding the stability of the biological response and the poor miniaturization and portability of biosensors. Hence, there is an urgent need for more reliable biosensor devices. Microneedle (MN) technology has become a revolutionary approach to biosensing strategies, setting new horizons for improving existing biosensors. MN-based biosensors allow for painless injection, and in situ extraction or monitoring. However, the accuracy and practicality of detection need to be improved. This review begins by discussing the classification of MNs, manufacturing methods and other design parameters to develop a more accurate MN-based detection sensing system. Herein, we categorize and analyze the energy supply of wearable biosensors. Specifically, we describe the detection methods of MN biosensors, such as electrochemical, optical, nucleic acid recognition and immunoassays, and how MNs can be combined with these methods to detect biomarkers. Furthermore, we provide a detailed overview of the latest applications (drug release, drug detection, etc.). The MN-based biosensors are followed by a summary of key challenges and opportunities in the field.


Fractional calculus image formulas involving various special functions are important for evaluation of generalized integrals and to obtain the solution of differential and integral equations. In this paper, the Saigo's fractional integral operators involving hypergeometric function in the kernel are applied to the product of Srivastava's polynomials and the generalized Mathieu series, containing the factor x λ ( x k + c k ) − ρ in its argument. The results are expressed in terms of the generalized hypergeometric function and Hadamard product of the generalized Mathieu series. Corresponding special cases related to the Riemann–Liouville and Erdélyi–Kober fractional integral operators are also considered.


The formation of antihydrogen atoms via three-body recombination (TBR) of antiprotons with positrons is considered. A collisional radiative model for the recombination process is employed to study the time dependence of state-resolved antihydrogen populations. We show that at low temperatures T−9/2 scaling of the TBR coefficient does not characterize the total recombination rate, and an alternative expression for the three-body rate coefficient is proposed.


The performance of double-sided metal-in-gap (D-MIG) composite heads has been evaluated on thin-film media of various coercive forces. The O/W of D-MIG was better than that of the single-sided one because of its higher intensity of the recording magnetic field. The total signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a D-MIG on a medium of 1600 Oe was better than that on a medium of 1250 Oe. Consequently, for a D-MIG, predicted recording density extended to 150 Mb/in/sup 2/ on a medium of 1600 Oe with the criterion of O/W(-28 dB) and total SNR (31 dB). >


The IEEE Communications Society Wireless Communication Engineering Technologies (WCET) program team again congratulates those professionals who were among the first in the industry world-wide to earn the IEEE Wireless Communications Professional® (IEEE WCP) certification. Beginning with the first certification examination in the Fall of 2008, a steadily increasing number of wireless practitioners have taken the exam and earned this credential.


This paper presents a novel single slope ADC design for dual-exposure wide dynamic range CMOS image sensor (CIS). The proposed design achieves column-wise high/low illuminated pixel detection, and only the 'adequate' signal (lone-or short-exposure) is digitized. Since high/low-illuminated pixel detection is accomplished by the proposed SS ADC, each pixel is read out once during a wide DR frame and the power dissipation is hence reduced. The dynamic range expansion ratio is programmable and depends on the time ratio of long-exposure to short-exposure period. A 160×140 wide DR CIS chip with proposed SS ADC was realized in 0.18um CIS technology. It achieves a sensitivity of 5.33V/lx·s and a noise floor of 15e- at 60frames/s. The measured dynamic range is 95dB with a 40dB boost by setting the exposure time ratio as 100. The resulting DNL is +0.7/−0.6 LSB and the column-FPN is below 0.1%.


An in vitro organ culture system for buccal ganglia of the adult snail, Helisoma, is described. The system supports: (1) maintenance of characteristic electrophysiological parameters of identified neurons over seven days of culture; (2) choline metabolism including uptake and synthesis over the same duration; (3) sprouting and growth of neurons in response to axotomy; (4) the formation of novel central electrotonic connections between identified neurons as a result of sprouting and growth. These observations on neuronal growth and the formation of connections are similar to those made with in vivo culture. The use of in vitro culture allows precise manipulations not previously possible. When buccal ganglia are cultured in vitro with the cut distal ends of peripheral nerve trunks held closely apposed, axons of neurons 5R and 5L in the nerve trunks are capable of forming electrotonic connections similar to central connections. The capability of these neurons to form electrotonic connections via their peripheral axons implies that special structures (i.e., central neurites) are not required for the formation of connections; and neither are special environments (i.e., the central neuropile) required for these connections.


Recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) is a full-length glycosylated molecule that has been under evaluation in the setting of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression. It has been shown to be a potent stimulator of platelet production in cancer patients when administered prior to chemotherapy. The peak platelet response to a single dose of rhTPO is observed around day 12, and is accompanied by a significant increase in the number of mature megakaryocytes in bone marrow. Consistent with this biologic effect, rhTPO administered postchemotherapy has been shown to be effective in attenuating severe thrombocytopenia induced by carboplatin, which produces a late platelet nadir. Early clinical experience with a regimen that produces an early nadir, however, such as AI (doxorubicin [Adriamycin] and ifosfamide [Ifex]), suggests that administration of rhTPO both prior to and following chemotherapy might be important to reduce thrombocytopenia severity. Treatment with rhTPO in these clinical trials has been well tolerated with a favorable safety profile. Randomized clinical trials have been initiated to determine further the importance of schedule in the prevention and treatment of severe thrombocytopenia in cancer patients.


Researches on the electron-positron pair production in the presence of the intense laser field are reviewed, motivated by the theoretical importance of the nonperturbative QED problem and the worldwide development of the strong laser facilities. According to distinct experimental requirements and theoretical methods, two types of pair production are elaborated, which are respectively the pair production in the combination of a seed particle and the strong laser, and vacuum pair production without a seed particle. The origin of the nonperturbative problem caused by the strong field is analyzed. The main ideas, realization, achievements, validity, challenges and bottleneck problems of the nonperturbative methods developed for each type of the pair production problem are discussed.


Stakeholders commonly agree that food systems need to be urgently reformed. Yet, how food systems should be reformed is extremely contested. Public international law and regulations are uniquely placed to influence and guide law, policy, programmes and action at regional, national and local levels. Although plenty of international legal instruments intersect with food-related issues, the international regulation of food systems is fragmented, understudied and contested. In order to address these issues, this paper maps and analyses the public international regulatory aspects of food production with a view to providing recommendations for reform. Accordingly, this paper brings together a variety of binding and non-binding international regulatory instruments that to varying degrees and from a range of angles deals with the first activity in the food system: food production. The following paper traces the regulatory tools from natural resources, to the farmers and farm workers that apply skill and experience, and finally to the different dimension of world trade in food. The various regulatory instruments identified, and their collective whole, will be analysed against a rights-based approach to food security.


Abstract An existing regional groundwater model was refined, updated and recalibrated to assess the local impacts that a resumption of groundwater abstraction could have on water levels in a nearby wetland. A number of approaches to refining the regional model were tested, and the impact of reducing the model domain on simulated heads was evaluated. Reducing the model domain was found to be unviable due to the absence of suitable boundary conditions; the regional model domain was maintained, the grid was refined locally, and boundary conditions were relocated to more accurately reflect the study area. Two layers were added to represent the drift deposits, and the recharge model was modified to better match observed heads in the drift. The refined model was recalibrated to both long-term historical data and recent pumping test data. A predictive model was set up to run for 20 years to assess the impact of different pumping regimes, thus enabling the model to be used as a decision support tool during the licence review process.


Xi Jinping's People's Republic of China is keen to express its grand strategic ambitions—the delivery of centennial goals by 2021 and 2049. This marks the end in which China seeks to keep a low profile. With notions like the 'China Dream', the Belt and Road Initiative, and a raft of other expressions and moves, Xi and his fellow leaders have shown that they want a more proactive foreign policy. In this ambitious, historically driven and more nationalistic strategic approach, the issue of Taiwan remains central. There has been more attempt to make some kind of framework for reunification on the part of Beijing accepted both internationally, and in Taipei. Taiwan's space has been restricted, and a number of moves have placed pressure on the Tsai presidency, from trying to gain diplomatic allies currently linked to Taiwan, to refusing Taiwan space on the World Health Assembly and other bodies.


This article reflects on Giovanni Sartori's comprehensive theory of democracy, which is based on a twofold definition, both empirical and normative. According to him, the conditions that make democracy feasible must be combined with those that make it perfectible. This premise is built upon a constructive interaction between ideals and reality (i.e. values and facts), and upon the need of optimizing instead of maximizing. Sartori argues that considering the two definitions as separate or conflicting ones impoverishes democratic theory, whereas a combined reading of both allows a comprehensive approach that brings together adequately description and prescription. Sartori's theory's flaw derives from the fact that, on the one hand, a selective good political representation is needed but, on the other, voters are actually affected by political primitivism. How will select representatives emerge from the primitive


We study the determinants of asset market fragmentation. We develop a model of market formation in which investors with heterogeneous valuations for an asset trade strategically. When choosing a dealer with whom to trade, investors trade off the lower price impact and the steeper competition for the dealer's liquidity offered by a larger market. When the correlation among investor valuations is high, the increase in competition dominates the decrease in price impact and investors prefer to trade in a smaller market, which makes market fragmentation an equilibrium outcome. Fragmented market structures can Pareto dominate centralized ones and can exhibit higher trading volumes.


Cadmium (Cd) is a pollutant toxic to plants and a potential threat to human health. Selenium (Se), though not essential for plants, has beneficial effects on plants under abiotic stress. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of different forms of Se (Nano-Se, selenite, selenate, and SeMet) on accumulation, subcellular distribution, and chemical forms of Cd, as well as oxidative stress in rice seedlings. Cd (20 μmol·L−1) treatment significantly decreased biomass accumulation and chlorophyll content. The application of all Se forms, except selenate, mitigated the adverse effects of Cd on growth and chlorophyll content. The application of selenite, Nano-Se, and SeMet decreased root and shoot Cd concentrations as well as root-to-shoot Cd translocation in rice seedlings. Selenate application decreased shoot Cd concentration and root-to-shoot Cd translocation with no effect on root Cd concentration. Accordingly, Se increased the sequestration of Cd in the cell wall and vacuoles and decreased the active chemical form of Cd in rice seedlings. SeMet was the most effective supplement that decreased Cd concentration and enhanced Se concentration in the roots and shoots of rice seedlings. All forms of Se further enhanced catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and inhibited MDA accumulation. To conclude, Se influenced Cd accumulation and translocation in rice seedlings by altering the subcellular distribution, chemical forms, and antioxidant defense system under Cd stress. These effects were highly significant with SeMet treatment, probably due to better absorption and utilization by the plant.


Continuing change requires that the primary goal of ethics education be the development of competencies to address changing ethical issues. To develop the skill of critical ethical thinking, a two component model was developed. The first component is a two semester hour course in ethical theory. This component is analogous to the theoretical component of a science curriculum and it emphasizes that ethical theory, like scientific theory, is held hypothetically, subject to revision and replacement as it develops in response to "data." The other component, a one semester hour course in health ethics, is designed as the "laboratory" in which theory interacts with ethical problems in health-care situations. Skill development takes place by requiring students to find and defend solutions to ethical dilemmas by applying and refining ethical theory. the ethical issues addressed include but are not limited to current issues in pharmacy. The ongoing evaluation of this model by external evaluators from the funding agency, local consulting faculty, and students has consistently emphasized the value of concrete involvement in cases concomitantly with the exposure to ethical theory.


Since it was first discussed by Baxter in 1970, the three coloring model has been studied in several contexts, from frustrated magnetism to superconducting devices and glassiness. In presence of interactions, when the model is no longer exactly soluble, it was already observed that the phase diagram is highly non-trivial. Here we discuss the generic case of `color-dependent' nearest-neighbor interactions between the vertex chiralities. We uncover different critical regimes merging into one another: c=1/2 free fermions combining into c=1 free bosons; c=1 free bosons combining into c=2 critical loop models; as well as three separate c=1/2 critical lines merging at a supersymmetric c=3/2 critical point. When the three coupling constants are tuned to equal one another, transfer-matrix calculations highlight a puzzling regime where the central charge appears to vary continuously from 3/2 to 2.


The purpose of this project is to understand, under a social constructionist approach, what are the meanings that external facilitators and organizational members (sponsors) working with dialogic methods place on themselves and their work. Dialogic methods, with the objective of engaging groups in flows of conversations to envisage and co-create their own future, are growing fast within organizations as a means to achieve collective change. Sharing constructionist ideas about the possibility of multiple realities and language as constitutive of such realities, dialogue has turned into a promising way for transformation, especially in a macro context of constant change and increasing complexity, where traditional structures, relationships and forms of work are questioned. Research on the topic has mostly focused on specific methods or applications, with few attempts to study it in a broader sense. Also, despite the fact that dialogic methods work on the assumption that realities are socially constructed, few studies approach the topic from a social constructionist perspective, as a research methodology per se. Thus, while most existing research aims at explaining whether or how particular methods meet particular results, my intention is to explore the meanings sustaining these new forms of organizational practice. Data was collected through semistructured interviews with 25 people working with dialogic methods: 11 facilitators and 14 sponsors, from 8 different organizations in Brazil. Firstly, the research findings indicate several contextual elements that seem to sustain the choices for dialogic methods. Within this context, there does not seem to be a clear or specific demand for dialogic methods, but a set of different motivations, objectives and focuses, bringing about several contrasts in the way participants name, describe and explain their experiences with such methods, including tensions on power relations, knowledge creation, identity and communication. Secondly, some central ideas or images were identified within such contrasts, pointing at both directions: dialogic methods as opportunities for the creation of new organizational realities (with images of a 'door' or a 'flow', for instance, which suggest that dialogic methods may open up the access to other perspectives and the creation of new realities); and dialogic methods as new instrumental mechanisms that seem to reproduce the traditional and nondialogical forms of work and relationship. The individualistic tradition and its tendency for rational schematism pointed out by social constructionist scholars as strong traditions in our Western Culture could be observed in some participants' accounts with the image of dialogic methods as a 'gym', for instance, in which dialogical – and idealized –'abilities' could be taught and trained, turning dialogue into a tool, rather than a means for transformation. As a conclusion, I discuss what the implications of such taken-for-granted assumptions may be, and offer some insights into dialogue (and dialogic methods) as 'the art of being together'.


In a period of 2015-2020, Lithuanian Armed Forces (LAF) military spending increased twice, thus it enabled to initiate and to arrange significant critical projects that eventually allowed armed forces to upgrade military equipment and tactics. New artillery units, armoured personnel vehicles, air defence systems, anti-tank weapons, radars, anti-drone systems boosted military power of LAF. Tactics switched from anti green men to conventional tactics, where fire and manoeuvre dominates again. Meanwhile, in the same period of time in Kaliningrad the Russian armed forces boosted the number of military personnel, upgraded equipment (most of it to offensive one) and increased military exercises. In order to be prepared, LAF must look for the most efficient ways of defence towards a potential foe. In a near future LAF must decentralize a central military storage thus critical assets could be secured and used by battalions at any time. Moreover, LAF capabilities could be improved by cyber conscripts and non-conventional tactics which could bring extra dividends when a small state fights against technologically advanced adversary. Eventually, with an additional military spending LAF could obtain MLRS artillery, the coastal defence systems and unmanned combat aerial vehicles that could deal with enemy from a safer distance.


ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) versus surgery for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by means of a meta-analysis of comparative studies. Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines, searches were performed on PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library for eligible studies. The meta-analysis compared the hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and local control (LC). Subgroup and meta-regression analyses evaluated the association of extent of surgical resection, study publication year, tumor staging, propensity score matching, proportion of chemotherapy use, and proportion of pathological lymph node involvement with CSS and OS. Results: Thirty studies involving 29,511 patients were included (surgery group: 17,146 patients and SBRT group: 12,365 patients). There was a significant difference in favor of surgery vs. SBRT in the 3-year OS (HR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.22-1.44; I2 = 66%) and 3-year CSS (HR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.09-1.37; I2 = 17%), but not in the 3-year LC (HR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.93-1.08; I2 = 19%). In the subgroup analysis for OS, no significant difference between surgery and SBRT groups was observed in the T1N0M0 subgroup (HR = 1.26; 95% CI: 0.95-1.68; I2 = 0%). In subgroup analysis for CSS, no significant difference was detected between the sublobar resection subgroup and the SBRT group (HR = 1.21; 95% CI: 0.96-1.53; I2 = 16%). Conclusions: Surgery generally resulted in better 3-year OS and CSS than did SBRT; however, publication bias and heterogeneity may have influenced these findings. In contrast, SBRT produced LC results similar to those of surgery regardless of the extent of surgical resection. These findings may have important clinical implications for patients with comorbidities, advanced age, poor pulmonary reserve, and other factors that may contraindicate surgery.


A powerful approach for identifying the genes involved in the infectious cycle of pathogens is functional genetic complementation. Here, the current status of this technology in Leishmania is reviewed, focusing on the genes involved in the biosynthesis of the unique parasite surface glycolipid, lipophosphoglycan (LPG). LPG plays multiple roles in the Leishmania infectious cycle, in both the sand fly vector and in establishing successful intracellular parasitism within the vertebrate macrophage. The emerging methods for generating LPG mutations and for recovering the affected gene(s) by complementation with an episomal genomic Leishmania DNA library are reviewed. The properties and probable roles of the first two genes identified by this methodology are discussed. These methods also show great promise in the search for genes affecting other virulence factors of Leishmania as well as in the identification of new drug-resistance loci.


The main consequences of emergency situations, arising at equipment depressurization at the facilities of the fuel and energy complex, are given. To assess the risk of accidents the possible scenarios of emergency situations processing are determined and scales of consequences are calculated. An algorithm of calculating of fuel-air mixtures cloud explosion is considered.


We present our first results on our implementation of a laser based accelerator for ultracold atoms. Atoms cooled to a temperature of 420 nK are confined and accelerated by means of laser tweezer beams, and the atomic scattering is directly observed in laser absorption imaging. The optical collider has been characterized using 87Rb atoms in the |F=2, m(F)=2] state, but the scheme is not restricted to atoms in any particular magnetic substates and can readily be extended to other atomic species as well.


This article describes how cultures and pastoral care education processes can be barriers between the patient, the pastoral caregiver, and the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) student. By providing sketches of interviews with Chinese patients, the author tries to explain why the attempt to unveil Chinese patients' feelings and needs through conversation can be a frustrating experience. Moreover, the author argues that the pedagogy of pastoral care education ought to be more culturally sensitive in regard to the diverse cultural backgrounds of both patients and CPE students.


Although some earlier research has highlighted both the importance of generativity and feelings of a close personal connection with nature for environmental engagement, the role of these factors has not been studied in a narrative identity context. Thus, in this study, the interrelationships among narrative and questionnaire features of environmental identity and generative concern were evaluated using a mixed methods design. Features of environmental stories told by 54 environmental activists and a comparison sample of 56 nonactivists (aged 17 to 59 years) were examined in relation to standard self-report measures of environmental identity, behavior, and generativity. In addition to these quantitative measures, participants told five environmental narratives that were coded for vividness, meaning making, and impact on engagement. A summary index of these narrative codes distinguished the activists and was positively related to environmental and generative questionnaire measures. A situated environmental identity appeared to serve as a foundation for narrative engagement with the environment; however, results also highlighted generativity as a key mediating factor in this relationship across youth and midlife participants.


The paper evaluates the performance differentials among urban aquaculture system (earthen ponds, flow-through, and re-circulatory systems) in Ibadan metropolis of Oyo State Nigeria using descriptive statistics and partial budgeting technique to determine the marginal rate of returns of these systems. The data for the study were obtained through two-stage sampling approach from 80 fish farmers selected from 9 local government area within Ibadan metropolis. Empirical evidence from the analysis shows that majority of the farmers were relatively new in the sector (64.49'6 with 1-5 years of experience) and there was evidence of withdrawal tendency after some years of practice. Analysis of cost component of these systems, reveal that re-circulatory system required the highest capital outlay followed by flow through systems and then earthen pond. In terms of total cost of production, the similar trend was also observed. The results of partial budgeting showed that earthen pond system depicted a net benefit ratio of about N8.00, N2.00 for the flowthrough and a loss of N1.00 for the )-ecirculatory systems. This portrays that earthen is more desirable than the flow-through and recirculatory systems. The loss in re-circulator y system might have been due to poor technical knowledge capacity; unfriendly production environment and poor availability of necessary facilities to minimize the general loss. Extension activities should be intensified on disseminating and building technical knowledge capacity for the adoption of flow-through and re-circulatory systems that can be practiced even in dry seasons.


An experimental device was proposed to determine the elastic tensile and compressive
modulus Et and EC of materials simultaneously through the deformation and displacement
measurement in the split test, which is based on study of disk loaded by a pair of radial opposing
forces. The electronics controlling experimental device used Arduino platform. Based on the proposed
test theory, there is method based on comparison of Finite element model and data obtained from
modified Brazilian test. The modification of Brazilian test is based on use curved jaw. Curved jaws
are necessary for fulfillment requirement of sample breaking in the middle. These condition is a
necessary condition for determining traverse tensile strength. The exact description of jaws curvature
is necessary for calculation of elastic modulus, because the deformation of jaws and stone sample
affects results of determination of elastic modulus. The big problem description deformation in the
area of contact is probably a caused that the change in shape of a cylinder in contact, is due not only
elastic deformation but straight graining and loss of material. Three groups of experimental data are
used to validate the proposed test theory. The analysis indicates that the estimated Et and Ec of
materials have high reliability when measured vertical displacement of jaws and rock sample i.e
changes in diameter of sample simultaneously. The measurement error of displacement results in that
the estimated Et and Ec of materials follow the changes in the radius of the cylindrical contact. The
validation works indicate that the proposed test method is feasible and liable and is convenient to
determinethe Et and Ec of materials simultaneously through the simple indirect tension test. This
device was developed as part of Master Thesis.


The aim of this study was to determine, whether interactions between a drug and hydrophobic polymer matrix are present, and if so, how they affect the drug release. In addition, the most important formulation parameters, for example porosity or structure of the tablet, which have the greatest impact on drug release, were defined. Six different drug compounds, that is allopurinol, acyclovir, metronidazole, paracetamol, salicylamide and theophylline, were used in different formulations with hydrophobic starch acetate (DS 2.7) as a matrix forming polymer. Results indicate that the formulation parameters describing directly or indirectly the structure of the matrix, such as porosity, compaction force and the particle size fraction of the filler-binder, have the strongest impact on drug release. The contribution of drug property based variables is not as high as formulation parameters, but they cannot be overlooked. The contribution of water solubility and dissolution rate of the compound are obvious, but there are other significant parameters, which describe the hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions of the molecule, that also affect the drug release. This can be seen especially with the salicylamide: compound which appears to have a strong and sufficiently high hydrophobic region that interacts with starch acetate and impairs the drug release.


Genetic and physical mapping of the RP17 locus on 17q identified a 3.6-megabase candidate region that includes the gene encoding carbonic anhydrase IV (CA4), a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein that is highly expressed in the choriocapillaris of the human eye. By sequencing candidate genes in this region, we identified a mutation that causes replacement of an arginine with a tryptophan (R14W) in the signal sequence of the CA4 gene at position -5 relative to the signal sequence cleavage site. This mutation was found to cosegregate with the disease phenotype in two large families and was not found in 36 unaffected family members or 100 controls. Expression of the mutant cDNA in COS-7 cells produced several findings, suggesting a mechanism by which the mutation can explain the autosomal dominant disease. In transfected COS-7 cells, the R14W mutation (i) reduced the steady-state level of carbonic anhydrase IV activity expressed by 28% due to a combination of decreased synthesis and accelerated turnover; (ii) led to up-regulation of immunoglobulin-binding protein, double-stranded RNA-regulated protein kinase-like ER kinase, and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein, markers of the unfolded protein response and endoplasmic reticulum stress; and (iii) induced apoptosis, as evidenced by annexin V binding and terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining, in most cells expressing the mutant, but not the WT, protein. We suggest that a high level of expression of the mutant allele in the endothelial cells of the choriocapillaris leads to apoptosis, leading in turn to ischemia in the overlying retina and producing autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.


Professional summaries are written with document-level information, such as the theme of the document, in mind. This is in contrast with most seq2seq decoders which simultaneously learn to focus on salient content, while deciding what to generate, at each decoding step. With the motivation to narrow this gap, we introduce Focus Attention Mechanism, a simple yet effective method to encourage decoders to proactively generate tokens that are similar or topical to the input document. Further, we propose a Focus Sampling method to enable generation of diverse summaries, an area currently understudied in summarization. When evaluated on the BBC extreme summarization task, two state-of-the-art models augmented with Focus Attention generate summaries that are closer to the target and more faithful to their input documents, outperforming their vanilla counterparts on ROUGE and multiple faithfulness measures. We also empirically demonstrate that Focus Sampling is more effective in generating diverse and faithful summaries than top-k or nucleus sampling-based decoding methods.


There is still much debate about revascularization strategies in aged patients with unprotected left main coronary artery (UPLM) lesions. This study compared the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in this population.A total of 126 patients older than 60 years of age with LM lesions who underwent revascularization in our hospital from January 2012 to December 2013 were followed up for an average of 15.2 months. The cumulative incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier plots. During follow-up, the CABG group had higher proportions of cardiac death, stroke, and worsening of heart failure while the PCI group had a higher proportion of recurrence of angina (P = 0.04). The MACCE incidence was lower in the PCI group than that in the CABG group (28.9% versus 35.6%, P = 0.04). Multivariate regression identified left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as predictors of PCI, while age, LVEF, EuroScore, and diabetes were the predictors of CABG. PCI maintained its superiority over CABG after adjustment for risk factors (Hazard ratio: 0.28, P = 0.004). The CABG group included a higher proportion of severe hemorrhagic complications than the PCI group (P = 0.04).In terms of efficacy and safety, PCI had an advantage over CABG in aged patients with UPLM lesions. Thus, PCI was a reasonable alternative to CABG for this population.


Committee seats endow holders with both policy in fl uence and labor obligation. These bene fi ts and costs present the organizational majority with an interesting choice: how many seats should it allocate to the opposition? We present a theoretical framework for understanding the allocation of committee seats by the majority coalition that incorporates both procedural and electoral concerns in the decision calculus and predict that when the majority is strong, the minority will be overrepresented on committees, but when the majority is weak, the minority will be underrepresented. Mechanistic, institutional, and contextual moderators to this choice framework are also discussed. We test our predictions by examining original data on the composition of over 2,000 committees across 98 American state and federal legislative chambers. The analysis yields strong support for our central predictions while suggesting interesting and intuitive contextual constraints on the majority ' s tendency to exploit its position. part of his legislative time, with the exception of errand running for his constituents, will be spent on committee work.