A good correlation of n-butane conversion and V4+ phase was observed. This suggested that V4+ is highly active for n-butane conversion and a minimum of ~ 10% of V4+ is necessary to activate the n-butane. MA selectivity is proportionate with the V5+ phase at lower percentage (< 30%). However, when the amount of V5+ exceeding ~ 43%, the MA selectivity will drastically dropped. High amount of V5+ phase also deteriorated the conversion of n-butane. Having excess of V5+ phase with low amount of V4+ clearly inhibits the activity of the catalyst. However, a presence of small amount of V5+ also can also enhanced the catalytic activity. TPR in H2 shows two reduction peaks which correspond to the removal of two kinetically different oxygen species i.e. O2- and O- which associated with V5+ and V4+ phases, respectively. The availability and behaviour of these oxygen species play an important role in determining the catalytic performance. A direct relationship between the amounts of oxygen removed from V4+ with the reaction rate of n-butane. The role of this oxygen species which assigned to O- contributed to the activity of the catalysts. A lower amount of oxygen species associated with V4+ removed from BiFe-doped catalysts clearly showed a poor activity of these catalysts. Correlation between percentage of V4+ and oxygen species removed associated with V4+ showed that at least 30% of V4+ is necessary to provide an active site for n-butane activation. The dependence of the n-butane conversion on the highly reactive oxygen species suggested that the released of O- anion from the surface of VPO catalyst is the rate determining step for activation of n-butane. The oxygen species associated with V5+ also showed a good correlation with the MA selectivity. However, an excess of this type of oxygen species significantly reduced the activity. The catalytic performance of the catalysts also revealed that the oxygen species ratio of O2- to O- is important to provide high activity for the catalyst. An optimal value of the ratio of O2- to O- is shown to be 0.27.


ABSTRACT:This paper elucidates the impact and influence that Professor James Anquandah's work and efforts had on the development and practice of archaeology in Ghana. As the first Ghanaian-trained archaeologist, Anquandah committed his life and expertise to the establishment and consolidation of archaeological training in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, at the University of Ghana. In doing so, he trained five generations of archaeology students over five decades. His passion for archaeological fieldwork, community participation in archaeology, and, ultimately, the use of eclectic archaeology in solving societal challenges has influenced the scholastic practices of many of the students he trained. In this paper, the coauthors explain how Anquandah's concept and practice of eclectic archaeology has influenced their ongoing research projects in Ghana.


This paper proposes a decentralized algorithm for real-time estimation of the dynamic states of a power system. The scheme employs phasor measurement units (PMUs) for the measurement of local signals at each generation unit, and subsequent state estimation using unscented Kalman filtering (UKF). The novelty of the scheme is that the state estimation at one generation unit is independent from the estimation at other units, and therefore the transmission of remote signals to a central estimator is not required. This in turn reduces the complexity of each distributed estimator, and makes the estimation process highly efficient, accurate and easily implementable. The applicability of the proposed algorithm has been thoroughly demonstrated on a representative model.


Summary Surfacing, concrete mixture composition and curing are of great importance for the concrete surface resistance. That's the reason, why many leading experts agree on the importance of monitoring the "concrete skin" as the most loaded area affected by the external environment. Many research works demonstrate that application of metakaolin improves properties of concrete as freeze-thaw resistance and resistance against de-icing salts with freeze-thaw cycles combination. A very important role in concrete performance in such severe environment is played by porous system and surface of hardened concrete. The paper presents an experimental program focused on the monitoring of water transport in surface layer of fair-face concrete aimed at monitoring the permeability of concrete, since concrete permeability is a property uniquely affecting durability of concrete. These methods are complemented by experimental results and other traditional tests. These findings will serve to further optimization of the structure being created, thus ensuring its better aesthetic and functional characteristics.


It has been suspected for some time that unscheduled outages of National Airspace System equipment increase during core working hours; to date, however, no research has been done to determine their cause. First, aggregate trends in scheduled periodic maintenance (PM) activities and unscheduled outages are examined for calendar years 2000 through 2004. The reported increase in unscheduled outages is postulated to be due to increased levels of maintenance activities that may occur during this period. A detailed analysis is presented, and the individual pieces of equipment that suffer unscheduled outages after receiving PM are examined. If PM activities have an effect on unscheduled outages, then higher levels of unscheduled outages would be expected to occur in the first hours after the completion of a PM task. Further data analysis shows evidence for this hypothesis.


To assess the potential benefits of the prone position for gas exchange in patients with acute respiratory failure, we turned 6 patients from supine to prone, supporting the upper thorax and pelvis and allowing the abdomen to protrude. Arterial PO2 increased by a mean of 69 mm Hg (range, 2 to 178 mm Hg) at the same tidal volume, same inspired oxygen concentration, and same level of positive end-expiratory pressure. The maneuver made it possible to reduce the inspired oxygen concentration in 4 of the 5 patients who required mechanical ventilation of the lungs and to defer intubation in the patient who was breathing spontaneously. After subsequent turns from supine to prone, arterial PO2 increased by a mean of 35 mm Hg (range, 4 to 110 mm Hg), permitting a decrease in inspired oxygen concentration or positive end-expiratory pressure when prone (4 patients); arterial PO2 decreased in 12 of 14 instances after the patient was turned from prone to supine. No significant change in mean arterial carbon dioxide tension, respiratory frequency, or effective compliance was observed.


Nanotechnology and nanomedicine have been shown to provide a novel and safe platform to combat a variety of viruses like SARS-CoV-2. Secondary metabolites implanted into a carrier of functionalized titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (SMNP) were tested for efficacy versus SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, and cytotoxicity on healthy cells. Viral load; from a clinical point of view, it is not as important as the number of infective viral particles, which relates to the viral particles capable of causing the disease. To measure viral infectivity SARS-CoV-2 was placed into cell cultures and evaluating the destructive effect on cultured cells. In this system, SMNP demonstrated significant reduction of viral infectivity in vitro. Lytic plaques of viral infectivity were observed at a dilution of 4x10-8 in VERO E6 cells, while SARS-CoV-2 preincubated with the SMNP compound, tissue damage was observed only up to the 3x10-5 dilution. SMNP reduced the number of infective viral particles by 3 orders of magnitude. Surprising minimal toxicity to healthy cells was observed when compared to other commercially available antiseptics (glutaraldehyde, chlorine, chlorhexidine, ethanol and Lysol™), cell viability decreased only by 5.5%. SMNP is a safe and effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2, and further studies are warranted to explore this compound further.


The design, analysis and fabrication progress of the 100 T Multi-Shot Magnet is described. The description includes the structural analysis of the outer coil set, the fabrication of the 100 T prototype coil 1, the fabrication of a coil 1 test shell, and the analysis of the electrical busbar assembly. Fabrication issues and their solutions are presented. This magnet will be installed as part of the user facility research equipment at the U.S. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory.


The genera Pachymenes de Saussure and Santamenes Giordani Soika are revised and the phylogenetic relationships among their species, based on external morphology and male genitalia, are presented. The cladistics analysis, using 22 terminal species (19 ingroup and 3 outgroup species) and 44 characters, produced a single cladogram under implied weighting. Both genera were recovered as paraphyletic, althought two major clades were formed and were well supported by the re‐sampling analysis. We propose the synonymy of Pachymenes with Santamenes, and the description of two new species: P. saussurei Grandinete n.sp. and P. riograndensis Grandinete n.sp.. New combinations are: Pachymenes novarae (de Saussure) n.comb., P. olympicus (Zavattari) n.comb., P. peregrinus (Zavattari) n.comb. and P. santanna (de Saussure) revised combination. We state the synonymy of P. obscurus orellanoides under P. obscurus consuetus, reviewing the status of the latter and raising P. consuetus to species level. Pachymenes orellanae vardyi is synonymized under P. orellanae; P. ghilianii olivaceus, P. ghilianii flavissimus and P. peruanus are proposed as synonyms of P. ghilianii; P. picturatus obscuratus is synonymized under P. laeviventris; P. picturatus nigromaculatus and P. picturatus var. intermedia are synonymized under P. picturatus and P. atra var. ornatissima get its lectotype designated and proposed as synonym of P. ater.


This article draws on the phenomenon that psychological capital (PsyCap) and workplace empowerment work together. This study was conducted to find out the effect of PsyCap on work empowerment at tertiary educational level in Pakistan. For this purpose 200 faculty members from one public sector university were selected randomly and two instruments were administered to gain insight about the phenomenon under investigation. Instruments were piloted before administration. The measure to collect data for psychological capital was comprised of the factors involving Self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience. Whereas, the empowerment  at work  scale, measured  the dimensions  including meaning, competence, self-determination and  impact. Regression analysis was applied to  find out the  effect of psychological capital on workplace empowerment, which was found significant. The relationship between four dimensions of PsyCap with all the selected dimensions of empowerment at work was also explored, and was observed as strong relationship. Some implications for practice and suggestions for future research in the field are presented in the final section


Featured article: Guyatt G, Walter S, Norman G. Measuring change over time: assessing the usefulness of evaluative instruments. J Chron Dis 1987;40:171–8.4

When the article featured here was published in 1987, psychologists had, for over 80 years, been using continuous outcome measures to address human characteristics such as intelligence and attitudes. Subsequently, clinical investigators interested in treatment effects of interventions recognized the need for measures of patient experience including emotional and physical function—often referred to as "constructs"—to determine the impact of interventions on patients' lives.

Clinical investigators were aware that these new measures could perform very well or very poorly in measuring patients' experiences, and they required methods to explore instruments' measurement properties. Their solution was to apply the methodology that psychologists had established for their instruments, methods focused on an instrument's reliability (conceptually, its ability to yield more or less the same results in stable patients) and its validity (the extent to which it …


To determine the role of gamma-motoneurons in the control of locomotion, we isolated single units from nerves to triceps surae muscles in the premammillary cat. The limb used for recording was largely denervated, except for the muscles of interest, and fixed in place, while the other three limbs walked on a treadmill. One type of gamma-motoneuron (13 units) had a high impulse rate at rest, which changed little on average during walking, but was deeply modulated with each step (phasically modulated gamma-motoneuron or gamma p). Another type (19 units) had a low impulse rate at rest, which increased greatly on average during walking, but was not highly modulated with each step (tonically modulated gamma-motoneuron or gamma t). Peak gamma p rates generally occurred after peak EMG, often near the peak of tension. In contrast, peak gamma t activity generally preceded peak electromyograms (EMG). No significant difference was observed in conduction velocities for the two types of units. At rest all gamma t units were excited by natural stimulation of the fur over a large part of the body surface, whereas 3 of 11 gamma p units were inhibited. During locomotion the same natural stimuli had no observable effect on either type of unit. By recording in continuity from fine branches of the lateral and medial gastrocnemius nerves and stimulating ventral root filaments in continuity, we identified dynamic and static gamma-motoneurons in terms of their effects on muscle spindle afferents. After cutting the nerve branch distally and other ventral root filaments supplying the muscle, the resting discharge of dynamic and static gamma-motoneurons was recorded and found to correspond to that of the gamma p and gamma t units, respectively. Other evidence is presented for a correspondence between phasically and tonically modulated units and dynamic and static gamma-motoneurons, contrary to some suggestions in the literature.


GroEL-assisted protein folding is regulated by a cycle of large coordinated domain movements in the 14-subunit double-ring assembly. The transition path between the closed (unliganded) and the open (liganded) states, calculated with a targeted molecular dynamics simulation, shows the highly complex subunit displacements required for the allosteric transition. The early downward motion of the small intermediate domain induced by nucleotide binding emerges as the trigger for the larger movements of the apical and equatorial domains. The combined twisting and upward displacement of the apical domain determined for a single subunit is accommodated easily in the heptamer ring only if its opening is concerted. This is a major source of cooperative ligand binding within a ring. It suggests also that GroEL has evolved so that the motion required for heptamer cooperativity is encoded in the individual subunits. A calculated model for a di-cis 14-subunit assembly is found to be destabilized by strong steric repulsion between the equatorial domains of the two rings, the source of negative cooperativity. The simulation results, which indicate that transient interactions along the transition path are essential for GroEL function, provide a detailed structural description of the motions that are involved in the GroEL allosteric cycle.


BACKGROUND
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, causing acute respiratory disease, is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020. In addition to symptoms typical of respiratory tract infections, the virus causes a number of non-specific, often long-lasting effects that hinder the daily functioning of individuals. The aim of the study was a subjective assessment of life quality and health perception among recovered COVID-19 patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study included 337 subjects who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 confirmed by a positive RT-PCR test. The study participants were of legal age. The convalescents completed a questionnaire that contained 26 questions about gender, height, body weight, blood type, general and specific symptoms, comorbidities, hospital stay and duration of specific symptoms, the severity of which was assessed on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The subjects determined whether the COVID-19 infection influenced their health perception and life quality.

RESULTS
According to 46% of the respondents, COVID-19 had an impact on their quality of life and health. The chance for patients to notice the negative effects of COVID-19 on their current health status and life quality increased with each subsequent symptom of the disease by 49%, with each day of its occurrence by 3%, and with each VAS point of the severity of all infection symptoms by 30%.

CONCLUSIONS
The study shows that COVID-19 disease affects life quality and overall health perception after recovery. Significant impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life should be a signal to create mental support and rehabilitation programs for convalescents to minimize discomfort and shorten the duration of absenteeism from work. Med Pr. 2022;73(6):449-56.


Background Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) may be complicated by inflammation of the temporal artery in about 10-20% of the patients; inversely, about 40-50% of people with temporal arteritis (TA) also have PMR (1). TA may involve blood vessels of different size and may be associated with coexistent inflammation of the accompanying veins. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and relationship of TA and temporal phlebitis (TP) in PMR. Methods Surgical biopsy specimens of the temporal artery of 299 patients with clinically diagnosed PMR were studied. PMR was clinically diagnosed according to the criteria of Bird et al (2). TA and TP were histologically diagnosed. The link between TA and TP was determined by c²-test. Results TA in different stages of inflammation was present in 71 (23.74%) of 299 patients (females 61, average age 71.8 years, range 88-43; males 10, average age 71.9 years, range 86-51). Histologically segmental or sectorial TA involved dominantly the medium size arteries (characterized by presence of internal and external elastic membrane). TA of medium size vessels was occasionally accompanied by concomitant vasculitis of small arteries (characterized by presence of internal elastic membrane only) and/or arterioles (characterized by absence of internal and external elastic membrane). In some cases TA existed only in small arteries or arterioles without involvement of medium size arteries. Temporal arteritis may be accompanied with concomittant phlebitis. TA of medium size arteries was present in 52, TA of small arteries in 18, and TA of arterioles in 42 of 299 patients, separately or in combination. TA of medium size arteries coexisted simultaneously with TA of small arteries in 11, and with TA of arterioles in 33 of 299 patients. There was a strong positive and significant correlation between TA of medium size and small arteries (c²=25.48, p<0.0001) or arterioles (c²=127.31, p<0.0001). The relationship between TA of small arteries and of arterioles was also significant (c²=53.69, p<0.0001). Inflammation of temporal veins was present simultaneously with TA in 10 of 299 patients. There was a strong positive and significant correlation between TA and TP (c²=24.52, p<0.0001). Conclusions TA like any type of autoimmune vasculitis is a systemic disorder, with a predilection to involve the extracranial (superficial temporal and occipital), and intracranial branches of the carotid arteries (ie, the ophthalmic, and posterior ciliary arteries), but other vessels may be involved as well, like the vertebral arteries, the subclavian arteries, the aortic wall, and rarely, the femoral or coronary arteries (3). Dominant involvement of medium size ateries may be accompanied with vasculitis of smaller vessels, even veins. The close statistical relationships between inflammations in arteries of different size and veins support the impression that all of these cohere and are manifestations of the same disease. The significantly positive link between arteries and veins support the systemic nature (idiosyncrasy, characteristics, and trait) of TA. References Giant Cell Arteritis - Associated Conditions: in Harrison's Practice. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2012 Bird HA, Esselinckx W, Dixon AS, Mowat AG: An evaluation of criteria for polymyalgia rheumatica. Ann Rheum Dis 1979;38:434-439 Flood TA, Burke AP: Temporal Arteritis Pathology http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1612591 Disclosure of Interest: None Declared


Abstract Sandbox analogue modeling is a powerful tool to observe geometry of structural styles and to understand structure development resulting from deformation of sedimentary rock. This approach is very useful for evaluating deformation processes within sedimentary basin particularly in relation to hydrocarbon prospect. In this paper, we demonstrated the result of modeling structural development within the thrust-fold-belt, with special case study of the Cimanintin area, Sumedang, West Java. In general, the geology of this area from younger to older made of Cisaar Formation, Cinambo Formation, and Cantayan Formation. These formations have been strongly deformed forming series of thrust-fold system as a result of northward directed compressional mechanism. The exact orientation of major thrust-fold-belt is WNW-ESE trending suggesting NNE-SSW direction of shortening. Sandbox modeling was conducted in laboratory after conducting detailed fieldwork. Therefore, the main purpose of this modeling is to replicate the natural structural styles and pattern of the convergent tectonics environment. The modeling setting was made of alternating layers of dry colored quartz sands which has internal angle of friction (F) 22°, with various grain sizes to represent the different sizes of the sedimentary units. This natural sand grain is suitable enough for simulating the brittle deformation in the upper crust. Sandbox modeling was conducted using a rectangular apparatus with dimension 50 × 40 × 20 cm, containing two glass-sided with moving wall powered by motor-drive and a fix wall located in front of the moving wall. To reflect the field condition, the sediment thickness and the area of interest were scaled to appropria te size. The result of the modeling conclude that the development of the structural geometry are influenced by variables, such as the thickness of the sediment package, grain size, and the width of the area. In addition, sandbox analogue modeling shows excellent correlation with natural deformation in which they show good geometry similarity to the structure that developed in the thrust-fold-belt of Cimanintin area.


The development of microarray technologies gives scientists the ability to examine, discover and monitor the mRNA transcript levels of thousands of genes in a single experiment. Nevertheless, the tremendous amount of data that can be obtained from microarray studies presents a challenge for data analysis. The most commonly used computational approach for analyzing microarray data is cluster analysis. In this paper, we investigate the application of an unsupervised extension of the recently proposed k-windows clustering algorithm on gene expression microarray data. This algorithm apart from identifying the clusters present in a dataset also calculates their number thus no special knowledge about the data is required. To improve the quality of the clustering, we selected the most highly correlated genes with respect to the class distinction of the genes. The results obtained by the application of the algorithm exhibit high classication success.


Case study addresses NW slopes of Fruška GoraMountain, Serbia. Landslide activity is quite notorious in this region, especially along the Danube's right river bank, and recently intensified seismicity coupled with atmospheric precipitation might be critical for triggering new landslide occurrences. Hence, it is not a moment too soon for serious landslide susceptibility assessment in this region. State-of-the-art approaches had been taken into consideration, cutting down to the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) algorithms, trained upon expert based model of landslide susceptibility (a multi-criteria analysis). The latter involved Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for weighting influences of different input parameters. These included elevation, slope angle, aspect, distance from flows, vegetation cover, lithology, and rainfall, to represent the natural factors of the slope stability. Processed in a GIS environment (as discrete or float raster layers) trough AHP, those parameters yielded susceptibility pattern, classified by the entropy model into four classes. Subsequently the susceptibility pattern has been featured as training set in SVM and k-NN algorithms. Detailed fitting involved several cases, among which SVM with Gaussian kernel over geo-dataset (coordinates and input parameters) reached the highest accuracy (88%)outperforming other considered cases by far.


ABSTRACT
Sitti Nurmila NIM 15010106036. Students' Response towards Cooperative
Learning in English Classroom. Supervised By : Hj. Isna Humaerah, S. Ag.,
S. Pd., M. Pd.
This study aims to investigate the use of cooperative learning in English
classroom based on students' response at SMA Negeri 1 Kendari class X MIPA E
at the first semester for academic year 2018/2019. This study is conducting for 4
weeks, there are 8 meetings, starting, on Tuesday, 22 January 2019 until Friday,
15 February 2019. The researcher uses qualitative design to explain these matters.
The populations of this study are the students at grade X MIPA E of SMA Negeri
1 Kendari and the total of the sample are 36 students including 12 male and 24
female students. Two instruments are reflection and documentation is using to
gather the data of this study. The data are collecting use reflection consisted of 5
(five) questions that relate with cooperative learning. The result of this research
show that the students' response towards cooperative learning has positive
response. Students' reflection reveals that students are happy in learning using
cooperative learning, students find it easy to understand the material, students can
express their ideas. It shows from the students' reflection after learning process.
Besides, it finds that students familiar with group activities in English classroom.
Then, cooperative learning helps students in learning language and most of the
students agree that this approach helps them to acquire the knowledge through
working in a team easily and make the learning process more interesting. To sum
up, Cooperative Learning is a good approach for the students to learn and a good
method in managing a classroom.
Key words: Cooperative Learning, English Classroom, Response, Qualitative


ABSTRACT Difficulty in adjusting to retirement has consistently emerged as a problem for approximately a third of retirees. A body of research has converged on a description of the poor adjuster as one in poor health, with inadequate income, a negative pre-retirement attitude, but with an increased likelihood of adaptation over time. Findings relating to other factors such as socio-economic status, occupation, activity, career fulfilment, job satisfaction and work commitment are far less conclusive, with interpretation hampered by a failure to control for the more well established correlates of retirement adjustment. This paper reviews the empirical work in this field, evaluates the goal hierarchy model and the political economy of old age literature as bases for explaining differences in retirement adjustment, and proposes a theoretical framework for future research which brings these two perspectives together.


In eight dogs, a 20 cm section of isolated jejunum with intact blood supply was externalized to the abdominal wall and used as a device for levodopa (LD) administration. Overall, Sinemet tablets and LD suspension produced similar plasma levodopa concentrations with oral and pouch administration. The most ideal plasma concentration curves were obtained for CR-3, a sustained release Sinemet preparation, given through the jejunal pouches. Plasma LD concentrations rose within the first hour after administration of CR-3 and remained constant for the next 3 h, before falling slowly. Isolated jejunal pouches may therefore be an effective, simple means of maintaining constant plasma LD concentrations in parkinsonian patients with motor fluctuations and may diminish the deleterious effects of erratic gastric emptying and competition with food-derived amino acids at the gut/blood transport system.


At a phlebological centre, the writer was in a position to see proctological patients without its being possible to establish any particular connection between varicose veins and hemorrhoids. In this paper, he examines the prevalence of proctological symptoms and specifies which treatments are applied.


Mechanical properties of micro-structured porous silicon film (PS) were studied combining X-ray diffraction with micro-Raman spectroscopy. The micro-structured porous silicon samples with different porosities ranging from 30.77% to 96.25% were obtained by chemical etching. Lattice parameters of the samples were measured using X-ray diffraction and its maximal change is up to 1.0%. This lattice mismatch with the bulk silicon substrate may introduce residual stress to the porous film. The residual stress measurement by micro-Raman spectroscopy reveals that the maximum of tensile residual stress has reached GPa level in the porous film. Moreover, the lattice mismatch and its corresponding residual stress are increasing with the porosity of PS, but average elastic modulus is about 14.5 GPa, one order of magnitude lower than that of substrate Si. The mechanical properties of PS have a close relation with its micro-pore structure.


B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells secrete matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) at higher levels than normal B-cells. We previously showed that MMP-9 is also constantly present on the surface of B-CLL cells, where it binds to a docking complex containing alpha4beta1 integrin and CD44v. Interaction of MMP-9 with these receptors contributes to B-CLL progression since: 1) elicits a signaling pathway that leads to cell survival, and 2) regulates in vitro cell migration (Redondo-Munoz et al, Blood 2008, Cancer Cell 2010). We have now addressed the effect of MMP-9 overexpression at the cell surface, a situation likely occurring at B-CLL niches. We have used primary B-CLL cells as well as stable MEC-1 cell transfectants, containing either empty (Mock) or MMP-9-encoding lentiviral vectors. In vivo experiments using NOD/SCID mice showed that MMP-9-MEC-1 transfectants had significantly impaired homing to bone marrow and spleen, compared to Mock-cells. Importantly, incubation of primary B-CLL cells with MMP-9 inhibited their homing to these organs. Inhibition of migration was dose-dependent and only partially involved the catalytic MMP-9 activity, as the inactive mutant MMP-9MutE had a partial effect. MMP-9-MEC-1 cells or primary B-CLL cells incubated with MMP-9 showed reduced activation of key signaling pathways involved in cell migration, such as Akt, ERK, FAK and RhoAGTPase. In contrast, PTEN, a phosphatase that antagonizes Akt, ERK and FAK signaling and inhibits migration, and the RhoA inhibitor p190RhoGAP were upregulated in MMP-9-cells and B-CLL cells overexpressing MMP-9. Moreover, MMP-9-cells were more resistant to fludarabine or arsenic trioxide cytotoxic treatments than Mock-cells, indicating that MMP-9 also protected B-CLL cells from drug-induced apoptosis. Altogether our results reveal novel functions for MMP-9 likely contributing to malignant cell retention in lymphoid organs and drug resistance. MMP-9 thus contributes to B-CLL pathology and may represent a therapeutic target in this disease.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):A187.

Citation Format: Elvira Bailon, Estefania Ugarte-Berzal, Irene Amigo-Jimenez, Philippe Van den Steen, Ghislain Opdenakker, Jose A. Garcia-Marco, Angeles Garcia-Pardo. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 as a novel therapeutic target in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A187.


Background : Agrammatic aphasia impairs syntactic abilities in production and comprehension. The Tree Pruning Hypothesis (TPH) suggests that the syntactic deficit in production can be described in terms of inability to access the high nodes of the syntactic tree. Aims : The current study explored patterns of individual differences between individuals with agrammatic aphasia, and suggested a characterisation for different degrees of agrammatic severity using the syntactic tree. A second aim was to test the path of spontaneous recovery in agrammatic aphasia. Methods & Procedures : The first experiment tested 18 individuals with agrammatism: 16 were Hebrew speakers, and 2 were speakers of Palestinian Arabic. The syntactic ability of the participants was assessed with respect to three levels of the syntactic tree. To test the ability at the Agreement Phrase (AgrP) level, a task of agreement completion was used. To test the ability at the Tense Phrase (TP) level, a task of tense inflection completion was used. The ability at the highest level of the tree, the Complementiser Phrase (CP), was tested using elicitation tasks for two structures: Wh-questions and relative clauses. The second experiment tested the recovery of these four abilities over time in SB, an individual with agrammatism, starting 4.5 months post her brain injury until 18 months post-onset. Outcomes & Results : The main findings were that the variation between the performance of different individuals with agrammatism and degrees of agrammatic severity could be accounted for by different sites of pruning on the syntactic tree. Severe agrammatism results from inability to access TP and the nodes above it, which impairs both tense inflection and CP-related abilities like the production of embedded sentences and Wh-questions. Milder agrammatism results from the inaccessibility of a higher node, CP, which causes a deficit to embedded sentences and Wh-questions, but leaves tense unimpaired. For both degrees of severity, agreement inflection was unimpaired. The second experiment showed that the spontaneous recovery of SB proceeded on the syntactic tree: the starting point was impairment in AgrP, TP, and CP, at the next stage AgrP recovered, and at the following stage TP recovered too. Conclusions : The results show that the syntactic tree is not only a useful tool for the characterisation of agrammatic aphasia at one point in time; it can also account for individual differences as well as for degrees of agrammatic severity, and can describe stages of spontaneous recovery. A milder impairment, or improvement in agrammatism, manifests itself in the ability to access higher nodes of the syntactic tree.


Introduction : Empirical research pertaining to spirituality has grown in the Western context, with a myriad studies, that have documented the salience of spirituality to health and wellbeing in relation to a range of issues such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and heart disease (Koenig et al. 2001:1189). It is against this backdrop that nursing scholars have begun to research the role of spirituality and spiritual care in nursing practice, in the Euro-American context. In South Africa research in this field is sparse, hence prompting the need for the current study. Problem statement : There is a huge gap in the South African nursing literature on spirituality and spiritual care, grounding the need for research in this area. Internationally however studies have grown focussing on the views of practitioners and faculty with regard to spirituality and spiritual care in nursing practice. Objectives : To explore the views of nurses at public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal regarding the role of spirituality and spiritual care in nursing practice. To investigate nursing practitioners' views on the salience of spirituality to patients. To investigate whether nurses utilize spiritually based activities in nursing. To investigate whether current nursing education and training has prepared nurses for spiritual care. Methodology : The study utilized a descriptive survey utilizing a cross-sectional design. A quantitative research design was utilized to survey nursing practitioners at selected public hospitals through a process of multiphase random sampling. Data was collected using survey questionnaires. Findings : Findings of this study have shown that nurses do accept spirituality and spiritual care as being part of their role. Participants (n=385) acknowledged that spiritual care is a component of holistic patient care. This aspect of care, they agreed, lacks the attention it seriously needs. In addition, majority of nurses considered nursing to be part of their spiritual path. Results indicated that the more spiritual nurses viewed themselves, the more positive their perspectives were towards providing spiritual care.


Background Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a common inflammatory disease of the elderly characterized by girdle pain and cervical and lumbar aching. Interspinous bursitis has been suggested as potential cause of the symptoms at the lumbar spine level in a study performed with MRI (1). In rheumatology, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography integrated with computed tomography (PET/CT) is used mainly for the demonstration of large-vessel vasculitis. Characteristic uptake patterns are also seen in PMR, where bursal and joint involvement is highlighted in shoulders, hips, column, and ischium (2). Objectives To evaluate the spine structures involved in PMR by FDG-PET/CT in a cohort of consecutive, untreated patients. Methods Sixty-five consecutive patients (44 women, median age 73 years, range 50-87 years), fulfilling Bird's criteria for PMR were studied. After a standardized physical exam, which included pain and tenderness of the spine, they underwent simultaneous FDG-PET and CT imaging from the skull base to the knee using an integrated PET/CT scanner (Hirez; Siemens Medical Solutions, Knoxville TN, USA), after injection of 4.8-5.2 MBq of F18-FDG per kg body weight. FDG-uptake was scored according to liver uptake as 0=no uptake present, 1=lower than liver uptake, 2=similar to liver uptake, 3=higher than liver uptake. These values were further subdivided into "positive" (scores 2 and 3) and "negative" (scores 0 and 1). Sites of pathological uptake in the column were recorded. Results Table 1 shows the clinical and PET/CT results. FDG uptake was more frequent in the lumbar spine than in the other locations, and in the cervical than in the dorsal spine (p<0.0001). The corresponding score was higher in the lumbar than in the cervical spine (1.3±1.2 vs 0.3±0.8, p<0.0001). Uptake was almost always present in a single spinal bursa, comprised between the 3rd and 6th cervical vertebrae and between the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae. Spontaneous pain was more frequent in the cervical and lumbar spine than in the dorsal spine (p<0.02). No correlation was found between uptake and spontaneous or provoked pain. There was an association between cervical and lumbar bursitis (r=0.34, p=0.007). Conclusions Interspinous bursitis is a frequent finding in the lumbar spine of patients with PMR. It is however not associated with the presence of clinical symptoms and can hardly explain the spinal pain reported by the patients. Cervical pain is more frequent than lumbar pain in PMR patients and might be caused by shoulder girdle involvement. References Salvarani C, Barozzi L, Cantini F, Niccoli L, Boiardi L, Valentini M, et al. Cervical interspinous bursitis in active polymyalgia rheumatica. Ann Rheum Dis 2008;67:758–61. Camellino D, Cimmino MA. Imaging of polymyalgia rheumatica: indications on its pathogenesis, diagnosis and prognosis. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2012; 51: 77-86. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared


Since the last decade we have been observing a tremendous growth in the size of personal photo collections. For this reason, and due to the lack of proper automatic classification and annotation in standard album-centric photo software, users find it increasingly difficult to organise and make use of their photos. Although automatic annotation of media content can work to achieve more sophisticated multimedia classification and retrieval if its used in combination with rich knowledge representations, it still requires the availability of well-annotated training sets to produce the type of higher-level descriptions that would be of interest to casual users. Thus, the applicability of this approach is highly unlikely in the broad domain of personal photography. Recent developments in the media industry show an interest towards the organisation and structuring of media collections using an event-centric metaphor. This event-centric approach is inspired by strong research in psychology on how our autobiographical memory works to organise, recollect and share our life experiences. While this metaphor is backed by some early user studies, these were led before the large adoption of social media sharing services and there has been little recent research on how users actually use events digitally to organise and share their media. In this work we first present an updated study on what users are doing with their photos in current online platforms to support the suitability of an event-centric approach. Next, we introduce a simple framework for event-centric personal photo management focused on temporal and spatial aspects and through it we describe our techniques for automatic photo organisation and sharing. Finally, we propose a platform for personal photo management that makes use of these automatic techniques and present an evaluation of a prototypical implementation.


UNLABELLED Remifentanil is a potent ultra-short-acting opioid, which permits rapid emergence. However, remifentanil is expensive and may have detrimental effects on hemodynamics in case of overdose. Target-controlled infusion (TCI) permits adapting infusion to pharmacokinetic models. In this prospective randomized study, we compared intra- and postoperative hemodynamics, remifentanil requirement during anesthesia, and postoperative morphine requirement in patients scheduled for carotid surgery, and receiving either continuous IV weight-adjusted infusion of remifentanil (RIVA) or TCI for remifentanil (TCIR). Forty-six patients were enrolled in this study: all were anesthetized by using TCI for propofol. Twenty-three received RIVA (0.5 micro g. kg(-1) x min(-1)) for the induction of anesthesia and endotracheal intubation, with the infusion rate decreased to 0.25 micro g x kg(-1) x min(-1) after intubation, then adapted by step of 0.05 micro g x kg(-1) x min(-1) according to hemodynamics. Twenty-three patients received TCIR (Minto model, Rugloop), with an effect-site concentration at 4 ng/mL during induction, then adapted by step of 1 ng/mL according to hemodynamics. All patients received atracurium and a 50% mixture of N(2)O/O(2). Hemodynamic variables were recorded each minute. The number and duration of hemodynamic events were collected, and total doses of anesthetics (remifentanil and propofol) and vasoactive drugs were noted in both groups of patients. Data were analyzed by using unpaired t-tests. RIVA was significantly associated with more frequent episodes of intraoperative hypotension (16 versus 6, P < 0.001) and more frequent episodes of postoperative hypertension and/or tachycardia requiring more frequent administration of beta-adrenergic blockers (16 vs 10, P < 0.04) in comparison with TCIR. The need for morphine titration was not significantly different between groups. TCIR led to a significantly smaller requirement of remifentanil (700 +/- 290 versus 1390 +/- 555 micro g, P < 0.001) without difference in propofol requirement. This prospective randomized study demonstrated that, during carotid endarterectomy, in comparison with patients receiving remifentanil using continuous RIVA, TCI results in less hypotensive episodes during the induction of anesthesia, in fewer episodes of tachycardia and/or hypertension and a smaller beta-adrenergic blocker requirement during recovery, and a decrease in remifentanil requirement. Recommendations to prefer TCI for remifentanil administration during carotid endarterectomy may be justified. IMPLICATIONS Remifentanil for intraoperative analgesia in carotid artery surgery is associated with a better stability in perioperative hemodynamics when administered in target-controlled infusion compared with continuous weight-adjusted infusion. This may be related to a smaller requirement of this drug when using target-controlled infusion, as well as a smooth mode of administration.


T-cells massively restructure their internal architecture upon reaching an antigen-presenting cell (APC) to form the immunological synapse (IS), a cell–cell interface necessary for efficient elimination of the APC. This reorganization occurs through tight coordination of cytoskeletal processes: actin forms a peripheral ring, and dynein motors translocate the centrosome toward the IS. A recent study proposed that centrosome translocation involves a microtubule (MT) bundle that connects the centrosome perpendicularly to dynein at the synapse center: the "stalk." The synapse center, however, is actin-depleted, while actin was assumed to anchor dynein. We propose that dynein is attached to mobile membrane anchors, and investigate this model with computer simulations. We find that dynein organizes into a cluster in the synapse when translocating the centrosome, aligning MTs into a stalk. By implementing both a MT-capture-shrinkage and a MT-sliding mechanism, we explicitly demonstrate that this organization occurs in both systems. However, results obtained with MT-sliding dynein are more robust and display a stalk morphology consistent with our experimental data obtained with expansion microscopy. Thus, our simulations suggest that actin organization in T-cells during activation defines a specific geometry in which MT-sliding dynein can self-organize into a cluster and cause stalk formation.


Pre-training robot policies with a rich set of skills can substantially accelerate the learning of downstream tasks. Prior works have defined pre-training tasks via natural language instructions, but doing so requires tedious human annotation of hundreds of thousands of instructions. Thus, we propose SPRINT, a scalable offline policy pre-training approach which substantially reduces the human effort needed for pre-training a diverse set of skills. Our method uses two core ideas to automatically expand a base set of pre-training tasks: instruction relabeling via large language models and cross-trajectory skill chaining through offline reinforcement learning. As a result, SPRINT pre-training equips robots with a much richer repertoire of skills. Experimental results in a household simulator and on a real robot kitchen manipulation task show that SPRINT leads to substantially faster learning of new long-horizon tasks than previous pre-training approaches. Website at https://clvrai.com/sprint.


Using messenger RNA (mRNA) in situ hybridization, we investigated estrogen receptor-beta (ERbeta) mRNA levels in normal mammary, benign breast tumor (BBT), breast cancer (BC), and metastatic lymph node tissues to verify the role of ERbeta in BC development and progression. ERbeta expression was significantly decreased in BC and metastatic lymph node tissues compared with normal mammary and BBT tissues (p < 0.01). The intensity and extent of ERbeta mRNA signals were also significantly lower in BC and metastatic lymph node tissues than in the normal mammary and BBT tissues (p < 0.01). An inverse relationship was found between ERbeta mRNA level and both histologic grade (p = 0.091) and progesterone receptor expression (p = 0.052) with marginal significance, but no significant association was noted between ERbeta expression in cancer tissues and the other clinico-pathologic data. The 3-year distant relapse-free survival probability was found to be independent of ERbeta expression. Collectively, ERbeta mRNA decreases in the process of BC development, but seems to be associated with poor differentiation.


This paper is a summary of the main contributions of the PhD thesis published in [1]. The main research contributions of the thesis are driven by the research question how to design simple, yet efficient and robust run-time adaptive resource allocation schemes within the communication stack of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) nodes. The thesis addresses several problem domains with contributions on different layers of the WSN communication stack. The main contributions can be summarized as follows: First, a a novel run-time adaptive MAC protocol is introduced , which stepwise allocates the power-hungry radio interface in an on-demand manner when the encountered traffic load requires it. Second, the thesis outlines a methodology for robust, reliable and accurate software-based energy-estimation, which is calculated at network run-time on the sensor node itself. Third, the thesis evaluates several Forward Error Correction (FEC) strategies to adap-tively allocate the correctional power of Error Correcting Codes (ECCs) to cope with timely and spatially variable bit error rates. Fourth, in the context of TCP-based communications in WSNs, the thesis evaluates distributed caching and local retransmission strategies to overcome the performance degrading effects of packet corruption and transmission failures when transmitting data over multiple hops. The performance of all developed protocols are evaluated on a self-developed real-world WSN testbed and achieve superior performance over selected existing approaches , especially where traffic load and channel conditions are suspect to rapid variations over time.


The concept of probabilistic occupancy maps was introduced by the end of the 1980s. Over the years, research has focused on the definition of the representation, the data fusion, and the generation of such occupancy models. However, few considerations have been given to processing occupancy maps as textured images to extract meaningful information that is required for robot navigation. This paper investigates the application of modern segmentation techniques over 2-D probabilistic occupancy maps that are encoded as textured images. Enhancements are proposed to a uniformity estimation technique based on local binary pattern and contrast (LBP/C) to achieve the robust segmentation of occupancy maps that typically result from range sensors with limited resolution. The enhanced LBP/C segmentation technique handles occupancy uncertainty and subdivides the space in regions that are characterized by three deterministic occupancy states, which are defined as free, unknown, and occupied. The approach is also extended to increase the number of classification levels, which provides the necessary flexibility to automatically select the regions that are characterized by a given range of occupancy states. The use of these extensions, along with the accuracy of the segmented 2-D occupancy maps, is first experimentally demonstrated on ground-based probabilistic grids for application in mobile robot navigation with collision avoidance. The potential of the proposed approach is also evaluated on aerial and satellite images for which it provides stable results and can find applications for unmanned aerial vehicle navigation.


INTRODUCTIONThe origin of the Internal Revenue Service can be traced back 150 years to the Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln and Congress established the Bureau of Internal Revenue (Bureau) in conjunction with the enactment of the first income tax in 1862. Once the need for revenue to fund the war dissipated, this first tax was repealed. An attempt to resume the tax in 1894 failed when the United States Supreme Court held that the tax was unconstitutional in 1895. Ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1913 provided Congress with the authority to enact an income tax without the need for it to be apportioned among the states based on population. In 1953, the Bureau was reorganized and renamed the Internal Revenue Service (hereinafter referred to as the 1RS). In 1998, the 1RS again underwent a comprehensive reorganization and modernization pursuant to the 1RS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (1RS (b), 2014).Most individuals are well aware of the role of the 1RS; it is the agency that collects revenue for the federal government and administers the federal tax laws. According to the United States Department of the Treasury, the 1RS processed more than 239 million tax returns and collected $2,524 trillion in taxes (gross receipts) in fiscal year (FY) 2012, which represented 92% of the federal government's receipts for the annual period (U.S. Department of the Treasury, FY 2014). Despite these efforts, federal outlays for the year were in excess of $3.5 trillion, resulting in an annual deficit of a trillion dollars. However, all taxes owed are not always paid. It has been reported that in 2006 (the most recent information made available), the estimated net tax gap was $385 billion. The net tax gap is defined as the amount of tax owed by taxpayers that is "not paid on time and is not collected subsequently, either voluntarily or as the result of enforcement activities." For purposes of comparison, the 1RS also recently revised its estimate of the 2006 gross tax gap to be $450 billion. This larger "gross" gap is defined as the amount of true tax liability not paid in time by taxpayers. The difference between the gross and net gaps, or $65 billion for 2006, is the portion of the differential which is expected to eventually be collected through late tax payments and 1RS enforcement efforts. Related to this, the 1RS estimated that the voluntary compliance rate in 2006 was 83.1% (1RS (a), 2012). More recently, the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) reported in her 2013 Annual Report to Congress (submitted in December 2013), that approximately "98% of the revenue collected by the 1RS each year is paid timely and voluntarily. Only two percent comes from 1RS enforcement actions" (Taxpayer Advocate Service, 2013).Taxes are on the minds of many US citizens at the beginning of the year as they prepare to file and pay their prior years' taxes. The goals of this research are to study whether taxpayer perceptions of the 1RS are impacted by one's perception of the seriousness and consequences of the 1RS missteps as well as on the individual's overall opinion of the agency.LITERATURE REVIEWIn order to fulfill its duties as tax collector/rule enforcer, the 1RS expends considerable effort both in terms of finances and personnel. Similar to other discretionary programs, the 1RS receives its funding through annual appropriations by Congress (Marr and Friedman, 2014). Measured in 2014 dollars, the agency's funding for FY 2010 was $13.2 billion, while for FY 2014, funding had fallen by seven percent to $11.3 billion. The biggest decline in funding took place in FY 2013 (roughly $900 million to $11.4 billion) as part of the sequestration process implemented by the federal government. For FY 2015, President Obama's budget included a proposed increase in the agency's budget of $1.2 billion for a total of $ 12.5 billion, restoring it to roughly its 2010 funding level in non-inflation adjusted terms (Marr and Friedman, 2014). …


The accumulation of positive ions, produced by ionizing particles crossing Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LAr-TPCs), may generate distortions of the electric drift field affecting the track reconstruction of the ionizing events. These effects could become relevant for large LAr-TPCs operating at surface or at shallow depth, where the detectors are exposed to a copious flux of cosmic rays. A detailed study of such possible field distortions in the ICARUS T600 LAr-TPC has been performed analyzing a sample of cosmic muon tracks recorded with one T600 module operated at surface in 2001. The maximum track distortion turns out to be of few mm in good agreement with the prediction by a numerical calculation. As a cross-check, the same analysis has been performed on a cosmic muon sample recorded during the ICARUS T600 run at the LNGS underground laboratory, where the cosmic ray flux was suppressed by a factor $\sim 10^6$ by 3400 m water equivalent shielding. No appreciable distortion has been observed, confirming that the effects measured on surface are actually due to ion space charge.


In [1], the non-linear space-time Hasegawa-Mima plasma equation is formulated as a coupled system of two linear PDE's, a solution of which is a pair (u, w). The first equation is of hyperbolic type and the second of elliptic type. Variational frames for obtaining weak solutions to the initial value Hasegawa-Mima problem with periodic boundary conditions were also derived. In a more recent work [2], a numerical approach consisting of a finite element space-domain combined with an Euler-implicit time scheme was used to discretize the coupled variational Hasegawa-Mima model. A semi-linear version of this implicit nonlinear scheme was tested for several types of initial conditions. This semi-linear scheme proved to lack efficiency for long time, which necessitates imposing a cap on the magnitude of the solution. To circumvent this difficulty, in this paper, we use Newton-type methods (Newton, Chord and an introduced Modified Newton method) to solve numerically the fully-implicit non-linear scheme. Testing these methods in FreeFEM++ indicates significant improvements as no cap needs to be imposed for long time. In the sequel, we demonstrate the validity of these methods by proving several results, in particular the convergence of the implemented methods.


Fuzzy Logic with PID control (IFLC) has been applied for various applications which provide better performances compared to independent FLC, and PID. Although expert-system-based solutions are effective in controlling the processes. Design Fuzzy logic controller has traditionally been achieved through a process of trial and error. Such approach cannot obtain optimized FLC; more formal methods of knowledge base optimization are required. Genetic Algorithms (GAs) provide such a method to optimize the FLC parameters to globally optimum. In this paper, the FLC and the PID controller is optimally designed using the genetic algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed approach (GAIFLC) is compared to a previous IFLC designed based on trial and error method and conventional PID controller for a three tank system. The simulation results of the proposed approach provide a satisfactory response in all means.


An important aspect of adaptive learning is the ability to flexibly use past experiences to guide new decisions. When facing a new decision, some people automatically leverage previously learned associations, while others do not. This variability in transfer of learning across individuals has been demonstrated repeatedly and has important implications for understanding adaptive behavior, yet the source of these individual differences remains poorly understood. In particular, it is unknown why such variability in transfer emerges even among homogeneous groups of young healthy participants who do not vary on other learning-related measures. Here we hypothesized that individual differences in the transfer of learning could be related to relatively stable differences in intrinsic brain connectivity, which could constrain how individuals learn. To test this, we obtained a behavioral measure of memory-based transfer outside of the scanner and on a separate day acquired resting-state functional MRI images in 42 participants. We then analyzed connectivity across independent component analysis-derived brain networks during rest, and tested whether intrinsic connectivity in learning-related networks was associated with transfer. We found that individual differences in transfer were related to intrinsic connectivity between the hippocampus and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and between these regions and large-scale functional brain networks. Together, the findings demonstrate a novel role for intrinsic brain dynamics in flexible learning-guided behavior, both within a set of functionally specific regions known to be important for learning, as well as between these regions and the default and frontoparietal networks, which are thought to serve more general cognitive functions.


This paper discusses the encoding, validation and development of language resources of the completed ParlaMint I and on-going ParlaMint II CLARIN projects, which centre on the collaborative development of a large set of interoperable corpora of parliamentary proceedings. It focuses on the ParlaMint encoding and the GitHub development platform and the evaluation of their use by project partners. We introduce the use of TEI ODD for the encoding guidelines and validation schemas. We motivate and explain using Git to develop and maintain the encoding schemas, validation and conversion scripts and valid samples of the corpora. Apart from revision control, issues, and publishing documentation, the GitHub platform also supports integrating code execution with pull requests, which significantly automates the data submission process. The paper also presents the results of a survey on the use of TEI and Git in the ParlaMint projects among the project participants. Overall, participants were mostly positive about their experiencewith TEI and Git, although some difficulties were reported. Some partners also expressed doubts about whether the current scheme is flexible enough to support encoding the unique features of sometimes drastically different parliamentary systems. On the other hand, reactions to Git were very positive in terms of information and feedback received via GitHub Issues, effectiveness in the communication process, and plans to use Git in the future. However, there was less agreement on whether the requirements and workflows were adequately explained.The reported difficulties will serve as a basis for further Git workflow optimisation in ParlaMint.


Gastric juice acidity was examined in 131 patients with gastric ulcer. In 31 (23.7%) patients it appeared to be high, in 57 (43.5%)-normal, in 42 (32.8%)-low. In 28.6% cases the pepsin concentration was high, in 26.5%-normal, in 44.9% - low. In elder patients, patients with cardial ulcer, plural and combined ulcers, big size ulcers, long-term ulcer anamnesis the rate of low acidity increases. Among patients with unsatisfactory results of conservative treatment 15.8% had high acidity and 38.7% low acidity. Low acidity is an unfavorable prognostic factor.


Evolutionary modeling applications are the best way to provide full information to support in-depth understanding of evaluation of organisms. These applications mainly depend on identifying the evolutionary history of existing organisms and understanding the relations between them, which is possible through the deep analysis of their biological sequences. Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) is considered an important tool in such applications, where it gives an accurate representation of the relations between different biological sequences. In literature, many efforts have been put into presenting a new MSA algorithm or even improving existing ones. However, little efforts on optimizing parallel MSA algorithms have been done. Nowadays, large datasets become a reality, and big data become a primary challenge in various fields, which should be also a new milestone for new bioinformatics algorithms. This survey presents four of the state-of-the-art parallel MSA algorithms, TCoffee, MAFFT, MSAProbs, and M2Align. We provide a detailed discussion of each algorithm including its strengths, weaknesses, and implementation details and the effectiveness of its parallel implementation compared to the other algorithms, taking into account the MSA accuracy on two different datasets, BAliBASE and OXBench.


The objectives of this research were to (1) understand the impact of vibration on electronic components under ultrasound excitation; (2) model the thermal profile presented under vibration stress; and (3) predict stress level given a thermal profile of an electronic component. Research tasks included: (1) retrofit of current ultrasonic/infrared nondestructive testing system with sensory devices for temperature readings; (2) design of software tool to process images acquired from the ultrasonic/infrared system; (3) developing hypotheses and conducting experiments; and (4) modeling and evaluation of electronic vibration stress levels using a neural network model. Results suggest that (1) an ultrasonic/infrared system can be used to mimic short burst high vibration loads for electronics components; (2) temperature readings for electronic components under vibration stress are consistent and repeatable; (3) as stress load and excitation time increase, temperature differences also increase; (4) components that are subjected to a relatively high pre-stress load, followed by a normal operating load, have a higher heating rate and lower cooling rate. These findings are based on grayscale changes in images captured during experimentation. Discriminating variables and a neural network model were designed to predict stress levels given temperature and/or grayscale readings. Preliminary results suggest a 15.3% error when using grayscale change rate and 12.8% error when using average heating rate within the neural network model. Data were obtained from a high stress point (the corner) of the chip.


The voice conversion challenge is a bi-annual scientific event held to compare and understand different voice conversion (VC) systems built on a common dataset. In 2020, we organized the third edition of the challenge and constructed and distributed a new database for two tasks, intra-lingual semi-parallel and cross-lingual VC. After a two-month challenge period, we received 33 submissions, including 3 baselines built on the database. From the results of crowd-sourced listening tests, we observed that VC methods have progressed rapidly thanks to advanced deep learning methods. In particular, speaker similarity scores of several systems turned out to be as high as target speakers in the intra-lingual semi-parallel VC task. However, we confirmed that none of them have achieved human-level naturalness yet for the same task. The cross-lingual conversion task is, as expected, a more difficult task, and the overall naturalness and similarity scores were lower than those for the intra-lingual conversion task. However, we observed encouraging results, and the MOS scores of the best systems were higher than 4.0. We also show a few additional analysis results to aid in understanding cross-lingual VC better.


Multimodal imaging (MMI) allows a more granular grading of age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) disease severity, with many novel risk factors having been recently identified. With this imaging information, we are better able to counsel our patients with more accurate and individualized progression scenarios. MMI also allows identification of anatomical features that increase our understanding of disease processes involved in progression to late AMD. Treatment protocols for neovascular AMD (nAMD) depend largely on the optical coherence tomography (OCT) appearance to determine disease activity, which allows us to individualize treatment. In geographic atrophy (GA), new intervention trials require the ability to define the extent of GA, so that GA growth rate can be determined. This is achieved through fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging, which allows greater accuracy of border identification, as well as revealing FAF patterns predictive of growth rates. As we strive to bring interventions earlier in the disease course, OCT imaging provides an ability to identify the first signs of atrophy, which may serve as novel surrogate biomarkers for GA, thereby facilitating trials. In the future, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify relevant features on MMI could further enhance our ability to determine disease severity, predict progression and assist in identifying disease activity parameters to support clinical decision making when treating nAMD. Newer developments may allow frequent, remote capturing of images, reducing clinic visits, detecting progression and monitoring neovascular activity in‐between clinic visits. Being aware of these new imaging insights in AMD, greatly enhance our clinical management of AMD.


The increasing prevalence of allergic diseases and involvement of neuropeptides in the modulation of allergic responses attracted the attention of clinicians and researchers to explore the neuro-immune interaction in the allergic diseases [1]. The nervous system releases neuropeptides that modulating the immune response through interactions with the inflammatory cells. Therefore, the participation of these neuropeptides in the pathophysiologic background of the allergic disease cannot be ignored. Earlier


A CP violating kinematic structure is presented. The essential physical input is to question the textbook wisdom, "Now when a particle is at rest, one cannot define its spin as either leftor right-handed, so φR(0) = φL(0)," as found, e.g., in Lewis Ryder's Quantum Field Theory, and in many other books on the representations of the Lorentz group. It is suggested that this equality is true only up to a phase. The demand of C, P, and T covariances, separately, fixes this phase to be ±1. If these conditions are relaxed, a natural CP-violating kinematic structure emerges. Having established a CP-violating kinematic structure, we then discuss how Planck scale physics necessarily invokes non-commutative space-time and that such changes in the structure of spacetime will force upon us additional violations/deformations of the CPT structure of space-time, and a violation of the principle of equivalence via a violation of the Lorentz symmetries. The latter may carry significant consequences for understanding the data on ultra high energy cosmic rays.


We thank the authors for the attention dedicated to our study.1 This work reports the presence of microbleeds (MBs) with a spatial connection to veins, as observed on high-resolution Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping. As we openly discuss, we cannot exclude that this observed spatial relationship is not a casual one; only neuropathologic correlation studies can provide certainty. Considering the predominantly arterial pattern of vascular amyloid-β accumulation in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, alternative vessel pathologies—such as venous collagenosis2—are more likely to play a role.


In this paper, a novel direction-based interpolation approach with discrete orthogonal polynomial decomposition is introduced. A 2D digital image is usually regarded as a sampling of an underlying 2D continuous function, which is called an image field. When the image field is considered as a scalar potential field, the interpolation problem is converted to that if the values at some points in a potential field are given, how to estimate the value of any point more accurately. Both the edges of the image and the content of the objects are well preserved if the image is interpolated along the equipotential lines instead of the coordinate axes. In this study, the equipotential direction at each pixel in the interpolated plane is calculated from the partial derivatives of the discrete orthogonal polynomial decomposition of the original image. For each point, the equipotential line through it is searched in a step-by-step way, guided by the equipotential directions. The value of a point is interpolated linearly from the values of points with known values along the equipotential line. Refinement scheme is applied to interpolate the images to the desired scale. Experiments on a set of CT images show that this method not only preserves the shape structure efficiently even for the objects with complicated structures but also has a low time complexity.


Facial motion analysis is a research field with many practical applications, and has been strongly developed in the last years. However, most effort has been focused on the recognition of basic facial expressions of emotion and neglects the analysis of facial motions related to non-verbal communication signals. This paper focuses on the classification of facial expressions that are of the utmost importance in sign languages (Grammatical Facial Expressions) but also present in expressive spoken language. We have collected a dataset of Spanish Sign Language sentences and extracted the intervals for three types of Grammatical Facial Expressions: negation, closed queries and open queries. A study of several deep learning models using different input features on the collected dataset (LSE_GFE) and an external dataset (BUHMAP) shows that GFEs can be learned reliably with Graph Convolutional Networks simply fed with face landmarks.


A concept is offered for tokamak and molten-salt thorium blanket with liquid-metal mass-exchanger which allows an uninterrupted extraction of protactinium from the blanket and its accumulation in a cascade salt trap separately from fission products. At uninterrupted extraction of protactinium from neutron field with the same rate, such a facility can become attractive for industrial production of nuclear fuel (U) from thorium. For this, it is offered to use a reduction extraction of radio-nuclides into a liquid-metal carrier (directly contacting with the molten salt) by managing RedOx potential (Fermi level) of the salt composition. Establishing Fermi level in the first cascade of molten-salt trap only for oxidizing the lanthanides allows extracting only them from the liquid-metal carrier. In the second cascade of this trap, one can extract protactinium by shifting down Fermi level at higher oxidation potential. For correct operation of the trap cascades, the lanthanides portion in the second cascade will be less than 0.01% of the first one and the portion of protactinium in the first cascade will be four orders less than in the second one.


Microgrids play a major role in enabling the widespread adoption of renewable distributed energy resources. However, as the power generated from renewable resources is intermittent in nature, it impacts the dynamics and stability of the microgrid, and hence their integration needs new approaches to coordination and control. The existing systems lack run-time adaptive behavior. To face these constraints, the electric energy system must adapt by integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Multiagent system (MAS) is emerging as an integrated solution approach to distributed computing, communication, and data integration needs for smart grid application. Distributed and heterogeneous information can be efficiently processed locally, but utilized globally to coordinate distributed knowledge networks, resulting in reduction of information processing time and network bandwidth. Parallel operations, asynchronous communication, and autonomous actions of agents enable MAS to adapt to dynamic changes of the environment, thereby improving the reliability, responsiveness, fault tolerance, and stability of the microgrid. In this chapter, MAS is implemented with Java Agent DEvelopment (JADE) framework for advanced energy management of a microgrid. Also, MAS is linked with Arduino microcontroller for practical verification of agent operations. Three microgrids are interconnected to form a microgrid testbed, and smart grid features such as demand side management and plug and play are implemented, making it into a smart microgrid.


A great amount of shunt capacitor banks are running in power system.Because of their capacitive impedance and their interaction with power system harmonic,the shunt resonance or serial resonance harmonic is produced and the harmonic current enlarged.It will damage capacitors and electrical devices.In order to avoid resonance produced by electrical parameter match and to control harmonic current enlargement,the effect of capacitor on it and the reasonable disposition of capacitor and reactor should be studied.


Patient body motion is inevitable in cardiac SPECT due to the lengthy interval of time patients are imaged (∼23 min with transmission scan) and even respiratory patterns can change over that period. The use of external tracking devices provides additional information which is expected to result in a more robust correction than using just the emission data. We have been investigating the use of stereo-motion-tracking of retro-reflective markers on stretchy bands wrapped about the chest and abdomen of patients to provide 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) tracking of the patient during cardiac SPECT. Recently we have introduced a visual-tracking-system (VTS) which utilizes 5 near-infrared (NIR) cameras to track markers from both ends of the clinic. This system is robust enough to compensate for multiple cameras being blocked from viewing all the markers due to the patient anatomy or viewing geometry restrictions imposed by the SPECT system. Initial studies have shown that the temporal and spatial accuracy of this motion-tracking system are well within the precision needed to correct for motion artifacts that can occur during cardiac SPECT. Clinical trials have been initiated for list-mode cardiac SPECT studies using bands of markers on the chest and abdomen, and so far we have been able to consistently track the markers. We have begun volunteer studies with IRB approval and informed consent where patients were asked to stay for a second cardiac-rest study with no additional radioactivity. Patients were asked to perform specific movements and we were able to correct for the rigid-body motion during SPECT reconstruction with our software as well as the standard clinical tool for comparison.


During these last years, the economic activity centres are relatively well developed in Ivorian big cities. They have significantly moved from the countryside to the urban zones. Today, the focus of domestic activities is located in the urban zones and about 60 % of the population from that area lives from it. The category of actors working in the sector is essentially constituted of women. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they implement several types of activities (market gardens, low-lying ground for rice crops, cassava production and processing for "attieke", cashew nuts processing into butter). Which allow them to better promote the social well-being, taking them out of that cycle of poverty and place the economies on the path to sustainable growth. Since many year, for not being left out, a group of women who form the Association "Chigata" in the city of Korhogo was part of this dynamic focused on the fight against poverty, by the extraction of Shea butter.
However, the day-to-day practice of this activity is compromised by many difficulties: use of traditional and archaic tools, difficult exiting of products due to the absence of machinery and roads, the absence of farms, the absence of a reliable market, the absence of training and guidance. This situation threatens women and makes them even more vulnerable.
The desire of the research was to analyse the strategies of women's work, the related obstacles and the appropriate ways to strengthen this sector.
The study is in three parts. The first part underlines the methodology; the second one is about the processing steps of the cashew nuts into butter and the third one deals with the commercialization strategies and recommendations.


INTRODUCTION
Prevention of intraoperative miosis in hybrid (femtosecond laser-assisted) phacoemulsification is a relevant problem of cataract surgery.

PURPOSE
Development and clinical study of an effective method for preventing intraoperative miosis in hybrid (femtosecond laser-assisted) phacoemulsification.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Hybrid phacoemulsification was performed in 300 patients (300 eyes). The first group (100 eyes) 3 days prior to the surgery was prescribed instillations of 0.1% indomethacin 3 times a day and 3 times in 2 hours before surgery at 30 minute intervals. The second group (100 eyes) 3 days prior to the surgery was prescribed instillations of 0.1% indomethacin 3 times a day, 3 times in 2 hours before the surgery at 30 minute intervals, and 1 hour before the surgery an additional intramuscular injection of diclofenac. The third group (control, 100 eyes) 2 hours before the operation was prescribed instillations of 0.1% indomethacin, 3 times at 30 minute intervals. The diameter of the pupil was evaluated before the beginning of femtosecond laser stage and before the opening of anterior chamber during the second stage of the operation.

RESULTS
When the interval between the femtosecond laser stage and emulsification of the nucleus fragments was maintained at less than 15 minutes, pronounced decrease of the pupil (more than 2 mm) was noted in 8.2% of cases in the first group, 6.7% in the second group and 14.1% in third (control) group; mean values of pupil narrowing were 0.68±0.27 mm in the 1st group, 0.63±0.25 mm in the 2nd group, and 0.93±0.39 mm (p<0.05) in the third group.

CONCLUSION
The clinical study showed high efficiency of the proposed methods for prevention of intraoperative miosis in hybrid (femtosecond laser-assisted) phaco surgery. An important factor affecting intraoperative narrowing of the pupil is the time interval between the femtolaser stage of the operation and emulsification of the nucleus fragments, which should not exceed 15 minutes.


Summary
Gastroscopy is the most common technique used in veterinary medicine to evaluate the stomach in horses and to date, no complications have been described associated with the procedure. This paper reports 4 cases developing a nonstrangulating segmental volvulus of the small intestine after gastroscopy at 3 referral institutions over a 2 year period. After performing diagnostic gastroscopy, all horses developed acute and severe clinical signs of colic unresponsive to medical management. Time range between gastroscopy and onset of colic signs varied from 10 min to 3 h. An exploratory laparotomy revealed a nonstrangulating segmental volvulus of the small intestine that was manually corrected without need for resection in all horses. In all cases, affected small intestine was severely gas distended. Three of those horses survived to discharge and were alive at follow-up. One horse was subjected to euthanasia 2 days after surgery due to diffuse intestinal lymphoma.


The following essay describes the results of the study previously described by the authors in their structures,which emerge from the deep hermeneutic evaluation of part narrative interviews (Link & Torrente 2016). For this, the results of the respective two empirical and qualitative interviews are presented in a phenomenological hermeneutic way, in terms of their various modesof experience and in addition, the essential key moments in the experience of the young peopleare described.Following this, a conclusion will be attempted at, which ties into these monographs.


Modern wine rhetoric embodies all of the persuasive communication skills developed by wine professionals as they navigate their field by learning new wine trends and experiencing different restaurant environments. The rhetorical skills they develop are reflective of Scottish Enlightenment theories on Taste and beauty. Though these fields do not usually intersect in formal education, exploring wine rhetoric through the lens of Scottish Enlightenment reveals the purposeful methodology behind their practice of persuasive communication. This article situates Enlightenment rhetoric in the current conversation of wine by illuminating today's wine rhetorical practice as indebted to Enlightenment rhetorical theory and strategy.


In many applications, an incoming value is compared against one or more values stored in registers. To avoid data corruption, the registers are in some cases protected with a single error correction (SEC) code. Therefore, in a traditional implementation, SEC decoding would be done before the comparison. However, previous works have shown that it may be more efficient to compare the SEC encoded values directly using a distance one comparison. This distance one comparison prevents single bit errors from affecting the result of the comparison and is in many cases simpler than an SEC decoding plus a traditional comparison. It is shown that the use of single-error correction double error detection (SEC-DED) encoded registers enables a simplified distance one comparison that can further reduce the cost of implementing error protection for register comparison.


Stereoselectivity in condensation of protected ribonucleoside 3′-H-phosphonates with hydroxylic components was investigated using 31P NMR spectroscopy. The correlation between absolute configuration at the phosphorus center and the chemical shifts of the produced H-phosphonate diesters and the corresponding phosphorothioates, was studied.


This paper analyzes the development of the labor market in Azerbaijan from the early 1990s until the early 2010s. The analysis shows that the labor market has a range of positive characteristics such as high labor force participation and employment, low youth and female unemployment, flexibility, and a low share of the "working poor", all of which can beneficially influence future economic prospects. However, the Azerbaijani labor market also experiences certain undesirable developments, such as an increase in the share of labor with primary education, a shift towards elementary occupations, a high share of self-employment, and an excess of labor cost growth over productivity growth, all of which can threaten further economic development. JEL classification: J21, J63, J65, P23, P31


Huge resources of energy in the form of natural gas hydrates are widely distributed worldwide in permafrost sediments as well as in offshore sediments. A novel technology for combined production of these resources and safe long-term storage of carbon dioxide is based on the injection of carbon dioxide injection into in situ methane hydrate-filled sediments. This will lead to an exchange of the in situ methane hydrate over to carbon dioxide-dominated hydrate and a simultaneous release of methane gas. Recent theoretical and experimental results indicate that the conversion from natural gas hydrate to carbon dioxide hydrate and mixed carbon dioxide/methane hydrate follows two primary mechanisms. Direct solid state transformation is possible, but very slow. The dominating mechanism involves formation of a new hydrate from injected carbon dioxide and associated dissociation of the in situ natural gas hydrate by the released heat. Nitrogen is frequently added in order to increase gas permeability and to reduce ...


BACKGROUND
Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of lymph nodes is a simple, cost effective, out-patient procedure used for diagnosis of various causes of lymphadenopathies. In tuberculous lymphadenitis, it not only used for the cytological diagnosis but also used for other ancillary testing such as Ziehl- Neelsen staining and AFB Culture.

AIMS
Our study was designed to evaluate the cytopathological pattern of FNAC aspirate of patients presenting with lymphadenopathy with special reference to tuberculous lymphadenopathy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this study all the patients referred to the cytopathology lab for FNAC of lymph nodes between January 2011 to June, 2013 were included. Out of 1050 patients presenting with lymphadenopathies, there were 550 cases of tuberculous lymphadenitis. The cytopathological findings of these 550 cases were analyzed.

RESULTS
A female preponderance was noted in our study with maximum incidence in the 3rd decade. Cervical lymph nodes were the most common nodes to be involved. Gross examination of aspirate showed maximum cases (74.5.2%) of whitish material. Among the four cytological patterns on FNAC, maximum cases demonstrated caseous necrotic material with degenerated inflammatory cells. Ziehl- Neelsen staining showed overall AFB positivity of 44.54%. Maximum AFB positivity was seen in cases having caseous necrosis only.

CONCLUSION
FNAC is a simple, cost effective technique with high degree of accuracy in diagnosing Tubercular Lymphadenitis. Despite certain limitations and pitfalls, FNAC coupled with Ziehl- Neelson staining should be the 1st line investigation in cases with lymphadenopaty, in a developing country with high prevalence rate of tuberculosis.


A commerical, solid‐state television camera has been used to record images of soft x radiation (0.8–12 keV). The performance of the camera is theoretically analyzed and experimentally evaluated compared with an x‐ray photographic film (Kodak direct exposure film). In the application, the camera has been used to provide image patterns of x rays from laser‐produced plasmas. It is demonstrated that the camera has several advantages over x‐ray photographic film.


The imminent transition from 2.5G to 3G networks is generally considered to be a keystone for the future economic success of mobile telecommunications. This paper presents a practical comparison of GRPS and UMTS network performance, based on measurements in the live network of Mobilkom Austria and comparing the results to dedicated lab trials. Starting from raw TCP/IP download and upload transfer rates and ICMP Ping round-trip-times, we end up with page response times and file transfer rates for simulated HTTP/1.0 scenarios. The presented results are especially interesting for a realistic calibration of forthcoming 3G and beyond simulation tools.


Climate changes today result ever more frequently in large scale catastrophic events, such as floods, fires, tropical cyclones, hurricanes. They greatly endanger individuals, businesses and society as a whole. Countries, regions, local governments, and the insurance sector, have large problems resolving the consequences of such events. The likelihood of these events is difficult to influence. Nevertheless, the largest contribution to risk reduction can be achieved by reducing vulnerability in any of its four forms: infrastructural, environmental, economic and social vulnerability. This paper analyses different aspects and indicators for assessing vulnerability. The main aim in this paper is to show the importance of vulnerability assessment in disaster risk management. The main result of this research is vulnerability assessment method, methods like this one should contribute to shift from passive disaster-related defense to proactive disaster risk management, as well as from emergency management only, to disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation activities.


Purpose Long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCHAD) deficiency is one of the recently discovered defects of mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation surprisingly associated with ophthalmologic abnormalities. The presentation of a long-term survivor may enlarge the clinical spectrum associated with this disorder. Methods A 12-year retrospective review of the clinical course of a 19-year-old long-term survivor was performed. The author concentrated on characteristic ophthalmologic measures: visual acuity, refraction, ophthalmoscopy, visual fields, and electroretinography Results The author found a milder course than described in the literature, although very few case reports of long-term survivors have been published. The patient developed slower circumscribed atrophy of the choroid, retinal pigment epithelium, and retina. Conclusions Because of therapeutic and prenatal diagnostic opportunities in LCHAD deficiency, it is important to recognize this severe disorder early in its course. This may lead to a milder course and better prognosis due to early dietary therapy.


BACKGROUND
Circulatory shock, especially endotoxin shock, is characterized by the release of a large number of mediators, among which proteases play a key role. The production of oxygen free radicals into the extracellular space and the increase of capillary permeability is one of the most important consequences of that phenomenon. In order to evaluate the efficacy of gabexate mesilate (Foy) in preventing such increase of microvascular permeability, an experimental model of endotoxin shock was used.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experiments were performed on the mesocecum of male Wistars rats, fluorescent labeled bovine albumine was injected intrarterially to evaluate the capillary permeability and the mesocecum microcirculation was observed by fluorescent light. The control group received saline i.v.; the II group received a DL 100 of E. coli endotoxin (DIFCO 0111: B4); the III and the IV group received a continuous infusion or topical application of gabexate mesilate respectively, before the administration of endotoxin. To evaluate capillary permeability and to quantify the degree of extravasion by counting the number of leaky sites, fluorescent labelled bovine albumin was injected i.v. and mesocecum was observed with fluorescent microscopy for 2 hours.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Capillary permeability did not increase in control rats; it largely increased in rats receiving endotoxin i.v. but it did not almost increased in rats receiving gabexate mesilate (Foy) that prevents the increase of capillary permeability that was observed in the group treated with endotoxin alone.


ule, the percentage of patients obtaining SVR with respect to RVR was 75% only. In other words, RVR seems easier to obtain with telaprevir, but less frequently predicts a favorable treatment outcome. A possible explanation might reside in the suboptimal exposure in the majority of telaprevir groups to peginterferon and ribavirin (12 or 24 weeks, instead of the standard 48 weeks); however, it should also be considered that common on-treatment virological predictors might have a different meaning when they are obtained through different pharmacological approaches. As the background of a picture may vary according to the position of either the subject or the photographer, so too when we frame RVR deriving from a different path, we might expect a different perspective. Our observation is not aimed at denoting a possible negative aspect in the use of a promising new drug; instead, we want to underscore the importance of constantly and critically revising the meaning of our on-treatment virological indicators when a new drug is employed. Hopefully, we will all become good photographers.


New anticancer drugs have been developed, and prediction of their effect is needed to perform tailor made chemotherapy. We investigated a selection of the predictive markers for oral adjuvant chemotherapy among 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) related genes. 5-FU related genes were examined by using a laser captured microdissection and real-time RT-PCR in 220 patients with invasive breast cancer. Sixty-six patients were treated with postoperative oral fluorouracil derivatives for 12 months or more, and we examined the prognosis of these patients according to the expression of 5-FU related genes. The median of thymidylate synthase (TS), dehydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT) mRNA values in the 220 specimens were determined for cut-off levels separating low and high gene expression. In 66 patients, 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) in the TP-high group (n=28) was significantly better than that in the TP-low group (n=38) (P=0.016). Of 220 patients, the 69 patients in TP-high group comprised 28 patients treated with oral fluorouracil derivatives and 41 patients with hormone therapy alone. The proportion of patients with lymph node involvement in the fluorouracil group was significantly greater than that in the hormone therapy alone group (P=0.003). Five-year DFS was not significantly different between the groups (P=0.80). Our results suggest that adjuvant oral fluorouracil chemotherapy may improve the prognosis of the patients with TP high expression breast cancer, and TP mRNA level in breast cancer may predict the effect of new oral fluorouracil derivatives for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.


Using syngeneic murine tumor models established in immunocompetent hosts, we showed that cancer stem cells are immunogenic and can be selectively targeted by dendritic cell-based vaccines. This new approach induced both humoral and cellular immune responses and conferred significantly superior antitumor immunity as compared with conventional vaccines.


A novel active array antenna for short-range communication applications is presented. Each element of the array consists of a 'cold' MESFET which performs both the ASK demodulator and the DPSK reflection modulator functions and which is directly mounted on a rectangular microstrip resonator. The techniques used to fabricate this active antenna provide good performance at low cost and low power consumption.


Poly (ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have transformed the management of recurrent ovarian cancer in patients with BRCA‐mutations and beyond. Olaparib was the first PARP inhibitor to gain approval as maintenance therapy for patients with newly diagnosed, advanced BRCA‐mutated ovarian cancer establishing a new standard of care. At the end of 2020, as a result of the SOLO1, PRIMA, and PAOLA‐1 phase III trials, we are now in an era where three maintenance PARP inhibitor strategies have FDA and European Medicines Agency approval in the first‐line setting. In this review, we provide an overview of the key PARP inhibitor trials that have changed clinical practice, discuss directing therapy according to biomarker status (BRCA and homologous recombination deficiency) and future strategies in ovarian cancer and other gynecological malignancies.