In recent years, tremendous advances have been made in our ability to characterize complex microbial communities such as the gut microbiota, and numerous surveys of the human gut microbiota have identified countless associations between different compositional attributes of the gut microbiota and adverse health conditions. However, most of these findings in humans are purely correlative and animal models are required for prospective evaluation of such changes as causative factors in disease initiation or progression. As in most fields of biomedical research, microbiota-focused studies are predominantly performed in mouse or rat models. Depending on the field of research and experimental question or objective, non-rodent models may be preferable due to better translatability or an inability to use rodents for various reasons. The following review describes the utility and limitations of several non-rodent model species for research on the microbiota and its influence on host physiology and disease. In an effort to balance the breadth of potential model species with the amount of detail provided, four model species are discussed: zebrafish, dogs, pigs, and rabbits.


Introduction Paramedicine has undergone significant change in the past two decades. While the Anglo-American paramedic system continues to grow there appears to be a dearth of published literature regarding modern categorisation of this evolving paramedic system. The objective of this scoping review is to examine and map the existing evidence to provide an overview of the characteristics and structural similarities and differences of Anglo-American paramedic systems in English-speaking developed countries. Methods Databases, including Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, CINAHL, Google Scholar and Epistemonikos, will be searched from inception. A grey literature search strategy has also been developed to identify non-indexed relevant literature. Citations and references of included studies will also be searched. Two reviewers will undertake title and abstract screening, followed by full text screening. Data extraction will be conducted using a customised instrument. Inclusion criteria: results examining management, leadership or governance in paramedicine related to the Anglo-American paramedic model in English-speaking developed countries will be included in the review. Included studies will be summarised using narrative synthesis structured around themes of management, leadership and governance in paramedicine.


This paper aims to develop the concept and the definition of the maritime common good, its sub components and sub layers and to classify and analytically systematize it in the framework of modern theories addressing economic goods. Possible theoretical advancements and extensions in classification criteria are provided. International formal institutional framework is presented and elaborated. The accent is given to the development of theoretical concept and classification of economic goods as well as development of the Institutional Analysis and Development framework – IAD framework that is used to provide analytical understanding of the maritime good classification as well as allocation problems arising. This is performed in the light of ICZM protocol addressing coastal zones as of special concern particularly considering the intensive interrelations between humans and coastal zones. According to the developed classification criteria and analysis performed, the maritime good, as a complex good, can be classified dominantly as common good with limited renewability. The importance of further advancements of maritime common good governing mechanisms based on stakeholders' inclusion into decision making process is emphasized in order to strengthen the potential of the mechanisms itself and the information background necessary for a successful management of the complex maritime common good.


Purpose: This phase II study (NCT03469557) assessed safety/tolerability and antitumor activity of first-line tislelizumab, a monoclonal antibody against programmed cell death-1, plus chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced/metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) or gastric/gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) adenocarcinoma. Patients and Methods: Patients with ESCC received tislelizumab [200 mg i.v. every 3 weeks (Q3W)] plus cisplatin (80 mg/m² i.v. Q3W for ≤6 cycles) and fluorouracil (800 mg/m²/day i.v., Days 1–5 Q3W for ≤6 cycles); patients with G/GEJ adenocarcinoma received tislelizumab (200 mg i.v. Q3W) plus oxaliplatin (130 mg/m² i.v. Q3W for up to six cycles) and oral capecitabine (1,000 mg/m² twice daily, Days 1–14 Q3W). The safety/tolerability profile of combination therapy was the primary endpoint; secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR), disease control rate (DCR), and progression-free survival per RECIST v1.1. Exploratory endpoints included overall survival and potential predictive biomarkers. Results: As of March 31, 2019, 30 patients (n = 15 per cohort) were enrolled. Most common adverse events considered related to tislelizumab and/or chemotherapy were anemia (n = 18), decreased appetite (n = 17), nausea (n = 16), and asthenia (n = 15). One patient experienced fatal hepatic dysfunction, confounded by progressive disease and underlying hepatitis, attributed to treatment by the investigator. Confirmed ORRs and DCRs were 46.7% and 80%, respectively, for both ESCC and G/GEJ adenocarcinoma. In ESCC, median DoR was 12.8 months (95% confidence interval, 3.5–12.8); DoR was not yet mature for the G/GEJ cohort. Conclusions: Tislelizumab plus chemotherapy demonstrated durable responses with manageable tolerability in patients with advanced ESCC or G/GEJ adenocarcinoma.


Asparaginase is an important drug for the treatment of leukemias. However, anti-asparaginase antibodies often develop, which can decrease asparaginase drug levels and increase the risk of relapse. The aim of this study is to identify the immunoglobulin isotypes and receptors responsible for asparaginase hypersensitivities. Mice immunized with asparaginase developed anti-asparaginase IgG1 and IgE antibodies, and challenging the sensitized mice with asparaginase induced severe hypersensitivity reactions. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that macrophages/monocytes, neutrophils, and basophils bind asparaginase ex vivo through FcγRIII. In contrast, asparaginase binding to basophils was dependent on FcγRIII and IgE. Consistent with the asparaginase binding data, basophil activation by asparaginase occurred via both IgG/FcγRIII and IgE/FcεRI. Depleting >95% of B cells suppressed IgG but not IgE-dependent hypersensitivity, while depleting CD4+ T cells provided complete protection. Combined treatment with either anti-IgE mAb plus a platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist or anti-FcγRIII mAb plus a H1 receptor antagonist suppressed asparaginase hypersensitivity. The observations indicate that asparaginase hypersensitivity is mediated by antigen-specific IgG and/or IgE through the immunoglobulin receptors FcγRIII and FcεRI, respectively. Provided that these results apply to humans, they emphasize the importance of monitoring both IgE- and IgG-mediated asparaginase hypersensitivities in patients receiving this agent.


Transfer learning is a useful technique for achieving improved performance and reducing training costs by leveraging the knowledge gained from source tasks and applying it to target tasks. Assessing the effectiveness of transfer learning relies on understanding the similarity between the ground truth of the source and target tasks. In real-world applications, tasks often exhibit partial similarity, where certain aspects are similar while others are different or irrelevant. To investigate the impact of partial similarity on transfer learning performance, we focus on a linear regression model with two distinct sets of features: a common part shared across tasks and a task-specific part. Our study explores various types of transfer learning, encompassing two options for parameter transfer. By establishing a theoretical characterization on the error of the learned model, we compare these transfer learning options, particularly examining how generalization performance changes with the number of features/parameters in both underparameterized and overparameterized regimes. Furthermore, we provide practical guidelines for determining the number of features in the common and task-specific parts for improved generalization performance. For example, when the total number of features in the source task's learning model is fixed, we show that it is more advantageous to allocate a greater number of redundant features to the task-specific part rather than the common part. Moreover, in specific scenarios, particularly those characterized by high noise levels and small true parameters, sacrificing certain true features in the common part in favor of employing more redundant features in the task-specific part can yield notable benefits.


Abstract Magmatic activity on the African-Arabian margin of Tethys has fluctuated significantly during the past 250 Ma in response to major phases of mantle plume activity and to extensional stresses within the African plate related to periods of continental break-up. A series of maps have been compiled, based upon stratigraphic constraints and K-Ar and 40Ar-39Ar age determinations, to illustrate the changing patterns of igneous activity since the Late Permian. These are divided into five stages: I, Late Permian (256 Ma)-Latest Triassic (208 Ma); II, Early Jurassic (208 Ma, Liassic)-Mid Jurassic (157 Ma, Dogger); III, Late Jurassic (157 Ma)-Earliest Aptian (120 Ma); IV, Mid Aptian (119 Ma)-Mid Eocene (42 Ma); V, Late Eocene (42 Ma)-Recent. Extensive tholeiitic basaltic magmatism at c. 200 Ma, preceding continental break-up in the Central Atlantic, is attributed to upwelling of the Cape Verde mantle plume beneath the West African craton. Contemporaneous magmatic activity in the Levant is related to the break-up of the Eastern Mediterranean margin. Early Cretaceous alkaline magmatism around the margins of the Equatorial Atlantic and within the Levant may also be plume related. During Neogene-Recent times there was a major change in the convection pattern within the upper mantle, generating extensive magmatism across the entire margin. Magmatism appears to be extremely long lived in a number of areas (e.g. Sudan, Air), with volcanic centres located along major basement fault zones, such as the Guinean-Nubian lineaments.


ABSTRACT In Rhodospirillum rubrum, nitrogenase activity is regulated posttranslationally through the ADP-ribosylation of dinitrogenase reductase by dinitrogenase reductase ADP-ribosyltransferase (DRAT). Several DRAT variants that are altered both in the posttranslational regulation of DRAT activity and in the ability to recognize variants of dinitrogenase reductase have been found. This correlation suggests that these two properties are biochemically connected.


Motor (postural tremor of the outstretched hands, most rapid voluntary alternating index finger movements and rise times of most rapid voluntary isometric index finger extensions) and psychometric tests (multiple choice vocabulary test - form b, syndrome short test, the German version of the standard progressive matrices - Raven, and the psychic and somatic findings according to the AMDP-system) as well as MRI-Scans were analysed in 100 HIV-infected patients of all stages according to the actual CDC-classification, but without any central-nervous or psychic deficit. Patients with drug, alcohol or tranquilizer abuse, opportunistic, cerebral infections or fever were excluded from the study. Tremor-peak-frequencies and reaction times did not show any significant difference to an age- and sex-matched control group; the other motor parameters revealed significant slowing in the patient group and a worsening with the CDC-stages. MRI-scans of all the patients were normal. The psychometric tests did not show significant alterations on a group statistical level, especially not in the depression scales. Morphologically, the motor performances of the HIV-infected patients resembled those of patients with basal ganglia diseases (M. Huntington, M. Wilson, M. Parkinson). Correspondingly, in some cases of clinically demented HIV-positive patients, MRI-scans showed lesions in the basal ganglia. It can be concluded, that there is an early subclinical central-nervous system affection in HIV-infected patients, especially of the basal ganglia, detectable with appropriate motor function tests sometimes considerably preceeding structural deficits seen later in the course of the disease in MRI-scans.


In Reply.— The letters from Barbash and Pollack and from Frazier reflect the confusion in the Bible as to whether the snake represents good (as a symbol of medicine) or evil. It is unlikely that the pole and serpent of Moses were the original source for the symbol of medicine. A more interesting and plausible interpretation of this passage from the Bible is that the Israelites were infected with the guinea enorm, or Dracunculus medinensis , which is still endemic in that area, and that the copper serpent set upon a pole was a model of how the "serpent" should be removed, that is, that it should be wound slowly onto a stick after breaking through the skin. The intense inflammation and secondary infection around the worm causes localized burning and fever, which could logically result in the 3-ft-long worms being called "fiery serpents." Those who "looked upon it," meaning the


We analyzed the characteristics of cross-modulations (XM) and their recovery times in a semiconductor optical amplifier by a newly-developed TMM. The calculated results suggest faster recovery of the XMs by introducing a high-power assist light.


The concept of secret use has been a difficult element in establishing whether the validity of a patent may be challenged. Its difficulty is entrenched in the uncertainty of interpretation of the construction of the legislation and the meaning that the legislature imparts on it. One of the main cases in Australian patent law that has tested the issue of secret use is Azuko Pty Ltd. v. Old Digger Pty Ltd. (2001) 52 IPR 75. The significance of this decision is the differing approaches to the issue of secret use. This case demonstrates the various practical and policy implications that arise out of the differing views from the judgment. This paper will discuss the practical and policy implications raised by the differing views of the judges.


Statement No. 26, Accounting Standard for Retirement Benefits, requires Japanese firms to recognize previously off-balance sheet pension liabilities on their balance sheets. We explore auditors' responses to recognized versus disclosed pension liabilities in the Japanese audit market. We use a pre-Statement No. 26 versus post-Statement No. 26 setting to analyze the effects of disclosed versus recognized pension information on audit fees and costs. We show that disclosed pension liabilities are processed similarly to recognized previously off-balance sheet pension liabilities when audit fees are determined. However, we find that associations with audit costs differ between disclosed and recognized pension liabilities. We also find that audit costs' differential relations with disclosed and recognized pension liabilities are particularly pronounced for firms with a large pension plan deficit. Overall, our results suggest that auditors scrutinize recognized amounts more closely than disclosed financial information, thereby increasing the reliability of accounting information.


Apple polyphenols (AP) are an excellent source of dietary antioxidants. The present study investigated the effect of AP on the lifespan of fruit flies and their interaction with gene expressions of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), methuselah (MTH), Rpn11, and cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) subunits III and VIb. Results showed the mean lifespan was significantly extended by 10% in fruit flies fed the AP diet. This was accompanied by up-regulation of genes SOD1, SOD2, and CAT and down-regulation of MTH in the aged fruit flies. Paraquat and H(2)O(2) challenge tests demonstrated that AP prolonged the survival time only for Oregon R wild type flies but not for SOD(n108) or Cat(n1) mutants, in which either SOD or CAT was knocked out. Chronic paraquat exposure could shorten the maximum lifespan from 68 to 31 days and reduce the climbing ability by 60%, whereas AP could partially reverse the paraquat-induced mortality and decline in climbing ability. AP could up-regulate Rpn11 at day 30, whereas it appeared to have no significant effect on gene expression of ubiquitinated protein, CcO subunits III and VIb. These AP-induced changes were unlikely associated with caloric restriction as the gustatory assay found no difference in average body weight and stomach redness index between the control and AP fruit flies. It was therefore concluded that the antiaging activity of AP was, at least in part, mediated by its interaction with genes SOD, CAT, MTH, and Rpn11.


The study examined governance and coordination mechanisms of the egg chain in Greater Port Harcourt City to gain insights for strengthening the chain for the good of smallholder farmers. Data was collected using desk study, survey with 47 farmers selected using the snowballing method, in-depth interviews with 22 chain stakeholders and Focus Group Discussion with eight farmers, balanced on gender, to get information on issues not explained by the survey. Three Local Government Areas with the highest number of poultry farmers were used for the survey. The farmers were administered pre-structured questionnaires recording a 97% response rate. Open questions from a checklist differing among stakeholders were used for the one-on-one in-depth interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Results show that farmers' awareness and membership of egg producers' cooperative was poor, yet, they informally cooperate with each other and show willingness to become cooperative members if their interest is guaranteed. Vertical linkages are dominated by spot markets while Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) with weak cooperative mandate is the only formal horizontal integration platform. Input suppliers and intercity egg traders have more chain power. Without a multi-stakeholder platform to coordinate the chain, private actors were farmers' major source of production and marketing information. Mobile phones and personal visits were used to exchange knowledge and information. Governance and coordination mechanisms can be enhanced by introducing formal egg producer cooperatives and multistakeholder platforms using PAN as the launching platform and building on existing informal relationships. This will be followed by strengthening linkages among chain actors using mobile telephony opportunities like WhatsApp groups. The activities could be centrally mediated by a multi-stakeholder platform.


This work deals with compressive strength of grouted clay masonry walls and its main purpose is to study the behaviour of grout and clay units as a whole. First, several results obtained from laboratory compressive tests are presented in order to evaluate the strength of walls from the strength of units, mortar and grout. Ten grouted walls, with two patterns of grouting, were tested under compressive loads. Besides, several compressive tests were also carried out in order to verify the strength of prisms, with two and three blocks, mortar, grout and clay units. Then, different relationships among strengths of components and walls were established. After that, the paper shows some results obtained from numerical modellings based on finite element analysis and the conclusions of the research.


We study the propagation dynamics of a single pair of probe and coupling laser pulses in a three-level cascade atomic medium by numerical solving the Maxwell-Bloch equations for atoms and fields. Influences of the pulse durations, intensity and pulse area of the coupling laser on the probe laser propagation are investigated. We found the conditions that the undistorted probe pulse in such medium, i.e., the EIT effect is established. Under EIT conditions, the ground state population is trapped in a dark state. Full Text: PDF References A. Imamoglu, S.E. Harris, "Lasers without inversion: interference of dressed lifetime-broadened states", Opt. Lett. 14 (1989) 1344. CrossRef K.J. Boller, A. Imamoglu, S.E. Harris, "Observation of electromagnetically induced transparency", Phys. Rev. Lett. 66 (1991) 2593. CrossRef A.S. Zibrov, M.D. Lukin, D.E. Nikonov, L. Hollberg, M.O. Scully, V.L. Velichansky, and H.G. Robinson, "Experimental Demonstration of Laser Oscillation without Population Inversion via Quantum Interference in Rb", Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 (1995) 1499. CrossRef L.V. Hau, S. E. Harris, Z. Dutton, C.H. Bejroozi, "Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold atomic gas", Nature, 397 (1999) 594. CrossRef L.V. Doai, D.X. Khoa, and N.H. Bang, "EIT enhanced self-Kerr nonlinearity in the three-level lambda system under Doppler broadening", Phys. Scr. 90 (2015)045502. CrossRef D.X. Khoa, L.V. Doai, D.H. Son, and N.H. Bang, "Enhancement of self-Kerr nonlinearity via electromagnetically induced transparency in a five-level cascade system: an analytical approach", J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 31, N6 (2014), pp. 1330. CrossRef F.T. Hioe and R. Grobe, "Matched Optical Solitary Waves for Three- and Five-Level Systems", Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, (1994) 2559. CrossRef S.E. Harris and Z.F. Luo, "Preparation energy for electromagnetically induced transparency", Phys. Rev. A. 52 (1995) R928. CrossRef V. G. Arkhipkin, I.V. Timofeev, "Adiabatic propagation of short pulses under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency", Quantum Electronics, 30 (2000) 180. CrossRef M. Kiffner, T. N. Dey, "Dynamical control of pulse propagation in electromagnetically induced transparency", Phys. Rev. A. 79 (2009) 023829. CrossRef R. Yu, J. Li, P. Huang, A. Zheng, X. Yang, "Dynamic control of light propagation and optical switching through an RF-driven cascade-type atomic medium", Phys. Lett. A. 373 (2009) 2992. CrossRef E. Paspalakis,N. J. Kylstra and P. L. Knight, "Propagation and nonlinear generation dynamics in a coherently prepared four-level system", Phys. Rev. A 65 (2002) 053808. CrossRef E. Ignesti, R. Buffa, L. Fini, E. Sali, M. V. Tognetti, S. Cavalieri, "Controlling the propagation of broadband light pulses by Electromagnetically Induced Transparency", Opt. Commun, 285 (2012) 1185. CrossRef P. R. Bermanand C. H. Raymond Ooi, "Pulse propagation in a medium of ?-type atoms", Phys. Rev. A 86 (2012), 053812. CrossRef G. Buica, T. Nakajima, "Propagation of two short laser pulse trains in a ?-type three-level medium under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency", Opt. Commun. 332 (2014) 59. CrossRef L. V. Doai, P. V. Trong, D. X. Khoa, and Ng. H. Bang, "Electromagnetically induced transparency in five-level cascade scheme of 85Rb atoms: An analytical approach", Optik, 125 (2014) 3666?3669. CrossRef J.H. Eberly, "Transmission of dressed fields in three-level media", Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 7 (1995) 373. CrossRef M.D. Crisp, "Propagation of Small-Area Pulses of Coherent Light through a Resonant Medium", Phys. Rev. A 1 (1970) 1604. CrossRef


This paper proposed a method to enhance the performance of face detection and recognition systems. Our method basically consists of two main parts: firstly, we detect faces and then recognize the detected faces. In detection step we used the skin color segmentation with Gaussian skin color model combined with AdaBoost algorithm, which is fast and also more accurate compared to the other known methods. Also, we use a series of morphological operators to improve the face detection performance. Recognition part consists of four steps: Gabor features extraction, dimension reduction using PCA, feature selection using LDA, and SVM based classification. Combination of PCA and LDA is used for improving the capability of LDA when a few samples of images are available. We test the system on the face databases. Experimental results show that system is robust enough to detect faces in different lighting conditions, scales, poses, and skin colors from various races. Also, system is able to recognize face with less misclassification compared to the previous methods.


The mean size (effective radius Re) of massive galaxies (MGs; Mstar > 1011.2M⊙) is observed to increase steadily with cosmic time. It is still unclear whether this trend originates from the size growth of individual galaxies (via, e.g. mergers and/or AGN feedback) or from the inclusion of larger galaxies entering the selection at later epochs (progenitor bias). We here build a data-driven, flexible theoretical framework to probe the structural evolution of MGs. We assign galaxies to dark matter haloes via stellar mass–halo mass (SMHM) relations with varying high-mass slopes and scatters σSMHM in stellar mass at fixed halo mass, and assign sizes to galaxies using an empirically motivated, constant and linear relationship between Re and the host dark matter halo radius Rh. We find that (1) the fast mean size growth of MGs is well reproduced independently of the shape of the input SMHM relation; (2) the numbers of compact MGs grow steadily until z ≳ 2 and fall off at lower redshifts, suggesting a lesser role of progenitor bias at later epochs; (3) a time-independent scatter σSMHM is consistent with a scenario in which compact star-forming MGs transition into quiescent MGs in a few 108 yr with a negligible structural evolution during the compact phase, while a scatter increasing at high redshift implies significant size growth during the star-forming phase. A robust measurement of the size function of MGs at high redshift can set strong constraints on the scatter of the SMHM relation and, by extension, on models of galaxy evolution.


Climate change (CC) represents a real fact with consequences that start to be seen more and more often and that is why it cannot be ignored anymore. It affects many domains of the human activities and also the health of the people. Climate-specific actions are needed to be taken in order to protect the people and to save the environment. For each affected domain, new regulations and actions regarding climate change prevention must be designed, promoted and implemented. Besides phenomena like heat waves, storms, increased temperature, forest fires, floods, etc. which represent direct results of the CC, also indirect results like human health may be encountered. Human health is affected by elements that are having a big impact over the environment of the people and over the resources that they need (resources like water, food, air, natural resources, etc.). CC has also implications on people migration, the fight over the natural resources, political and economic environments. This paper offers an overview of the most important factors that are affecting the health of the people from the CC point of view and which are the main challenges that most affected countries from EU are dealing with.


Abstract:This article analyses Josephine Tey's detective fiction. First, it locates her work within the Golden Age parameters, as outlined by its major critics, before focussing on two crucial aspects of genre fiction: the detective, and the case solution. Tey's novels certainly follow many standard conventions, but close scrutiny of these two key stylistic features reveal a writer often at odds with the classic tenets of a whodunit, in such aspects as its treatment of sexuality, and mistaken detection. The article concludes by suggesting that Tey's questioning, and arguably subversive stance, responds to the friction between her characters' private and public selves.


There is a large variety of multi- and many-core platforms but established design methodologies for such processor arrays are still missing. We propose the concept of virtual cellular machine as an architecture, which does not correspond necessarily to a physical device, built according to the specific requirements needed by the programmer. The features of a virtual cellular machine (processors, memories etc.) can then be mapped onto existing physical many-core processors.


This paper argues that a country's comparative advantage in exports depends on both the factor abundance and the allocation efficiency of the endowments. However, the latter is not considered in the traditional Heckscher–Ohlin model. In line with the "sand" view of corruption, this paper empirically studies the role of corruption in shaping a country's export pattern by distorting the allocation of financial resources. We find that the resource misallocation resulting from corruption undermines the export growth promoted by the positive external financial shock. The negative effects are realized by the extensive margins instead of the intensive margins of heterogeneous firms.


The occurrence of multiple malignancy was studied in 674 patients with hematologic malignancies who were admitted to this department during the past 10 years. Of the 674 patients, 205 were aged 65 years or older, and 56 (8.3%) had another cancer. The frequency of multiple malignancy was significantly higher in older patients than in younger patients: 44 (21.5%) vs. 12 (2.6%). The major hematologic conditions in patients with multiple malignancy were multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. The major sites of cancers other than hematological malignancies were the stomach, colon, breast, and esophagus. Many of the older patients had gastric cancer or colon cancer, and gastric cancer was common in the younger patients. The multiple malignant neoplasms were synchronous in as many as 20 of the 44 older patients. There was only one such case among the younger patients. Of the 56 patients, nine had received alkylating agents, and one has received etoposide. In brief, elderly patients with hematologic malignancies are likely to have multiple malignant neoplasms. If they are synchronous, the patient's prognosis may be adversely affected, because simultaneous management of multiple malignant neoplasms is not easy.


The influence of a supplement of variously treated straw materials to a ration to dry concentrate (= 1), (untreated = 2, steamed = 3, HCl-treated = 4 and partly hydrolysed = 5) during gestation on fertility and rearing performance, the embryonic survival quota of fertilized ova as well as on some selected metabolites in the blood serum was studied in 3 experiments. The integration of untreated straw meal resulted in significantly diminished performances in comparison to test groups 1 and 5 in all tested parameters of fertility and rearing performance (weight of litter). The best results were achieved in all experiments with rations of concentrate and partly hydrolysed straw meal. The individual test groups the following performance values (number of piglets born alive, weight of litter in kg) were achieved: 1 = 9.3, 12.3; 2 = 6.5, 8.2; 3 = 7.5, 9.6; 4 = 8.6, 12,4; 5 = 10.6, 14.4). Ration specific reactions could only be proved for the parameters glucose and urea out of the metabolites (insulin, glucose, cholesterol, urea tri-iodine thyronine and thyroxine).


Cosmic ray experiments outside the Earth's atmosphere are subject to severe restrictions on the mass of the instruments. Therefore, it is important that the experimental information that can be obtained per unit detector mass is maximized. In this paper, tests are described of a thin (1.4 λint deep) hadron calorimeter that was designed with this goal in mind. This detector was equipped with two independent active media, which provided complementary information on the showering hadrons. It is shown that by combining the information from these media it was possible to reduce the effects of the dominant leakage fluctuations on the calorimeter performance.


Surveillance cameras are playing more important role in our daily life with the increasing number of human population and surveillance cameras. While there are a myriad of methods for video analysis, they are generally designed for low-density areas. Running of these algorithms in crowded areas would not give expected results and results in high number of false alarms giving rise to a need for different approaches for crowded area surveillance. Due to occlusions and images of individuals having a low resolution, holistic approaches have started to be preferred rather than detection and tracking of individuals. In this work, a method based on detection of regional behaviors in high density crowds is proposed. The method clusters the crowd behavior in different areas of the scene and can be used as a basis for anomaly detection.


ABSTRACT Children's spontaneous focusing on Arabic number symbols (SFONS) has been identified as a relevant component of their early mathematical development. This study investigated whether SFONS is a separate construct from spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and examined whether it is uniquely related to numerical abilities and mathematics achievement. Participants were 159 kindergartners (4-5-year-olds) who completed measures of SFONS, SFON, numerical abilities, mathematics achievement, spatial ability, and language ability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a two-factor model representing a separate SFONS and SFON factor best fitted the data, indicating that SFONS is separate from SFON. Correlation and regression analyses showed that SFONS was associated with numerical abilities and mathematics achievement. These associations – except for verbal counting – remained after controlling for age, parental education, spatial ability, language ability, and SFON. These findings suggest that SFONS is a unique component of early mathematical development that deserves attention in early mathematics education.


We consider tetrad fields as reference frames adapted to observers that move along arbitrary timelike trajectories in spacetime. By means of a local Lorentz transformation we can transform these frames into Fermi‐Walker transported frames, which define a standard of non‐rotation for accelerated observers. Here we present a simple prescription for the construction of Fermi‐Walker transported frames out of an arbitrary set of tetrad fields.


An injectable and glucose-responsive hydrogel derived from dextran derivatives and lectin concanavalin A (ConA) was synthesized to deliver adipogenic factor for adipose tissue engineering. The gelation is attributed to the Schiff-base reaction cross-linking between aldehydic and aminated dextran. To enhance adipogenesis, the adipogenic factor of insulin was incorporated in the ConA immobilized hydrogels. The gelation time, compressive modulus, morphologies, weight loss, and swelling properties of the hydrogels were investigated. The ConA triggered a competitive displacement of dextran by glucose from the lectin receptor sites, and results in increasing swelling of the gel network. The swelling ratio (SR) of ConA immobilized hydrogel showed glucose dependent properties and linearly increased from 19.8 to 31.3 at 37°C in PBS at glucose concentrations between 0 and 1.0% (w/v). The in vitro release experiments showed that the insulin would be released from this dextran hydrogel into the local microenvironment in response to glucose, thus highlighting the potential of such a injectable and biodegradable hydrogel to be used as part of implantable scaffold to delivery adipogenic factor for adipose tissue engineering. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012


Pre-mRNA splicing and polyadenylation are tightly connected to transcription, and transcriptional stimuli and elongation dynamics can affect mRNA maturation. However, whether this regulatory mechanism has a physio/pathological impact is not known. In cancer, where splice variant expression is often deregulated, many mutated oncogenes are transcriptional regulators. In particular, the Ewing sarcoma (EwSa) oncogene, resulting from a fusion of the EWS and FLI1 genes, encodes a well characterized transcription factor. EWS-FLI1 directly stimulates transcription of the CCND1 protooncogene encoding cyclin D1a and a less abundant but more oncogenic splice isoform, D1b. We show that, although both EWS and EWS-FLI1 enhance cyclin D1 gene expression, they regulate the D1b/D1a transcript ratio in an opposite manner. Detailed analyses of RNA polymerase dynamics along the gene and of the effects of an inhibitor of elongation show that EWS-FLI1 favors D1b isoform expression by decreasing the elongation rate, whereas EWS has opposite effects. As a result, the D1b/D1a ratio is elevated in EwSa cell lines and tumors. The endogenous D1b protein is enriched in nuclei, where the oncogenic activity of cyclin D1 is known to occur, and depleting D1b in addition to D1a results in a stronger reduction of EwSa cell growth than depleting D1a only. These data show that elevated expression of a splice isoform in cancer can be due to an alteration of the transcription process by a mutated transcriptional regulator and provide evidence for a physio/pathological impact of the coupling between transcription and mRNA maturation.


Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) are used in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as a dedicated trigger device. Moreover, they contribute to the muon identification and reconstruction alongside Drift Tubes and Cathode Strip Chambers. The RPC detector performance after more than one year of LHC operation is reported here.


The ability of P2X7 receptors to potentiate rhythmically evoked acetylcholine (ACh) release through Ca2+ entry via P2X7 receptors and via L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) was compared by loading Ca2+ chelators into motor nerve terminals. Neuromuscular preparations of the diaphragms of wild-type (WT) mice and pannexin-1 knockout (Panx1−/−) mice, in which ACh release is potentiated by the disinhibition of the L-type VDCCs upon the activation of P2X7 receptors, were used. Miniature end-plate potentials (MEPPs) and evoked end-plate potentials (EPPs) were recorded when the motor terminals were loaded with slow or fast Ca2+ chelators (EGTA-AM or BAPTA-AM, respectively, 50 μM). In WT and Panx1−/− mice, EGTA-AM did not change either spontaneous or evoked ACh release, while BAPTA-AM inhibited synaptic transmission by suppressing the quantal content of EPPs throughout the course of the short rhythmic train (50 Hz, 1 s). In the motor synapses of either WT or Panx1−/− mice in the presence of BAPTA-AM, the activation of P2X7 receptors by BzATP (30 μM) returned the EPP quantal content to the control level. In the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of Panx1−/− mice, EGTA-AM completely prevented the BzATP-induced increase in EPP quantal content. After Panx1−/− NMJs were treated with BAPTA-AM, BzATP lost its ability to enhance the EPP quantal content to above the control level. Nitrendipine (1 μM), an inhibitor of L-type VDCCs, was unable to prevent this BzATP-induced enhancement of EPP quantal content to the control level. We propose that the activation of P2X7 receptors may provide additional Ca2+ entry into motor nerve terminals, which, independent of the modulation of L-type VDCC activity, can partially reduce the buffering capacity of Ca2+ chelators, thereby providing sufficient Ca2+ signals for ACh secretion at the control level. However, the activity of both Ca2+ chelators was sufficient to eliminate Ca2+ entry via L-type VDCCs activated by P2X7 receptors and increase the EPP quantal content in the NMJs of Panx1−/− mice to above the control level.


Influence of processing variables on the solid-state of a model drug, piroxicam in cyclodextrin-based system and its effect on dissolution behavior of the drug was investigated in the present study. Binary systems containing piroxicam and hydroxypropyl-β -cyclodextrin prepared by various processes, were characterized by FTIR, thermal stability, photo stability and dissolution studies. Hydroxypropyl-β -cyclodextrin enhanced the solubility of piroxicam and increased dissolution rates from the binary systems. The complex prepared by co-evaporation method was found to yield better dissolution rate and stability as characterized in present study over those of the complex prepared by other methods.


This paper attempts to solve the following problem: can a distant object be localized by looking at it through a smartphone. As an example use-case, while driving on a highway entering New York, we want to look at one of the skyscrapers through the smartphone camera, and compute its GPS location. While the problem would have been far more difficult five years back, the growing number of sensors on smartphones, combined with advances in computer vision, have opened up important opportunities. We harness these opportunities through a system called Object Positioning System (OPS) that achieves reasonable localization accuracy. Our core technique uses computer vision to create an approximate 3D structure of the object and camera, and applies mobile phone sensors to scale and rotate the structure to its absolute configuration. Then, by solving (nonlinear) optimizations on the residual (scaling and rotation) error, we ultimately estimate the object's GPS position.
 We have developed OPS on Android NexusS phones and experimented with localizing 50 objects in the Duke University campus. We believe that OPS shows promising results, enabling a variety of applications. Our ongoing work is focused on coping with large GPS errors, which proves to be the prime limitation of the current prototype.


An existence and uniqueness theorem for Pokrovskii's zero-temperature anisotropic gap equation is proved. Furthermore, it is shown that Pokrovskii's finite-temperature equation is inconsistent with the Bardeen?Cooper?Schrieffer (BCS) theory. A reformulation of the anisotropic gap equation is presented along the line of Pokrovskii and it is shown that the new equation is consistent with the BCS theory for the whole temperature range. As an application, the Markowitz?Kadanoff model for anisotropic superconductivity is considered and a rigorous proof of the half-integer-exponent isotope effect is obtained. Furthermore, a sharp estimate of the gap solution near the transition temperature is established.


A 13 T class Nb3Al and Nb3Sn subscale magnet has been in development at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) to establish technology for a high-field accelerator magnet. The magnet was designed to generate a high magnetic field efficiently in a minimum-gap, common coil configuration with 200-mm-long racetrack coils. Two of the five coils in the magnet are Nb3Sn-produced by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The other three coils are Nb3Al -produced by KEK. The Nb3Al Rutherford cables are comprised of 28 RHQ-Nb3Al wires and were developed at KEK in collaboration with National Institute for Materials Science and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Presently, the fabrication of two double pancake Nb3Al coils with the same configuration of 13 turns per layer was completed using the wind and react method. The magnet assembly and the preparations for excitation tests are currently in progress.


This paper explores the current state of counselling as provided by local education authorities (LEAs) to secondary schools in England and Wales. A questionnaire was sent to all 172 LEAs in England and Wales. The data suggest that the counselling provision is highly variable and somewhat fragmented in scope. The data also indicate that the perception of the role of school counselling services by educational professionals varies considerably, and that there were a number of issues concerning integrated versus decentralized forms of provision. The study has a number of implications for the main stakeholders, including schools, LEAs, pupils and parents, concerning future developments in this increasingly important policy area. These relate to minimum qualifications for counsellors, confidentiality, accessibility to pupils and funding.


The main objective of
this study is to investigate temperature trend and distribution over 29 years
period (1985 to 2013) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for all Muslims.
Monthly mean, maximum, and minimum temperature levels and their trends are
investigated using Regression analysis and Theil-Sen nonparametric test. Also,
trends in deviations from the reference period (1985-2013) are analyzed. The
results showed that the number of hot days and nights increased annually by
1.5966 and 1.832, respectively, while the number of cold nights decreased
annually by 0.4054 nights. Both Regression analysis and Theil-Sen test
demonstrated positive trends in mean, minimum and maximum temperature levels.
Trends are determined for various seasons and months of the year. The annual
mean of daily mean, maximum and minimum temperature increased by 0.0398°C,
0.0552°C, 0.0398°C per year, respectively. The minimum value of monthly mean
temperature (Tmmean = 23.98°C) was found in January, whereas the maximum value
of the mean temperature (Tmmean= 35.95°C) was found in July. Maximum value of
monthly mean of daily maximum temperature (Tmmax = 43.88°C) was found in June
and minimum (30.54°C) in January. The monthly mean of the daily minimum
temperature (Tmmin) varied between a minimum of 18.82°C in January and a
maximum of 29.59°C in August. From the above analysis it can be concluded that
Makkah is suffering from a considerable warming temperature trend which is
confirmed by the Theil-Sen non-parametric test and there is potentially an
increasing medical risk from heat waves that will be more intense. This
requires specific attention toward: the energy demands for extra cooling, water
resources, draughts, and medical preparedness by the decision makers in order
to minimize these risks to residents, pilgrims who gather annually to perform
hajj rituals and other visitors.


Malakoplakia is a fairly rare disease, normally found in women (four out of every five cases). It mainly attacks the urinary system, but may spread to the other viscera. The symptoms are not clinically specific. The main interest of the disease is its pathogenesis, from which its treatment is derived. It is in fact an immunological dysfunction of the phagocytes, leading to chemical disorders in the macrophages. Its treatment is based on the use of cholinergic agonists and vitamin C therapy.


ABSTRACT Twenty taxa comprising of 13 shrubs and 7 trees, distributed in 13 orders and 13 angiospermic families were documented with descriptions for nature of stomata. The epidermal cells are generally arched as found in 17 taxa, with 3 wavy forms. Anomocytic, anisocytic, paracytic, diacytic, tetracytic and mixed stomata were observed. Stomata size ranging from 18.89 x 13.40μm in Solanum torvum to 34.23 x 24.55μm in Tabernaemontana pachysiphon and stomata index values varying from 4 in Macaranga barteri to 24% in Glyphaea brevis were recorded in this study.


In view of the importance of long-rotation plantation forestry in SE Asia to limit soil erosion, the cell morphology and wood properties of 35-yearold plantation trees of yellow meranti, Shorea acuminatissima Sym. were studied. To understand the effects of growth rate on cell morphology and wood properties, 131 trees in a stand were classified according to their stem diameter as fast-, medium-, and slow-growing. Five trees in each category were selected for determining the cell morphology and wood properties. There were significant differences in vessel diameter, vessel frequency, and cell wall thickness of wood fibers in the three categories. The fast-growing trees had a relatively low frequency of wide vessels and thick-walled wood fibers. However, no significant differences in basic density or compressive strength parallel to grain were identified in the three categories. The radial variation in the cell morphology and wood properties showed an almost identical pattern in the three categories, suggesting that xylem maturation depends on the cambial age rather than growth rate.


In this paper we show how the classical result of a charged particle moving in a circle in the xy plane, when a uniform magnetic field is directed along the z-axis, can be derived from the Landau quantum theory using the coherent states of the two-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator in the xy plane. The coherent states in this case are the simultaneous eigen vectors of the annihilation operators a+ and a−. We prove that the time-dependent coordinate space wave packets representing the time-dependent coherent states move in a circle with the cyclotron frequency ω c = ∣ q ∣ B m and with a radius given by the classical expression, but given in terms of the quantum mechanical expectation values. The expectation value of the energy of the particle and of the square of the radius of its circular are proportional to the square of the magnitude of the eigen value of a+ in the coherent state, where as the x and y coordinates of the centre of the circle are proportional to the real and the imaginary parts of the eigen value of a−. The phase of the circular motion is the same as the phase of the complex eigen value of a+. So for a given energy of the particle or for a given radius of the circular orbit, there are an infinite number of circles which differ from each other by the x and y coordinates of the centre as well as the phase of the circular motion. The infinite degeneracy of the Landau levels is due to the invariance of the energy eigen values under spatial translations in the xy plane and rotations about the z-axis. We also show that as the magnitude of the eigen value of a+ becomes much larger than one, the relative uncertainty or fluctuation in the energy and in the radius of the circular orbit becomes negligibly small as we expect for a classical state.


BACKGROUND
Hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) is a potentially fatal complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Current clinical guidelines state that spectral Doppler changes occur late in the disease, and imaging is only useful for confirming SOS diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE
Our primary objective was to examine abdominal ultrasound variables as predictors of development of SOS in pediatric HSCT patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A single-center cohort retrospective study was conducted on patients aged 0 to 21 years who underwent HSCT between September 2001 and May 2017 at our institution. Patients were excluded if they did not have abdominal ultrasounds after HSCT. Clinical, demographic, grayscale, and spectral Doppler liver ultrasound findings were evaluated. We modeled the odds of SOS diagnosis within 100 days after HSCT as a function of each of the 15 ultrasound variables.

RESULTS
A total of 333 patients received an HSCT. One hundred forty subjects had ultrasound data available. Thirty-two patients developed SOS, and 9 of these patients died. Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome odds more than double per 1-SD increase in peak systolic velocity in common hepatic artery or left hepatic artery and more than triple per 1-SD decrease in main portal vein velocity or change in ascites severity. Several ultrasound variables were statistically significant predictors in the Cox models for time to SOS diagnosis.

CONCLUSION
Several ultrasound variables can be used as predictors for a patient's risk of developing SOS. The strongest predictors are ascites severity, main portal vein velocity, common hepatic artery peak systolic velocity, and left hepatic artery peak systolic velocity.


This paper focuses on the learning action selection in behavior-based autonomous mobile robot. Autonomous mobile robot needs a large space to store the state-action pair in the application of tabular Q-learning. Neural network has a good ability of generalization, so in this paper Q-learning based on neural network is developed which has a good ability to approximate to Q-function. The Q-learning based on neural network is applied to autonomous mobile robot for goal directed obstacle avoidance. Results of simulation show that the mobile robot can learn to select proper actions itself to accomplish the task autonomously.


Müller glia function as retinal stem cells in adult zebrafish. In response to loss of retinal neurons, Müller glia partially dedifferentiate, re-express neuroepithelial markers and re-enter the cell cycle. We show that the immunoglobulin superfamily adhesion molecule Alcama is a novel marker of multipotent retinal stem cells, including injury-induced Müller glia, and that each Müller glial cell divides asymmetrically only once to produce an Alcama-negative, proliferating retinal progenitor. The initial mitotic division of Müller glia involves interkinetic nuclear migration, but mitosis of retinal progenitors occurs in situ. Rapidly dividing retinal progenitors form neurogenic clusters tightly associated with Alcama/N-cadherin-labeled Müller glial radial processes. Genetic suppression of N-cadherin function interferes with basal migration of retinal progenitors and subsequent regeneration of HuC/D+ inner retinal neurons.


An increasing trend of motivated individuals joining the gym for improving their fitness is an encouraging sign. Additionally, an attitudinal change in the dietary intake should also be a part of this routine to help achieve a healthy body and mind. Studies have shown that addressing the promotion of healthy eating, particularly when combined with the practice of physical activity, show satisfactory results when it comes to the control of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. A need was felt to conduct a baseline study to find out the attitude and behavioural preferences in terms of diet and exercise. This is a cross sectional study done on 164 male gym members. A pretested, preformed interviewee based, close ended questionnaire was used to collect data from the study participants in a time bound manner. Analysis was done through SPSS software. Intake of carbonated drinks (79.2%, p < 0.01) and fruit juices (83.3%) were significantly higher among regular members in comparison to those who visited the gym infrequently. Consumption of milk (72.9), eggs (45.8%), butter (45.8%, p <0.001) and fish (43.8%) was also higher among regular members. Alternatively, it was seen that beef consumption was higher among regular gym goers and 74.4% of them didn't follow any specific diet for maintaining health. There is a general lack of awareness and attitude towards the type of healthy food required for maintaining health and preventing health disorders particularly non – communicable diseases. Keywords: Dietary goals, Gym, Youth, Healthy diet, Dietary habit, Saudi Arabia.


Abstract Fractures play a significant role in the development and production phases of carbonate reservoirs. Quantitative interpretation of fractures not only enhances reservoir models but also reduces the drilling risk and optimizes well design. In this study, we attempt to predict the fracture density map by integrating well and seismic data along with maximum horizontal stress identification. To this end, we propose a workflow with a set of machine learning approaches. First, 3D seismic data is conditioned after the migration processing sequence and the main faults and horizons are interpreted. Next, a number of curvature and coherence attributes are created for a supervised neural network technique to generate new seismic-based discontinuity attribute. Using a geostatistical method to incorporate the interpreted dip and azimuth attributes from well image logs and 3D seismic discontinuity attribute, the fracture density map is predicted and the results validated with a blind well. Finally, we evaluate the strike azimuth of possible open fractures based on the stress regime analysis, from which two distinctive zones are identified. There are, however, some limitations in this study. The predicted fracture density map can be employed to build a discrete fracture network, update dual porosity and permeability estimation, and identify sweet spots.


This paper proposes a novel method to detect fire and/or flames in real-time by processing the video data generated by an ordinary camera monitoring a scene. In addition to ordinary motion and color clues, flame and fire flicker is detected by analyzing the video in the wavelet domain. Quasi-periodic behavior in flame boundaries is detected by performing temporal wavelet transform. Color variations in flame regions are detected by computing the spatial wavelet transform of moving fire-colored regions. Another clue used in the fire detection algorithm is the irregularity of the boundary of the fire-colored region. All of the above clues are combined to reach a final decision. Experimental results show that the proposed method is very successful in detecting fire and/or flames. In addition, it drastically reduces the false alarms issued to ordinary fire-colored moving objects as compared to the methods using only motion and color clues. 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Thermal interface materials (TIMs) have become increasingly important in reducing the interfacial thermal resistance between contacting surfaces inside electronic devices, such as at the die-heat-sink or heat-spreader-heat-sink interfaces. While the focus regarding implementing TIMs remains on reducing the thermal resistance path, the long-term performance of the TIM is important from a life-cycle standpoint. This paper presents test and analysis results examining the effect of temperature cycling and elevated temperature/humidity on the thermal performance of filled polymer TIMs using the laser flash method. A three-layer sandwich structure was used to simulate loading conditions encountered by TIMs in actual applications and to assess the change in their thermal resistances. The evaluated thermal resistance included contact and bulk resistances and was calculated using the Lee algorithm, an iterative method that uses the properties of the single layers and the three-layer sandwich structures. Test samples included three thermal putties, a gap filler, an adhesive, a gel, and two gap pads. For most materials, little change or slight improvement in the thermal performance was observed over the course of environmental exposures. Scanning acoustic microscope images revealed delamination in one group of gap pad samples and cracking in the putty samples as a result of temperature cycling. One thermal putty material showed degradation due to temperature cycling resulting from bulk material changes near the glass transition temperature, while other samples showed little change or slight improvement in the thermal performance over the course of temperature cycling.


A significant proportion of the childhood epilepsies have a genetic component. Therefore, animal models that can be bred for seizure expression may provide important information regarding the mechanisms by which molecular defects result in the neuronal hyperexcitability states collectively termed "epilepsy." Because of the rate and ease of breeding, rodent models are the most commonly used. The genetically epilepsy‐prone rat has motor seizures in response to auditory stimuli. It is likely that the seizures are generated in the inferior colliclus because of an abnormality in the noradrenergic system. The seizure predisposition is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. The genetic absence epilepsy rat has age‐related spontaneous seizures characterized by motor arrest and head drops that are correlated with generalized spike‐wave on the electroencephalogram (EEG). The seizure generating mechanism appears to be located in the lateral thalamic nuclei. The epileptic mongolian gerbil demonstrates behavioral arrest followed by myoclonic, tonic, and tonic‐clonic seizures in response to unfamiliar environments. The underlying neuroanatomy involves hippocampal‐cortical interactions indicative of a partial epilepsy. The tottering mouse has absence and myoclonic seizures, a 6‐ to 7‐Hz ictal spike‐wave EEG, and noradrenergic hyperinnervation that are linked to a mutation on chromosome 8. Hippocampal network hyperexcitability has been found with normal neuronal intrinsic properties. Stargazer is a mouse mutant with almost identical clinical and electrographic features as found in tottering. However, the genetic defect is located on chromosome 15 and no abnormalities of norepinephrine have been discovered. The El mouse demonstrates ictal automatisms in response to vestibular stimulation. Metabolic and structural abnormalities have been found in the hippocampus. Linkage to chromosomes 9 and 2 have been reported recently. The dilute brown agouiti mouse demonstrates motor seizures in response to auditory stimuli. Chromosomes 4 and 17 are linked to seizure expression. Thus, a variety of models exist to study the genetic, biochemical, structural and electrophysiological mechanisms that underlie the predisposition and expression of the inherited epilepsies.


BACKGROUND
Despite the widespread use of the Cottle maneuver as a finding to define nasal valve collapse, no studies have confirmed the association between a positive Cottle maneuver and need for nasal valve repair. This study demonstrates the low construct validity of the Cottle maneuver.

METHODS
One hundred healthy volunteer students and employees at Boston Medical Center were recruited for this study. Participants were asked to evaluate their breathing on a 10-point scale, rating their subjective airflow in each nostril while occluding the contralateral nostril, where 0 indicated complete obstruction and 10 indicated complete patency. Following the baseline ratings, participants were asked to rate their breathing once again while examiners preformed the Cottle and modified Cottle maneuvers.

RESULTS
Overall, 97 percent of participants reported improved airflow in each nostril following the Cottle maneuver (p < 0.00001); 98 percent reported improved airflow in each nostril following the modified Cottle maneuver (p < 0.00001).

CONCLUSIONS
If the clinical consensus regarding the observed improvement in nasal airflow is to be followed, nearly all the participants recruited are experiencing some surgically correctable nasal obstruction. Given the population from which our cohort was collected-students and residents from a medical campus-such a conclusion seems extremely unlikely. We believe the more likely explanation for the high positive test rate is flawed assumptions of the Cottle and modified Cottle maneuvers.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Therapeutic, V.


Bacterial cell-to-cell communication system quorum sensing (QS) could be effectively controlled with polymer gel sheets which possess affinity to QS signals. Cyclic oligosaccharide cyclodextrin (CD) was successfully immobilized onto 2-hydroxypropyl cellulose gel sheets to trap the QS signals produced in one of the opportunistic pathogen Serratia marcescens. In gram-negative bacteria including S. marcescens, N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHL) with different length of acyl-chains were produced as the QS signal autoinducer. The inclusion complex formation between AHL and CD is responsible for the artificial decrease of the AHL concentration inside and outside of cells. Because the QS system is the AHL-concentration dependent mechanism that activates the specific gene transcription, the AHL trapping method was simple and greatly effective to intercept the QS system. By using the 2-hydroxypropyl-β-CD immobilized gel sheets, the prodigiosin of which production was regulated by the AHL-mediated QS system could be reduced to approximately 20%.


Objectives Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is associated with inflammatory and neoplastic airway diseases. Gastric pepsin internalized by airway epithelial cells during reflux contributes to oxidative stress, inflammation, and carcinogenesis. Several plant extracts and compounds inhibit digestive enzymes and inflammatory or neoplastic changes to the esophagus in models of gastroesophageal reflux. This study examined the potential of chemoprotective phytochemicals to inhibit peptic activity and mitigate pepsin-mediated damage of airway epithelial cells. Methods Cultured human laryngeal and hypopharyngeal epithelial cells were pretreated with curcumin (10 μmol/L), ecabet sodium (125 μg/mL), and anthocyanin-enriched black-raspberry extract (100 μg/mL) 30 minutes before treatment with pepsin (0.1 mg/mL; 1 hour; pH 7). Controls were treated with media pH 7 or pepsin pH 7 without phytochemicals. Cell damage and proliferative changes were assessed by electron microscopy, cell count, thymidine analog incorporation, and real-time polymerase chain reaction array. Pepsin inhibition was determined by in vitro kinetic assay. Results Micromolar concentrations of curcumin, ecabet sodium, and black-raspberry extract inhibited peptic activity and pepsin-induced mitochondrial damage and hyperproliferation. Curcumin abrogated pepsin-mediated depression of tumor suppressor gene expression and altered the subcellular localization of pepsin following endocytosis. Conclusions Several phytochemicals inhibit the pepsin-mediated cell damage underlying inflammatory or neoplastic manifestations of LPR. Dietary supplementation or adjunctive therapy with phytochemicals may represent novel preventive or therapeutic strategies for LPR-attributed disease.


In this study, we compared the tonal patterns of emotion words in Mandarin Chinese to the prosodic patterns of emotional speech. We used statistical methods to model the variation in tonal height and slope of tonal contour of Mandarin emotion words. Our results showed that there was indeed some similarity between the tones of Mandarin emotion words and emotional intonation, suggesting that emotional cues may be lexicalized in lexical tones.


Robot-assisted bilateral training is being developed as a new rehabilitation approach for stroke patients. However, there is still a lack of understanding of muscle functions when performing robot-assisted synchronous movements. The aim of this work is to explore the muscle activation patterns and the voluntary effort of participants during different robot-assisted bilateral training protocols. To this end, 10 healthy participants were recruited to take part in a 60-minute experiment. The experiment included two different bilateral exercises, and each exercise contained four different training protocols. Trajectories of the robots, interaction force and surface electromyogram signals were recorded during training. The results show that the robots do affect the muscle activation patterns during different training protocols and exercises rather than the controller. Specifically, the activity of muscles is reduced in robot-assisted training but is increased in active force involved robot-assisted training when compared to robot-unassisted training. Meanwhile, the voluntary effort of participants can be presented by the adjusted trajectories via the controller. In addition, the results also suggest that the activations for the same muscle groups in the left and right arms are highly correlated with each other in both exercises. Furthermore, the training protocols and methods developed in this work could be further extended in future clinical trials to investigate therapeutic outcomes for patients as well as to better understand bilateral recovery processes.


ABSTRACT To study the effect of plant species on the abundance and diversity of bacterial antagonists, the abundance, the phenotypic diversity, and the genotypic diversity of rhizobacteria isolated from potato, oilseed rape, and strawberry and from bulk soil which showed antagonistic activity towards the soilborne pathogen Verticillium dahliae Kleb. were analyzed. Rhizosphere and soil samples were taken five times over two growing seasons in 1998 and 1999 from a randomized field trial. Bacterial isolates were obtained after plating on R2A (Difco, Detroit, Mich.) or enrichment in microtiter plates containing high-molecular-weight substrates followed by plating on R2A. A total of 5,854 bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere of strawberry, potato, or oilseed rape or bulk soil from fallow were screened by dual testing for in vitro antagonism towards Verticillium. The proportion of isolates with antagonistic activity was highest for strawberry rhizosphere (9.5%), followed by oilseed rape (6.3%), potato (3.7%), and soil (3.3%). The 331 Verticillium antagonists were identified by their fatty acid methyl ester profiles. They were characterized by testing their in vitro antagonism against other pathogenic fungi; their glucanolytic, chitinolytic, and proteolytic activities; and their BOX-PCR fingerprints. The abundance and composition of Verticillium antagonists was plant species dependent. A rather high proportion of antagonists from the strawberry rhizosphere was identified as Pseudomonas putida B (69%), while antagonists belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae (Serratia spp., Pantoea agglomerans) were mainly isolated from the rhizosphere of oilseed rape. For P. putida A and B plant-specific genotypes were observed, suggesting that these bacteria were specifically enriched in each rhizosphere.


The control of heat flow is a formidable challenge due to lack of good thermal insulators. Promising new opportunities for heat flow control were recently theoretically discovered for radiative heat flow in near field, where large heat flow contrasts may be achieved by tuning electronic excitations on surfaces. Here we show experimentally that the phase transition of VO2 entails a change of surface polariton states that significantly affects radiative heat transfer in near field. In all cases the Derjaguin approximation correctly predicted radiative heat transfer in near field, but it underestimated the far field limit. Our results indicate that heat flow contrasts can be realized in near field that can be larger than those obtained in far field.


This study presents a simple methodology to fabricate a conductive polyurethane nanoweb for use as a textile strain sensor. The purpose of this paper is to (1) fabricate an electrically-conductive polyurethane nanoweb coated with silver nanowires and investigate changes in its electrical resistance in relation to the amount of silver nanowires, (2) investigate changes in the electrical resistance of the polyurethane nanowebs under stretching, (3) evaluate the mechanical and chemical properties of the treated nanowebs, and (4) observe the breathability of the coated nanowebs. Silver nanowires dispersed in ethanol (AgNW) were diluted as necessary by addition of ethanol. Electrical conductivity was imparted to the polyurethane nanowebs by a pour-coating process utilizing AgNWs. The initial electrical resistance of the specimens and the changes with stretching up to 20% and release were recorded, and the data were analyzed. The electrical resistance decreased in accordance with the AgNW concentration. The electrical resistance increased under stretch and decreased upon release. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analysis displayed the polyurethane, the silver nanowire attachment to the fibers, and the silver nanowire networks. According to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, hydrogen bonds derived from the treatment with ethanol generated a crimp structure on the polyurethane nanowebs. Both tensile strength and bending rigidity increased after the treatment. Breathability tests showed that the specimens had semi-windproof and good water vapor transmission properties as textiles.


BACKGROUND: The prevalence and the clinical relevance of several extracardiac findings (EF) at Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been recently estimated in cohorts of non thalassaemic patients. AIM: In this study we sought to determine the prevalence of EF potentially related to anaemia and ipoxia in age- and sex- matched populations with thalassaemia major (TM) and Thalassaemia Intermedia (TI). METHODS: We retrospectively considered 159 TM patients regularly transfused (73 F; 34±9.20 years) and 159 TI patients (73 F; 34±9.18 years) consecutively enrolled in the Myocardial Iron in Thalassemia (MIOT) Network to quantify cardiac and liver iron by T2* technique. Patients with TI were further subdivided in non transfusion dependent (NTD-TI) and transfusion dependent (TD-TI). All MRI images were used to assess the presence or absence of Extramedullary Hematopoiesis (EMH), kidney, splenic and liver cysts, and vertebral hemangiomas. RESULTS: Overall, EF were detected in 33% and 26% of patients with TI and TM, respectively. Table 1 shows the comparison of MRI data between TM and TI patients. Both groups of patients had elevated but comparable prevalence of kidney, splenic and liver cysts and vertebral haemangiomas. TI patients were found to have significant higher EMH as compared to TM. The prevalence of total EF increased with advancing age and renal cysts were found in the 28.6% of the cohort aged 45-55 years. Patients with renal cysts had comparable serum creatinin level with respect to those without. Within the population of TI-TD it was observed the highest prevalence of patients with renal cysts, splenic cyst and vertebral haemangioma (26%, 3% and 3%, respectively). Thalassemic patients had a was significant higher prevalence of renal cysts than the general population (19.2 vs 7.8%; P CONCLUSIONS: EF are well-recognized features in patients undergoing MRI, being hepatic cysts or hemangiomas and renal cyst the most frequently observed. Our data on hemangiomas and renal cysts, particularly among patients with TI-TD, indicate a significant higher prevalence of EF compared to the general population. These data seem to suggest the role of the inappropriate activation of the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) system linked to the chronic hypoxia as observed in the Chuvash polycythemia or in the the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome. Furthermore, HIF in general population has been directly involved in the development and/or progression of clear cell renal cancer also described among thalassemic patients. Disclosures Pepe:Chiesi: Speakers Bureau; ApoPharma Inc: Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Speakers Bureau.


We developed a novel integrated quad-modality system that included 3 molecular imaging methods (PET, SPECT, and fluorescence molecular imaging [FMI]) and 1 anatomic imaging modality (CT). This system could study various biologic processes in the same animal using multiple molecular tracers. In addition to the technology development, we also discussed the optimization strategy of the imaging protocols. The performance of this system was tested, and the in vivo animal experiment showed its power to trace 3 different molecular probes in living tissues. Our results demonstrated that this system has a great potential for the preclinical study of diseases. Methods: A prototype system integrating PET, SPECT, CT, and a charge-coupled device–based free-space FMI system has been developed. Imaging and fusion capabilities of the system were evaluated by a multimodality phantom. In addition, a mouse disease model with both tumor and inflammation was studied by this system to examine the in vivo performance. The 3 types of molecular probes—18F-FDG, [99mTc(HYNIC-3PRGD2)(tricine)(TPPTS)] (99mTc-3PRG2) (HYNIC = 6-hydrazinonicotinyl; TPPTS = trisodium triphenylphosphine-3,3′,3″-trisulfonate; 3PRGD2 = PEG4-E[PEG4-c(RGDfK)]2), and 3-(triethoxysilyl) propyl-Cy7–entrapped core-cross-linked polymeric micelle (Cy7-entrapped CCPM) nanoparticles—were used to target 3 different biologic processes in the tumor caused by pulmonary adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Moreover, the strategy to optimize multimodal molecular imaging procedure was studied as well, which could significantly reduce the total imaging time. Results: The imaging performance has been validated by both phantom and in vivo animal experiments. With this system and optimized imaging protocol, we successfully differentiated diseases that cannot be distinguished by a single molecular imaging modality. Conclusion: We developed a novel quad-modality molecular imaging system that integrated PET, SPECT, FMI, and CT imaging methods to obtain whole-body multimodality images of small animals. The imaging results demonstrated that this system provides more comprehensive information for preclinical biomedical research. With optimized imaging protocols, as well as novel molecular tracers, this quad-modality system can help in the study of the physiology mechanism at an unprecedented level.


Ancient transitions, such as between life that evolved in a reducing versus an oxidizing atmosphere precipitated by the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) ca. 2.4 billion years ago, fundamentally altered the space in which prokaryotes could derive metabolic energy. Despite fundamental changes in Earth's redox state, there are very few comprehensive, proteome-wide analyses about the effects of these changes on gene content and evolution. Here, using a pan-proteome sequence similarity network applied to broadly sampled lifestyles of 84 prokaryotes that were categorized into four different redox groups (i.e., methanogens, obligate anaerobes, facultative anaerobes, and obligate aerobes), we reconstructed the genetic inventory of major respiratory communities. We show that a set of putative core homologs that is highly conserved in prokaryotic proteomes is characterized by the loss of canonical network connections and low conductance that correlates with differences in respiratory phenotypes. We suggest these different network patterns observed for different respiratory communities could be explained by two major evolutionary diversification events in the history of microbial life. The first event (M) is a divergence between methanogenesis and other anaerobic lifestyles in prokaryotes (archaebacteria and eubacteria). The second diversification event (OX) is from anaerobic to aerobic lifestyles that left a proteome-wide footprint among prokaryotes. Additional analyses revealed that oxidoreductase evolution played a central role in these two diversification events. Distinct cofactor binding domains were frequently recombined, allowing these enzymes to utilize increasingly oxidized substrates with high specificity.


The distribution of heavy metals: manganese, chromium, cadmium, copper, arsenate, iron and lead together with lipid profiles were investigated in the stomach of cow grazed in Akungba-Akoko region of Ondo State, Nigeria. This sample was analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric method (AAS) with wet digestion method. The results showed that the heavy metals concentrations in the stomach of the cows are: Mn (1.04 ± 0.010 mg/g), Cr (1.85 ± 0.18 mg/g), Cd (0.055 ± 0.007 mg/g), Cu (2.525 ± 0.261 mg/g), Fe (5.59 ± 0.806 mg/g), Pb (0.065 ± 0.08 mg/g) and As (0.165 ± 0.021 mg/g). Also the lipid profile of the stomach of the cow was analyzed using thin layer chromatography. The result obtained was 10.71% phosphatidylcholine, 21.43% phosphatidylethanolamine, 25.0% phosphatidic acid and 42.64% triacylglycerol. The data obtained showed that human consumption of cow stomach may pose a risk of heavy metal toxicosis and hyperlipidemia.

 Key words: Heavy metals, lipid profile, stomach, cow, Akungba Akoko, metal toxicity.


Gender equality is a core development objective in its own right and also smart development policy and business practice. No society can develop sustainably without giving men and women equal power to shape their own lives and contribute to their families, communities, and countries. And yet, critical gender gaps continue to exist in all countries and across multiple dimensions. The gender module of the World Bank's ADePT software platform produces a comprehensive set of tables and graphs using household surveys to help diagnose and analyze the prevailing gender inequalities at the country level and over time. This book provides a step-by-step guide to the use of the ADePT software and an introduction to its basic economic concepts and econometric methods. The module is organized around the framework proposed by the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. It covers gender differences in outcomes in three primary dimensions of gender equality: human capital (or endowments), economic opportunities, and voice and agency. Particular focus is given to the analysis and decomposition techniques that allow for further exploring of gender gaps in economic opportunities.Citation


The rapid increase in energy consumption around the world is the main challenge that compromises and affects the environment. Electricity generation, which mainly depends on fossil fuels, produces around 80% of CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere. Renewables are a remarkable alternative for energy production. However, they are intermittent sources of energy. Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a medium-to large-scale energy system used to store and produce energy, and recently, it could compete with other storage systems (e.g., compressed air and pumped hydro), which have geographical constraints, affect the environment, and have a lower energy density than that of LAES. However, the low efficiency, high payback periods, and profit values of LAES hamper its commercialization. LAES is premature to be fully studied because lack of actual operating conditions and results from large plants, which affect the techno-economic predictions, in turn, affecting technology commercialization. Furthermore, the off-design conditions are not fully covered although it is a crucial step in system performance evaluation. To this end, the current mini-review sheds light on the LAES design, history, types, limitations, and the associated techno-economic analysis. In addition, state-of-the-art modelling tools are widely explained with benefits and shortage. Furthermore, LAES integration with other systems is explained widely, as it was found to boost the system performance and increase the profit with lower payback periods.


Pasture is a globally important managed habitat providing both food and income. The way in which it is managed leads to a wide range of impacts on soil microbial communities and associated soil health. While there have been several studies comparing pasture farming to other forms of land use, we still have limited understanding of how the soil microbial communities vary between pasture farms and according to management practices. Here we present the results of a field survey across 56 UK livestock farms that are managed by members of the Pasture fed Livestock Association, using amplicon sequencing of the 16S and ITS regions to characterise the soil bacterial and fungal community within fields that have been under pasture for differing durations. We show that grazing management intensity has only limited effects upon microbial community structure, while the duration of pasture since ploughing (ranging from 1 year to over 100 years) impacted the fungal community structure. The impact of management duration was conditional upon soil physicochemical properties, particularly pH. Plant community effects on upon soil bacterial and fungal composition appear to also interact with the soil chemistry, highlighting the importance of plant-soil interactions in determining microbial community structure. Analyses of microbial indicators revealed proportionally more fungal taxa that responded to multiple ecosystem health associated properties than bacterial taxa. We also identified several fungal taxa that both acted as indicators of soil health related properties within our dataset and showed differentiation between grassland types in a national survey, indicating the generality of some fungal indicators to the national level. Members of the Agaricomycetes were associated with multiple indicators of soil health. Our results show the importance of maintaining grassland for the development of plant-soil interactions and microbial community structure with concomitant effects on soil and general ecosystem health. Highlights Soil bacteria and fungi from >50 pastures were analysed using DNA metabarcoding Duration of pasture since ploughing impacted fungal community composition Bacteria were more associated with soil physicochemical properties than fungi Plant effects on soil microbes were through interactions with soil chemistry Microbial indicators of soil health were disproportionately fungal taxa


Light-matter interactions are of tremendous importance in a wide range of fields from solar energy conversion to photonics. Here the optical dispersion behavior of undoped and 20 mol. % Sm doped ceria thin films, both dense and porous, were evaluated by UV-Vis optical transmission measurements, with the objective of determining both intrinsic and microstructural properties of the films. Films, ranging from 14 to 2300 nm in thickness, were grown on single crystal YSZ(100) and MgO(100) using pulsed laser deposition (both dense and porous films) and chemical vapor deposition (porous films only). The transmittance spectra were analyzed using an in-house developed methodology combining full spectrum fitting and envelope treatment. The index of refraction of ceria was found to fall between 2.65 at a wavelength of 400 nm and 2.25 at 800 nm, typical of literature values, and was relatively unchanged by doping. Reliable determination of film thickness, porosity, and roughness was possible for films with thickness ranging from 500 to 2500 nm. Physically meaningful microstructural parameters were extracted even for films so thin as to show no interference fringes at all.


The author expresses concern that when family planning services are integrated into the British National Health Service, many of the women doctors working for the Family Planning Association will be without work. She asks that assurances be given to all doctors employed by the association that they will be so employed by area health authorities if they so desire. Further, long-term plans should be made to ensure that the family planning service is strengthened by becoming part of the gynecological and obstetric service. Indeed, it is hoped that all of the preventive services will become integral parts of the relevant specialty and not mere appendages.


In this paper, we successfully demonstrated automatic PMD compensation in 40Gbit/s NRZ transmission for the first time. Using a PMD monitor of 20GHz intensity extracted from the receive 40Gbit/s NRZ base band signal, we accomplished the feedback control of an optical PMD compensator consisting of a polarization controller and a polarization-maintaining fiber. And we report the statistical assessment of an adaptive optical PMD compensator at 40Gbit/s. The mitigator, described in, is experimentally tested in many PMD conditions (not limited to first order) covering Maxwellian-like PMD statistics. Experimental results, including bit error rate measurements, are successfully compared with theory, hereby demonstrating the compensator efficiency at 40Gbit/s. Furthermore, this letter introduces a two-stage PMD compensator. Our experimental results shows that, the compensators based on the two-stages of compensator can be used to PMD compensation in a 40Gbit/s OTDM system with 60 km high PMD fiber. The first-order PMD was max.274ps before PMD compensation. It was smaller than 7ps after PMD compensation. At the same time, the tunable FBG have a function of dispersion compensation.


Abstract The local railroad was substantially deregulated and prepared for privatization by Estonian government in 90's. Changes in commodity mix, length of haul, shipment size, loading weight, equipment ownership, railroad costs, competition from other modes, and demand for railroad transportation have all played a significant role. This paper introduces the importance of forecasting a railway freight volume using the methodology of international knowledge.


Growth of the elderly population and nursing shortage place increased pressure on our health care systems. One possible response is to let care robots or carebots take over care tasks. Some of these robots appear human in some way (humanoid robots), or look and act like a pet (pet robots). As personal robots they 'share physical and emotional spaces with the user' (Cerqui and Arras 2001) and play a role in daily life. They can assist ill and elderly people by monitoring them, by delivering drugs, by moving them around, by helping them with domestic tasks. They can be used for therapeutic aims, or to entertain and accompany people.
How can we evaluate such a near-future scenario in terms of its contribution to 'the good life', given that carebots would often replace real humans or pets?


The composition of water and wastewater, varying temporally and spatially, depends on factors such as environmental context, types of pollution sources, weather conditions leading to dilution or solids transportation, length of sewer network, etc. Because quantitative parameters are often not adapted for the characterization of wastewater quality variability, a nonparametric measurement is proposed, based on comparison of the UV absorption spectra of samples. The presence of isosbestic points, occurring in the set of spectra either directly or indirectly after normalization, allows quantification of the variability of a given water or effluent. A normalization step is used when dilution exists in the case of a mixture of water types (discharge or rain). Several examples show how to calculate the variability or to estimate the dilution factor from UV spectra data, even without results of physicochemical parameters.


We describe the case of a 52-year-old woman with scleritis caused by an imipenem-resistant strain of Nocardia beijingensis. The patient presented with pain, redness, and nodules on the sclera of 8 weeks' duration. A Gram stain from a nodule on the superonasal aspect of the globe was initially negative. After empiric treatment for an autoimmune etiology, cytopathology confirmed filamentous bacteria. A presumptive diagnosis of Nocardia scleritis was made, and medical management was based on a literature review on treatments for Nocardia infections. Cultures returned confirming Nocardia beijingensis. Antibiotic sensitivity testing confirmed the correct initial management. The patient's scleritis resolved with a good visual outcome.


Background Reliable differentiation between uncomplicated and self-limiting acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) and more severe bacterial respiratory tract infections remains challenging, due to the non-specific clinical manifestations in both systemic bacterial or viral infections. The current COVID-19 pandemic is putting extraordinary strain on healthcare resources. To date, molecular testing is available but has a long turnaround time and therefore cannot provide results at the point-of-care, leading to a delay in results thereby exposing patients to cross-infection and delay in diagnosis (1-3). Methods We prospectively evaluated the utility of FebriDx®, a point-of-care fingerstick blood test that can differentiate viral from bacterial ARIs through simultaneous detection of both Myxovirus-resistance protein A (MxA) and C-reactive protein (CRP), in rapidly determining viral cases requiring immediate isolation and confirmatory molecular testing, from non-infectious patients or bacterial infections that require antibacterial therapy.Results 75 consecutive patients were assessed and 48 eligible cases were tested with FebriDx®. Overall, 35 patients had FebriDx® test viral positive. All 35 patients had either positive rt-PCR (n=30) for COVID-19 or clinical picture highly suggestive of COVID-19 infection (PPV of 100% in a pandemic situation)[AB1] . In the 13 cases it was viral negative, rRT-PCR was also negative in all cases. In one case of LRTI, it was not possible to determine the exact cause of infection and a viral infection couldn't be excluded. Including this patient, the NPV was 12/13 (92%) exceeding the NPV of rRt-PCR at 71% (12/17). Sensitivity was conservatively calculated at 97% (35/36) compared to 85.7% (30[RS2] /35) for rRt-PCR. Similarly the specificity of both FebriDx®and rRt-PCR was 100% (12/12).Conclusions In the current COVID-19, FebriDx® shows potential as a reliable POC test and a proxy marker of COVID-19 infection amongst inpatients in a secondary care setting. [AB1]35/35 equates to a sensitivity and specificity of 100% for COVID, would you be willing to say that instead of 'near 100% ppv)? [RS2]I believe PCR was 85.7% (30/35), because PCR only detects the COVID cases


Camera traps – cameras linked to detectors so that they fire when an animal is present – are a major source of information on the abundance and habitat preferences of rare or shy forest animals. Modern cameras record the time of the photo, and the use of this to investigate diel 1 activity patterns was immediately recognised (Griffiths and van Schaik, 1993). Initially this resulted in broad classification of taxa as diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular, or cathemeral (van Schaik and Griffiths, 1996). More recently, researchers have compared activity patterns among species to see how overlapping patterns may relate to competition or predation (Linkie and Ridout, 2011; Carver et al., 2011; Ramesh et al., 2012; Carter et al., 2012; Kamler et al., 2012; Ross et al., 2013). Ridout and Linkie (2009) presented methods to fit kernel density functions to times of observations of animals and to estimate the coefficient of overlapping, a quantitative measure ranging from 0 (no overlap) to 1 (identical activity patterns). The code they used forms the basis of the overlap package. Although motivated by the analysis of camera trap data, overlap could be applied to data from other sources such as data loggers, provided data collection is carried out around the clock. Nor is it limited to diel cycles: tidal cycles or seasonal cycles, such as plant flowering or fruiting or animal breeding seasons could also be investigated.


ABSTRACT High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) programmes can strengthen the social, emotional and cognitive skills that are crucial for future learning and wellbeing. Teacher–child interactions are the most vital component of ECEC service quality in terms of children's social-emotional functioning. However, many children are not consistently exposed to the quality of interactions required for optimal development. We propose a conceptual model to encourage social and emotional learning in preschoolers by targeting the quality and intentionality of teacher–child interactions. We draw upon two frameworks relevant in early childhood settings, the Teaching Through Interactions Framework, describing the type of interactions associated with positive child outcomes, and The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children, a tiered, systematic approach to implement strategies that improve social-emotional health. This model could inform the development of social and emotional learning programmes that support educators to apply responsive techniques through everyday interactions.


Recently, in the Digital Transformation era that is trigger by technology, Industry 4.0 is a transformation process that leads to company changes that disrupt and affect all business processes. In the current transformation phase, leaders must have the ability to manage digital transformation processes and new digital organizations that are emerging which are changing in a volatile (turbulent) business environment. The discussion in this chapter book includes a content analysis of several leadership characters that are very influential in anticipating turbulent environmental changes, which include: leadership in the turbulent era, innovative leadership, leadership with high integrity, leadership with high EQ. The dynamics of the external environment such as economic, political, social, cultural, scientific, and technological changes very rapidly which will have an impact on the business environment: customers, suppliers, competitors, investors, government/law, and interest groups. The external environmental turbulence must be anticipated by all institutions by strengthening leadership so that leaders and their followers can create innovative products, processes, collaborations, communication, and have emotional intelligence that can capture the substance of the problem objectively and arouse the spirit of participation of all parties. Another very basic thing is a leader who has strong integrity, which is trustworthy, honest, moral, and has the credibility to produce solutions to various business problems so that in the end it produces excellent performance according to stakeholder expectations. Leaders need to proactively manage change through strengthening innovative ideas, creating new things as the key to creating a prime competitive advantage for the company. The leader is a figure who must be able to continuously adapt to the dynamics of the rapid development of the environment and market, supported by human resources, superior organization, and the right systems and procedures to achieve organizational goals.


Surface functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was performed using mixed acid and ethylenediamine. The materials were characterized by electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, Fourier transform infrared, N2 adsorption-desorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The pH-dependent sorption of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) onto raw and functionalized MWCNTs was investigated. A decrease in TBBPA uptake was found to be dependent on the adsorptive pKa in alkaline conditions. Two types of MWCNTs exhibited rapid binding kinetics for TBBPA sorption within 20 min. The kinetics of TBBPA sorption onto MWCNTs were analyzed using a pseudo-second-order model, an intraparticle diffusion model and Boyd model. The results showed that TBBPA sorption on MWCNTs and N-MWCNTs could be well described by the pseudo-second-order model, and the external diffusion (boundary layer diffusion) was the rate-limiting step. The extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory was applied to calculate interfacial free energies and to explain the sorption characteristics between the sorbent and solute. This analysis revealed that hydrophobic attractive interactions (i.e., interfacial AB interactions) were dominant in TBBPA sorption onto MWCNTs.