The spectra of many diatomic free radicals like those of CH, OH, NH, C2, CN have been known and identified as such almost since the beginning of molecular spectroscopy. They occur readily in emission in a variety of flames (including the ordinary Bunsen burner) and in electric discharges. It was through the study of these spectra that our knowledge of the structure of diatomic molecules was developed and in particular that the different coupling conditions between the electron spin and the other angular momenta were recognized. Most of the resonance transitions of the diatomic free radicals lie in the visible or near ultra-violet region where a detailed high-resolution study is easily possible. It is for this reason also that these spectra play a most prominent part in the spectra of astrophysical sources: comets, low-temperature stars and the interstellar medium. The spectra of free polyatomic radicals have become recognized and analyzed only in the last ten or fifteen years. The reason for this delay is the much greater complexity of the spectra of polyatomic as compared to the spectra of diatomic molecules combined with the greater difficulty of exciting these spectra in emission. Ordinary polyatomic molecules can easily be studied in infra-red absorption or by means of the Raman effect. The infra-red and Raman spectra are simpler than the electronic spectra and their interpretation has been established for a long time; but up to now no infra-red (or Raman) spectrum of a free polyatomic radical has been obtained. One is entirely dependent on electronic spectra for the study of the structure of polyatomic free radicals, and these electronic spectra exhibit many complexities.


Decision making takes a crucial role in daily life and can be seriously impaired in neurodegenerative diseases. It implies cortical-basal ganglia loops, but the respective roles of each structure are still debated. Urodeles offer a remarkable opportunity to address this question.
First, whereas the organization of the basal ganglia in these animals is similar to the one of mammals, it has orders of magnitudes fewer neurons1 and is therefore at a level of complexity that is more tractable in terms of comprehension and modelling. Second, the extensive regenerative capacities of their midbrain networks allow the use of local lesions to investigate their connectivity and functionality. This also makes the urodele a unique experimental model for investigating the mechanisms of decision-making network plasticity after a midbrain injury.
Therefore, we decided to set up a behavioral test of decision making in this animal model. Our task was based on the ability of urodele to discriminate polarized light. The animals were trained2,3 to associate the location of a shade shelter (urodeles do not like exposure to direct light) with a specific orientation of the polarization axis. We then performed a test to assess if the animals learned this association. This paradigm gave us access to a motor decision making mode. In a second step, we will perform selective lesions of the pallium (i.e. the cortex in lower vertebrates), the thalamus and the basal ganglia to determine the respective role of each structure. We will then study implication of dopamine4 in this behavioral task. To our knowledge, urodele is the earliest group of limbed vertebrates in which decision-making process has been successfully addressed yet.


We present a new method for determining the local dark matter density using kinematic data for a population of tracer stars. The Jeans equation in the z-direction is integrated to yield an equation that gives the velocity dispersion as a function of the total mass density, tracer density, and the 'tilt' term that describes the coupling of vertical and radial motions. We then fit a dark matter mass profile to tracer density and velocity dispersion data to derive credible regions on the vertical dark matter density profile. Our method avoids numerical differentiation, leading to lower numerical noise, and is able to deal with the tilt term while remaining one dimensional. In this study we present the method and perform initial tests on idealised mock data. We also demonstrate the importance of dealing with the tilt term for tracers that sample > ∼ 1 kpc above the disc plane. If ignored, this results in a systematic underestimation of the dark matter density.


An analysis is presented of the results to be expected from experiments on the homing of wild birds if the only factor operating is random search. It is found that this model reproduces the experimental results and predicts values for the parameters involved in the theory which are inherently plausible and which are in quantitative accord with experimental evidence. Attention is paid to the dependence of percentage return on distance of release, to the dependence of the average speed of return on this distance, and to the distribution in time of the returns. These three sets of data form a coherent picture within the framework of the hypothesis of random search. Certain types of migration are also briefly considered. It is not suggested that this investigation proves that random search is indeed the mechanism by which the homing of wild birds is accomplished, but it is submitted that the large-scale experiments of the type considered here are not susceptible of the interpretation that a true navigational ability is involved.


Despite the considerable potential of reinforcement learning (RL), robotics control tasks predominantly rely on imitation learning (IL) owing to its better sample efficiency. However, given the high cost of collecting extensive demonstrations, RL is still appealing if it can utilize limited imitation data for efficient autonomous self-improvement. Existing RL methods that utilize demonstrations either initialize the replay buffer with demonstrations and oversample them during RL training, which does not benefit from the generalization potential of modern IL methods, or pretrain the RL policy with IL on the demonstrations, which requires additional mechanisms to prevent catastrophic forgetting during RL fine-tuning. We propose imitation bootstrapped reinforcement learning (IBRL), a novel framework that first trains an IL policy on a limited number of demonstrations and then uses it to propose alternative actions for both online exploration and target value bootstrapping. IBRL achieves SoTA performance and sample efficiency on 7 challenging sparse reward continuous control tasks in simulation while learning directly from pixels. As a highlight of our method, IBRL achieves $6.4\times$ higher success rate than RLPD, a strong method that combines the idea of oversampling demonstrations with modern RL improvements, under the budget of 10 demos and 100K interactions in the challenging PickPlaceCan task in the Robomimic benchmark.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the commonly associated nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasing health concern and hot topic in medical research. Together with lifestyle modification, metformin (MET) and statins are among drugs with potential therapeutic beneft. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of synergistic combination of MET and atorvastatin (ATR) in rat model of MetS. Methods. Rats were fed on high-carbohydrate, highfat (HCHF) diet for 16 weeks and either of MET, ATR, or their combination were administered from the beginning of the 9th week to the end of the study. Body weight, insulin resistance, plasma lipids, serum transaminases, TNF-α, leptin and adiponectin as well as liver histopathology were assessed. Results. Both MET and ATR worked synergistically to reverse the biochemical and histological abnormalities of MetS and ameliorated steatohepatitis more than their individual effects. Conclusion. The present study clearly demonstrates a synergistic effect of MET an ATR combination to reverse hepato-metabolic abnormalities of MetS/NAFLD in rat model and calls for pursuing subsequent clinical studies to consolidate data at hand


Purpose
This paper aims to enhance the current understanding of digital self-services (computerized cognitive behavioral therapy [cCBT]) and how they could be better incorporated into integrated mental health care from the physician's perspective. Service marketing and information systems literature are combined in the context of mental health-care delivery.

Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of 412 Finnish physicians was undertaken to understand physicians' acceptance of cCBT. The study applies thematic analysis and structural equation modeling to answer its research questions.

Findings
Adopting a service marketing perspective helps understand how digital self-services can be incorporated in health-care delivery. The findings suggest that value creation within this context should be seen as an intertwined process where value co-creation and self-creation should occur seamlessly at different stages. Furthermore, the usefulness of having a value self-creation supervisor was identified. These value creation logic changes should be understood and enabled to incorporate digital self-services into integrated mental health-care delivery.

Research limitations/implications
Because health-care systems vary across countries, strengthening understanding through exploring different contexts is crucial.

Practical implications
Assistance should be provided to physicians to enable better understanding of the application and suitability of digital self-service as a treatment option (such as cCBT) within their profession. Additionally, supportive facilitating conditions should be created to incorporate them as part of integrated care chain.

Social implications
Digital self-services have the potential to serve goals beyond routine activities in a health-care setting.

Originality/value
This study demonstrates the relevance of service theories within the health-care context and improves understanding of value creation in digital self-services. It also offers a profound depiction of the barriers to acceptance.


IEEE 802.16e standard is considered to be one of the most promising solutions for next generation broadband wireless networks. Still, handover latency in IEEE 802.16e networks is an important issue that affects real-time applications. In this paper, a cross-layer fast hierarchical handover mechanism (CLFH) for IEEE 802.16e networks is introduced. The handover procedure of IEEE 802.16e is integrated with fast and hierarchical MIPv6 handover to achieve performance improvements. Moreover, the 802.16e network re-entry procedures are optimized to reduce the link layer handover delay. The proposed mechanism is discussed in detail and compared with a mechanism proposed in IETF draft. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed mechanism achieves better performance in the handover latency and the service disruption time.


The insulin‐like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) and its ligands, IGF1 and IGF2 are associated with cell growth and resistance to apoptosis. The ErbB axis, consisting of 4 receptor tyrosine kinases (EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4) is a longstanding target of cancer chemotherapy. There is a growing body of literature suggesting that targeting a combination of the IGF and ErbB axes would be more effective than targeting either alone. A screen of Abbott9s compound collection revealed a scaffold, the imidazothiazoles, which showed activity against EGFR. A similar scaffold from the literature had previously been reported to have IGF1R activity. Optimization of the imidazothiazoles, and a scaffold hop to imidazopyridines, has provided a series of compounds with amide head groups with kinase inhibitory activity against IGF1R, EGFR, and ErbB2. These compounds also demonstrated inhibition of p‐IGF1R and p‐EGFR in a human epidermoid carcinoma line (A‐431), as well as inhibition of p‐ErbB2 in a human gastric cancer cell line (N87). This poster will discuss the synthesis and optimization of the imidazothiazoles and imidazopyridines as multitargeted kinase inhibitors. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):A245.


Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and T. brucei gambiense, the causative agents of Human African Trypanosomiasis, are transmitted by tsetse flies. Within the vector, the parasite undergoes through transformations that prepares it to infect the human host. Sequentially these developmental stages are the replicative procyclic (in which the parasite surface is covered by procyclins) and trypo-epimastigote forms, as well as the non-replicative, infective, metacyclic form that develops in the vector salivary glands. As a pre-adaptation to their life in humans, metacyclic parasites begin to express and be densely covered by the Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG). Once the metacyclic form invades the human host the parasite develops into the bloodstream form. Herein the VSG triggers a humoral immune response. To avoid this humoral response, and essential for survival while in the bloodstream, the parasite changes its cover periodically and sheds into the surroundings the expressed VSG, thus evading the consequences of the immune system activation. Additionally, tools comparable to quorum sensing are used by the parasite for the successful parasite transmission from human to insect. On the other hand, the human host promotes clearance of the parasite triggering innate and adaptive immune responses and stimulating cytokine and chemokine secretion. All in all, the host–parasite interaction is extremely active and leads to responses that need multiple control sites to develop appropriately.


: The wound which is referred as Vrana in Ayurveda, is the oldest element from which the humankind has suffered from it. The healing process of Vrana is a natural process, which also starts immediate after injury. Acharya Sushruta described Vrana at different places in different contex of Sushrut Samhita. The vrana is important topic in academic point of view, patient care and research of newer technique and drugs for easier and effective management. The management of wound is described in Sushruta samhita in very detail manner. He advised sixty upakrama (method) of treating wound is lot of different conditions known as shashtiupakram in Chikitsasthanam. In this review article, we have tried to describe shashti upakrama in the management of vrana according to Susruta Samhita in Ayurveda.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the unmet anaesthesia need in a low resource region.

INTRODUCTION
Surgery and anæsthesia services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-equipped, under-staffed, and unable to meet current surgical need. There is little objective measure as to the true extent and nature of unmet need. Without such an understanding it is impossible to formulate solutions. Therefore, we re-examined Surgeons OverSeas (SOSAS) unmet surgical need data to extrapolate unmet anaesthesia need.

METHODS
For the untreated surgical conditions identified by SOSAS, we assigned anaesthetic technique required to carry out the procedure. The chosen anaesthetic was based on common practice in the region. Procedures were categorized into minimal anaesthesia, spinal anæsthesia, regional anaesthesia, ketamine/monitored anaesthesia care (MAC), and general endotracheal anæsthesia (GETA).

DISCUSSIONS
Ninety-two per cent (687 of 745) of untreated surgical conditions in Sierra Leone would require some form of anaesthesia. Seventeen per cent (125 of 745) would require MAC, 22% (167 of 745) would require spinal anaesthesia, and 53% (395 of 745) would require GETA.

CONCLUSION
Analyses such as this can provide guidance as to the rational and efficient production and distribution of personnel, drugs and equipment.


With the changes in computing environment, the research on mobile Agent has attracted wide range of applications; Migration strategy of mobile Agent becomes one of popular research topics. Based on extended itinerary graph, this paper presents encoding scheme and data structure of sequential, selective and parallel tasks, and the using of improved genetic algorithms to solve problems of migration of mobile Agent. The paper implements the migration stimulation toolkit of mobile Agent, in order to test the effectiveness of the proposed method, and can meet the requirement of migration strategy in accuracy and convergence speed.


Next Generation Networks (NGN) are envisaged to see a vast and inevitable convergence of diverse multimedia and mobile services with versatile bandwidth utilities. As such, a design challenge for NGN is to allow efficient rate allocation without compromising Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning to any service and thereby enable a global welfare gain. However, the traditional rate allocation schemes assume elasticity of application services and strict-concavity of utility functions. Such assumptions provide design simplicity, but in practice, limit the applicability of resulting protocols, in that severe QoS problems are encountered when bandwidth is shared by inelastic services with nonconcave utility functions. As such, the current strict priority based schemes cannot maximize the overall network utility for NGN, and hence bring a significant global welfare loss. This paper presents an adaptive rate control algorithm to distributively allocate transmission rates to multiclass services. The proposed algorithm is based on the Lagrangian Relaxation for a dual formulation by decomposing the rate allocation problem into a master-slave framework. We use a novel surrogate subgradient method to solve the master problem. For the nonconvex subproblems, we compare the performance of a number of global optimization methods, where the objectives are to achieve fast convergence as well as accuracy.


This article attempts to assess current national and regional reserves for reducing the mortality rate in Russia. It explores the potential to reduce the mortality rate in comparison to comparable international benchmarks in rates of growth and gains in life expectancy at birth, identifies a range of circumstances that have an adverse impact on the population's health in post-Soviet Russia, and shows that the main reserve for reducing mortality remains the "lost health capital" that preceded the collapse of the Soviet Union and continued in the 1990s. Finally, it assesses the current regional potential for lowering the mortality rate, which is "hidden" in differences between regions leading in life expectancy (with the exception of extremes) and the country's remaining territories. The conclusion presents data revealing the life expectancy of men and women.


Introduction The world's population is aging, increasing the prevalence of dementia. Recently, foreign language learning in later life has been suggested to improve cognition and thus support healthy cognitive aging. To date, however, there are only a few studies with conflicting findings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether learning a foreign language can improve executive attention and executive functions in healthy older adults. Additionally, we sought to identify factors affecting cognitive change in foreign language learners, such as cognitive reserve, previous foreign knowledge and usage, and global cognition at baseline. Methods In a randomized-controlled trial, we assigned 34 monolinguals between the ages of 65 and 80 to a language learning or a waiting list control group. The participants enrolled in a Spanish course for beginners that met five days a week for 1.5 h for a total of 3 weeks. The waiting list control group received no intervention but had the opportunity to join the language training at the end of the study. All participants underwent an assessment of executive attention (primary outcome), executive functions, verbal fluency, and attention (secondary outcomes) before, immediately after the course, or after a waiting period of 3 weeks for the control group and 3 months after the course or the waiting period. Results Foreign language learning did not significantly improve primary or secondary outcomes, neither immediately nor 3 months after the course. However, moderation analyses revealed that participants with lower global baseline cognition tended to improve more on response inhibition than individuals with higher baseline cognition. This relationship was not evident in the waiting list control group. Discussion Our results suggest that studying a foreign language does not generally improve executive attention or executive functioning. Nevertheless, individuals with poorer baseline cognition may benefit cognitively from foreign language learning in response inhibition, a domain particularly affected by cognitive aging. Our findings highlight the need of focusing dementia prevention efforts on groups that are more vulnerable to cognitive decline. Additionally, more individualized approaches, including utilizing technology-assisted learning, might enable participants to practice at their performance level, increasing the likelihood of discernible cognitive gains. Clinical trial registration https://drks.de/search/en, identifier DRKS00016552.


In a first since its founding in 2005, the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) is coming to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 13–15 January 2020, with Saudi Aramco as the exclusive host. Beyond the location in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, being a first for IPTC, it is also the first international multidisciplinary, multisociety oil and gas conference and expo ever to be held in Saudi Arabia. The conference is especially welcomed since the last IPTC conference in the Middle East was in December 2015 in Doha. The conference's executive committee included more than 45 top company executives and managers, positioning the event for remarkable success. Saudi Arabia has seen significant changes in recent years, making it a perfect place for this oil and gas conference that will attract many professionals to visit the kingdom and learn about its oil industry.


A precipitation-hardened AA6061 alloy is processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) technique which has demonstrated its success in refining grain structures up to the nanometer-scale. With the aim of upscaling the strengthen lightweight materials for larger applications, this study is essential to analyse the related strengthening mechanisms for further strengthening potential and microstructure alteration on sample with extra diameter size. This severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique simultaneously contributes to an intensification of dislocation density which caused by the grain refinement. This study presents properties enhancement of 30mm diameter of AA6061 alloy after being compressed at 4GPa pressure and subjected to a 0.2 rpm torsional force for 1 and 3 turn(s) at room temperature. For the result testing, Vickers microhardness, tensile test, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used as to analyse the mechanical properties as well as the microstructure changes. As a result, grain structures were refined to 200nm, and its mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and hardness is enhanced to ±600MPa and ±172HV, respectively. The homogeneity of hardness is increased with the number of turns or the torsional strain applied. For this particular aluminium alloy, the grain refinement and grain boundary hardening were identified as the main hardening mechanisms by the process of HPT.


PURPOSE
Secondary particles produced in the collision of protons with beam modifiers are of concern in proton therapy. Nevertheless, secondary radiation can provide information on the dosimetric parameters through its dependency on the modulating accessories (range shifter and range modulating wheel). Relatively little data have been reported in the literature for low-energy proton beams. The present study aims at characterizing the neutron and photon secondary radiation at the low-energy proton therapy facility of the Centre Antoine Lacassagne (CAL), and studying their correlation to the dosimetric parameters to explore possible practical uses of secondary radiation in the treatment quality for proton therapy.

METHODS
The Monte Carlo code MCNPX was used to simulate the proton therapy facility at CAL. Neutron and photon fluence, Φ, and ambient dose equivalent per proton dose, H∗(10)∕D, were determined across the horizontal main plane spanning the whole treatment room. H∗(10)∕D was also calculated at two positions of the treatment room where dosimetric measurements were performed for validation of the Monte Carlo calculations. Calculations and measurements were extended to 100 clinical spread-out Bragg Peaks (SOBPs) covering the whole range of therapeutic dose rates (D∕MU) employed at CAL. In addition, the values of D and MU were also calculated for each SOBP and the results analyzed to study the relationship between secondary radiation and dosimetric parameters.

RESULTS
The largest production of the secondary particles takes place at the modulating devices and the brass collimators located along the optical bench. Along the beam line and off the beam axis to 2.5 m away, H∗(10)∕D values ranged from 5.4 μSv∕Gy to 5.3 mSv∕Gy for neutrons, and were 1 order of magnitude lower for photons. H∗(10)∕D varied greatly with the distance and angle to the beam axis. A variation of a factor of 5 was found for the different range of modulations (SOBPs). The ratios between calculations and measurements were 2.3 and 0.5 for neutrons and photons, respectively, and remained constant for all the range of SOBPs studied, which provided validation for the Monte Carlo calculations. H∗(10)∕D values were found to correlate to the proton dose rate D∕MU with a power fit, both for neutrons and photons. This result was exploited to implement a system to obtain D∕MU values from the measurement of the integrated photon ambient dose equivalent H∗(10) during treatment, which provides a method to control the dosimetric parameters D∕MU and D.

CONCLUSIONS
The treatment room at CAL is moderately polluted by secondary particles. The constant ratio between measurements and calculations for all SOBPs showed that simulations correctly predict the dosimetric parameters and the dependence of the production of secondary particles on the modulation. The correlation between H∗(10)∕D and D∕MU is a useful tool for quality control and is currently used at CAL. This system works as an indirect in vivo dosimetry method, which is so far not feasible in proton therapy. This tool requires very simple instrumentation and can be implemented from the measurement of either photons or neutrons.


The pseudo-stochastic model recently proposed by Mémin (2014) is investigated and compared with the large-eddy simulation methodology. The theoretical analysis shows that this model is a generalisation of the eddy-viscosity model, which does not undergo the same restrictive physical assumptions and describes physical phenomena usually not considered (turbophoresis and turbulent compressibility). Numerical simulations of turbulent channel flows are performed. In order to better reproduce the turbulence anisotropy, a near-wall damping function is derived and successfully validated: the damping is imposed only on wall-normal direction (minimal constraint) and it requires to set a single parameter (reduced empirical content). Simulations show the accuracy of the new model, especially when the computational grid becomes coarse. A weak turbophoresis phenomenon is detected near the wall, while turbulent compressibility effects appear to be possibly related to the streaks structures.


In recent years, the Child Neurology Society and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology have taken some steps forward to ease the process of becoming a child neurologist. This includes decreasing the length of the residency by combining pediatrics and child neurology programs into a 5-year package. Applicants can also join the programs after 1 year of neuroscience research and 1 year of internship in pediatrics. Despite all the attempts to encourage medical students to join child neurology programs, it seems that there is not enough understanding and cooperation between the pediatrics and child neurology programs during the recruitment process, and applicants still face a lot of problems during the application season. Most programs offer a 3-year child neurology residency and leave the first 2 years of preliminary pediatric residency to the applicant to fight for it! Application via 2 different matching systems (San Francisco Match and Electronic Residency Application Service [ERAS]) makes the process more complicated. One can match in a child neurology program and fail to secure a 2-year pediatric residency simply because the pediatric residency program is not willing to have a resident who will leave after 2 years, or because pediatrics and pediatric neurology residency programs in the same institution have different requirements for applicants. Therefore, in some cases even if the program offers a 5-year spot, the applicant could meet the requirements of 1 program but not some of the other requirements of the program; this includes the visa requirements for foreign graduates. Unlike the 1-year preliminary or transitional residencies in internal medicine and surgery, preliminary pediatric residency has no place in pediatric residency programs. Unfortunately, this leaves some candidates with no other option than breaching their ethical obligation with pediatric programs and exiting the program after 2 years. It seems logical at this time to think of a solution for the roller coaster of child neurology residency application in the United States. I trust that the Child Neurology Society and the Professors of Child Neurology can come up with a better strategy for the application process.


Donkey milk is being increasingly studied for its use in the human medicine and its antimicrobial activity has been reported in the literature. However, there have been only few studies on milk's inhibiting activity against fungi. Donkey milk is currently used in the personal healthcare industry, thus evaluating its antifungal activity against some dermatophytes is of interest in relation to the natural prevention or control of dermatophyte infections. This preliminary study evaluated the in vitro antifungal activity of donkey milk. Four fresh pasteurized bulk milk samples were collected from a donkey farm. Pasteurized donkey bulk milk samples were analysed in relation to gross composition, individual mineral content (Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, and Zn mg/L), fatty acid profile, and lysozyme activity. The milk samples were tested against isolates of Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Sensitivity testing was assessed by a microdilution test, starting by a milk concentration of 90%. To calculate minimal inhibitory concentration values, 80%, 70%, 60% 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, and 10% dilutions were tested. Donkey milk was proven to inhibit mycotic growth. In particular, M. canis and T. mentagrophytes failed to grow in 60% donkey milk and M. gypseum appeared to be sensitive to 70%. The antidermatophyte effect could be related to the milk content of some fatty acids with reported antifungal activities. In the analysed donkey milk, C10:0 on average constituted 70% of the short chain fatty acids and the milk fat showed a relatively high content of linoleic and alpha linolenic acid (15.34 and 4.87 g/100f of the total fatty acids respectively). We also found a high lysozyme activity (1402.50 U/mL of milk). In conclusion, donkey milk showed an overall antidermatophytic effect. On the basis of the promising results obtained in this preliminary report, further studies are needed to evaluate the in vivo use of donkey milk against dermatophytosis.


Tension-length, load-velocity and tension-extension relations were studied in the taenia coli muscle of the guinea pig weighing 0.25--0.5 kg at 36--37 degrees C. The muscle was relaxed by 10(-6) g/ml adrenaline and stimulated by a strong AC field. The tension-length diagram was far wider than that of the skeletal muscle and sufficient tension was generated at longer lengths than 1.8 Lm, where Lm is the optimal length at which the maximum tension, Fm, is generated. The developed force per unit cross-sectional area was almost unchanged between 1.2--2.0 Lm. Average of the maximum forces was 2.2 kg/cm2. Load-velocity curves obtained at various isometric forces at Lm coincided with each other, if the velocity was plotted against the relative force. All curves can be expressed by a single force-load-velocity equation, (P+A)(v+b)=b(F+A), A=(F/Fm)a, where P is the load, F the isometric force, v the velocity, a and b are constants. The maximum velocity per unit muscle length was constant, irrespective of the muscle length. The compliance of the series elastic component, that is, the slope of the tension-extension curve, did not depend on the isometric force but decreased with decreasing muscle length. The internal lengthening of the series elastic component by the full isometric tension was about 3% of the muscle length at Lm.


AIMS
We sought to compare the morphological features of non-culprit plaques with >50% diameter stenosis in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) with those of culprit plaques in patients with ACS and stable angina pectoris (SAP) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and integrated backscatter intravascular ultrasound (IB-IVUS).

METHODS AND RESULTS
A total of 150 culprit and non-culprit coronary plaques (non-culprit vessels) in 150 patients with coronary artery disease were interrogated by OCT before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Patients were categorized as follows: 73 culprit plaques in patients with ACS (ACS-C), 32 non-culprit plaques in patients with ACS (ACS-NC), and 45 culprit plaques in patients with SAP. The fibrous cap thickness was thinner in the ACS-C and ACS-NC groups than in the SAP group and was thinnest in the ACS-C group (ACS-C vs. ACS-NC vs. SAP, 60 vs. 82 vs. 114 μm, P < 0.001). IB-IVUS sub-analysis of 95 patients demonstrated that % lipid volume was greater and % fibrous volume was lower in the ACS-NC group than those in the SAP group (ACS-C vs. ACS-NC vs. SAP, 56.3 ± 11.0 vs. 59.9 ± 11.2 vs. 50.1 ± 13.9%, P < 0.05 and 39.5 ± 9.0 vs. 35.0 ± 9.0 vs. 43.9 ± 11.3%, P < 0.01, respectively).

CONCLUSION
Plaques of non-culprit vessels in patients with ACS had a thinner fibrous cap and a higher percentage of lipid content than culprit plaques in patients with SAP. However, the fibrous cap thickness was thinner in the culprit lesions in patients with ACS than in the non-culprit lesions in patients with ACS, while plaque compositions were not significantly different between the groups.


Summary Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by a defect in the transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein that functions as a chloride channel. Dysfunction of the CFTR protein results in salty sweat, pancreatic insufficiency, intestinal obstruction, male infertility and severe pulmonary disease. In most patients with CF life expectancy is limited due to a progressive loss of functional lung tissue. Early in life a persistent neutrophylic inflammation can be demonstrated in the airways. The cause of this inflammation, the role of CFTR and the cause of lung morbidity by different CF-specific bacteria, mostly Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are not well understood. The lack of an appropriate animal model with multi-organ pathology having the characteristics of the human form of CF has hampered our understanding of the pathobiology and chronic lung infections of the disease for many years. This review summarizes the main characteristics of CF and focuses on several available animal models that have been frequently used in CF research. A better understanding of the chronic lung infection caused particularly by P. aeruginosa, the pathophysiology of lung inflammation and the pathogenesis of lung disease necessitates animal models to understand CF, and to develop and improve treatment.


It is generally accepted that there are four relations between self-interstitials and vacancies during thermal oxidation in silicon; local equilibrium between self-interstitials and vacancies, oxidation-enhanced and -retarded diffusions (OED and ORD) and oxidation stacking faults (OSF). From a mathematical point of view on these relations, a method for their analysis was established. The results of this study clearly indicate some OED, ORD and OSF to be governed by only an interstitialcy or vacancy mechanism. A method for obtaining analytical solutions is also discussed.


OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway utilized at two Norton Healthcare facilities for colorectal and gynecological surgeries. The specific aim is to examine the impact on patient outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and costs. METHODS: This was a multi-center, pre-post implementation retrospective study of the impact of ERAS pathways on colorectal surgery patients at Norton Audubon Hospital (NAH) and gynecological surgery patients at Norton Women's and Children's Hospital (NWCH). The sample included 399 patients including patients from both hospitals, pre- and post-ERAS. RESULTS: The ERAS pathway lead to a significant reduction in length of stay in the colorectal group (pre 7 days, IQR 6-10.75; post 6 days, IQR 4-10). Overall cost savings were not significant in either population. There was a significant reduction in postoperative complications of anemia (3% vs 13%) and ileus (1% vs 9%) in the gynecological specialty. There was significant reduction in time to diet order (1.8 days vs 3.5 days) for the colorectal specialty. ERAS order sets were ordered on 40.4% of the colorectal specialty and 12% of the gynecological specialty. CONCLUSION: A significant reduction was seen in LOS in the post-ERAS colorectal population. Having an ERAS order set on the chart of the colorectal patient correlated with a reduction in LOS, decreased time to diet order, and time to mobility. ERAS showed a reduction of some postoperative complications. Lack of adherence to ordering and documentation of the pathway was significant and could have impacted results.


Background: Patients presenting with chest pain (CP) at the emergency departments are challenging cases for the physicians to make valid decisions with regard to acute coronary syndrome, which needs urgent medical intervention while the majority of the admitted patients are free from serious cardiac problems. The present study was done to investigate the potential of Heart Risk Score in detecting the existence and severity of coronary artery disease in CP patients based on Syntax score.Methods: Among CP patients who were admitted at the emergency department, 100 participants were selected. Heart Risk Score was calculated for each participant on admission. Two independent cardiologists also calculated the Syntax score after angiography was done for each patient. Statistical analysis was performed to assess the correlation between Heart Risk Score and Syntax score.Results: The median age of participants was 58.42±12.42 with the majority (65%) being male. The mean Heart Risk Score of the patients was 5.76±1.56 (min=3, max=9) and the mean Syntax score was 14.82±11.42(min=0, max=44.5). Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.493 (P<0.001) between Heart Risk Score and Syntax score which was statistically significant (P<0.001). According to our findings a Heart Risk Score of more than 6 has a 52% sensitivity and a 74.7% specificity to detect extensive coronary artery involvement (Syntax score>22).Conclusion: We found that there is a positive and significant correlation between Heart Risk Score and Syntax score which underlines the importance of using Heart Risk Score in emergency departments to reduce unnecessary invasive interventions in patients presenting with chest pain.


Teaching Machine Learning (ML) can be challenging due to the breadth of the subject and the diversity of audience that might be interested in it. In this article, we collectively place ourselves both at the curriculum level and at the lesson level, describing existing practices and sketching directions for improvement. We first describe a curriculum for ML practitioners that involves different constraints including the variety of audience, both in terms of background and in terms of learning goals. We also explain how some of the lessons relate to the teaching principles that are pushed forward for example by The Carpentries and how the future of the curriculum could be reshaped.


In this work, we address the problem of building recognition across two camera views with large changes in scales and viewpoints. The main idea is to construct a semantically rich sketch-based representation for buildings which is invariant under large scale and perspective changes. After multi-scale maximally stable extremal regions (MSER) detection, the proposed approach finds repeated structural components of buildings, such as window, doors, and facades, and extracts semantically rich features, which are organized into a sketch-based representation of buildings. These descriptors are then clustered in association with different planes of the building and matched across video frames using spectral graph analysis. Our experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms SIFT-based matching schemes, especially for images with large viewpoint changes.


We present the clinical, radiographic and histopathologic findings of an unusual tumor that originated in the diaphysis of the tibia in a 10-year-old boy. Clinical symptoms had been present for approximately 2 years and radiographic abnormalities for > or = 8 months before biopsy and subsequent resection of the neoplasm. The child is doing well 4 1/2 years later. Microscopically, the tumor was not typical of any bone tumor with which we are familiar. It was a round-cell tumor with extensive fibrosis, prominent cytoplasmic granularity, and isolated immunoreactivity for vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen, and antichymotrypsin. Ultrastructural examination uncovered the presence of both well-formed desmosomes and cell-associated basement membrane material in addition to abundant phagolysosomes. Classification of this tumor is a challenge; the differential diagnosis includes atypical adamantinoma, atypical Ewing's sarcoma, and small-cell osteosarcoma. We favor the former interpretation, although we raise the possibility that it may be a unique lesion.


This article analyses the conversations on Twitter related to the World Health Organization (WHO). We collect the text of the discussions as well as the metadata associated with each tweet. Our dataset is exhaustive as it includes all the tweets produced by WHO. Likes, retweets, and replies capture the level of engagement. The goal is to quantify the balance of likes, retweets, and replies, also known as "ratios", and study their dynamics as proxy for the collective engagement in response to WHO's communications. Our results demonstrate a higher engagement of the public receiving the information pushed by WHO. This engagement translates into a more balanced reaction with still a more likely favorable opinion vis-à-vis WHO, but with also more challenges. This protocol based on quantitative measures to serve as a proxy to the legitimacy concept seems to hold its promises. In particular, we also perform a simple sentiment analysis to check the robustness of our conclusions.


Does the use of judicial review by unelected judges harm public support for their decisions? Scholars have often answered this question in the affirmative. We examine the extent to which the use of judicial review reduces the ability of judges to achieve acceptance of their decisions, arguing that decisions made by elected judges may be more palatable to the public. Our experimental evidence demonstrates that the public is less prone to accept both decisions made by appointed judges and judicial decisions that strike down laws. However, the public is no more likely to accept the use of judicial review by an appointed court than an elected court. The results have implications both for institutional design in the American states and the microfoundations of judicial independence.


Abstract Microreactors are small in size with significant heat and mass transfer. Performic acid (PFA) is an important organic compound. It has broad applications in food, oil and chemical industries because of its oxidizing properties. In the present work PFA is produced in a continuous flow Teflon spiral capillary microreactor. The PFA is produced with and without a heterogeneous catalyst. The formic acid (FA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP) are the reactants to produce the PFA. It is a reversible reaction. The aim of the present work to monitor the consequence of hydrogen peroxide concentration, temperature and heterogeneous catalyst (Amberlite) for conversion of the FA. The experimental results showed that the formation of the PFA is effected with increase in hydrogen peroxide concentration, percentage of catalyst and temperature. The PFA formed within short residence time by the use of solid catalyst. The heterogeneous catalysts are better in decreasing corrosion and segregation of the catalyst compared to homogeneous catalysts. The best conditions for the PFA synthesis reaction were noted that 10 min residence time, 30 w/v% of HP, 6 wt% of catalyst concentration based on formic acid and 30 °C. Hence, the maximum concentration of the PFA was recorded 2.8 mol/L (XFA = 39.4%)


N-Acyl-aminoacetaldehydes are potent inhibitors of the proteolytic enzyme, papain. Although they exist predominantly in their hydrated form in aqueous solution only the aldehyde is an effective inhibitor. The binding constants for related amides and methyl ketones confirm that it is principally the lower steric requirement of the aldehyde rather than its increased electrophilicity which is responsible for its powerful inhibitor properties. Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, evidence is provided for an N-acetyl-aminoacetaldehyde-papain complex. Using a cross-saturation technique evidence is also provided for a hemithioacetal, formed from the aldehyde and the active-site thiol group. Hemithioacetal formation has also been detected between N-benzoyl-aminoacetaldehyde and papain. This provides the first direct evidence for a tetrahedral adduct with papain and supports the proposed involvement of such intermediates in papain-catalysed hydrolyses.


Abstract Background Prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) has been studied in patients undergoing treatment with taxanes, platinums and vinca alkaloids. The prevalence is unknown in the general oncological cancer population, characterized by advanced age, comorbidities and heterogeneous treatments. Material and Methods A cross-sectional survey was administered to all adult patients, attending outpatient services at three Danish departments of oncology. The survey contained the EORTC-CIPN20, the EORTC-QLQ-C30, the GAD7 and PHQ9 questionnaires. A high PN symptom score was defined as a summary score ≥30 points on the CIPN20. P-values were adjusted for multiple testing. Results With an overall response rate of 83% (2839 patients), prevalence of PN was 17% overall, varying from 6 to 33% between diagnosis groups. A high score was more common among females (19 vs. 14%, p = .008), smokers (21 vs. 15%, p = .04), patients living alone (21 vs. 15%, p = .002) and patients using cannabis (29 vs. 15%, p < .001), as well as patients suffering from diabetes (26 vs. 16%, p < .001), cardiac heart disease (27 vs. 16%, p < .001), arthritis (32 vs. 15%, p < .001) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (25 vs. 16%, p = .01). High score patients were also older (69ys vs 67ys, p = .048) and more likely experiencing polypharmacy (OR = 3.38 [95% CI, 2.64;4.35]). Patients with a high CIPN20 symptom score scored worse on all EORTC QLQ-C30 function and symptom scales. The mean adjusted C30 SumScore difference was −18.66 ([95% CI, −20.31; −17.02], p < .001). Conclusion Symptoms of PN are experienced widely across cancer groups in the oncology setting. PN symptoms were associated with clinically relevant worse health-related quality of life and with patient-related factors as living alone, various comorbidities, polypharmacy, and cannabis use.


A computer model building technique for an AC drive system with an autonomous 24-pulse current inverter is introduced. On the basis of the technique developed, a MATLAB variable-frequency drive model capable of working in both quasi-stationary and transient modes is built.


We present a detailed study of the molecular gas content and stellar population properties of three massive galaxies at 1 < z < 1.3 that are in different stages of quenching. The galaxies were selected to have quiescent optical/near-infrared spectral energy distribution and relatively bright emission at 24 μm, and show remarkably diverse properties. CO emission from each of the three galaxies is detected in deep NOEMA observations, allowing us to derive molecular gas fractions M gas/M * of 13%–23%. We also reconstruct the star formation histories by fitting models to the observed photometry and optical spectroscopy, finding evidence for recent rejuvenation in one object, slow quenching in another, and rapid quenching in the third system. To better constrain the quenching mechanism we explore the depletion times for our sample and other similar samples at z ∼ 0.7 from the literature. We find that the depletion times are highly dependent on the method adopted to measure the star formation rate: using the UV+IR luminosity we obtain depletion times about 6 times shorter than those derived using dust-corrected [O ii] emission. When adopting the star formation rates from spectral fitting, which are arguably more robust, we find that recently quenched galaxies and star-forming galaxies have similar depletion times, while older quiescent systems have longer depletion times. These results offer new, important constraints for physical models of galaxy quenching.


What is the evidence? Evidence-based medicine, or EBM which slips off the tongue more readily, seeks to offer proof that what we offer patients whenever we treat them, do a diagnostic test, or recommend anything from an operation to change in life style, is known to be effective. Fifty to 100 years ago, health care was delivered patchily, much less of it was effective, and was based on an image of a kindly doctor treating the sick, who were glad of whatever help could be offered. Now, medicine is effective and whether you look at it as major government expense or big business in private health care insurance, there is no sense in spending money on ineffective treatments, while we do not have enough to spend on what is of proven worth. Individual doctors cannot read everything and cannot possibly synthesise what they do read, so that they are aware of what is proven to be effective and what probably is not. The "The Evidence for ..." series seeks to fill that need. Into "The Evidence for Cardiothoracic Surgery" we have commissioned systematic reviews of the common operations and some innovative treatments, to present the facts to busy doctors. Where is there and where is there not evidence?


High power diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers are a rapidly growing technology that is attractive for various applications in scientific and industrial fields. DPSS lasers are highly efficient, reliable and durable with superior beam quality when compared to flash-lamp pumped lasers. Double-tungstate crystals such as potassium yttrium tungstate Yb:KY(WO₄)₂ (Yb:KYW) are one of the most popular active materials used in DPSS lasers for generation of continuous wave radiation and ultrashort (i.e. femtosecond, 10⁻¹⁵ s) pulses with high average output power. The high pump power of laser diodes results in considerable heat generation in a laser crystal that in turn causes thermal lensing effect. Thermal lensing affects the performance and stability of a resonator, and plays an important role in limiting the output power and degrading the beam quality of solid state lasers. Despite these facts, no detailed studies of thermal effects in Yb:KYW lasers were reported to date. In this work thermal lensing in a diode-pumped Ng-cut Yb:KYW laser operating at the wavelength of 1.04 μm was characterized. A maximum output power of 3.5 W with a nearly diffraction limited output beam (M₂ < 1.2) was achieved under the absorbed pump power of 13.8 W. The focal lengths of the induced thermal lenses were obtained from the laser output beam size measurements at various incident pump power levels and ABCD matrix analysis. At maximum output power the focal length of the induced thermal lens was found to be 814 mm for the Nm direction (horizontal) and 144 mm for the Np direction (vertical). Thermal lens sensitivity factors were 1.26 m⁻¹/W and 0.32 m⁻¹/W for the Np and Nm directions, respectively. This highly astigmatic thermal lensing can be explained by strong anisotropy of thermo-optical properties of the crystal and its cooling geometry. In addition, the finite element analysis (FEA) method was employed to obtain the focal lengths of the induced thermal lens inside the crystal. Simulation results obtained from the theoretical model were compared to experimental data, and the accuracy of the model was verified. The results of this work are critical for practical design of the efficient and reliable Yb:KYW lasers with multi-Watt average output power.


A person serving time in prison may lose their sense of meaning in life. Self-forgiveness is believed to help individuals discover their life's meaning and alleviate intense remorse. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant relationship between self-forgiveness and meaning in life for 96 inmates aged 40 to 65 at Penitentiary (LAPAS) Malang. This investigation used purposive sampling. We used the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the State Self-Forgiveness Scale (SSFS). In addition, the Pearson Product Moment method of correlation analysis was utilized in this investigation. Findings revealed a significant and positive correlation between selfforgiveness and meaning in life (r


In previous work we have presented the generation of WS-CDL and WS-BPEL documents. In this paper we show the unification of both generations. The aim is to generate correct WS-BPEL skeleton documents from WS-CDL documents by using the Timed Automata as an intermediary model in order to check the correctness of the generated Web Services with Model Checking Techniques. The model checker used is UPPAAL, a well known tool in theoretical and industrial cases that performs the verification and validation of Timed Automata. Note that our interest is focused on Web services where the time constraints play a critical role.


Summary Intron 1 inversion (Inv1) is a recurrent causative mutation of haemophilia A (HA) and is responsible for 1–5% of severe HA. Inv1 occurs as a result of intra-chromosomal homologous recombination between int1h-1 within intron 1 and int1h-2 located in approximately 125 kb telomeric to the F8 gene. In this report, we presented a previously undescribed aberrant type of Inv1 with complex genomic rearrangement in a pedigree with severe HA. The breakpoints of the rearrangement were identified by the genome walking technique; copy number variations (CNVs) of the F8 gene and X chromosome were detected by AccuCopy technique, Affymetrix CytoScan HD CNV assay and quantitative PCR (qPCR); the F8 transcripts related to the aberrant Inv1 were analysed by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). We have characterised the exact breakpoints of the complex rearrangement, and determined the location and size of the insertion and deletion. The rearrangements can be summarised as an aberrant pattern of Inv1 with a deletion of 2.56 kb and a duplication of 227.3 kb inserted in the rejoining junction within the F8 gene. Our results suggested that this complex genomic rearrangement was generated by two distinct repair mechanisms of fork stalling and template switching/microhomology-mediated break-induced replication (FoSTeS/MMBIR) and nonallelic homologous recombination (NAHR).


Phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) plays an essential role in lipoprotein metabolism. Deficiency or overexpression of PLTP in animal models results in modulation of the atherosclerotic process. Moreover, PLTP has also been implicated in obesity and diabetes, underscoring its versatile nature and its central role in the pathophysiology of these tightly connected disease states. The purpose of this article is to assess the current evidence on the role of PLTP in all these conditions. This evidence strongly suggests that PLTP may become a therapeutic target.


Cholera is a scourge that has plagued humanity from early times; no era was exempt at different times in history, and the mere mention of cholera in past generations often caused panic among susceptible populations. Now with the recent 7.2 magnitude in Haiti, the question re- emerges: can Haiti's cholera epidemic return considering the extensive earthquake damage that has recently occurred? Haiti is prone to earthquakes, due to its location along a fault line, and over the centuries has encountered numerous earthquakes, some including the 2010 and 2021 earthquakes of 7.0 or greater magnitude. Cholera has been around for centuries, and in the last century has caused at least 7 devastating global outbreaks each claiming thousands of innocent human lives. Cholera infects 1.3 to 4 million people around the world annually with over 20,000 deaths per year according to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics. Cholera is a microbial disease of multicausal origin and fecal-oral transmission, where various biological, environmental, social, political and cultural factors often intervene, thereby presenting complex solutions for what often becomes a public health issue in the broader community. Over 819,000 Haitians became ill with cholera during the years following the 2010 earthquake, with nearly 10,000 deaths reported as a result of one of Haiti's main waterways accidently becoming contaminated with the highly infectious cholera organism. Considering the severe damages now being reported from the August – 2021 earthquake followed by a severe weather outlook, the potential for a re-emergence of the cholera epidemic may now become a serious public health threat to the island Nation, including the potential risks to other nearby Island nations in the Caribbean and beyond should infected carriers relocate to non-earthquake prone localities. Implementation of effective hygiene measures, including timely medical monitoring and strategic intervention where indicated will be essential to prevent a resurgence of cholera or other public health issues in the coming weeks and months aftermath of the destruction of the roads, structures and public health resources resulting from the recent earthquake in Haiti.


Osteoarthritis (OA) constitutes one of the leading causes of pain and disability worldwide. The incidence of OA will likely rise over the next few decades, with a significant impact on healthcare costs. Patients with OA are often affected by a number of cardiovascular comorbidities, including hypertension, which is present in approximately 40% of cases. Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors, both nonselective and selective COX-2 inhibitors, are often used to control pain in these patients. Unfortunately, such drugs may cause a variable degree of blood pressure increase. Because even small increases in blood pressure values may lead to a significant increase in the risk of major cardiovascular events and death, the consequent healthcare concerns have led to the development of the COX-inhibiting nitric oxide donator class of drugs. These new drugs are aimed to improve cardiovascular and gastrointestinal safety profiles, as compared with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, through the release of nitric oxide.


Release of information will get easier as health IT advances. But for now, it can be a labor-intensive effort requiring more expenses than many outside the process may realize.


In this paper we analyze two effects of the Lagrangian nature of turbulent transfer that are usually ignored in the theory of turbulent combustion. They are (i) nonequilibrium behavior of the turbulent diffusion coefficient, which is important for modeling of initial stage of combustion in the SI engine, and (ii) the existence of a traveling front of turbulent diffusion with finite speed, which controls the velocity of the steady state flame in strong turbulence. First we derive the parabolic diffusion equation with both the diffusion and chemical source terms expressed by Lagrangian characteristics of turbulence. We show that chemical transformation does not influence the turbulent diffusion coefficient and this result is important for combustion theories that relate the formation of the initial flame with the development of the diffusion coefficient. Second, an hyperbolic diffusion equation based on hydrodynamics is derived and we analyze relationship between velocities of the turbulent diffusion front and the speed of the steady state premixed flame. In particular, in the case of the flamelet combustion mechanism and strong turbulence, we state that the flame speed is very closed to the theoretical value of the diffusion front velocity, which is equal to the root mean square of turbulent velocity fluctuations.


ABSTRACK Logging activities have an impact on changes in composition and standing structure, tree species distribution, community similarity and species diversity. This study was aimed to determine the diversity of structures and composition of trees at the logged-over forests. Area of study was located at annual Block of 2005, 2010, and 2015 of forest concession (IUPHHK-HA) PT Sarpatim in Central Kalimantan Province. Data was collected at 2017. The results showed that the composition and structure of the stands are ecologically different, which is indicated by the low type of species equality index. The stands at the level of seedlings, sapling, poles and trees from each location are almost all different. But there are some of the same types encountered dominating on the block locations of 2005, 2010 and 2015 such as Shorea leprosula, Dipterocarpus borneensis, Shorea laevis, Litsea sp. The stand density at the 2005 block location is higher than the two sites in 2010 and 2015, while the location of 2015 is the location with the lowest stand density. Keywords Composition, density, diversity, standing structure.


Case: The Ganz periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is widely used to correct developmental hip dysplasia in the adolescent and young adult population. The aim of this case study was to examine the novel utility and safety of Stoppa approach for the Ganz PAO in a 15-year-old girl and 25-year-old man. The Stoppa approach is traditionally used for acetabular fractures, and its use for a Ganz PAO is relatively novel. Conclusion: The Stoppa approach allows surgeons to successfully perform the Ganz PAO while simultaneously providing direct visualization for all osteotomies and vital structures.


The histone H4 N-terminal tail has long been regarded as a major regulator in chromatin structure and function. Although the underlying mechanism has not been unraveled, an emerging body of evidence supports that H4 tail and its post-translational modification function as a recruitment motif for key factors required for proper regulation of chromatin transcription. To investigate these aspects, we have generated HeLa cell lines that constitutively express ectopic H4 tail domain for biochemical purification of proteins associated with H4 tail. We found that expressed H4 tails stably associate with sets of transcription regulatory factors and histone methyltransferases distinct from those that associate with histone H3 tails. Importantly, point mutations of four major lysine substrates to block cellular acetylation of ectopic H4 tail significantly inhibited the association of histone methyltransferases and sets of transcription-activating factors, supporting a major role of acetylation on recruitmentbased action of H4 tail during transcription. Further, our transcription analysis revealed that the proteins associated with wild-type/acetylated H4 tail, but not with mutant/unacetylated H4 tail, can enhance p300-dependent chromatin transcription. Taken together, these findings demonstrate novel roles for H4 tail and its acetylation in mediating recruitment of multiple regulatory factors that can change chromatin states for transcription regulation.


An investigation was conducted to assess the influence of color, organic (Cow dung) and inorganic (Clay) substrate environment on the oviposition behavior of different gravid female mosquitoes found in Zaria, Kaduna state – Nigeria. Of the fifty six (56) colored cylindrical cups, eight each of Blue, Red, Green, Orange, Pink and Brown containing de-chlorinated water assessed, 34% of the gravid female mosquitoes preferred Red cups, followed by Purple and Brown cups with 17.9% and 13.5% respectively. Green colored cups were the least preferred. In addition, cups enriched with Cow dung had a significantly higher mean larval recovery than cups containing clay suspension. However, the combined effect of color and substrate environment shows that colored cups enriched with Cow dung had significantly higher mean larval recovery than similar colored cups containing clay suspension (P<0.05). These findings are of significance for developing an effective, non polluting mosquito control technologies such as 'ovitraps'; and also for targeting oviposition sites for treatment with bio-control agents or bio-pesticides


Obesity is a chronic disease that has reached epidemic status in Canada and around the world. In April 2009, 7 Canadian obesity experts convened to discuss the challenges of raising public awareness of the health issues associated with obesity and the limited access to evidence-based obesity treatment. The panel identified several important challenges to effective management of obesity, including education, access to evidence-based therapies and behavioural support. The public, as well as health care professionals and health care policy makers, must understand that obesity is not a lifestyle issue, but rather a chronic disease that requires ongoing sustainable intervention. The panel agreed that there is a need for safe, proven pharmacotherapies, as well as a need to dispel the myths around non-evidence-based treatments. The panel concluded that pharmacists and other health care professionals are well placed and should be encouraged to provide ongoing behavioural support as well as education about the disease and the role of evidence-based treatments in obesity management.


MINI-ABSTRACT
The NCDB was used to examine treatment patterns and survival in patients with adrenocortical carcinoma from 2006-2015. Adjuvant chemotherapy has been used more frequent for patients with resectable ACC since 2007. Survival for patients who undergo surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy has improved but remains low.Accepted for podium presentation at the 2018 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons, Boston, Massachusetts, October 2018.

BACKGROUND
Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy with a dismal prognosis. Two landmark trials, published in 2007 and 2012, showed efficacy for adjuvant mitotane in resectable ACC and Etoposide/Doxorubicin/Cisplatin plus mitotane for unresectable ACC, respectively. In this study, we used the National Cancer Database to examine whether treatment patterns and outcomes changed after these trials.

METHODS
Patients diagnosed with ACC from 2006-2015 were identified. Treatment modalities were compared within that group, and with a historical cohort (1985-2005). Chi-square tests were performed and Cox proportional hazards models were created.

RESULTS
2752 patients from 2006-2015 were included. 38% of patients (1042) underwent surgery alone and 31% (859) underwent surgery with adjuvant therapy. Overall five-year survival for all stages after resection was 43% (median 41 months) in the contemporary cohort and 39% (median 32 months) in the historical cohort. After 2007, patients who underwent surgery were more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.005), and five-year survival with adjuvant chemotherapy improved (41% vs 25%, p = 0.02). Survival did not improve, however, in patients with unresectable tumors after 2011, compared to 2006-2011 (p = 0.79). Older age, tumor size ≥ 10cm, distant metastases, and positive margins were associated with lower survival after resection (HR range: 1.39-3.09, p < 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS
Adjuvant therapy has been used more frequently in patients with resected ACC since 2007, and survival for those patients has improved, but remains low. More effective systemic therapies for patients with ACC and especially those with advanced stages are desperately needed.


In this paper I will examine N+N juxtapositions in Polish, such as kobieta anioł (woman angel) 'an angel of a woman', praca marzenie (job dream) 'dream job', dziecko geniusz (child genius) 'prodigy child', and kierowca cham (driver lout) 'a lout of a driver'. I will demonstrate that they exhibit properties of expressive combinations, as discussed for English by Potts (2007) and for German by Meibauer (2013). It will be proposed that Polish expressive N+N juxtapositions under analysis fall into two groups. Juxtapositions belonging to the first group, e.g. kierowca cham 'a lout of a driver', behave like coordinate compound-like units. Juxtapositions which form the second group of expressive complexes, such as kobieta anioł 'an angel of a woman' and praca marzenie 'dream job', can be treated as attributive-appositive (ATAP) combinations (in Scalise and Bisetto's 2009 classification). The occurrence of a cline between coordinate and attributive multi-word units is postulated.


In the standard ball-in-bins experiment, a well-known scheme is to sample $d$ bins independently and uniformly at random and put the ball into the least loaded bin. It can be shown that this scheme yields a maximum load of $\log\log n/\log d+O(1)$ with high probability.
Subsequent work analyzed the model when at each time, $d$ bins are sampled through some correlated or non-uniform way. However, the case when the sampling for different balls are correlated are rarely investigated. In this paper we propose three schemes for the ball-in-bins allocation problem. We assume that there is an underlying $k$-regular graph connecting the bins. The three schemes are variants of power-of-$d$ choices, except that the sampling of $d$ bins at each time are based on the locations of $d$ independently moving non-backtracking random walkers, with the positions of the random walkers being reset when certain events occurs. We show that under some conditions for the underlying graph that can be summarized as the graph having large enough girth, all three schemes can perform as well as power-of-$d$, so that the maximum load is bounded by $\log\log n/\log d+O(1)$ with high probability.


We had previously reported that plasma concentrations of endothelin (ET) decreased significantly in the operating room during desflurane anesthesia. The purpose of the present study was to explore whether changes in plasma ET and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) concentrations were altered during propofol anesthesia in patients undergoing clipping of an intracranial aneurysm. Forty-five patients scheduled for selective craniotomy and aneurysm clipping were anesthetized with propofol. A catheter was inserted into the radial artery for blood sampling before anesthesia. Serial plasma concentrations of ET and CGRP were determined before induction, after dura incision, after clipping of the aneurysm, and 30 minutes after clipping. ET concentrations in the plasma increased significantly after clipping of the aneurysm compared with concentrations after dura incision. However, no significant changes in ET levels were found after anesthesia. Plasma concentrations of CGRP decreased significantly during anesthesia. This evidence suggests that direct stimulation of the intracalvarium blood vessel before aneurysm clipping may increase ET; however, propofol did not decrease ET, in contrast with our previously reported findings for desflurane anesthesia. Considering the well-recognized vasodilatory effect of CGRP, it is possible that a decrease in the plasma concentration of CGRP plays a role in the pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm, which is often seen postoperatively.


This paper describes a new method for estimation of the remaining useful life of a power cable which has failed and has then been repaired. The estimation is based on our observation of the lengths of vented and bow-tie water trees in a section of cable that was removed during repair, calculation of the rate at which these trees grew during the period of service, the level of AC or impulse breakdown strength at which failure will occur again, and the assumption that water trees grow in the same manner before failure and after repair. A new concept of "maximum tree length" is introduced as a numerical parameter which can be used to characterize the relation between the length and number of trees in calculating the growth rate. The maximum tree length l depends on both the length and conditions of service before failure occurred.


Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements that are present in the genomes of most eukaryotes. They are closely related to retroviruses and mobilize through an RNA intermediate. The uncontrolled mobilization of retrotransposons is potentially harmful to the integrity of the genome and so the activity of these elements is subjected to strict host cell controls. We are using the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe to study the signalling pathways that regulate the activity ofLTR retrotransposons. We have found that the expression and mobilization of the Tf2 LTR retrotransposons is activated in response to exposure to the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin. Rapamycin binds to the conserved FKBP12 protein (called Fkh1 in S. pombe) and the resulting FKBP12-rapamycin complex inhibits the kinase activity of the conserved the TORC1 complex. This suggests that Tf2 activity is under the control of the TORC1 signalling network which is a master regulator of cellular responses to nutrient and energy availability. However, the inhibition of TORC1 activity using a tor2 temperature sensitive allele or a direct chemical inhibitor (Torin) did not activate either the expression or mobilization of Tf2 elements. Therefore, rapamycin may be controlling Tf2 activity via a TORC1-independent pathway. We are currently defining this pathway and find that it is dependent upon the FKBP12 protein, Fkh1 and the Forkhead transcription factor, Fhl1.


Traffic Engineering (TE) has become a challenging mechanism for network management and resources optimization due to the uncertainty and the difficulty to predict current traffic patterns. Recent works have proposed robust optimization techniques to cope with uncertain traffic, computing a stable routing configuration that is immune to demand variations within certain uncertainty set. However, using a single routing configuration for long-time periods can be highly inefficient. Even more, the presence of abnormal and malicious traffic has magnified the network operation problem, claiming for solutions which not only deal with traffic uncertainty but also allow to identify faulty traffic. In this paper, we propose two complementary methods to tackle both problems. Based on expected traffic patterns, we adapt the uncertainty set and build a multi-hour yet robust routing scheme that outperforms the stable approach. For the case of anomalous and unexpected traffic, we propose a fast anomaly detection/isolation algorithm which relies on a novel linear spline-based model of traffic demands to identify traffic problems and decide routing changes. This algorithm is optimal in the sense that it minimizes the decision delay for a given mean false alarm rate and false isolation probabilities. Both proposals are validated using real traffic data from two Internet backbone networks.


Autonomous planning in safety critical systems is a difficult task where decisions must carefully balance optimisation for performance goals of the system while also keeping the system away from safety hazards. These tasks often conflict, and hence present a challenging multi-objective planning problem where at least one of the objectives relates to safety risk. Recasting safety risk into an objective introduces additional requirements on planning algorithms: safety risk cannot be "averaged out" nor can it be combined with other objectives without loss of information and losing its intended purpose as a tool in risk reduction. Thus, existing algorithms for multi-objective planning cannot be used directly as they do not provide any facility to accurately track and update safety risk. A common work around is to restrict available decisions to those guaranteed safe a priori, but this can be overly conservative and hamper performance significantly. In this paper, we propose a planning algorithm based on multiobjective Monte-Carlo Tree Search to resolve these problems by recognising safety risk as a first class objective. Our algorithm explicitly models the safety of the system separately from the performance of the system, uses safety risk to both optimise and provide constraints for safety in the planning process, and uses an ALARP-based preference selection method to choose an appropriate safe plan from its output. The preference selection method chooses from the set of multiple safe plans to weigh risk against performance. We demonstrate the behaviour of the algorithm using an example representative of safety critical decision-making.


Pupils in Wales currently take national tests in reading and numeracy every year from Year 2
until Year 9 (Welsh Government (WG), 2017a). Existing literature considering the experience of
such external, standardised tests in primary schools in the United Kingdom (UK) has tended to
focus on English children taking standard assessment tests (SATs) at the end of Year 2 and 6
only, specifically exploring the impact of 'test anxiety' and closely related constructs (e.g.
Connor, 2001, 2003; Connors, Putwain, Woods & Nicholson, 2009; Putwain, Connors, Woods &
Nicholson, 2012). Whilst there is a growing body of research considering the English primary
assessment context, it is argued that there remains a paucity of research considering the
unique Welsh context, and, furthermore, a lack of consideration for the parent voice in
enabling a broader and more holistic view of the test experience. Therefore, this research
aimed to provide an insight into parents' perceptions and experiences of primary school
children taking the national tests in Wales. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with
eight parents recruited from two primary schools in different areas of Wales. Recordings of the
interviews were transcribed verbatim, and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was
completed. Three super-superordinate themes were identified: 'relationships', 'constructions
of child's experience' and 'constructions of the test'. The research findings are discussed in
relation to existing theoretical and research literature; namely concepts from Festinger's
(1957) cognitive dissonance theory, a joint family and school systems approach (Dowling &
Osborne, 2003) and the relevance to bioecological systems theories of child development
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994). The implications of the current research for the practice of educational psychology are discussed, including how educational
psychologists could work at a variety of systemic levels using tools to explore the test
experience with children, parents and school staff, are discussed, alongside the strengths and
limitations of the current study. Further areas for future research are suggested, such as
explicitly using a case study approach to explore a variety of different perspectives within one school context, as well as examining the hypothesis that cognitive dissonance exists
throughout the system.


The toxic effects of organophosphorus pesticides (i.e. chlorpyrifos methyl, diazinon and profenofos) on male reproductive system of rats were evaluated. Rats received pesticides mixed with powdered feed at concentrations of 5 and 50 ppm of each pesticide for 65 successive days. Sex organs weight, semen picture, concentrations of the hormones [i.e. testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)], activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and histopathological changes in testes were the criteria used to evaluate the reproductive toxicity of the treated rats. Results showed that the effect of all tested pesticides on testes and seminal vesicles weights was dose-dependent since all tested pesticides at 50 ppm significantly decreased their weights. Serum AChE activity was inhibited with all tested pesticides. Both the concentrations of the tested pesticides decreased sperm count associated with increase in the number of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa of treated rats; however sperm motility was significantly decreased with the highest concentration of the tested pesticides. A decrease in the serum testosterone was observed in all treated groups; however LH and FSH levels were decreased with the highest concentration of the tested pesticides. Tissues of treated rat's testes showed slight alterations when histopathologically examined especially with the higher concentrations International Journal of Pharmacology 5(1):51-57,2009


The accurate estimate of residual ultimate bending strength of hull girders is an important task in ship structural design to ensure the structural safety when damaged due to collision and/or grounding. This paper is concerned with the residual ultimate bending strength of rectangular box girders when damaged. For this purpose, preliminary numerical analysis has been carried out for a box girder model with changing damage level, which will be tested. As far as the present numerical analysis results are concerned, damage of bottom structure does much reduce the residual bending strength as it can be easily expected. Meanwhile damage of side structure doest not much affect the reduction of ultimate bending strength. This finding will be verified through experiments, and this study will be extended to the real ship models.


1. Duck erythrocytes have been injected intravenously into rabbits, mice, and guinea pigs and at intervals thereafter microscopic examination of certain organs has been made. 2. In the guinea pig spleen extrusion of the nuclei of the duck cells has been observed with great regularity. 3. Attempts to reproduce this phenomenon in vitro have failed. 4. It is suggested that nuclear extrusion of this kind is conditioned by (a) the species into which the cells are transfused and (b) an intact spleen.


An important step towards realizing the advantages of quantum dots in electro-optic applications is to understand the excitation dependences of optical properties. This paper discusses results obtained using a microscopic theory. The calculations uncovered complicated carrier density and electronic structure influences on absorption, gain and refractive index that can be attributed to a delicate balancing of electronic-structure and many-body effects in a coupled quantum-dot-quantum-well system.


Image generation task has received increasing attention because of its wide application in security and entertainment. Sketch-based face generation brings more fun and better quality of image generation due to supervised interaction. However, When a sketch poorly aligned with the true face is given as input, existing supervised image-to-image translation methods often cannot generate acceptable photo-realistic face images. To address this problem, in this paper we propose Cali-Sketch, a poorly-drawn-sketch to photo-realistic-image generation method. Cali-Sketch explicitly models stroke calibration and image generation using two constituent networks: a Stroke Calibration Network (SCN), which calibrates strokes of facial features and enriches facial details while preserving the original intent features; and an Image Synthesis Network (ISN), which translates the calibrated and enriched sketches to photo-realistic face images. In this way, we manage to decouple a difficult cross-domain translation problem into two easier steps. Extensive experiments verify that the face photos generated by Cali-Sketch are both photo-realistic and faithful to the input sketches, compared with state-of-the-art methods


Although ADHD is known as a childhood disorder, it is prevalent among adults as well. Several studies have been conducted on the etiology of this disorder and its neurobiological and neuroanatomical manifestations in children, but the knowledge of adult ADHD is not enough. The present research was aimed at studying the structural brain abnormalities in adult ADHD cases. Fifteen adult patients diagnosed with ADHD, developed during their childhood, were selected for this study. In addition to clinical interview and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), all the participants were asked to fill the (ASRS-VI.I). The results indicated that about 40 % of adults with ADHD suffer from structural brain abnormalities. The results of MRI showed that 100% of the individuals with inattentive and combined types of ADHD were structurally damaged but MRI results did not reveal any structural brain abnormalities in hyperactive participants. The results of the present study are somewhat consistent with the results of previous studies. In general, any brain injury in the region related to cognitive processes (such as attention, memorization, and prevention) and brain circuits related to motor functions and motivation can contribute a role to the induction of ADHD symptoms. It is recommended to conduct more researches in the future with larger samples using other methods that are capable of assessing brain performance and the level and mechanism of the functions of neurotransmitters and neuronal modulators.


Hybrid technical systems combine discrete-state event-driven and continuous-state time-driven behaviour. In this contribution, a general modeling formalism for such systems is proposed. The discrete subsystem is represented by an interpreted Petri net. In addition to external continuous inputs, discrete variables dependent on the net marking affect the continuous subsystem which is a time-driven state space model. Limit violations of particular continuous state variables as well as external binary inputs are interpreted as events and change the discrete state of the system. In view of the analysis of hybrid technical systems reachability and stability are defined. The modeling method is applied to a mixing tank.


Ageing is associated with many physiological and cellular changes, many of which are due to alterations in the plasma membrane. The functions of membrane transporter proteins are crucial for the maintenance of ionic homeostasis between the extra‐ and intracellular environments. The aim of the present study was to determine the status of erythrocyte membrane transporters, specifically Ca2+‐ATPases, Na+/K+‐ATPases and the Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE), during ageing in humans. Furthermore, because tea catechins have been reported to possess strong anti‐oxidant potential, the study was extended to evaluate the effect of (–)‐epicatechin (EC), (–)‐epicatechin‐3‐gallate (ECG), (–)‐epigallocatechin (EGC) and (–)‐epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG) on these transporters as a function of human age. The study was performed on 97 normal healthy subjects (62 men, 35 women; 16–80 years old). To investigate the effects of tea catechins, subjects were divided into three groups: young (<40 years old; n = 34); middle‐aged (40–60 years old; n = 32); and old (>60 years old; n = 31). Erythrocyte ghosts/cell suspension from each group were incubated with ECG, EGCG, EGC and EC (10 μmol/L) for 30 min at 37°C prior to assay. Ageing significantly increased NHE activity and decreased Ca2+‐ATPase activity. There were no significant changes in Na+/K+‐ATPase activity during the ageing process. (–)‐Epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate, EGC, ECG and EC effectively mitigated the changes in membrane transporter activity in erythrocytes from all age groups; however, the effect was more pronounced in the old age group. We hypothesize that impairment in ‐bound transporters may be one of the possible mechanisms underlying the pathological events during ageing. A higher intake of catechin‐rich food may provide some protection against age‐dependent diseases.


The threatened Chilean conifer Podocarpus salignus D. Don is currently the focus of ex situ conservation eorts being undertaken by the Conifer Conservation Programme of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. To assess variation within in and ex situ populations of the species, leaf material collected from four wild populations was analysed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). A mova of RAPD profiles indicated that 93% of the variation occurred within, rather than between, populations. Intraspecific genetic diversity, estimated using percentage polymorphic loci, Shannon's diversity index, and Nei's gene diversity, was relatively high (47%, 0.692 and 0.314, respectively). To assess genetic diversity in ex situ populations within the UK, RAPD analysis of parents and progeny at two Cornish arboreta was undertaken. The results provided evidence of novel hybridization with suspected paternal trees ( P. hallii Kirk and P. totara G. Benn. ex D. Don) endemic to New Zealand. RAPD was found to be an effective tool for assessing the genetic structure of P. salignus , for providing a guide to future germplasm-sampling strategies, and for hybrid identification. Implications for genetic conservation of the species and the role of ex situ approaches are discussed.


Abstract Name : Fittri Amriani Student No. : 0906102050025 Study Program : English Education Title : Teaching Listening by Using Student Team Achievement Division (An Experimental Study of Second Grade Students at MAN 1 Sigli) Keywords: Listening, STAD, Narrative Text This script is about Student Team Achievement Division (STAD) technique. This study aims to find out whether teaching listening by using STAD improves students' listening comprehension of senior high school or not. Therefore, this study used quantitative research in carrying out the research. This study only focuses on improving students' listening comprehension in narrative text. The population of this study was second grade students at MAN 1 Sigli, while the sample of this study is XI-IA 2 class which is consisted of 22 students. The result of this study showed that students' score increased, which were proven by their scores of pretest and posttest. The mean score of pretest was 38.18, and the mean score of posttest was 65.45. Moreover, the result of hypothesis testing indicated that alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted and null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected. It is shown from the calculation of T-test, 12.12, which is bigger than T-table. Hence, STAD can improve students' listening comprehension . Therefore, the writer concludes that teaching listening by using Student Team Achievement Division give good effect for students' listening comprehension.


This paper presents an example of using evaluation as a tool for encouraging democratic participation in the development of professional learning and course delivery. The new professional role of Connexions Personal Adviser (CPA) is being clarified and developed through participation of CPAs on a new national training programme, the Diploma for Connexions Personal Advisers, and the approach to evaluating the programme builds on the espoused values and principles of the Connexions Service. Whilst using findings from an evaluation of a specific training programme, the paper advocates a method that could be used on other professional programmes. A theme to emerge from the evaluation has been the identification of a gap between the rhetoric of the national policy and the reality of awareness at local delivery level. These findings have been instrumental in informing future developments and research in particular into the effectiveness of approaches to action learning, and an exploration of strategies to enable the effective transfer and integration of learning from education to workplace.


The main reason for switching from wired network to wireless is the dynamic nature of the nodes. Since the nodes in the MANET have the capability of moving, there is a high possibility of violating the security of the network. The certificate verification involves maintaining secure connections against spoofing and invalid certificates; and the certificate validation examines the certificates to check the recipient's identity. In this paper we proposed a scheme called certificate revocation to prevent the network from malicious attacks. If the certificate of the malicious node is revoked, then it is impossible to communicate with any other nodes in the network by the malicious node. By doing so, it is possible to have Cluster-to-Cluster communication in a secure manner.


Background: Health improvements are considered one of the most important fields of research. Since the coronavirus disease 2019 was declared a pandemic, it might have impacted clinical and public health research in various forms. Objectives: The goal of this study is to explore health research approaches in the era of coronavirus disease 2019. Methods: In this scoping review, we reviewed published medical full-text studies and identified potential areas of interest of health research in the era the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic during the last 3 years within a higher educational setting. A bibliometric analysis was used to compare among published works. Results: Among the 93 studies that met the inclusion criteria, most focused on mental health (n = 23; 24.7%). Twenty-one publications targeted coronavirus disease 2019 and its consequences on general health. Other studies have described hemato-oncological, cardiovascular, respiratory, and endocrinological diseases. 42 studies were cross-sectional or cohort studies and most of them published in Q1 journals. Almost half of them belonged to the Faculty of Medicine (49.5%) followed by the School of Arts, Sciences, and Psychology (26.9%). Conclusions: Health research has been demonstrated to be important, at all times, especially during crises. Therefore, researchers need to invest more efforts into seeking new medical updates in various health-related fields, regardless of their correlation with coronavirus disease 2019.


This study aimed to assess the use of the high-hydrostatic-pressure (HHP) method (200–600 MPa, 5 min) for bleaching mustard pickle products as an alternative to the conventional method of sulfite addition. The aerobic plate count (APC) and lactic acid bacteria count (LAB) of the samples decreased with the increase in pressure, and the yeast count decreased to no detectable levels. Next, compared with the control group (no high-pressure treatment) the L* (lightness), W (whiteness), ΔE (color difference), and texture (hardness and chewiness) of the HHP-processed samples, which increased significantly with increasing pressure, while the a* (redness) and b* (yellowness) values decreased slightly. This indicates that HHP processing gave the mustard pickle a harder texture and a brighter white color and appearance. Furthermore, when the mustard pickle was treated with HHP 400 and 600 MPa for 5 min and stored at 25 °C for 60 days, it was found that the APC and LAB counts in the HHP-processed group recovered rapidly and did not differ from those in the control group (the non-HHP treated group) but significantly delayed the growth of yeast, the increase in pH value, and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN). The high-throughput sequencing (HTS) analysis revealed that the predominant bacterial genera in the non-HHP-treated mustard pickle were Lactiplantibacillus (74%), Lactilactobacillus (12%), and Levilactobacillus (6%); after 60 days of storage, Companilactobacillus (80%) became dominant. However, after 60 days of storage, Lactiplantibacillus (92%) became dominant in the samples processed at 400 MPa, while Levilactobacillus (52%), Pediococcus (17%), and Lactiplantibacillus (17%) became dominant in the samples processed at 600 MPa. This indicated that the HHP treatment changed the lactic acid bacterial flora of the mustard pickle during the storage period. Overall, it is recommended to treat the mustard pickle with HHP above 400 MPa for 5 min to improve its texture and color and delay the deterioration of quality during storage. Therefore, HHP technology has the potential to be developed as a treatment technique to replace the addition of sulfite.