Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the phytoextraction of inorganic (As(III), As(V)) and organic arsenic (Asorg) forms in six tree species: Acer platanoides, Acer pseudoplatanus, Betula pendula, Quercus robur, Tilia cordata and Ulmus laevis. Plants were grown in a pot experiment using As-polluted mining sludge for 90 days. Arsenic (Astotal) was accumulated mainly in the roots of all six tree species, which were generally thinner, shorter and/or black after the experiment. The highest concentration of As(III) and As(V) was determined in the roots of A. pseudoplatanus and A. platanoides (174 and 420 mg kg−1, respectively). High concentrations of As(III) were also recorded in the shoots of B. pendula (11.9 mg kg−1) and As(V) in the aerial parts of U. laevis and A. pseudoplatanus (77.4 and 70.1 mg kg−1). With some exceptions, the dominant form in the tree organs was Asorg, present in mining sludge in low concentration. This form has a decisive influence on As phytoextraction by young tree seedlings even though its BCF value was the only one lower than 1. The obtained results highlight the important role of speciation studies in assessing the response of plants growing in heavily polluted mining sludge.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile of antimicrobial resistance in members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and to detect strains of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) in free-living Sapajus nigritus. Oral and rectal swabs were collected from 15 primates to isolate and identify bacteria, conduct phenotypic tests to detect antimicrobial sensitivity and ESBL-producing strains, and calculate the multiple antimicrobial resistance index. The least effective antimicrobial was amoxicillin (72.72%) and ampicillin (57.57%), and the samples were considered as high risk for public health. No sample was positive for ESBL production. The results show that this study is relevant to One Health initiatives, considering the possibility of transmission of bacterial resistance and resistant genes originating from direct or indirect interaction of S. nigritus with parkgoers. However, these animals cannot be considered as the only reservoirs and transmitters of resistant bacteria as they can be contaminated by human-origin bacteria that can be extremely harmful and often prove lethal to them that play an important role in relationship to the ecology, spreading seeds and controlling insects.


Energy is required in various forms to do useful work and necessary for the continual improvement in the standard of any society. This study presents the development of a par-boiled batch type rice solar dryer using an indirect mode natural convection solar energy. The dryer was designed and constructed to provide easier, faster and more efficient par-boiled rice drying method. The dryer has the capacity of drying 30 kg of the par boiled rice per batch. The major design features of the dryer include a convenient drying process, uniformity in drying product, protect the quality of the drying products, minimal heat loss from the drying chamber. The developed dryer have generated higher air temperature and consequently lowered the relative humidity which are both conducive to improve the drying rate and lower the moisture content of the dried products.  Preliminary performance evaluation of the dryer was also carried out. It was concluded that the dryer could be used for drying par-boiled dry in a batch. Keywords: Par-boiled, batch, solar dryer, natural convection, rice


UNLABELLED
Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) has become established as the principal non-invasive marker of airway inflammation. Exhaled NO levels reported in the literature vary greatly, with differences sometimes attributable to measurement technique.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the reproducibility of the technique used by our department to measure exhaled NO and to know whether results vary with diet and patient characteristics.

METHOD
We studied 20 healthy subjects (10 men and 10 women; mean age 28.21 years). Exhaled NO was measured when the patient was fasting(N1), 30 minutes after intake of vegetables (N2) and 30 minutes after intake of meat/fish (N3). For each measure N1, N2 and N3 we took the average of three consecutive measurements separated by 10 minutes. Exhaled NO was assessed by controlled-flow chemoluminescence after adjusting for trapped air and after generating pressure in the oral cavity that was sufficient to close the soft palate(Eco Physics CLD 77 AM analyzer).

RESULTS
The mean concentration was 3.40 1.30 ppb for N1, 4.03 1.00 ppb for N2 and 3.71 1.05 ppb for N3. The differences between measurements were not statistically significant(p > 0.05). Nor were differences between the sets of three measurements significant. The mean concentration was 3.13 0.41 ppb for women and 3.72 0.31 ppb for men (ns). No significant differences were related to body mass index 25 (n = 15) or > 25 (n = 5).

CONCLUSIONS
The technique our department uses for measuring exhaled NO is reproducible and differences are unrelated to food intake, sex or body mass index.


The aim of this paper is to promote the use of uncertainty mapping when spatial assessments of air quality are made. A large number of air quality maps are produced for scientific and policy purposes but rarely are corresponding maps of their uncertainty included. The need for such maps and the methods to produce them are described. Several uncertainty parameters are discussed but it is recommended to use the probability density function as the basis of the uncertainty estimates. Several examples are provided discussing indicative uncertainty, ensemble methods, comparisons with observations, spatial representativeness, uncertainty in exceedances and probability of exceedance.


The paper presents data on 24 species of aculeate visiting crowns of oaks. 18 of them are new for those specific tree stands.


The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of consumer trust and website quality on purchase intention in Bukalapak e-commerce platform. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed online by means of Google Forms. 100 sample respondents were selected purposively. The sample criterion is having an experience of buying products from Bukalapak at least once. The results of data analysis revealed that consumer trust and website quality had significant positive influence on purchase intention both partially and simultaneously.


Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are usually produced with the help of metal catalysts that first break down various carbon species such as graphite, carbon clusters, amorphous carbon, or hydrocarbons and then release them in the form of SWNTs. These catalysts therefore must perform several functions in order to produce high quality, high yield, long SWNTs, and the finesse of these catalysts is controlled by the balance between those functions. Such a production is critical to future applications such as telecommunication, molecular electronics, sensing, and mechanical devices. In general, multicomponent materials such as bimetallic nanoparticles (bi-MNPs) are much better catalysts than those made of single component materials because the two metals in the biMNPs can enhance certain functions by playing complementary catalytic roles. Furthermore, some functions can only be offered by bi-MNPs because the two metals are structurally arranged in such specific manners that the combined properties would otherwise be impossible to access by monometallic nanoparticles (mono-MNPs). Bimetallic catalysts have been proven superior with improved activity, selectivity, stability, and resistance to poisoning than their monometallic counterparts.1,2 For example, bi-MNPs are preferred heterogeneous catalysts in petroleum reforming processes.3 Bi-MNPs of large diameters (>50 nm) have also been used to catalyze the growth of carbon filaments.4 Those catalysts have also been used in ammonia synthesis


Field prediction is an essential component of the planning process of cellular radio systems. This task is particularly time- and money-consuming in the urban environment, where cell size is of the order of a few hundred meters, and the influence of the city structure (building size and dimension, street width, orientation, etc.) cannot be neglected in the field prediction. For this reason, traditional statistical models such as the well-known Okumura-Hata, cannot be used in this environment, and the prediction is accomplished by means of accurate but time-consuming methods, such as ray-tracing, which require detailed and very expensive databases of the building and street layout of the city under investigation. In this correspondence, we propose a new methodology, which is based on the decomposition of propagation in its basic mechanisms, corresponding to different propagation planes, which can be treated independently from each other. This allows us to build a model which is as simple, fast, and easy to use as the traditional statistical models, with the advantage that it requires only a few statistical parameters thus realizing the need of high-resolution databases.


We consider elastic dipoles in several two-dimensional geometries. Using Cauchy integral techniques and the image method, the state of elastic equilibrium under different boundary conditions can be determined. The results are used to find the ground state of systems of anisotropic dipoles via the simulated annealing method. Only in the case of fixed boundaries the ordering depends on the boundary condition.


We sought to examine factors associated with depressive symptoms among patients with heart disease. Data from 197 patients admitted for coronary artery disease were examined using multivariate predictive models. Women and unmarried patients were more likely to report depressive symptoms. In multivariate models, we observed that depressive symptoms were associated with the level of tangible social (but not emotional) support, bodily pain, and vitality, but not the number of comorbidities, gender, or marital status.


Background. Detection of ≥5 CTC per 7.5 mL of blood before starting systemic treatment is a strong and independent predictor of worse progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in MBC. Trastuzumab (Herceptin®) was shown to be highly effective in reducing CTC number in all HER-2 amplified MBC cases after the first dose (De Giorgi et al., SABCS 2009). Furthermore, trastuzumab can target chemotherapy-resistant CTC in pts with breast cancer (Bozionellou et al. 2004). To date no significant analysis exploring the effect of another anti-HER2 therapy, lapatinib (Tykerb®) on CTC has been published.We hypothesized that anti-HER2-based therapy may modify the detection rate and prognostic value of CTC in pts with HER-2 amplified MBC. Patients and Methods. We retrospectively evaluated 91 HER-2 positive MBC pts, treated at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center with trastuzumab-based (n=59), or lapatinib-based therapy (n=32). In all pts, CTC were enumerated before starting systemic treatments, using CellSearch™. Follow-up CTC counts were available for 41 (69%) pts treated with trastuzumab and 25 (78%) pts treated with lapatinib. PFS and OS were estimated by Kaplan-Meier product limit, and compared between groups according to baseline CTC count ( P=.072). Surprisingly, in the trastuzumab group, PFS showed a non-statistically significant trend in favor of pts with CTC ≥5 compared to those with Conclusions. According to previously published data, our study confirms that trastuzumab-based therapies can drastically reduce the number of CTC and neutralize their negative prognostic value. Furthermore, we found that lapatinib had a limited effect on the detection rate and prognostic value of CTC, although the low number of pts and the high percentage of pre-treated women do not allow us to draw definitive conclusions. Table 1 Table 2 Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-02-03.


Literary geography examines relationships between landscape and its portrayal in literature. Virtually all scholarly work in the field cites the humanistic interpretation of perceived landscape: individuals experience, perceive, and then conceptually re-create space (Tuan 1977). Interpretations vary because individuals bring different mind-sets and affinities to the same landscape. Writers transform geographical facts into literary symbols through topophilia, the bond or sentiment between people and place (Tuan 1974). Human-land relationships are the inspiration and impetus for invented landscapes; people best express that which they know and feel. Authors use invented literary settings, the where of a story, to represent landscape symbolically. Literary geographers examine an author's conceptual sense of place to enhance understanding and to enrich readers' geographies. Sensitive to gender in spatial issues, feminist geographers agree that women are important subjects for geographical research (Monk 1984; Domosh 1991; Kay 1991) and that feminist geographical practices should be grounded in theory (McDowell 1988, 1989). For literary geography I propose a theoretical foundation called feminist criticism. Currently, there is general agreement that research in literary geography is a humanistic endeavor that uses subjective assessment of creative literature to clarify relationships between individuals and their spatial environment. With abundant text and thought, literary geography is indeed a field ready to harvest with respect to content and methodology. Assuming that literary landscapes are open to interpretation, authors are both cognizant of and influenced by their social milieu in their use of setting to express perceived conditions of society. I proffer this theoretical approach as a beginning of literary-geographical theory and criticism. I then analyze "O Pioneers!" by novelist Willa Cather in this framework. FEMINIST CRITICISM The purpose of feminist criticism is to produce a reading of gendered space in literary text. It interprets women's experience with the environment as expressed in woman-centered fiction. This viewpoint concurrently dislodges traditional masculinist ideologies and celebrates the uniqueness of the female perspective. Feminist criticism analyzes the female author's subjective view of reality. Her portrayal of landscape is truthful in that it represents her feelings and attitudes about a place. When the transparent, surface meanings of settings are accepted as author-intended landscape descriptions, the different viewpoint can be understood and appreciated. Such a reading of literary setting descriptions elucidates an author's geography, her sense of place. Women use and interpret language in unique and different ways (Tannen 1990). Their metaphors and free associations reflect their sense of connection as they relate ideas, people, and places to themselves (Gilligan 1982). It is important to look for recurring landscape symbols in women's writings to uncover their intended, yet hidden meanings. On walking through a wooded glade and witnessing a wild sow suckling her young in the lush greenery, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings referred to her fertile Floridian lakeside hammock as "the universe," "the cosmic life" (Rawlings 1942, 39). To Sarah Orne Jewett (1886), an elusive white heron symbolized freedom in the Maine woods. Significantly, she used a girl-child to keep the location of the heron's nest a secret from a male hunter. Though poor, the girl understood and valued freedom above the handsome monetary reward the hunter would have paid her for the information. Here, too, it is important to consider how an author symbolizes women in a landscape and the image of women that this produces. These symbols may indicate women's cultural roles. For example, when Meridel Le Sueur (1991) was pregnant, she likened herself to a curling-branched pear tree, heavy with ripening fruit. …


A simple junior-level electrodynamics problem is used to illustrate the interference between a source-free standing plane wave and a wave generated by a pulse in a current sheet. Depending upon the relative phases between the standing wave and the current pulse and also upon the relative magnitudes, we can find quite different patterns of emitted energy and momentum. If the source gives a large radiation pulse so that the source-free plane wave can be neglected, then the radiation spreads out symmetrically on either side of the current sheet. However, if the radiation sheet gives a pulse with fields comparable to those of the standing wave, then we can find a single radiation pulse moving to the right while the current sheet recoils to the left or the situation with the directions reversed. The example is a crude illustration of particle-like behavior arising from conventional classical electromagnetic behavior in the presence of source-free radiation. The discussion makes contact with the ideas of photon...


Background Diagnostic and therapeutic injections of the zygapophyseal joint (z-joint) are routinely performed under radiologic guidance (eg, fluoroscopy, computed tomography). Technically, these procedures could also be completed using ultrasound guidance, but existing evidence insufficiently supports this alternative imaging method, and it cannot therefore be recommended as a standard practice. There has also been no published proof-of-concept study using a routine fluoroscopy control for ultrasound-guided z-joint injections. Methods A cadaver study was performed to validate ultrasound as an imaging modality for z-joint injections. Fifty z-joint injections were performed on 5 nonembalmed specimens. In-plane ultrasound approach was implemented. Zygapophyseal joints were accessed through a needle placement under the joint capsule into the posterior synovial recess. Iohexol was thereby injected, and fluoroscopy was subsequently performed. Results In 44 (88%) of 50 performed injections, the intra-articular spread of the contrast agent was clearly observed on the fluoroscopy image. In 6 (12%) of 50 cases, the contrast flow appeared in the soft tissues. In 4 of the 6 failed injections, the z-joint gap was not evident on an ultrasound image. No intravascular, nerve root, or epidural injections were observed. Conclusions Ultrasound may be a viable alternative to fluoroscopy or computed tomography as a guidance method for lumbar z-joint injections.


Although urban disorder has played a central role in neighborhood research, its impact may have been overstated in studies relying on the subjective perception of survey respondents only. Research on the "perception bias"—defined as the divergence between respondents' subjective assessments and systematic observations of disorder—has revealed the ambiguous nature of disorder and opened a door to the analysis of the social construction of this environmental cognition. Using survey and observational data from 140 small neighborhoods in two German cities, we advance this research by focusing on the moderating role of residents' interethnic contacts and attitudes. The results show that the effects of neighborhood minority concentration on the perception bias are conditional on the residents' interethnic contacts and xenophobic attitudes. These findings highlight the subjectivity of disorder perceptions and caution against a naive understanding of Broken Windows theory.


Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia invited five outstanding Old Testament professors to present lectures on aspects of the Book of Isaiah. They were Elizabeth Achtemeier, James Luther Mays, Robert R. Wilson, Walter Brueggemann, and Paul D. Hanson. Each presented a lecture which became a chapter in this book. Seitz as the host professor (he has since moved to Yale) presented the concluding lecture: "Isaiah 1-66: Making Sense of the Whole," and then prepared an introduction for the book. This is a concise summary of the best scholarship and understanding of this very important book. No other book has so concisely evaluated the best of this century's contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the book. Yet the book is more a symptom of the divided mind and heart of current biblical scholarship than a solution to it. The title of the book reflects the current pressure to help the believing reader and biblical preacher. But all the lecturers, with the possible exception of Walter Brueggemann, clearly show their training which insisted on viewing this as three or more books, rather than one. Seitz is aware of the question whether this should be heard as a single book or as a witness to a considerable develop ment behind the book. But his presen tation falls far short of a solution. This is an excellent book. Anyone interested in Isaiah will read it with profit. But the definitive treatment that will give back to the people of God a satisfactory reading of this magnificent book is not here.


Recently, there are many social movements which arise in many parts of big city in Indonesia. These days, social movement, that is known as a demonstrasi or unjuk rasa seem to become a trend and very popular inside the society in order to get what they want but unreachable. Most of these acts are pointed to the government, both in civil and military. While, the majorities that take apart in this social movement are the students from all universities, both state universities and the private ones. They are not only concern ing about political matter, but also con cerning about many social problems. The objective of this research is to prove Orum's theory whichshows a causing factor of individual participation In doing a social movement that is determined with 6 important variable. They are: Political Trust, Political Efficacy, Unstructured Work Routine, Subjective Dissatisfaction, Subgroup Identification, and Self Esteem. The subjects of this study were 139 students, male and female, both activist and non-activist that spread in many universities, both state and private in Yogyakarta and Surabaya. Seven scales were used for examinting the participation on social movement. The result of data analyses by using Path Analysis, finds an output which fits with Orum's Theory, that is: There is a positive correlation between unstructured study routine and participation in the so cial movement (1); between subgroup iden tification and participation in the social movement (2). There is a negative correlation between subjective dissatisfaction and political trust (3). On aothe hand, another result that is not fit with the Orum's Theory are: There is no significat correlation between politi cal trust and participation in the social movement (4); between political efficacy and participation in the social movement (5); between subgroup identification 'and political trust (6); between self esteem and political efficacy (7).Â


ABSTRACT We investigated the structure of abstracts in Slovenian and international journals in the field of materials and technology. The aim of the study was to analyze the adherence of the abstracts published in Materials and Technology (MIT) and Materials Science and Technology (MST) to two different instructions for the preparation of abstracts (scheme based on ISO 214:1976 and Spanring system). 25 abstracts from each journal were divided into sentences. We tried to place the sentences into one of the categories of the above mentioned schemes. The research was a part of the postgraduate study in the Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies(Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana) in September and October 2008. There are no important differences between MIT and MST. Spanring system seems more appropriate for the field of materials and technology. The place and the time of the research should be added to abstracts and the Hu-bit category should be distributed into two parts: Hu-M (method) and Hu-R (results). The recommended Spanring system should be harmonized with authors, who publish in these serials and the effect of the instructions should be analyzed, too.


Typha latifolia (cattail) sequesters arsenic within predominantlyferric iron root coatings, thus decreasing mobility of this toxic element in wetland sediments. Element-specific XRF microtomographic imaging illustrated a high spatial correlation between iron and arsenic in root plaques, with little arsenic in the interior of the roots. XANES analyses demonstrated that the plaque was predominantly ferric iron and contained approximately 20% As(III) and 80% As(V), which is significant because the two oxidation states form species that differ in toxicity and mobility. For the first time, spatial distribution maps of As oxidation states were developed, indicating that As(III) and As(V) are both fairly heterogeneous throughoutthe plaque. Chemical extractions showed that As was strongly adsorbed in the plaque rather than coprecipitated. Iron and arsenic concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 0.8 g Fe g(-1) wet plaque and 30 to 1200 microg As g(-1) wet plaque, consistent with a mechanism of As adsorption onto Fe(III) oxyhydroxide plaque. Because this mechanism decreases the concentrations of both As(III) and As(V) in groundwater, we propose that disruption of vegetation could increase the concentrations of mobile arsenic.


Protein interaction is critical molecular regulatory activity underlining cellular functions and precise cell fate choices. Using TWIST1 BioID-proximity-labelling and network propagation analyses, we discovered and characterized a TWIST-chromatin regulatory module (TWIST1-CRM) in the neural crest cell (NCC). Combinatorial perturbation of core members of TWIST1-CRM: TWIST1, CHD7, CHD8, and WHSC1 in cell models and mouse embryos revealed that loss of the function of the regulatory module resulted in abnormal specification of NCCs and compromised craniofacial tissue patterning. Our results showed that in the course of cranial neural crest differentiation, phasic activity of TWIST1 and the interacting chromatin regulators promote the choice of NCC fate while suppressing neural stem cell fates, and subsequently enhance ectomesenchyme potential and cell motility. We have revealed the connections between TWIST1 and potential neurocristopathy factors which are functionally interdependent in NCC specification. Moreover, the NCC module participate in the genetic circuit delineating dorsal-ventral patterning of neural progenitors in the neuroepithelium.


Syntheses of nucleic acids are of importance not only in the natural product chemistry but also in the molecular recognition study in biology. This review describes syntheses of RNA and DNA, which were found to be related each other. Deoxyinosine probes were developed for cloning genes with degenerated codons. Synthetic genes for c-Ha-ras and T4 endonuclease V provided new approaches in recognition of nucleic acids by proteins. Antibodies specific for photo-damaged pyrimidines in DNA have been studied by cloning and mutating their genes.


As one of the most important part of spatial analysis, spatial direction relationships acts as the most valuable rule in the process of automated simplification of spatial points cluster. In this paper spatial point cluster are divided into two parts. One is the boundary points, the other are the focus points. Leaving the boundary points alone, only the focus points are considered. The influence of spatial direction relationships to the automated simplification of focus points is discussed. The method keeping the direction relationships of focus points during the automated simplification is put forward. At the end the further research of direction relationships to the automated simplification of points cluster is proposed. Keywordsspatial direction relationships points cluster automated simplification


Plasmids play an important role in bacterial evolution and mediate horizontal transfer of genes including virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes. Although short-read sequencing technologies have enabled large-scale bacterial genomics, the resulting draft genome assemblies are often fragmented into hundreds of discrete contigs. Several tools and approaches have been developed to identify plasmid sequences in such assemblies, but require trade-off between sensitivity and specificity. Here we propose using the Kraken classifier, together with a custom Kraken database comprising known chromosomal and plasmid sequences of Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex (KpSC), to identify plasmid-derived contigs in draft assemblies. We assessed performance using Illumina-based draft genome assemblies for 82 KpSC isolates, for which complete genomes were available to supply ground truth. When benchmarked against five other classifiers (Centrifuge, RFPlasmid, mlplasmids, PlaScope, and Platon), Kraken showed balanced performance in terms of overall sensitivity and specificity (90.8% and 99.4%, respectively for contig count; 96.5% and >99.9%, respectively for cumulative contig length), and the highest accuracy (96.8% vs 91.8%-96.6% for contig count; 99.8% vs 99.0%-99.7% for cumulative contig length), and F1-score (94.5% vs 84.5%-94.1%, for contig count; 98.0% vs 88.9%-96.7% for cumulative contig length). Kraken also achieved consistent performance across our genome collection. Furthermore, we demonstrate that expanding the Kraken database with additional known chromosomal and plasmid sequences can further improve classification performance. Although we have focused here on the KpSC, this methodology could easily be applied to other species with a sufficient number of completed genomes. IMPACT STATEMENT The assembly of bacterial genomes using short-read data often results in hundreds of discrete contigs due to the presence of repeat sequences in those genomes. Separating plasmid contigs from chromosomal contigs in such assemblies is required, e.g., to assess the mobility of antimicrobial resistance genes. Although several tools have been developed for that purpose, they often suffer from low sensitivity or specificity. Here, we propose that the Kraken classifier coupled with a custom Kraken database comprising plasmid-free chromosomal sequences and complete plasmid sequences can be used for detection of plasmid contigs in draft genome assemblies. We showed that Kraken achieved balanced and higher performance compared with other methods (Centrifuge, RFPlasmid, mlplasmids, PlaScope, and Platon). We therefore consider that the Kraken classifier can be the best option for predicting the origin of contigs for species with a suitable number of completed chromosomal and plasmid sequences. DATA SUMMARY Table S1: Complete chromosomes used for creating the base Kraken database. Plasmid-free chromosomal sequences and complete plasmid sequences used for creating the base Kraken database are also available via Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13289564. Table S2: Sequence data used for benchmarking. Draft assemblies of these 82 KpSC strains are available via Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13553432. The corresponding sequence read files and complete genomes were deposited in the NCBI SRA and GenBank under BioProjects PRJEB6891, PRJNA351909, PRJNA486877, and PRJNA646837 (individual BioSample IDs listed in Table S2). Kraken output files are available via Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13553789.


The invasive yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax Lepeletier, 1836 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), is native to Southeast Asia. It was first detected in France (in the southwest) in 2005. It has since expanded throughout Europe and has caused significant harm to honeybee populations. We must better characterize the hornet's flight capacity to understand the species' success and develop improved control strategies. Here, we carried out a study in which we quantified the flight capacities of V. velutina workers using computerized flight mills. We observed that workers were able to spend around 40% of the daily 7-hour flight tests flying. On average, they flew 10km to 30km during each flight test, although there was a large amount of variation. Workers sampled in early summer had lower flight capacities than workers sampled later in the season. Flight capacity decreased as workers aged. However, in the field, workers probably often die before this decrease becomes significant. During each flight test, workers performed several continuous flight phases of variable length that were separated by rest phases. Based on the length of those continuous flight phases and certain key assumptions, we estimated that V. velutina colony foraging radius is at least 700 m (half that in early summer); however, some workers are able to forage much farther. While these laboratory findings remain to be confirmed by field studies, our results can nonetheless help inform V. velutina biology and control efforts.


Principle 2 of the EPSRC's principles of robotics AISB workshop on Principles of Robotics, 2016 proves to be future proof when applied to the current state of the art of law and technology surrounding autonomous intelligent cars AICs. Humans, not AICS, are responsible agents. AICs should be designed; operated as far as is practicable to comply with existing laws and fundamental rights and freedoms, including privacy by design. It will show that some legal questions arising from autonomous intelligent driving technology can be answered by the technology itself.


Background: Insufficiency fracture (IF) can show increased uptake on a bone scan (BS). IFs are often misinterpreted as bone metastases if the characteristic "Honda sign" (H-sign) is invisible. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone for the characterization of IF and bone metastasis after radiotherapy in patients with cervical cancer detected by BS. Materials and Methods: Our study included 40 patients with cervical cancer after radiotherapy that showed pelvic emerging increased uptake on a BS during follow-up. Then further MRI examination was performed in all patients. Two radiologists independently reviewed the MR images, and the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated based on the mean scores. Diagnostic validity of the inter-observer was calculated by using kappa statistics. The gold standard was based on radiologic findings, clinical data and follow-up at least 12 months. Results: A total of 57 emerging bone lesions detected at BS were identified in the reference standard, including 43 IFs and 14 bone metastases. Only 20 patients showed a "H-sign" on the BS images. Using MRI analysis, all lesions detected by BS were found in MRI by both radiologists. On average, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for distinguishing IFs from bone metastases were 95.3% (41/43), 92.8% (13/14), and 94.7% (54/57), respectively. The inter-observer variability was determined to be very good (kappa value = 0.962). Conclusions: MRI is a reliable diagnostic technique for the further characterization of emerging lesions detected by BS, MRI shows great diagnostic efficiency in the differentiation of IF and bone metastasis.


This resarch aims to find out whether or not the impelementation of Rainbow Dots Strategy can improve reading comprehension of the second grade students of SMP Negeri 5 Palu. The research design is Pre-experimental design. The population of this research is the second grade students of SMP Negeri 5 Palu. The researcher takes the students in class D as the sample by using purposive sampling technique. The data are collected through pretest and posttest. The pretest is conducted to measure the students ability before treatment, and posttest is administered to measure the students after treatment. Based on the result of the test, the mean score of pretest is 33 while the mean score of posttest is 54.625, so the mean score increases from pretest to posttest about (21.625). Furthemore, the researcher found that t-counted is 12.21 by applying 0,05 level of significance and 15 degree of freedom (df), the researcher found that t-table is 1.753. It means that t-counted is higher than t-table. In conclusion, the hypothesis of this research is accepted and the use of Rainbow Dots strategy in improving reading comprehension of the students is effective.


Hyperdimensional Computing (HDC) has obtained abundant attention as an emerging non von Neumann computing paradigm. Inspired by the way human brain functions, HDC leverages high dimensional patterns to perform learning tasks. Compared to neural networks, HDC has shown advantages such as energy efficiency and smaller model size, but sub-par learning capabilities in sophisticated applications. Recently, researchers have observed when combined with neural network components, HDC can achieve better performance than conventional HDC models. This motivates us to explore the deeper insights behind theoretical foundations of HDC, particularly the connection and differences with neural networks. In this paper, we make a comparative study between HDC and neural network to provide a different angle where HDC can be derived from an extremely compact neural network trained upfront. Experimental results show such neural network-derived HDC model can achieve up to 21% and 5% accuracy increase from conventional and learning-based HDC models respectively. This paper aims to provide more insights and shed lights on future directions for researches on this popular emerging learning scheme.


To the Editor.— The recent article on humility (1982;247:3193) brought to mind an experience I had several years ago. A well-liked physician on our staff was admitted for evaluation of hepatomegaly. The liver biopsy specimen disclosed cirrhosis and Mallory's bodies. We knew this physician socially and could attest to his abstinence from alcoholic beverages. The result of the grand rounds on his case was the impression that Mallory's bodies might not be pathognomonic for alcoholic liver disease. Support for that assessment can be found in an article by Roche-Sicot and Benhamou, 1 which described a 13-year-old patient with Wilson's disease. Much of my internship was devoted to gaining a perspective for validated information. Much of medicine is, perhaps, predicated on assumptions. As an intern, I was often challenged by my attending physicians to identify the published data on which a "standard textbook" statement was based. It was not uncommon to


In the past, frequent movements and migration were studied separately in metapopulation models. The levels that exist in a hierarchical metapopulation model were also limited to two and only recently increased to multiple levels. Moreover, a generalisable deterministic model was not available. Here we introduce a novel model incorporating both movement scenarios as well as a multiple-level structure. We describe the system in simple differential equation form. The simulations of different distributions of local contact rates for disease transmission suggest that local information is important for predicting disease dynamics. The comparison between the results from a solely migration-based multilevel model and the model discussed in this paper suggests that diseases with low transmission rates can spread rapidly and infect a large number of susceptible individuals in a short time if they appear in a population where frequent movements are dominant.


Residual volume and the relative RV/TLC (total lung capacity) were measured in 632 men and 191 women aged 15 to 70 years. The residual volume showed a significant correlation to age and body height, but not to the relative body weight (Broca-Index). The values of RV/TLC showed a correlation to age and Broca-Index, but not to the body height. The regression formular to calculate the normal range are given; they comply with the data of other authors.


Introduction Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) provides long-term immunologic disease control for a substantial portion of patients with hematologic malignancies. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is sensitive to graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects as evidenced by responses to reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) allo-HCT, and to donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) for post-HCT relapse. To identify potential alloreactive (AR)/GVL T cells, we performed in vitro mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLRs) between recipient CLL cells and donor T cells derived from blood apheresis products acquired for DLI. Responder and non-responder T cell populations from MLRs and recipient post-HCT blood samples underwent T cell receptor beta (TCRB) high-throughput sequencing (HTS). The prevalence of candidate AR/GVL TCRB clonotypes at various times following HCT was quantified and correlated with CLL disease burden and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

Methods CLL cells isolated from cryopreserved PBMC aliquots of 7 patients who experienced post-HCT relapse were pre-stimulated in vitro for 72 hours with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides in X-VIVO 15 supplemented with IL-4, IL-7, BAFF, and GM-CSF. Upregulation of CD80, CD86, CD40L, MHCI, and/or MHCII was confirmed by flow cytometry. Donor T cells were isolated from cryopreserved DLI using pan-T cell isolation beads (Miltenyi), labeled with CFSE, and incubated with CpG-stimulated CLL cells for 7 days. Upon the conclusion of the MLR incubation, T cell populations were sorted into rapid responders (RR; CFSEdim), slow responders (SR; CFSEbrightCD69pos) and non-responders (NR; CFSEbrightCD69neg) and RNA was isolated from each cell population. RNA was then amplified and TCRB sequenced using the LymphoSIGHT platform (Sequenta). PBMC samples collected and cryopreserved pre-HCT and regularly following HCT and DLI were also subjected to TCRB-HTS.

Results RR cells comprised 11.5 +/- 9.2% of MLR T cells, whereas SR were 4.2 +/- 3.5% and NR were 84.3 +/- 10.1% ([Fig 1A][1]). RR, SR, and NR populations demonstrated clonotypic exclusion with a mean 4.4% +/- 5.5% coincidence between populations ([Fig 1B][1]). TCRB diversity in the RR population was more restricted compared with diversity in the SR and NR populations, with the mean number of clonotypes comprising the top 50th percentile of total TCRB reads being 11.8 +/- 6.5%, 17.7 +/- 8.5%, and 20.2 +/- 1.8% of unique reads, respectively (p<0.01). Candidate AR/GVL TCRB clonotypes, specified as those enriched in MLR-responder populations compared to pre-stimulation samples, were validated by comparison with pre-stimulation frequency-matched clonotypes. The mean frequency of AR/GVL TCRB clonotypes in blood samples post-HCT were 10- to 100-fold greater than control clonotypes, depending on the patient ([Fig 1C][1]). AR/GVL T cells were present within the post-HCT PBMC TCRB repertoires at mean frequencies of 5x10-4 at day +90 rising to 2x10-3 by day +360 post-HCT in 3/4 patients experiencing at least 2 year remissions post-HCT. In patients experiencing early relapse (within 1yr post-HCT), no candidate AR/GVL clonotypes were identified in 1/3 patients and 2/3 exhibited AR/GVL clonotypes at roughly one log lower frequencies (mean 8x10-5 at day +90 and 4x10-4 at day 360) than those with longer remissions ([Fig 1D][1]). One patient who experienced fatal post-DLI steroid-refractory GVHD exhibited striking changes in AR/GVL clonotype prevalence following DLI ([Fig 1D][1]).

![Figure 1][2]

Figure 1
MLR T cell populations are sorted by FACS (A). Clonotypic compositions of rapid responder (RR), slow responder (SR), and non-responder (NR) cells are determined (B). Candidate AR/GVL clonotypes are validated bioinformatically (C). Three representative patient courses demonstrate MRD quantification (red) and presence of AR/GVL clonotypes (black) in a patient with late relapse, absence in a patient with early relapse, and clonotypic transition in a patient with post-DLI GVHD (D).

Conclusions In vitro MLR between donor T cells and CpG-stimulated CLL cells selects clonotypically distinct T cell populations with an oligoclonal RR population. Persistence of adoptively transferred candidate AR/GVL clones identified by MLR appears to correlate with likelihood of maintaining clinical remission beyond 2 years in CLL patients undergoing RIC allo-HCT. Failure to adoptively transfer AR/GVL clonotypes may be associated with early treatment failure.

Disclosures: Klinger: Sequenta, Inc.: Employment, Research Funding. Moorhead: Sequenta, Inc.: Employment, Research Funding. Zheng: Sequenta, Inc.: Employment, Research Funding. Faham: Sequenta Inc.: Employment, Stockholder Other.

 [1]: #F1
 [2]: pending:yes


The need to cope with the raising expectations which the society has from the education, compels the teachers to enlarge the limitations of the traditional education system in order to discover, filter and implement new teaching and assessment methods by which it could harness the cognitive and emotional potential of all the children they work with. By applying the multiple intelligence theory, the teachers meet the pupils' needs to benefit from the opportunity of learning in ways that match each one's unique way of thinking. The study is based on applying a questionnaire which studies the satisfaction degree of the pupils within the Romanian traditional educational system and the ways to attract them to school.


Wesleyan Methodists in Victorian Britain are supposed to have been hampered by traditional methods of mission. From the 1850s onwards, however, they launched a strategy of appointing home missionary ministers. Although Wesleyans adopted no new theology, left structures unchanged and still relied on wealthy laymen, they developed fresh work in cities, employed paid lay agents, used women more and recruited children as fundraisers. Organised missions, temperance activity and military chaplaincies bolstered their impact. District Missionaries and Connexional Evangelists were appointed and, in opposition to ritualist clergy, Wesleyans increasingly saw themselves as Nonconformists. They experienced a quiet revolution in home mission.


Abstract : It has been demonstrated that the conventional technique of fixed-laser-sheet flow visualization can be extended to include three-dimensional visualization by means of a scanning laser sheet. This system was implemented using a rotating mirror in conjunction with appropriate fixed optics. A space-filling three-dimensional data base was digitally obtained from the imaging and recording units, and was processed to yield a variety of three dimensional views of the flow field in addition to obtaining quantitative results regarding mixing levels and velocities. Laser-sheet scanning was first applied in a study of boundary-layer turbulence in which active control was implemented. The flow visualization readily indicated the near-wall instabilities present in turbulent spots and synthetic turbulent boundary-layers. When control was attempted using an array of surface heating elements, the visualization technique graphically illustrated the attenuation of the near-wall sublayer 'streaks' and resultant quiescent outer flow.


INTRODUCTION
Traditional herbal medicines are mostly composed of more than one herb which act synergistically; hence, there is high demand for proper quality control methods to ensure the consistent quality of polyherbal formulations.

AIMS
Proposing a simple, reliable, and efficient method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a polyherbal product using multivariate analysis of ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy or HPLC-PDA data.

METHODOLOGY
An antiobesity formula consisting of equal proportions of Trachyspermum ammi, Cuminum cyminum, and Origanum majorana was prepared as well as spiked with one of each herb simultaneously, representing accepted and unaccepted samples. Full factorial design (2k ) was applied to study the effect of temperature, sonication, and stirring time for extraction optimisation. The HPLC and UV spectral fingerprints were separately subjected to multivariate analysis. The soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) and partial least squares (PLS) models were developed to segregate the accepted from the unaccepted samples and to predict the herbal composition in addition to the thymol content in each sample.

RESULTS
The SIMCAuv and SIMCAhplc models showed correct discrimination between the accepted and unaccepted samples with excellent selectivity and sensitivity. The PLSuv , PLShplc , and PLSthym models showed excellent linearity and accuracy with R2  > 0.98, slope close to 1, intercept close to 0, low root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC), and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) (close to 0). On validation, the PLS models correctly predicted the quantity of the three herbs and thymol content with ±5% accuracy.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates the reliability and efficiency of HPLC and UV spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis (MVA) for ensuring the consistency of polyherbal preparations.


This paper examines the CSR practices of family firms listed in the French financial market and distinguishes between those managed by a family member CEO and those managed by a competent external CEO. We adopt an exploratory approach and begin with a content analysis of the annual reports from family firms listed in the CAC 40 index during the 2005-2011 period. We then conduct various statistical techniques (e.g., Pearson correlation analysis and ordinary least squares regression analysis) to study the relationships among social performance and family involvement. This paper is the first to provide a preliminary assessment of French family firms' CSR practices in the current economic context. The study suggests that family firms intensify their CSR efforts during the 2005-2011 period. Our study also reveals that family firms managed by competent external CEOs show better social performance than those managed by family member CEOs. Indeed, the empirical results consistently show a negative and statistically significant association between family involvement and corporate social performance.


Given the rapid increase in the use of operational mesoscale models to satisfy different specialized needs, it is important for the community to share ideas and solutions for meeting the many associated challenges that encompass science, technology, education, and training. As a contribution toward this objective, this paper begins a series that reports on the characteristics and performance of an operational mesogammascale weather analysis and forecasting system that has been developed for use by the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command. During the more than five years that this four-dimensional weather system has been in use at seven U.S. Army test ranges, valuable experience has been gained about the production and effective use of high-resolution model products for satisfying a variety of needs. This paper serves as a foundation for the rest of the papers in the series by describing the operational requirements for the system, the data assimilation and forecasting system characteristics, and the forecaster training that is required for the finescale products to be used effectively.


Jim Clark was one of the greatest world champions that motor racing has ever seen. Born in Scotland, he won the world championship in 1963 and 1965 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year and at the time of his death had won more Grand Prix races and more pole positions than any other driver. His drive in the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza is regarded as one of the greatest drives ever. Driving only for the Lotus team in Formula 1 Clark had a particularly close relationship with its founder and owner, Colin Chapman until his death at the Hockenheimring in 1968. His story is told here by the curator of the museum dedicated to his extraordinary exploits.


Abstract White-nose syndrome (WNS) represents an emerging infectious disease in bats caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). The fatal disease has devastated populations of several species of bats in North America, so there is interest in delimiting its current range to aid containment and other management efforts. Early detection of the fungus aids in risk assessment of the disease and managing its presence in areas with hibernating bats. Infection by Pd in bats has been neither surveyed nor reported in Louisiana, despite the fact that WNS has been recorded approximately 150 km across the border of two neighboring states, Arkansas and Mississippi. Between December 2015 and January 2016, we surveyed 190 culverts distributed across the northern portion of Louisiana. In total, we encountered 801 individual bats (355 Perimyotis subflavus, 299 Myotis, 54 Eptesicus fuscus, 47 Tadarida brasiliensis, and 46 Corynorhinus rafinesquii). We used ultraviolet illumination to inspect each individual for presence of WNS symptoms, and no visible symptoms were detected. We also swabbed the skin of 244 bats and 316 habitat walls, and swabs were returned to the laboratory and analyzed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Pd-specific primers for presence of the pathogen. No genetic detections occurred in any bat or habitat wall samples. Based on negative detection, we hypothesize that the fungus has not yet been introduced into the state of Louisiana or the environmental conditions of culverts found in Louisiana are not conducive to persistence of the fungus; however, ours is the first survey to assess the status of Pd in the state. Monitoring should continue to confirm that no evidence of the fungal pathogen exists anywhere in the state and to enable rapid response if detection occurs.


This thesis examines the impact of recreational activities, specifically camping and trampling, on alpine and subalpine vegetation communities in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. A survey approach was first used to determine visitor use levels and types of recreation activities within the main alpine area. An experimental methodology was then used to quantify the relationship between use and damage from camping and trampling to vegetation and soils. Specific questions addressed were: (1) what are the visitor numbers, demographics, activities and patterns of visitation to the Kosciuszko alpine area and have they changed since previous estimates?; (2) what is the relationship between levels of use and damage for camping in undisturbed alpine and subalpine vegetation communities and does this vary between tent and activity areas?; (3) (a) what is the relationship between levels of use and damage for trampling in the undisturbed alpine and subalpine vegetation communities when trampled once and (b) are thresholds and/or the relationship altered when trampling is repeated in the following year?; (4) what is the relationship between use and damage from trampling to plant communities following a large-scale disturbance (bushfire) and do natural processes during the following year of recovery eclipse any recreation impacts?; and (5) what recommendations can be made to minimise impacts of trampling and camping in high altitude sites in the Australian Alps? Research assessing the impact of recreation on the environment is important for conservation of protected areas. Recreation can affect a range of environmental components including vegetation and soils. These impacts can be measured using a range of parameters including vegetation cover, composition and height and soil compaction. When assessing the impact of recreation on vegetation and soils, four factors need to be considered: (1) amount of use; (2) type of use and behaviour; (3) timing of use; and (4) environmental characteristics. In this thesis it is proposed that low levels of recreation use may not cause significant damage to vegetation until a primary threshold point is reached where increasing use results in rapidly increasing amounts of damage. A second threshold may then be found above which increasing use does not result in significantly more damage. Type and intensity of impacts can vary among different activities so the effects of camping and trampling (which are popular activities in the area) were both examined at varying intensities of use. As vegetation types may also vary in their response, the impact of activities on different communities were compared. Finally, the effect of trampling after large scale fires was examined. Kosciuszko National Park is a unique mountain area that has been used for a variety of activities since European settlement. Tourism is now one of the largest land uses of the Park with indications of continued growth from the mid 1950's through until the early 1990's. As the area has high conservation values, minimising the amount of disturbance to the environment caused by tourists is important for the long term management of the Park.
Based on an extensive analysis of visitor survey data collected prior to the thesis in the 1999/2000 non-winter period, it was possible to characterise recreational use of the largest alpine area in Australia. Like many protected areas around the world, recreational use in Kosciuszko National Park is increasing during the non-winter period. During this survey, 102 000 visitors were estimated as entering the Kosciuszko alpine area with approximately 47 000 visitors undertaking activities of a half a day or more. This is a 10% increase since the previous estimate from the 1990/91 non-winter period. A variety of activities are undertaken within the area including sightseeing, day walking, mountain biking and camping. For camping, most trips were undertaken by small groups for short periods. Therefore the impacts to vegetation from one and three nights camping by groups of four people were assessed using an experimental approach. Camping for both one and three nights affected vegetation height, but to different extents. After three nights camping, there was a decrease in vegetation height in the tent and activity areas while after one night camping, a decrease in vegetation height only occurred in the tent area. Camping for three nights caused a short term increase in dead material, however six weeks after camping there was no difference in the cover of dead material among the control, tent or activities areas indicating that the effect was short lived. One night camping did not result in any significant increase in dead material. Bushwalking is one of the most popular activities to be undertaken in the Australian Alps including the Kosciuszko alpine area. Many visitors undertaking walks during this time depart hardened tracks in order to reach destinations such as mountain peaks and glacial lakes. An obvious impact of this trampling is the creation of pads and trails as the vegetation cover is replaced by bare soil that then becomes compacted and/or erodes. The thresholds before signs of disturbance occur as a result of trampling vary among vegetation communities and among parameters measured. Generally, primary thresholds were exceeded after moderate use with damage still evident one year later. Reduced vegetation height occurred at lower levels of use, but recovered quickly. Vegetation cover showed limited recovery once damaged. This was particularly apparent for bog communities, which also had very low resistance to damage. Repeat trampling in the following year compounded the damage and lowered the primary thresholds.
Impacts and thresholds from trampling in subalpine areas within weeks of the landscape level bushfires in 2003 differed from those in the undisturbed community. Where areas had been burnt, low levels of trampling caused exposure and loss of underlying bare soils with secondary thresholds reached at low to moderate use. These thresholds occurred for both extensively burnt and partially burnt areas. The damage caused by trampling however, was rapidly eclipsed by natural processes with no significant effects after one year. When examining the impacts of trampling in extensively burnt subalpine grasslands one year after the bushfires the thresholds for cover were again lower than undisturbed conditions even though there was substantial vegetation recovery from the fires. Low to moderate use was required to exceed the primary threshold for vegetation cover with a secondary threshold achieved after moderate use. Twelve months of recovery had however, allowed soils to become more cohesive with moderate to high trampling use now required to cause significant losses of soil. This research has shown that the identification of two thresholds of disturbance will be beneficial for management decision making. A primary threshold will define the upper limit of use for dispersed recreational use while a secondary threshold will define when concentrated use should occur. This information is valuable, as while the resistance of the vegetation communities examined in this research was moderate in some communities, resilience was always low. As such, recovery from disturbance will be slow and damage should therefore be minimised as much as possible.


ABSTRACT Healthcare professionals are more at risk than others of being affected by the negative psychological consequences of COVID-19. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the factors protecting healthcare professionals from the negative psychological consequences of the pandemic. The purpose of the present study is to examine the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship of fear of COVID-19 with COVID-19 burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish healthcare professionals. Participants included 313 healthcare professionals (52.7% females) ranged in age between 22 and 59 years (mean age = 34.41 ± 6.59) and completed measures of fear of COVID-19, psychological capital, job satisfaction and burnout. A mediation model indicated that fear of COVID-19 was negatively associated with psychological capital and job satisfaction but positively associated with COVID-19 burnout. The model also indicated that psychological capital was negatively associated with COVID-19 burnout and positively associated with job satisfaction. Additionally, psychological capital mitigated the effect of fear of COVID-19 on COVID-19 burnout. Finally, the results indicated that fear of COVID-19 did not only have a direct effect on reduced job satisfaction but also had an indirect effect on it through increased psychological capital. Findings elucidate our understanding of the role of psychological capital in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and COVID-19 burnout and job satisfaction. The results are useful for developing and implementing intervention programs to reduce the negative psychological effects of COVID-19 on healthcare professionals.


Schistosomiasis is an important global public health problem, as millions of people are at risk of acquiring this infection. An ideal method for sustainable control of schistosomiasis is using a vaccine alone or in combination with drugs. In the present study, we cloned the SjGALE gene and generated the expression product in E. coli. The expression level of SjGALE during different developmental stages of S. japonicum was evaluated by real-time RT-PCR and western blotting. Immunolocalization indicated that the protein was mainly located on the tegument of the parasite. Infection of rSjGALE-immunized mice demonstrated a 34% and 49% reduction of the mean worm burden and liver egg burden, respectively, in two independent experiments, indicating immune protection. The liver egg count from each female adult worm was significantly reduced by 63% in the two trials. The cytokine profile and IgG isotype analysis demonstrated the induction of a Th1 immune profile in response to immunization with this protein, further suggesting protection against infection. In conclusion, these findings indicated that SjGALE is a potential vaccine against S. japonicum.


Violations of academic integrity (e.g., cheating and other acts of academic dishonesty) are issues on every college campus (e.g., Turner & Beemsterboer, 2003; Arnold, Martin, Jinks, & Bigby, 2007). Many institutions have adopted honor codes as part of their unique culture in response to violations of academic integrity. While the number of honor codes at institutions has increased over the past few decades, research examining the effectiveness of honor codes has been limited by issues of research design. The case study presented here discusses honor codes, their presence on college campuses across the United States, and highlights one particular campus. In contrast to previous research, we suggest that future research should utilize experimental designs technique to determine the effectiveness of honor code reporting on reducing academic integrity violations. Thus, previous institutional research investigating violations of academic integrity has been retrospective and correlational in nature, which precludes an accurate examination of the effectiveness of honor code reporting as these research design characteristics do not permit the examination of cause-and-effect relationships. Only experimental designs permit the examination of causal or cause-and-effect relationships (Kirk, 1996). Thus, this case study describes the fundamental advantage of experimental design over previous research in its ability to conclude causal relationships between honor codes and violations of academic integrity.


We describe a 44-year-old man with end-stage renal disease who underwent insertion of a stent graft to repair a hemodialysis graft pseudoaneurysm. The indication for stent graft placement was an acute and rapidly enlarging intragraft pseudoaneurysm. The patient experienced no complications following the procedure, but he presented with two graft occlusions within the 2 months following the procedure.


This study was commissioned by the Fox Cities Economic Development Partnership and undertaken by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. The intent of the study is to identify potential areas of economic growth and development for the region. The ultimate goal of this study is to provide insight and identify potential future policy directions by the Partnership and other economic development practitioners and policy makers.


The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a vessel tracking protocol used by the vast majority of the global maritime community. While AIS is a fantastic tool for preventing vessel collisions, it unfortunately has no built-in security. This project first provides a security vulnerability analysis of the current AIS system. We then propose the outline for a new protocol that addresses these vulnerabilities. This protocol maintains the anti-collision capabilities that AIS was designed to provide, but uses secured communications similar to those proposed in IEEE 1609 combined with a multi-tiered user-level approach to provide greater security. Finally, our proposed protocol is simulated from two perspectives: that of an average user as well as from a network perspective level. In aggregate, the results from these simulations suggest that our protocol keeps the existing usability of AIS while reducing potential security concerns.


Endocrine care of pediatric and adult patients continues to be plagued by health and health care disparities that are perpetuated by the basic structures of our health systems and research modalities, as well as policies that impact access to care and social determinants of health. This scientific statement expands the Society's 2012 statement by focusing on endocrine disease disparities in the pediatric population and sexual and gender minority populations. These include pediatric and adult lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) persons. The writing group focused on highly prevalent conditions-growth disorders, puberty, metabolic bone disease, type 1 (T1D) and type 2 (T2D) diabetes mellitus, prediabetes, and obesity. Several important findings emerged. Compared with females and non-White children, non-Hispanic White males are more likely to come to medical attention for short stature. Racially and ethnically diverse populations and males are underrepresented in studies of pubertal development and attainment of peak bone mass, with current norms based on European populations. Like adults, racial and ethnic minority youth suffer a higher burden of disease from obesity, T1D and T2D, and have less access to diabetes treatment technologies and bariatric surgery. LGBTQIA youth and adults also face discrimination and multiple barriers to endocrine care due to pathologizing sexual orientation and gender identity, lack of culturally competent care providers, and policies. Multilevel interventions to address these disparities are required. Inclusion of racial, ethnic, and LGBTQIA populations in longitudinal life course studies is needed to assess growth, puberty, and attainment of peak bone mass. Growth and development charts may need to be adapted to non-European populations. In addition, extension of these studies will be required to understand the clinical and physiologic consequences of interventions to address abnormal development in these populations. Health policies should be recrafted to remove barriers in care for children with obesity and/or diabetes and for LGBTQIA children and adults to facilitate comprehensive access to care, therapeutics, and technological advances. Public health interventions encompassing collection of accurate demographic and social needs data, including the intersection of social determinants of health with health outcomes, and enactment of population health level interventions will be essential tools.


A pilot study tested the relationship between human milk oligosaccharide consumption, oligosaccharide content of feces, and subsequent disease in breastfed infants. Forty-nine (49) mother-infant pairs provided milk and fecal samples 2 weeks postpartum; infant health was assessed through 2, 6, 12, and 24 weeks. LNF-II (lacto-N-fucopentaose II), a major human milk oligosaccharide, was measured to represent levels of total oligosaccharides consumed in milk and remaining in feces. LNF-II levels in milk at 2 weeks postpartum were associated with fewer infant respiratory problems by 6 weeks (p = 0.010), as were LNF-II levels in infant feces (p = 0.003). LNF-II levels in milk at 2 weeks were also associated with fewer respiratory problems by 12 weeks (p = 0.038), and fewer enteric problems by 6 weeks (p = 0.004) and 12 weeks (p = 0.045). Thus, consumption of human milk oligosaccharides through breastfeeding, represented by LNF-II, was associated with less reported respiratory and gastrointestinal illness in infants.


Timid and retiring, the Victorian housewife was an "angel in the house," or so says the stereotype. But when this angel picked up a popular magazine-The Lady, for instance-she saw in its advertisements images of Greek goddesses, women warriors, queens, actresses, adventurers. These arrestingly sexual and surprisingly powerful images are the subject of Consuming Angels, a major examination of how Victorian ads shaped social values. Stylishly written and featuring 73 reproductions, this book shows how ads used the hedonistic aspects of Victorian culture to sell their wares, glorified consumerism, and mythologized the middle-class life. Images of aggressive women, Loeb shows, played well to both men and women. And ultimately, these ads helped usher in the twentieth century with the creation of a new community: the community of consumers.


Historical Background
 The disorder now called attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH), which will soon be renamed attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, was first delineated by behaviorally oriented pediatricians. Their clinical descriptions are strikingly up-to-date.1,2 Moreover, their early clinical observations of the effectiveness of psychostimulants such as dextroamphetamine and methylphenidate have been amply substantiated by extensive investigations.3
 Probably the major shift in our understanding of the disorder has occurred with regard to its prognosis. The standard expectation was that the disorder was self-limited, becoming attenuated with time and eventually remitting completely. Understandably, the clinical management of such children was affected by the perception of its natural history. As a result, psychostimulants were not recommended during adolescence when they were believed to cease to be antihyperactivity drugs and to have the typical stimulating effects well known in adults. As a matter of fact, the stimulants were believed to be potentially dangerous drugs in adolescence because of the expectation that they would lead to euphoria, tolerance, and addiction, in those who had previously been quieted with the drugs. There is now considerable evidence indicating that ADDH is not a maturational disorder that bears a benign prognosis. However, like many observations of astute practitioners, the opinion that children with hyperactivity regularly outgrow theirdifficulties in adolescence was not altogether wrong. The condition is not static; a proportion of affected children do improve, some to the point of being free of significant behaviour problems, but many do not.


Proteins secreted (the secretome) from cancer cells are potentially useful as biomarkers of the disease. Using LC-MS/MS, the secreted proteomes from a series of isogenic breast cancer cell lines varying in aggressiveness were analyzed by mass spectrometry: nontumorigenic MCF10A, premalignant/tumorigenic MCF10AT, tumorigenic/locally invasive MCF10 DCIS.com, and tumorigenic/metastatic MCF 10CA cl. D. Proteomes were obtained from conditioned serum-free media, partially fractionated using a small reverse phase C2 column, and digested with trypsin for analysis by LC-MS/MS, using a method previously shown to give highly enriched secreted proteomes (Mbeunkui et al. J. Proteome Res. 2006, 5, 899-906). The search files produced from five analyses (three separate preparations) were combined for database searching (Mascot) which produced a list of over 250 proteins from each cell line. The aim was to discover highly secreted proteins which changed significantly in abundance corresponding with aggressiveness. The most apparent changes were observed for alpha-1-antichymotrypsin and galectin-3-binding protein which were highly secreted proteins from MCF10 DCIS.com and MCF10CA cl. D, yet undetected in the MCF10A and MCF10AT cell lines. Other proteins showing increasing abundance in the more aggressive cell lines included alpha-1-antitrypsin, cathepsin D, and lysyl oxidase. The S100 proteins, often associated with metastasis, showed variable changes in abundance. While the cytosolic proteins were low (e.g., actin and tubulin), there was significant secretion of proteins often associated with the cytoplasm. These proteins were all predicted as products of nonclassical secretion (SecretomeP, Center for Biological Sequence Analysis). The LC-MS/MS results were verified for five selected proteins by western blot analysis, and the relevance of other significant proteins is discussed. Comparisons with two other aggressive breast cancer cell lines are included. The protein with consistent association with aggressiveness in all lines, and in unrelated cancer cells, was the galectin-3-binding protein which has been associated with breast, prostate, and colon cancer earlier, supporting the approach and findings. This analysis of an isogenic series of cell lines suggests the potential usefulness of the secretome for identifying prospective markers for the early detection and aggressiveness/progression of cancer.


Malaria remains one of the most serious public health problems in Africa, causing high morbidity and mortality. In highly endemic areas, malaria is responsible for about 30-50% of fever cases, 30% of outpatient consultations, and 10-15% of hospital admissions. Globally, about 1.5-2.7 million persons die from malaria yearly. Children under 5 years and pregnant women are the most vulnerable groups. Anaemia is one of the most serious consequences of malaria in young children in Africa, particularly in the countries where a high level of chloroquine resistance exists. In some zones, the temporary decline in transmissions due to climatic and ecological changes has altered the immunological profile of the population, resulting in serious outbreaks of epidemics accompanied by high morbidity and mortality. The African region has been experiencing malaria epidemics, with an unacceptably high disease burden and high mortality in the epidemic-prone areas in East and Southern Africa. In Botswana, for example, the incidence of malaria increased by 13.5 times in the Nata clinic during the 10th week of 1996, compared with the same period in 1995. WHO provided technical support and antimalarial drugs to the countries affected by these epidemics. This was followed by two workshops on epidemic prevention and control. The problem of drug resistance, which has been present in Africa for over 17 years, is more intense in East Africa. The approach of WHO/AFRO to this problem is to build capacities, within the health ministries of member countries, for antimalarial drug sensitivity testing and rational drug policies. In addition, WHO has developed a simple therapeutic efficacy test. It is proposed that this method be used by all countries of the region. This will make it easy to compare data and create a regional sensitivity picture.


Pressure effects on the superconductive transitions of cation replaced YBa2Cu3O7-?: Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-? (0?x?0.2) and Y(Ba1-yLay)2Cu3O7-? (0?y?0.15) were investigated. The electric resistivity was measured up to 2 GPa as a function of temperature. The dTc/dp decreases with increasing y for Y(Ba1-yLay)2Cu3O7-?, giving 1.0 K/GPa for YBa2Cu3O7-? and 2.9 K/GPa for Y(Ba0.85La0.15)2Cu3O7-?. For La replacement, the oxygen content was almost unchanged. Therefore, the replacement of Y by La led to electron doping. The pressure derivative of Tc indicates that the pressure induces hole doping whose effect is increased with the increase of La contant. Contrary to our expectation, Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-? was not hole-doped but electron-doped because of the increase in the oxygen deficiency with Ca content. However the dTc/dp is almost independent of x.


Review(s) of: Illicit love: Interracial sex and marriage in the United States and Australia, by Ann McGrath, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2015, xxxi + 393 pages; ISBN 978 0 9032 3825 1.


6SUMMARY Non age-structured production model analyses of North Atlantic swordfish have been used in addition to age structured virtual population analyses by ICCAT's SCRS to evaluate the status of the resource and to provide a basis for management advice. Production models require a standardized index of relative abundance in terms of biomass. The standardized biomass index of abundance developed for the 1992, 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2001 ICCAT-SCRS meetings for north Atlantic swordfish was revised and updated with data through 2005. Generalized Linear Modeling (GLM) procedures were used to standardize swordfish catch (biomass) and effort (number of hooks) data from longline fleets from the United States, Spain, Canada, Japan and Portugal. As in past analyses, main effects included: year, area, quarter, a nation-operation variable accounting for gear and operational differences thought to influence swordfish catchability, a target variable to account for trips where tunas and/or sharks were predominant in the catch or potentially also targeted, and interaction terms for year* area. RESUME


A number of schemes for implementing a fast multiplier are presented and compared on the basis of speed, complexity, and cost. A parallel multiplier designed using the carry-save scheme and constructed from 74 series integrated circuits is described. This multiplier multiplies 10-bit by 12-bit binary numbers with a worst- case multiplication time of 520 ns. The cost of the integrated circuits was less than $ 500.


The paper discusses two plays of Tom Stoppard, After Magritte and Artist Descending a Staircase, from the perspective of the uncertainty pertaining to the possibility of perceiving and adequately describing the reality. The plays employ intertextual references to two modern painters whose names are included in the titles of the dramas and who are known to have experimented in their artistic ventures. In two series of pictures, The Key of Dreams and The Use of Words, Ma-gritte dealt with the difficulties connected with representing reality in pictorial and linguistic terms, while Beauchamp tried to present not only three dimensionality but also movement on the two dimensional canvas. Apart from referring to art, Stoppard's pieces are also a kind of who-done-it, with each of them trying to solve a mystery. After Magritte discloses the solution of the identity of the strange figure the characters saw in the street and also logically explains the strange opening and closing stage images. Being a radio play, Artist Descend-ing a Staircase, teaches the audience to decode aural signals and demonstrates that, similar to objects of visual perception, they may be decoded in different ways. The two dramas discussed thus deal with the relative quality of reality, whose perception and description depends on individual sensitivity of a concrete person.


We address the determination and evolution of bitcoin prices in a simple monetary economy that captures the salient features of a decentralized network. Network users forecast the transactional and resale value of bitcoin holdings and consider the risk of a network attack. Miners contribute resources that enhance network security and compete for mining rewards received in units of the same unbacked token. In equilibrium, the overall production of network security and the bitcoin price are jointly determined. We characterize how the network technologies and participants, users and miners, affect the number and dynamic stability properties of equilibria. We find that the relation between bitcoin prices and the supply growth rate is not monotonic: the same price is consistent with different rates. The model's outcomes demonstrate how intrinsic price–security feedback effects can amplify or moderate the price volatility effect of demand shocks. We find rational patterns of price momentum, and that small and large stochastic bubbles can exist in general equilibrium and show how the probability of bursting decreases with the bitcoin price. JEL Codes: E40; E42; G12; G15; G18 First draft : July 12, 2018. Current draft : December 12, 2018 ∗Imperial College London. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. †This paper builds on previous work in "Pricing Satoshis" presented at the 2018 Finance Theory Group London meeting, the 2018 NBER Asset Pricing Summer Institute, the Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance and Imperial College London. For helpful conversations and comments I thank Franklin Allen, Fernando Alvarez, Andrea Buraschi, Jonathan Chiu, Will Cong, Jason Donaldson, Maryam Farboodi, Harrison Hong, Marcin Kacperczyk, Andrei Kirilenko, Francesco Lippi, Hanno Lustig, Alex Michaelides, David Miles, Monika Piazzesi, Jose Scheinkman, Michael Sockin, Savi Sundaresan, Nick Szabo, and Stijn Van Nieurburgh and participants at the 2019 American Economic Association meetings, the 2019 American Financial Association Meetings, and the Bloomberg Crypto Summit. The usual disclaimers apply. The rapid growth of Bitcoin has sparked heated debates. The issue of bitcoin1 price determination and price volatility is particularly elusive. On the one hand, in investment and entrepreneurial circles, it is often argued that the price reflects fundamental factors such as the growth in the number of network participants and the quality of the underpinning technology. A prominent view in the academic and policy communities, on the other hand, is that bitcoins are just a bubble that will eventually burst and, therefore, bitcoin prices are meaningless. Reaching a consensus on these issues is challenged by the fact that traditional monetary and asset pricing models were not designed around a decentralized network (DN), such as Bitcoin, but a centralized network (CN) run by an institution such as a central bank, government, or a corporation.2 What is different about Bitcoin? Any financial network needs to be secured. Digital transfers of ownership, in particular, require some form of verification and it should be difficult for a malicious attacker to manipulate the recorded history. In a CN, a specific trusted node assumes such operational responsibility and, in exchange, charges users with fees. In the Bitcoin DN, verification and updates to the system ledger (blockchain) are not delegated to a single node but, rather, to a set of miners. Miners validate new blocks of bitcoin transfers every 10 minutes, on average, and add them to the system ledger. Which miner adds the new block is the result of a non-cooperative competitive process where each miner uses computer power, measured as the hash rate, to solve a mathematical problem based on a cryptographic algorithm. The reward to the winning miner consists of newly minted bitcoins and is awarded provided the winning miner respected a set of consensus rules that prevents frauds; otherwise, the investment in computer power is entirely lost.3 This system of incentives is a breakthrough innovation by Nakamoto (2008) and has the property that, for a given level of miner decentralization, network security is increasing in the amount of total computer power in the network, the system hash rate. Figure 1 shows that, since its inception, We follow the standard practice in the developer community of using a lowercase b for the token (bitcoin) and a capital B for the protocol or network (Bitcoin). Excellent up-to-date surveys of traditional monetary models are provided by Rocheteau and Nosal (2017) and Walsh (2017). The solution to the problem is included in each new block and proves that the miner solved the problem—thus the term proof of work (PoW). See Antonopoulos (2017) for an excellent summary of the consensus rules. The reward to the winning miner is the first transfer in each block (the Coinbase transaction) and consists, as of 2018, of 12.5 bitcoins and fees that users making transfers in that block pay to the winning miner.


Twenty patients on conventional therapy for severe congestive heart failure (CHF) were randomly assigned to adjunctive treatment with felodipine (n = 10) or placebo (n = 10) and followed over a 6-month period. Baseline clinical, hemodynamic, angiographic, and neu-rohumoral estimates of CHF were comparable in the two treatment groups. These estimates remained virtually unchanged at 6 months in patients on placebo therapy, but circulating noradrenaline levels were further augmented. In patients on felodipine therapy, substantial reductions in left ventricular end-systolic pressure, mean arterial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance were observed at 6 months. This afterload reduction led to a preferential increment in the stroke volume (36%) which increased cardiac output (30%), whereas heart rate tended to decrease. The improved hemodynamics during felodipine treatment were paralleled by marked improvements in the angiographic left ventricular ejection fraction and regional segmental wall motion score. The enhanced contractile state of the left ventricle was accompanied by significant reductions in the augmented plasma levels of catecholamines, and the patient clinical status improved. The 6-month mortality rate in the 20 patients was 40% and indicated a closer relation to baseline noradrenaline plasma levels than to hemodynamic or angiographic estimates of CHF. Despite the limited number of patients, the long-term clinical efficacy of felodipine is thus evidenced in patients with CHF and is related to sustained arteriolar dilatation and improved neurohumoral profile by this vasoselective calcium antagonist.


The current methods of maceration are imperfect and the chemicals involved are toxic, offensive smelling, difficult to clean up and difficult to dispose of. The use of enzymes for maceration accelerates the catalytic process markedly and the method is cheap, easy to handle, non-toxic, practical and totally biodegradable.


An online survey of K to 12 teachers, graduate students, and college instructors, ages 18 to 60+, from Western and Non-Western countries, was conducted to measure opinions about and experiences with Citizenship Education (CE). CE is fundamentally defined in this paper as the teaching of individual and collective rights and responsibilities in academic and social contexts in K to 12 schooling (~ 4 to 18 years of age). The purpose of this preliminary research was to develop several core conclusions about CE using literature support and develop a number of basic survey expectations based on some of those conclusions and the experiences of the author. Literature-supported core conclusions included that CE: a) has the power to equip students with the knowledge of their individual and group rights and responsibilities regarding both academic and inter-personal or social pursuits; b) has elements that can be leveraged in many academic and social learning experiences in elementary and secondary schooling; c) is important to citizens as a general rule, but often takes an informal form, which tends to lead to a lack of awareness regarding its value; d) when viewed as 'engaged learning', may lack adequate funding, especially in K to 6 schooling; e) is qualitatively dependent upon the degree to which especially K to 6 education is based in facts, critical thinking skills, hard work, respect, and reflection; f) is most effective when started in the K to 6 school years and continued through secondary schooling; and g) in order to be effective internationally needs the world's educational systems to focus support for foundational academic and social learning and development early in the education lives of children, where it is the most efficient and effective. A conclusion that ties these together is that, while it is ultimately the responsibility of young adults in any society to take over the mantel of power, it is the precursory responsibility of parental generations to prepare young people for this task through continuous lessons, in every possible context, about how to think and act in ways that serve themselves and their communities well. Qualitative analysis of survey results from 28 respondents from 10 countries and 6 age groups indicated a pattern of responses that supported study expectations, including that: a) respondents tended to have CE definitions that centered on creating good and responsible citizens; b) a significant number of respondents (about 1/3) reported experiencing informal CE; c) most respondents reported experiencing some form of CE in elementary or secondary schooling; and d) members of all age groups surveyed felt that CE is important. Given the preliminary nature of the survey investigation, age- and country- based consistency was tested rather than response differences correlated to age or country. Recommendations include doing a more age and internationally extensive survey to check for said patterns and using a better structured survey to check for more precise opinions, especially regarding how CE might have affected respondents' lives overall and how CE, or a lack there of, may be affecting the adult lives and childhoods of 'millennial' and 21 st century generations. Keywords : Citizenship education, Cognitive and social development, Self-determination, Social brain, Return on investment, Sensitivity to learning, Global issue


Puropose of the study. Basing on the previously obtained results on the proven high efficiency of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the chest organs in the visualization of major lung diseases, in the current period of mass incidence of viral pneumonia (VP) caused by COVID-19, we tried to study the possibility of using MRI OGK to image lung damage in this pathology both in primary detection and for follow-up reconvalescence control.Material and methods. MRI of the chest in T1 -, T2-weighted modes (T1-w, T2-w), also with fat suppression, diffusion-weighted, STIR-modes, in the axial and frontal planes, with breath holding, or with automatic synchronization of acquisition with breathing was carried-out in 47 patients with VP of various severity, 32 of them were confirmed by PCR as COVID-19, all did have a clinic of pneumonia. The control group comprised 15 volunteers, of them 8 non-smokers, and 7 smokers. In 18 patients, an CT study of the chest was also performed, with a step of 0.5–1.25 mm, with full coverage of the chest and reconstruction of axial and frontal slices, with a comparison of MRI and CT of the chest. In 8 patients, MRI of the chest was then performed again, for follow-up control of clinical recovery. There were no deaths among our patientsResults. The duration of a complete MRI examination of the chest was less than 25 minutes in all cases (21 ± 4 minutes on average), and less than 10 minutes in the chest CT. In all cases, MRI imaging of the affected area was achieved using a group of MRI protocols, which included axial T1-w and axial and frontal T2-w, and lasted < 12 minutes, counting the time for laying the patient.In normal patients without pathology of the lungs, not smoking, the lung was visualized as a diffuse homogeneous air region with a minimum share interstitial and vascular space. In patients - smokers, lung MRI was slightly enhanced in the dorsal parts of both lungs, disorders of airiness and interstitial exudative changes weren't present. In the acute phase of the disease, pulmonary ventilation disorders and interstitial exudative changes that form the morphological basis of lung damage in COVID-19 were visualized as local, corresponding to the location and nature (sub-segmental, segmental, polysegmental) of the pathological focus, both T1-w and T2-w modes. MRI of the chest provided diagnosis of lung pathology in all cases, while the extent of the pathological focus on the MRI image in T2-w was 14–19% greater than on the CT. The correlation of the calculated volume of affected lung tissue between CT and MRI of the chest wasas high as r = 0.95 (p < 0.001). The values of the volume of the affected tissue in T1-w and T2-w did not differ from each other in the intergroup comparison and correlated strongly and reliably, r = 0.985 (p < 0.001). MRI in DWI mode showed a sensitivity of 81% (38/47) in detecting COVID-lung lesions. The duration of DWI in all cases was more than 6 minutes, more than twice as long as all other MRI protocols together. The volume of pleural effusion, clearly visible with T2-VI, in all our cases did not exceed 100 ml. In a prospective follow-up of 8 patients with COVID-19, chest MRI ptovided evidence-based visualization of the recovery process in all cases, with a decrease or complete regression of the exudation component.Conclusion. MRI of the chest with respiratory synchronization or with breath-holding can be used for early diagnosis of inflammatory lung lesions in COVID-viral pneumonia and for subsequent follow-up control, is not accompanied by radiation exposure and closely correlates with the results of chest CT recruited as a modern standard for the diagnosis of pneumonia.


Although anthropologists pride themselves on paying attention to the small details of everyday life, experimental psychologists arguably have an even smaller scale of research – examining variables such as infant staring time and the speed at which words are pronounced. This paper considers the impact of these different approaches to scale and selectivity in research objects, focusing in particular on studies of Piraha and Chinese numerical cognition. Everyone accepts that cultural factors, such as the use of different counting term sets in different languages, may influence numerical thought. But the tendency of psychologists to restrict scale and eliminate variables, including cultural ones, in order to be able to falsify their claims sits uncomfortably with the anthropological tendency to incorporate variables in order to be holistic.


PURPOSE
To investigate the influence of age on the neuromuscular blocking effect of cisatracurium.

METHODS
90 patients with ASA I and II were assigned to the following groups according to their age: adults, children, and infants. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups according to the first dose of cisatracurium. Patients were administrated at a first dose of cisatracurium randomly, and their responses to train-of-four (TOF) stimulation were observed. When the same degree of the first response (T1) continuously repeats three times, the percentage of T1 inhibition was recorded, and the curve of dose-effect relationship and ED95 were calculated. A second dose of cisatracurium was then administrated (total volume 100 μg/kg). The recovery phase in each patient was observed upon T1 reaching the maximum blocking effect (100%).

RESULTS
Once the maximum blocking effect was reached, patients were intubated. There were 83 cases (92.2%) of patients with grade 1 and 7 (7.8%) patients with grade 2 intubating conditions. ED95 was 59.29, 55.88 and 45.39 μg/kg in adults, children, and infants, respectively. ED95 positively correlated with age. The clinical duration of neuromuscular blockade, effective action duration of neuromuscular blockade, and in vivo action duration of neuromuscular blockade in adults was longer than that in children (P<0.05), but shorter than in infants (P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the recovery index among groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION
Age influences the neuromuscular blocking effects of cisatracurium to a certain extent.


This essay explores the relationship between education, human rights, and social commitment. The issue of the education of psychologist and teacher training is based on the national guidelines for education of human rights. It also brings into question the circumstances in which training takes place, as well as whether or not there is room for teaching this discipline in high schools. Social commitment today is seen as a way of designating an existing project to Brazilian psychology. The main components of this project are the concern and inclusion of the realistic aspects of the Science of Psychology in order to configure epistemologies and methodologies identified by the relationship between subjectivity, the subject's constitution, and social change. As such, it can be seen that education, human rights, and social commitment are interrelated in a critical approach to psychology education.