Objective: to understand how nursing workers perceive the sexuality of patients with mental disorders. Methodology: this was a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory research with a methodological approach to social representations. Results: a total of 18 nursing workers from a Center for Integral Mental Health Care in Sao Paulo participated in the study. The data was collected through interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire between March and June of 2009. Most participants perceived sexuality as a form of disease, which was the target of surveillance, control, and punishment. The lack of preparedness in nursing professionals to deal with the sexuality of patients with mental disorders was noticed. Conclusion: myths, taboos, prejudices, and lack of knowledge was observed in nursing workers facing the sexuality of patients with mental disorders. The need to address sexuality as a natural phenomenon, inherent to human beings is reaffirmed.


From September through October 2006, an unknown disease characterized by acute onset of fever, joint pain with or without swelling, and maculopapular rash along with fatigue was reported from three villages of Cuttack and one village of Kendrapara district of Orissa, India, by the State Health Department. Upon learning this, a team from Regional Medical Research Centre (Indian Council of Medical Research), Bhubaneswar, Orissa, conducted an epidemiological investigation in the area. Household survey was carried out and clinical examination of the symptomatic individuals (n = 1289: Kendrapara, 752; Cuttack, 537) undertaken. Based on the recorded chikungunya (CHIK) fever symptoms, a vector-borne viral disease was considered for provisional diagnosis. Blood samples were collected from 217 symptomatic individuals; to confirm the diagnosis, sera were tested for anti-CHIK antibody (immunoglobulin M), which revealed 63% (64/101) and 40% (47/116) seropositivity in the samples from Kendrapara and Cuttack district, respectively. The illness was managed with analgesics like paracetamol. No death was recorded due to the illness. Entomological survey in the areas revealed the presence of Aedes mosquitoes: aegypti, albopictus, and vittatus. The per-man-hour density of Aedes vectors ranged from 0.8 to 7.6. High larval indices, house index >17% and Breteau index >70%, also indicated Aedes breeding in the area. The investigation documented circulation of CHIK in Orissa, India, and helped to take preventive steps in the outbreak area, with the suggested vector control measures.


The vitamin D intake from diet and supplements was studied in 1768 children and adolescents aged 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 years in the autumn of 1980. The dietary vitamin D intake increased with increasing age, being lowest in the two youngest groups and highest in the two oldest groups, whereas the use of supplements decreased with increasing age. The total vitamin D intake, including both dietary vitamin D and vitamin D obtained from supplements was highest in the youngest groups and decreased with age. In all groups both the dietary mean vitamin D intake and the mean total intake were well below the recommended dietary allowance. The total amount of vitamin D in the diet was lowest in the two youngest groups and the 12-year-olds and highest in the 9-year-olds and the two oldest groups. The main dietary sources of vitamin D were vitaminized margarine, fish and fish products and eggs, providing together about 80 per cent of the total vitamin D intake. With a vitamin D intake as low as that found in this study, ranging from 2.5 to 5.1 micrograms/d including supplements, the risk of nutritional rickets should be high. Nutritional rickets is, however, uncommon in these age groups. The children in this study were healthy, active individuals abundantly exposed to sunshine and therefore getting enough vitamin D through the endogenous route in the skin. Every house-bound child could, however, be at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency with such a low vitamin D intake.


The synthesis of N-substituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindoles from α,α′-dibromo-o-xylene and various primary amines in basic medium under ambient conditions is described. Especially the selection of 1,4-dioxane as solvent and sodium hydroxide as suitable base to maintain the homogeneity of the medium are key steps to promote the reaction efficiently. Primary alkyl amines react faster as compared to their aromatic analogues under the conditions studied. Irrespective of the starting amine used, all the reactions proceed smoothly and provide 2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindoles derivatives in excellent yields compared to hitherto known methods.


In the rich Christianity-in-China debate, an Orthodox perspective is largely missing. Starting with sinology's founding fathers — 16 th century Jesuit missionaries — controversies have focused on the Catholic (Tianzhu jiao 天主教) and Protestant (Jidu jiao 基督教) branches, quasi-unanimously taken to account for practically all of Christianity, while references to Orthodox (Dōngzheng jiao 東正教) tradition have been rather absent. A possible strategy for placing Orthodoxy (and Byzantium) in a context more culturally attractive to Chinese and Western scholars is to link Chinese with Byzantine studies, providing ample scope for comparative approach, while building on the Ricci-Legge tradition of stressing archaic Chinese monotheism. That is the acknowledged agenda of this paper. In pursuing it, the complex religious-ideological matrix allows for legitimate parallels — including an exploration of ‗iconic thinking' implicit in Chinese ‗optocracy', explicit in Byzantium.


The issue of the role of the Renaissance in the history of European culture is still open, and for better understanding, it is important to look at the chronological boundaries of this long period and to define their specific traits. The end of the Renaissance was closely linked, among other things, with architectural works of Giorgio Vasari, which brings to light the changes in the artist's status, as well as the peculiarities of the artistic process in one of the major cultural centers of the late Renaissance — Florence in the times of Cosimo I Medici. Vasari's architecture is a clear example of key tendencies in late Renaissance art. As many of his contemporaries, Vasari is more a "continuator" than a "creator" in both architectural prac- tice and theory. In his own work, he prefers to draw conclusions, promote what had already been done by others, and set norms based on his predecessors' achievements. His manner is rather dry, graphic, detached, and cold; it lacks the lively emotional character that always comes with innovative creative impulses. It is noteworthy (and highly characteristic of all architectural practices of Cinquecento) that Vasari, as his con- temporaries, begins his artistic career not as an architect but as a painter. In his architectural work, Vasari is merely a decorator, which testifies clearly to the crisis of architectural vision. He easily slips into eclectic, as do many other architects of the time, which is also one of the symptoms of the well-developed artistic tradition. The "mechanical" nature of the late Renaissance came into being in numerous architectural works by Vasari, especially in the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi complex and Vasari's Corridor not only linked together different buildings that belonged to the Medici family, but also reoriented the whole urban situation in Florence that was influenced by Grand Dukes and new semantic features. Now, it included all the "centers" of "old" and "new" Medici, as well as the sacral republican "centers" of Florence.


Described herein are copper-catalysed N-C heteroarylations of benzimidazole, 1-methylbenzimidazolone, imidazole and pyrrole. The products of these reactions then undergo palladium-catalysed C-C cross-couplings with aryl or heteroarylboronic acids under Suzuki-Miyaura conditions to provide a rapid entry to tris(hetero)aryl scaffolds comprising two or three N-heterocyclic rings. The sequential N-C and C-C couplings can be performed in a one-pot process.

1,5-Di(hetero)arylated-pyridin-2(1H)-one derivatives have been synthesised in good yields starting from (2-fluoro-5-pyridyl)boronic acid. The sequence comprises three steps: (i) palladium-catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction; (ii) basic hydrolysis; (iii) copper-catalysed C-N coupling. X-ray crystal structures are reported for selected pyridin-2(1H)-one derivatives. These compounds are of interest as new scaffolds for drug discovery.

A one-pot synthesis of 2-chloro-3,4-diiodopyridine from 2-chloropyridine is described via a Directed ortho Metallation (DoM)/Halogen Dance (HD) mechanism in 26-28% yields. By performing sequential iterative Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings using a variety of functionalised heteroaryl and arylboronic acids, a series of novel 2,3,4-triheteroarylpyridine scaffolds have been accessed in synthetically viable yields, including sterically hindered derivatives. An iterative two-fold Sonogashira/Suzuki-Miyaura reaction sequence gave access to 5-[3,4-bis(2-phenylethynyl)pyridine-2-yl]-2-fluoropyridine in 48% overall yield.

Disclosed is a novel route towards benzimidazolo[1,2-f]phenanthridines starting from 4-tert-butyl-N-(2-iodophenyl)benzamide via a intermolecular palladium-catalysed N-C bond formation and dehydration to form 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1-(2-bromophenyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole. Performing an intramolecular C-H activation reaction on this provided 6-tert-butylbenzimidazolo[1,2-f]phenanthridine. This compound could be of interest to materials science or as a new scaffold for drug discovery.

Synthesis of novel soluble, shielding auxiliary ligand 4-(4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-2,6-dimethylphenyl)pyridine-2-carboxylic acid (G1pic) has been achieved via a five step synthesis from commercially available starting materials utilising the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction on demanding substrates. A route towards a more shielded auxiliary ligand have been explored eventually providing 3-(4-pyridyl)-1,5-bis(4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)phenyl)-2,4-dimethylbenzene as an intermediate for future work. Ir(III) complexes have been synthesised with G1pic and picolinic acid.


Anaerobic degradation has been demonstrated as an important pathway for the removal of sulfonamide (SA) in contaminated environments, and identifying the microorganisms responsible for the degradation of SA is a key step in developing bioaugmentation approaches. In this study, we investigated the anaerobic degradation activity of three SA [sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfamethazine (SMZ) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX)] and the associated bacterial community in wetland sediments contaminated by aquaculture (in Fujian Province, coded with FJ), livestock farming (in Sichuan Province, coded with SC), or rural wastewaters (in Guangdong Province, coded with GD). Additionally, the combination of DNA-stable isotope probing (SIP) with metagenomics was further applied to assess the active SA-degrading microbes using SMX as a model SA. Among SDZ, SMZ and SMX, only SMX could be effectively dissipated, and the degradation of SMX was relatively fast in the microcosms of sediments with higher levels of SA contamination (FJ and SC). The anaerobic biotransformation pathway of SMX was initiated by hydrogenation with the cleavage of the N-O bond on the isoxazole ring. DNA-SIP revealed that the in situ active anaerobic SMX-degraders (5, 18 and 3 genera in sediments FJ, SC and GD respectively) were dominated by Proteobacteria in sediments FJ and SC, but by Firmicutes (two Family XVIII members) in sediment GD. Mycobacterium, unclassified Burkholderiaceae and Rhodocyclaceae were identified as the dominant active SMX-degrading bacteria in both sediments FJ and SC. Higher proportions of antibiotic resistance gene and genes involved in various functional categories were observed in sediments FJ and SC.


This research is to study the effect of ethanol fermentation aerobic pH on acetic acid product. Anaerobic fermentation uses saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce ethanol, and aerobic fermentation uses acetobacter acetic for acetic acid production. In aerobic ethanol fermentation using pH 3; 3.5; 4 and 5.  The ethanol concentration was evaluated using GC ULTRA Scientific Gas Chromatography, DSQ II detector, and MS 220 column. Acetic acid produced was analyzed using an alkalymetric method. Anaerobic fermentation uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae with 1-day log phase, while aerobic fermentation uses acetobacter aceti with a 5-day log phase. Fermentation using saccharomyces cerevisiae within 24 hours so that reduction sugar could stably decrease, optimum ethanol could be got at optimum pH 6 which could decrease 55 % of reducing sugar concentration to produce 8,20583 %v/v ethanol. Fermentation acetate acid content observed in 3 days at pH 6 and 30 ⁰C will produce 6,659 g/l also shows that pH 4-6 at 30 ⁰C will produce 6,605 g/l acetate acid. Aerobic fermentation of acetate acid in 3 days shows that pH 4-6 is highly affected by temperature at 30⁰C. Statistical analysis shows, in ethanol production pH and fermentation time give significant effect, but interaction has no significant effect.


A seven‐week‐old girl presented with recurrent apnoeic episodes and respiratory insufficiency. The child was hypotonic, weak, areflexic and had a paradoxical movement of the right hemidiaphragm. Cranial nerve and sphincter function was normal; there was no fasciculation. Nerve conduction studies showed a severe axonal sensory and motor peripheral neuropathy. Biopsy of the sural nerve revealed marked axonal atrophy. The infant is now over two years of age, is ventilator‐dependent and has clinical and electrophysiological evidence of further progression of one of the earliest reported presentations of a congenital peripheral neuropathy.


AbstractInterannual variability in the volumetric water mass distribution within the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre is described in relation to variability in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. The relative roles of diabatic and adiabatic processes in the volume and heat budgets of the subtropical gyre are investigated by projecting data into temperature coordinates as volumes of water using an Argo-based climatology and an ocean state estimate (ECCO version 4). This highlights that variations in the subtropical gyre volume budget are predominantly set by transport divergence in the gyre. A strong correlation between the volume anomaly due to transport divergence and the variability of both thermocline depth and Ekman pumping over the gyre suggests that wind-driven heave drives transport anomalies at the gyre boundaries. This wind-driven heaving contributes significantly to variations in the heat content of the gyre, as do anomalies in the air–sea fluxes. The analysis presented suggests tha...


This article aims to suggest one possible – pragmatist in a very broad sense of the term – approach to making sense of the way truth and objectivity function within the discipline of history. It argues that history doesn't need a new theory of truth; rather, it is necessary to analyse in theoretical terms how truth is understood and used in historical inquiry. This article considers truth as an epistemic term in a certain given – historiographical – use, and objectivity is understood as an epistemic virtue valued in a specific contemporary scientific community, that of professional historians.The main argument is developed in three interrelated steps. First, the article makes the case for a pragmatic "truth pact" in history writing, arguing that the conditions of historical truth depend on the illocutionary force of historical utterance. Second, it proposes that this "truth pact" is "guaranteed" by fellow historians or, in other words: truth claims in history writing are based not on their direct relation with reality but on a disciplinary consensus as to the methods of inquiry, cognitive values and epistemic virtues. Third, it will establish a clear connection between truth and proof in history writing, arguing that the "truth pact" is grounded in a critical analysis of the available evidence.


This slender but dense book offers the first monographic study of Callias III of the Ceryces ( ca . 455 – 365 BC), presented as an important figure in Athens ' transition, from aggressive imperialism to a new peace-seeking attitude, over the ' secolo breve ' ( ' short century ' , 13; why not a new Pentekontaetia?) of 421 – 371


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease. To distinguish the stage of the disease, AD classification technology challenge has been proposed in Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision 2021 (PRCV 2021) which provides the gray volume and average cortical thickness data extracted in multiple atlases from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Traditional methods either train with convolutional neural network (CNN) by MRI data to adapt the spatial features of images or train with recurrent neural network (RNN) by temporal features to predict the next stage. However, the morphological features from the challenge have been extracted into discrete values. We present a multi-atlases multi-layer perceptron (MAMLP) approach to deal with the relationship between morphological features and the stage of the disease. The model consists of multiple multi-layer perceptron (MLP) modules, and morphological features extracted from different atlases will be classified by different MLP modules. The final vote of all classification results obtains the predicted disease stage. Firstly, to preserve the diversity of brain features, the most representative atlases are chosen from groups of similar atlases, and one atlas is selected in each group. Secondly, each atlas is fed into one MLP to fetch the score of the classification. Thirdly, to obtain more stable results, scores from different atlases are combined to vote the result of the classification. Based on this approach, we rank 10th among 373 teams in the challenge. The results of the experiment indicate as follows: (1) Group selection of atlas reduces the number of features required without reducing the accuracy of the model; (2) The MLP architecture achieves better performance than CNN and RNN networks in morphological features; and (3) Compared with other networks, the combination of multiple MLP networks has faster convergence of about 40% and makes the classification more stable.


BACKGROUND
Febrile neutropenia occurring in patients receiving chemotherapy for solid tumours or lymphoma is usually of short duration, and therefore may have a better outcome compared to patients with acute leukaemia or patients receiving myeloablative chemotherapy.

AIMS
To review retrospectively the outcomes for febrile neutropenia occurring in patients of the Medical Oncology Unit at our institution, and to identify factors associated with worse outcome, particularly prolonged admission or death.

METHODS
We reviewed 102 episodes of febrile neutropenia occurring in 85 patients treated between 1992 and 1994. Demographic factors, tumour-related factors and clinical aspects of the episodes were correlated with outcome.

RESULTS
The median age was 60 years (range, 18-87), with 56 (55%) episodes occurring in females. Twenty-eight (27%) episodes occurred in patients with lymphoma, with the remaining 74 (73%) occurring in patients with solid tumours. At presentation, the median absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was 0.14 x 10(9)/L with a median duration of significant neutropenia (ANC < 0.5 x 10(9)/L) of three days. The median duration of fever was two days. Twenty-nine (28%) episodes had positive cultures; of these 11 had bacteraemia. Forty-four (43%) episodes were classified as unexplained fevers. The remaining 29 episodes were associated with clinically documented infection but negative cultures. There was a high treatment success rate (81%) with first-line empirical antibiotics. Of 19 treatment failures, 13 were due to the necessity for antibiotic modification; the other six patients died from infection. Factors associated with a worse outcome (including prolonged admission and death) include: diagnosis of lymphoma; increasing number of chemotherapy courses; early onset of neutropenia; pneumonia; severe hypotension; and multiple co-morbidities.

CONCLUSIONS
Febrile neutropenia in adult patients with solid tumours or lymphoma is associated with a relatively good outcome, possibly due to the short duration of neutropenia. A future prospective study to validate the risk factors identified in this study would be useful for defining patients at low risk for the adverse outcomes examined, in whom less intensive management for this condition may be possible.


Siblings have been identified as the most neglected of all family members during serious childhood illnesses. Siblings of children with cancer can experience great stress. Nurses can support the whole family and encourage positive coping mechanisms among siblings.


[background] Intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) is presumably generated by branching clonal evolution of cancer cells. Recently, a multiregional sequencing approach, which sequences DNA sampled from geographically separated regions of a single tumor, has revealed branched evolution and ITH. In this study, we present genetic and epigenetic analysis of ITH in a series of nine colorectal cancers [material and method] We conducted analysis of samples from geographically separated regions from nine colorectal tumors. From each of the nine tumor, we obtained 5-21 multiregional samples, which were 75 samples in total, together with 9 paired normal mucosa samples. For two cases, samples from liver metastases were obtained. We performed exome sequencing and copy number (CN), methylation, and mRNA expression array profiling. [Result] Each of the multiregional mutation profiles harbored founder and progressor mutations; founder mutations are shared by all regions while progressor mutations are not. We found that mutations in well-known driver genes such as APC, KRAS, and FBWX7 were acquired as founder mutations, while mutations in PIK3CA recurrently occurred as progressor mutations, suggesting that PIK3CA mutations are a late event in the evolution of colorectal cancer. We counted each category of mutation and then identified a correlation between the number of founder mutations and the age of the patients. Our analysis showed that C > T transitions at CpG sites are more prominent in founder mutations than in progressor mutations. Then, the multiregional CN profiles showed that amplifications of 7p, 13q, 10q, 20p, and 20q frequently occurred across all samples in multiple tumors, namely as founder CN alterations. Finally, our data showed that hypermethylations in CpG islands were more prominent in founder methylations than in progressor methylations, suggesting that CpG island hypermethylations mainly occur in the early phase of colorectal cancer evolution. [Conclusion] In this study, our integrated analysis revealed not only extensive ITH, but also the evolutionary histories of the nine tumors. In particular, by focusing on founder and progressor mutations, we identified clues for decoding the life history of the tumors. Citation Format: Shinya Kidogami, Atsushi Niida, Ryutaro Uchi, Yusuke Takahashi, Masaki Mori, Satoru Miyano, Koshi Mimori. Integrated analysis of intratumor heterogeneity with genetic and epigenetic aberrations during colorectal cancer evolution. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 149.


The study of the ambient radiation levels around some mining sites in Benue State has been carried out using radiation meters; Inspector 06250 and Dose Meter 6150AD. A total of four mining sites were selected for measurements. These sites include the Guma salt mine, Makurdi clay mine, Mkar quarry in Gboko and the Otukpo clay mine. The values of the dose equivalent rates obtain ranged from 0.18 to 0.33mSv/yr and the value of the exposure rate range from 0.011 to 0.11mR/hr. Activity values range from 2.7 to 5.1kBq. The results show that the Mkar quarry recorded the highest values of dose equivalent rate of 0.330.003mSv/yr, exposure rate of 0.10.002mR/hr and activity of 2.70.4kBq. Results show that all the mining locations are still within the safety limits of 1.0mSv/yr, as set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Keywords : Ambient, radiation, dose, exposure, activity. Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 18 (2) 2006: pp. 219-222


Background Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy was now accepted worldwide with potential advantages over open pacreaticoduodenectomy. The defect was time wasting with the prone of increased postoperative complications. To assess the potential superiority and feasibility of laparoscopic assisted pancreaticoduodenectomy (LAPD) comparing to totally laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (TLPD), we introduce this study.Methods Retrospectively analyzed the relation data from the patients who had laparoscopic pancreaticodedunostomy due to malignant tumor in The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology during January 2015 to July 2019. Complications and operation time were compared. SPSS 16.0 was employed for analysis.Results Both groups had almost the same baseline characteristics, such as Sex (P=0.880), Age (P=0.861), ASA (P=0.559), BMI (P=0.854), pancreatic duct size (P=0.623), pancreatic texture (P=0.573) and tumor origin (P=0.878). LAPD was association to shorter operation time (231.6±43.7 min VS. 305.4±55.3 min; P=0.047), pancreaticojejunostomy time (13.8±4.2 min VS. 41.6±9.4 min; P=0.007), gastrojejunostomy time (10.9±3.0 min VS. 24.8±6.5 min; P=0.014) and jejunojejunostomy time (7.8±2.4 min VS. 23.4±5.8 min; P=0.005). No statistical difference was observed relation to resection time (P=0.864), cholangiojejunostomy time (P=0.897), blood loss (P=0.723), number of required transfusion (P=0.809), and incision length (P=0.183). Both groups had comparable conversion to open approach (P=0.402). LAPD had comparable complications to TLPD, such as pancreatic leakage (P=0.328), biliary leakage (P=0.673), bleeding (P=0.889), pneumonia (P=0.809) and thrombosis (P=0.443) and incision infection (P=0.889). No statistical difference was observed relation to visual analogue score at 1 day postoperatively (P=0.913) and hospitalization (P=0.137).Conclusions Laparoscopic assisted pancreaticoduodenectomy with open pancreaticojejunostomy should be a choice for certain surgeons with less operation time.


The transfer of vascularized bone containing free flaps is the most effective method of achieving a functional oromandibular reconstruction in the primary setting. All of the reported series on mandibular reconstruction using microvascular free flaps, totaling 513 cases, are reviewed. The collective success rates of free flap transfers compiled from these series have steadily increased to 96% during the latter portion of this review. The experimental studies demonstrating the viability of vascularized bone following an ischemic insult are presented. The issues regarding primary and secondary mandible reconstruction are reviewed. Each of the eight donor sites for vascularized bone are discussed and rated with respect to the ideal qualities of the bone and soft-tissue components of a composite free flap to achieve an optimal oromandibular reconstruction.


The decision support systems have gained representation in the academic and professional environment. It leads to a need of understanding what has been published about the field. Thus, the objective of this work, which has an exploratory and descriptive nature, is to perform a mapping and content analysis under the decision support systems topic, represented by a set of scientific article. To achieve the goal we will use the Development Process Knowledge - Constructivist (Proknow-C). At the end of the paper, it was possible to select a Literature Portfolio (LP) composed of 12 scientific articles, and to this LP, recognize the highlighted journals, articles, authors and keywords related to the field. It was also possible to perform a content analysis on the material. Through analysis composed of six criteria established, we diagnosed that the most well succeeded paper fulfilled 3 of 6 criteria. Therefore, it was possible to find flaws in the literature and suggesting research opportunities for future works.


Consideration is given to a system of differential equations which has two homoclinic solutions to a same saddle-focus point. The authors prove the existence of a subsystem of solutions which remain in a neighborhood of those homoclinic orbits. In addition to the upper and lower subsystem already described by L. Slinikov's (1965) theorem, this theorem contains solutions that switch in every turn from the neighborhood of one homoclinic to the neighborhood of the other. >


UNLABELLED
Despite the success of chemotherapy in the treatment of hepatoblastoma (HB), the complete surgical resection of the primary liver tumour and metastases is the most important factor for survival.

METHODS
From 1989 to 1998, 141 children with HB were treated in the German Cooperative Paediatric Liver Tumour Study HB 89 and HB 94. The study determines the results of surgical strategy, which adapts the procedure at the initial operation to the tumour extension in the liver and the occurrence of metastases.

RESULTS
The median follow-up of the survivors was 72 months (range 24 - 132 months). 98/141 (78 %) patients were alive and 31/141 (22 %) died. 12/141 (8.5 %) children had no surgical treatment. A complete resection of the primary tumour was achieved in 107/129 (83 %) cases. Forty-eight children were primary resected and eighty-one children were operated on after initial chemotherapy. In 36 cases, an atypical tumour resection, in 90 cases an anatomical liver resection, was performed. Three children were transplanted. There was no perioperative death. 14/48 (30 %) children with primary tumour resection had microscopical or macroscopical residual tumour in the liver. Despite the larger number of advanced HB in the primary chemotherapy group, an incomplete tumour resection was performed in only 15/78 (19 %) cases after liver resection (p < 0.044). 14/36 (38 %) cases with atypical tumour resection and only 16/90 (18 %) cases with anatomical liver resection had residual tumours in the liver (p < 0.019). These results underline the necessity for preoperative chemotherapy in all HB, which was accepted in the following study HB 99. Atypical tumour resection should be avoided because of the higher rate of incomplete tumour resections and local relapse compared to the group with anatomical tumour resection.


Knowledge graphs are powerful tools for representing and organising complex biomedical data. Several knowledge graph embedding algorithms have been proposed to learn from and complete knowledge graphs. However, a recent study demonstrates the limited efficacy of these embedding algorithms when applied to biomedical knowledge graphs, raising the question of whether knowledge graph embeddings have limitations in biomedical settings. This study aims to apply state-of-the-art knowledge graph embedding models in the context of a recent biomedical knowledge graph, BioKG, and evaluate their performance and potential downstream uses. We achieve a three-fold improvement in terms of performance based on the HITS@10 score over previous work on the same biomedical knowledge graph. Additionally, we provide interpretable predictions through a rule-based method. We demonstrate that knowledge graph embedding models are applicable in practice by evaluating the best-performing model on four tasks that represent real-life polypharmacy situations. Results suggest that knowledge learnt from large biomedical knowledge graphs can be transferred to such downstream use cases. Our code is available at https://github.com/aryopg/biokge.


IFREMER has recently developed a deep-towed seismic system designed for High to Very High resolution near-bottom marine seismic surveys.This paper presents this new tool which is dedicated to the study of deepwater geological objects especially geohazards. After a technical description of the system, we expound an overview of the complete workflow from survey design to amplitude preserved processing illustrated by data acquired during the first operational cruise.


ABSTRACT Early childhood teachers' social emotional well-being is important for their quality of life, and is associated with their classroom practices, their relationships with children, and with child functioning. This study examines the impact of an intervention; a brief, online course to support teachers' use of stress-management and resiliency practices. Sixty-three, center-based, early childhood teachers completed pre- and post-surveys to assess their knowledge of stress and stress reduction, use of prevention strategies, use of emotion regulation strategies, self-reported stress, and their social and emotional responsiveness to children. Participants also provided feedback about the course design, content, and applicability. Research Findings: After the intervention, teachers demonstrated greater knowledge of stress, stress-reduction and use of prevention strategies, and greater use of reappraisal emotion regulation. Teachers indicated the course was useful, positively affected their work with children, and demonstrated positive changes in their self-reported responsiveness to children. However, after the intervention, they also reported higher levels of personal stress and negative reactions to children's emotions. Practice or Policy: This research provides some evidence that a low-dose intervention delivered online can affect teachers' knowledge and use of resiliency practices. Differences in effects based on teachers' social identities and experiences, and updates to the original course content, are discussed.


Coronary angiography is performed to investigate coronary diseases of the human heart. For better
visualization of the arteries, a catheter is used to inject a contrast dye into the coronary arteries. Due
to the anatomical variation of the aorta and the coronary arteries in different humans, one common
catheter cannot be used for all patients. The cardiologists test different catheters for a patient and select
the best one according to the patient's anatomy. To overcome these problems, we propose a computeraided
catheter selection procedure. The basic idea of this approach is to obtain MR/CT images before
starting angiography. From these images, the patients' arteries are segmented and some geometric
parameters are computed from the segmented images. At the same time, geometric parameters are
computed from the available catheters. A model is developed, which is based on these parameters
from the patients' image data and parameters from the catheters. This model reduces the number
of catheter choices. In the next step, the reduced number of catheters are simulated and the most
optimal catheter is obtained. A series of validation tests were conducted for segmentation, geometric
parameters' estimation, parameters based catheter selection and simulation model. In our experiments,
we compared catheters selected in the clinic with the catheters suggested by the image processing
based model. For these experiments, the ground truth data were obtained from the clinical partner.
In the clinic, angiography of twenty four cases was performed. An experienced cardiologist selected
catheters based on his experience and knowledge in the field. In the next step, CT/MR image data that
was acquired prior to the angiography was used for the image based catheter selection model to find
optimal catheters. For every patient, three most optimal catheters were suggested by the model. These
three optimal catheters were ranked as first, second and third ranked catheters. Catheters suggested
by the model were compared with the catheters selected by the cardiologist. It was found that in 41%
cases, model based top ranked suggestions were the same as that were used in the clinic. In 25% cases,
the catheters used in the clinic were the model's second ranked catheters. In 21% cases, the catheters
used in the clinic were the model's third ranked catheters. In 13% cases the catheters used in the
clinic were not in the list of suggested catheters. In further experiments, the clinicians graded catheters
based on catheter's performance and placement in the arteries. Most optimally placed catheters were
assigned good grades, and less optimal catheters were assigned bad grades. It was seen that the model
suggested similar catheters to the clinically good graded catheters but suggested different catheters to
the clinically bad grade catheters. All these experiments showed that the method of an image processing
based catheter selection is clinically applicable, and the only requirement is to have patient's image data
before starting the angiography. It was shown that this tool will be of great help for the experienced as
well as the non experienced cardiologists to have a catheter suggestion before starting the angiography.


Lipases are ubiquitous biological macromolecules which have many industrial and environmental applications. The purpose of this study was to purify lipase from Aspergillus fumigatus by using Octyl Sepharose column chromatography. The enzyme was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and hydrophobic interaction chromatography which resulted in sevenfold purification. The molecular weight of protein using Native‐PAGE was found to be 70 kDa. The apparent molecular weight by SDS–PAGE was found to be 35 kDa which indicated that the enzyme was homodimer. The optimum temperature and pH for activity of the enzyme was found to be 40 °C and 9.0, respectively. The kinetic parameters Vmax and Km of the purified lipase were 10.42 µmol min−1 mg−1 and 9.89 mM, respectively. Detergents Tween‐20 and Triton X‐100 inhibited enzyme activity. However, there was minimal loss of enzyme activity with SDS and Tween‐80. All metal ions inhibited the enzyme activity. Among solvents, maximum loss (65%) in the enzyme activity was in hexane.


Using spatial predictions of future threats to biodiversity, we assessed for the first time the relative potential impacts of future land use and climate change on the threat status of plant species. We thus estimated how many taxa could be affected by future threats that are usually not included in current IUCN Red List assessments. Here, we computed the Red List status including future threats of 227 Proteaceae taxa endemic to the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa, and compared this with their Red List status excluding future threats. We developed eight different land use and climate change scenarios for the year 2020, providing a range of best‐ to worst‐case scenarios. Four scenarios include only the effects of future land use change, while the other four also include the impacts of projected anthropogenic climate change (HadCM2 IS92a GGa), using niche‐based models. Up to a third of the 227 Proteaceae taxa are uplisted (become more threatened) by up to three threat categories if future threats as predicted for 2020 are included, and the proportion of threatened Proteaceae taxa rises on average by 9% (range 2–16%), depending on the scenario. With increasing severity of the scenarios, the proportion of Critically Endangered taxa increases from about 1% to 7% and almost 2% of the 227 Proteaceae taxa become Extinct because of climate change. Overall, climate change has the most severe effects on the Proteaceae, but land use change also severely affects some taxa. Most of the threatened taxa occur in low‐lying coastal areas, but the proportion of threatened taxa changes considerably in inland mountain areas if future threats are included. Our approach gives important insights into how, where and when future threats could affect species persistence and can in a sense be seen as a test of the value of planned interventions for conservation.


The need for treatment of obesity and obesity‐related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, has been intensified by the epidemic rise of obesity. Recent advances make possible continuous monitoring of metabolically relevant functions in animals to identify novel thermogenic and anorectic compounds. This unit describes non‐invasive in vivo calorimetric assessment of energy expenditure using measurements of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production, complemented by telemetric monitoring of body core temperature and locomotor activity in mice and rats. Reference compounds are used to illustrate the determination of substance‐specific parameters, such as the dose that produces the half‐maximal effect (ED50), the maximal effect, as well as the time of onset and duration of compound action. Indirect calorimetry performed at different temperatures provides information on several other well‐defined parameters, including resting metabolic rate, basal metabolic rate, lower critical temperature, temperature sensitivity, defended body temperature, and respiratory quotient.


This paper proposes vision-based collision risk estimation method for an unmanned surface vehicle. A robust image-processing algorithm is suggested to detect target obstacles from the vision sensor. Vision-based Target Motion Analysis (TMA) was performed to transform visual information to target motion information. In vision-based TMA, a camera model and optical flow are adopted. Collision risk was calculated by using a fuzzy estimator that uses target motion information and vision information as input variables. To validate the suggested collision risk estimation method, an unmanned surface vehicle experiment was performed.


The objective of this study was to describe and analyze the course of harm reduction (HR) in the countries where it was diffused. I started from the assumption that HR means new way of understanding and intervening in the problems related to drug use. The method consisted in the revision of scientific publications available in the MEDLINE, in the period of 1996 to 2006 and LILACS bases, without timeframe restriction. The analysis of the publications points to the diffusion of strategies and widening of the HR field in several countries, and shows significant differences in their characteristics when compared to countries of central and peripheral capitalism.


Salacia oblonga (S. oblonga) is a component of several antidiabetic medications in alternative and folklore medicine. An evaluation of the hydroalcoholic root extract of S.oblonga (SOE) on the hepatocellular and pancreatic environment in the diabetic (Streptozotocin) rodent model was designed. SOE was fed in two doses for a period of 16 weeks. Regeneration of endocrine pancreas, significant increase in hepatic and pancreatic Vitamin C, reduced Glutathione (GSH), Protein thiols (PT) and decrease in Malondialdehyde (MDA measured as TBARS) and Carbonyl proteins (CP) were observed on treatment with SOE. Conversely, there was also an increase in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT). Corroborating the above findings, histopathological examination of the liver and pancreatic tissue showed disrupted architecture in treated rats. It may be suggested that SOE has a sustained hepatic antioxidant effect and improved β-cell structure and function in diabetic rats, but the higher dose was mildly toxic to hepatocytes necessitating an exercise of caution in using SOE for therapy for prolonged periods.


Objectives: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the radiological and functional results of rigid internal fixation with mini plate osteosynthesis in the management of metacarpal fractures. Methods: In this study, 11 patients (10 males, 1 female) which were treated with mini plate osteosynthesis for metacarpal fracture (n=13) were evaluated retrospectively. The average age of patients was 35 years (range 25-46 years) with a mean follow-up of 1.4 years (range 1.1 to 2.2-years). Rehabilitation program was started on the postoperative second day. Range of motion was assessed according to the total active range of motion (TAROM) scale. Results: Eight patients (10 metacarpal) had excellent scores, two patients had good scores and one patient had moderate score at final follow-up. Time to union was found an average of 6 weeks (range 4-7 weeks). Complications did not observed such as loss of reduction, infection, circulatory disorders, neurological symptoms, osteonecrosis, sudeck atrophy. Conclusion: Rigid internal fixation with mini plate osteo synthesis could be performed in patients with metacarpal fractures with satisfactory radiological and functional results along with rehabilitation program contains passive and active joint movements initiated at early post-operative period. J Clin Exp Invest 2013; 4 (4): 457-462


Social attributes for photos, which simply refer to a set of labels {Who, When, Where, What}, are intrinsic attributes of an image. For instance, given a scenery photo without human bodies or faces, we cannot say the photo has no relation with social individuals. In fact, it could have been taken when we went travelling with other friends. To effectively annotate social attributes, we obtain training images from friends' SNS albums. Moreover, to cope with limited training data and organize photos in a feature-effective way, we introduce a batch-based framework, which pre-clusters photos by events. After graph learning based annotation, a post processing step is proposed to refine the annotation result. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed batch-based social attribute annotation framework.


Efforts to employ public corporations in African countries to promote development have had limited success. A major controversy has developed over who is responsible for such failure. On the one hand are those who accuse management; on the other hand are those who accuse government. This study seeks to assess the merits of the contending arguments through an analysis of Nigeria'S Cross River State Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC). There is a strong prima-facie case against management. It failed to sustain the enterprise; it failed to produce any profits; it failed to give employees satisfaction in their work; it failed to give strong direction to the corporation; it failed significantly to advance the technology of the ADC; and it made little contribution to the community. But, on close examination, it is apparent that management'S failure was a consequence of structural and financial constraints imposed on it by government. Thus, real responsibility for the failure of the ADC belongs with the government. The reasons for government 'killing' its own public corporation are partly constraints imposed on it and partly the opposition of its supporters to public enterprise.


This explains the scientific writing about the creation of dynamic web based applications penjulan online as a medium or media commerce over the Internet using PHP and MySQL. Making web-based application is intended to help enable customers to shop in motor spare parts ordering transaction at this Pandroltech store. To complete the creation of this web-based applications using literature studies, both authors of books or the Internet as a reference and comparison. Ease of transactions via the Internet is possible because of the dynamic web-based programming is very supportive of the sale transaction.


This paper proposes a test of iid distribution of data that allows to uncover nonlinear patterns in a time series. The proposed alternative (henceforth the K2K test) extends and generalizes the widely known BDS test. By its construction, it removes subjectivity in arbitrary choice of a proximity parameter. The Monte Carlo simulation is used to tabulate critical values of the alternative statistic. Previously published empirical studies are replicated as well as power tests executed in order to evaluate performance of the K2K test relative to the BDS test. The results are favorable for the K2K test.


Whereas the present internationally accepted systems appear like a radical break with the psychiatric tradition at first sight, a closer look reveals that there is in fact a continuity between traditional and modern classification systems: The programmatic idea behind their development is still the same as the one that was first formulated by K. Kahlbaum and introduced to psychiatry by E. Kraepelin. And indeed, those changes in modern systems that appear new were developed because the responsible commissions kept in line with this German tradition. The present paper reviews the development of classifications in psychiatry from their beginning to today and underlines the reasons why the true adequacy of current systems will only show in the next millennium.


Let G be a computable group, and let A be a finite alphabet. By a G-subshift we mean a nonempty subset of A G which is topologically closed and closed under the action of G. It can be shown that any G-subshift X is defined by a countable set E of excluded finite configurations. If E is finite, we say that X is of finite type. If E is computable, we say that X is of computable type. It can be shown that most or all G-subshifts which arise in practice are of computable type. Let X be of computable type, and let P(X) be the problem of finding a point of X. If X is minimal (i.e., every orbit is dense) and of computable type, then P(X) is algorithmically solvable (a result of Michael Hochman). Let us say that X is d-dimensional if G = Z d . If X is 1-dimensional and of computable type, then P(X) can be of any desired degree of unsolvability (a result of Joseph Miller). If X is 2-dimensional and of finite type, then P(X) can be of any desired degree of unsolvability (my result). The 1-dimensional subshifts of computable type are precisely those which can be obtained as projections of 2-dimensional subshifts of finite type (a result of Alexander Shen).


In his extensive study "Digitale Editionsformen", Patrick Sahle gives a broad survey of the history of text-editions in general and the new possibilities as provided by digital technology. In the course of this, he passes harsh criticism on the "Critical edition". In his eyes the "Critical edition" is an outdated means, whose ontological and hence scientifical limitations are mainly a result of the technological limitations and ideological preconditions of the times when it came into being. This short paper argues that at least in the case of the "Critical edition" as it is still the basis of Classical Studies both historical and linguistical, its own significance as an outcome of research cannot simply be depreciated against a general claim for "editions" in a mere documentary meaning.


We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, that upconversion pumping can be employed with a 1064-nm fiber laser to achieve tunable laser operation with 8 at. % Tm3+:KY3F10 crystal near 1.9 µm, in addition to the previously explored upconversion pumping of the 2.3-µm laser transition. Two different sets of cavity optics were used to investigate lasing at 1.9 and 2.3 µm, corresponding to the laser transitions 3F4−3H6 and 3H4−3H5, respectively. In the case of the 3F4−3H6 laser transition, an x-cavity laser oscillator was constructed with a 2.3% output coupler and as high as 142 mW of output power was obtained at an incident pump power of 1.9 W at 1064 nm. Tunable laser operation could be obtained between 1849 and 1994 nm by using CaF2 and suprasil prisms. The highest slope efficiency of 29% with respect to average absorbed pump power was obtained with a 5.5% output coupler. For the case of 1.9 µm lasing, it was further demonstrated that the nonlinear absorption of the crystal at 1064 nm depends on the intracavity laser intensity as well as the pump intensity. The 3H4−3H5 laser transition was also investigated with the same crystal in a z-cavity configuration under upconversion pumping, giving as high as 130 mW of output power at the central wavelength of 2344 nm with 1.6 W of incident pump power.


The extent of genetic variation and evolution in a population of human parainfluenza virus type 1 was investigated. The hemagglutinin neuraminidase genes of 13 isolates collected over a 26-year period were sequenced and compared. All isolates except the 1957 type strain were from a single geographic location and demonstrated significant consistent genetic change from the type strain (47/7 [nucleotide/amino acid] substitutions). Antigenic subgroup A isolates demonstrated minor intragroup differences (9/1 substitutions). However, 18/7 unique substitutions separated subgroup A from B regardless of geographic location or year of isolation. Multiple strains of both subgroups appeared and reappeared over decades with only minor variation. There may be significant genetic differences between clinical isolates based on geographic location, and progressive mutational change may occur. Previously defined antigenic and now genetic subgroups were stable and at least regional in distribution over the period studied. The biologic implications and extent of this variation need further evaluation.


This paper studies two point-line location problems in the plane as follows: (1) Determine a straight-line L to minimize the maximum weighted distances from n given points; (2) Determine a point X to minimize the maximum weighted distances from n given straight-lines. For these non-linear optimization problems, we present properties of optimal solutions and polynomial-time algorithms.


This paper will discuss the feasibility and economic analysis of biogas energy as a supply for the diesel engine generator. The techno-economic analysis was performed by using three parameters which are Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period (PP) as the feasibility indicators of the biogas power plant project. Calculation of substitution was obtained from the comparison between data of diesel engine using diesel fuel and dual-fuel with biogas. Economic calculations include the substitution percentage of diesel fuel by biogas for dual-fuel. Meanwhile, the calculation of savings was based on the ratio of energy content between diesel fuel and biogas. The eventual outcome is determined using economic comparison between the use of diesel fuel and dual-fuel mode. Feasibility shows that the pilot plant of 1 to 6 kWh using diesel fuel and dual-fuel are not feasible while techno-economic parameter analysis shows that NPV<0, IRR<MARR, while PP is undefined. The biogas power plant project is feasible in some conditions such as there is no labor cost, and 5 and 6 kWh will be feasible under the assumption that expenses for machine maintenance is eliminated. However, even when applying both conditions where biogas is feasible, diesel fuel is still not.


We investigate the scalable image classification problem with a large number of categories. Hierarchical visual data structures are helpful for improving the efficiency and performance of large-scale multi-class classification. We propose a novel image classification method based on learning hierarchical inter-class structures. Specifically, we first design a fast algorithm to compute the similarity metric between categories, based on which a visual tree is constructed by hierarchical spectral clustering. Using the learned visual tree, a test sample label is efficiently predicted by searching for the best path over the entire tree. The proposed method is extensively evaluated on the ILSVRC2010 and Caltech 256 benchmark datasets. The experimental results show that our method obtains significantly better category hierarchies than other state-of-the-art visual tree-based methods and, therefore, much more accurate classification.


Invasive mold infections (IMIs) are a major source of morbidity and mortality among lung transplant recipients (LTRs), yet information regarding the epidemiology of IMI in this population is limited. From 2001 to 2006, multicenter prospective surveillance for IMIs among LTR was conducted by the Transplant‐Associated Infection Surveillance Network. The epidemiology of IMI among all LTRs in the cohort is reported. Twelve percent (143/1173) of LTRs under surveillance at 15 US centers developed IMI infections. The 12‐month cumulative incidence of IMIs was 5.5%; 3‐month all‐cause mortality was 21.7%. Aspergillus caused the majority (72.7%)of IMIs; non‐Aspergillus infections (39, 27.3%) included Scedosporium (5, 3.5%), mucormycosis (3, 2.1%) and "unspecified" or "other" mold infections (31, 21.7%). Late‐onset IMI was common: 52% occurred within 1 year posttransplant (median 11 months, range 0–162 months). IMIs are common late‐onset complications with substantial mortality in LTRs. LTRs should be monitored for late‐onset IMIs and prophylactic agents should be optimized based on likely pathogen.


We study conflicting incentives of the master and special servicers in handling troubled loans in a Commercial Mortgage‐Backed Securities deal and how the frictions between the interests of the two servicers might be diminished if the master and special servicing rights are held by the same firm. We show that concentrating both servicing rights in one firm reduces the likelihood that a defaulted loan terminates in foreclosure.


The maqāṣid asy-Syarī'ah (objectives of syariah) have become a growing discussion in the contemporary Islamic world. Maqāṣid asy-Syarī'ah is now developed into an approach, not just as a concepts. The maqāṣid asy-Syarī'ah approach should be applicable to various problems and also should be used to measure the extent to which the objectives of Shari'a are realized in human behavior also in human's economic behavior. The maqāṣid asy-Syarī'ah approach developed by Jasser Auda has put the maqāṣid asy-Syarī'ah as a philosophical foundation for the existence of Islamic law. Maqāṣid asy-Syarī'ah approach is no longer the normative measure of a Islamic law (fiqh) product, but rather the application and implications of the establishment of a product of Islamic law (fiqh).


We give two derivations of magnetic flux quantization in a superconducting ring in the shape of a Mobius band, one using direct study of the Schrodinger equation and the other using the holonomy of flat U(1)-gauge bundles. Both methods show that the magnetic flux must be quantized in integral or half-integral multiples of �0 = hc/(2e). Half-integral quantization shows up in "nodal states" whose wavefunc- tion vanishes along the center of the ring, for which there is now some experimental evidence.


Colloid chemical behavior of indole dihydropyrimidines in non-aqueous solvent mixture benzene-methanol of varying composition has been investigated by viscometric measurements at 303 ± 0.1 K. The viscosity of the system increases with the increase in concentration. The Trend Change Point (TCP) values have been determined by intersection of two straight lines, which are found to be dependent on the composition of solvent mixtures. The study confirms that the nature of synthesized compounds agglomerate formed below and above 50% benzene concentration is quite different. The viscometric data have been analyzed in terms of Einstein, Vand, Moulik and Jones-Dole equations. These well known equations have been successfully applied to explain the results of viscosity measurements and the viscometric parameters show that the behavior of compound changes in the proximity of 50% benzene concentration.


The Barnes-Hut algorithm is widely used in astrophysics for solving large gravitational N -body problems using O(N logN) time and memory. This reduction in computational cost is achieved by a hierarchical application of the classical center-of-mass approximation. As both gravitational and electrostatic potentials are subject to a 1/R dependence, the Barnes-Hut algorithm is also a natural choice for rapidly evaluating interactions between charged particles. The contribution of this paper is an extension of the Barnes-Hut hierarchical clustering to the acceleration of charge interactions in stratified media. We derive and validate a closed-form expression for the shift of the center-of-charge location induced by the physical inhomogeneities and show that proper positioning of the center-of-charge ensures O(1/R 3) error decay in the field approximation. Hierarchical applications of the proposed clustering approximation is demonstrated for the construction of O(N logN) method-of-moment based capacitance extractors.


The article gives a historical interpretation of a stakewall with an underground passageway found in the cen-tral part of the upper posad drawing on the materials from the excavation site in Oktyabrskaya Street (204 m2). The thick log wall consisted of vertical posts erected at the bottom of a specially dug ditch. The underground pas-sageway constituted a manway, starting on one side of the stakewall and ending on the other. Its ceiling and walls were covered with planks supported by low half-logs, thick planks and small logs. The plank ceiling of the under-ground tunnel was just below the base of the log wall, with the horizontal adit being so small that one could only crawl through it. In order to determine the absolute age of the stakewall, we carried out the dendrochronological and radiocarbon studies of its logs. For the purpose of identifying this object with one of those mentioned in writ-ten sources, we reconstructed the history of fortification construction and localisation by performing a detailed analysis of historical data and all known plans of the city. As a result, it was established that the wall found during the excavation in terms of its location and orientation better correlates with the building shown on S.U. Remezov's plans, which was located in the central part of Trinity Cape and surrounded by a rectangular stakewall, rather than with the posad fortifications. On the plans of 1687 and 1688 from the Chorographic Drawing Book, the object in question was captioned as 'prison' and 'prison yard'. This assumption allows us to date the log wall discovered in Oktyabrskaya Street at 1687, or, quite possibly, at an earlier time. This prison yard fence could be used after 1714 and, judging by the stratigraphic and planigraphic observations made at the excavation site in Oktyabrskaya Street, until the period of stone construction in the upper posad.


"Psychological Depression and Cardiac Surgery: A Comprehensive Review" (1) is a welcomed invitation to explore the mutual impact major depression and cardiac surgery have on each other.

Addressing the depressed patient has traditionally not been a priority in the management of cardiac surgical patients despite the fact that a disproportionate number of patients in the cardiac surgery population suffer from depression. The focus is more likely on other aspects of the care of this group of patients such as the conduct of cardiopulmonary bypass, anatomic challenges, increasing age and acuity of patients, and, more, all in the setting of demanding schedules. There is much concern about neurocognitive abnormalities and neurological outcomes and very little conversation about the depressed patient. Tully's review (1) is important and invites the reader to think further on the impact of major depressive disorders on medical conditions, in this case the recovery from cardiac surgery.

Often the patient in the cardiac surgeon's consulting room is suffering from depression, which can lead to a lack of self-care and to physiological changes. Weight gain, insomnia, inactivity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and noncompliance with treatments such as antihypertensives, statins, and insulin are common in patients who suffer from major depression. In the operating room, depression-driven physiological changes such as hypercortisolemia, elevated catecholamine levels, abnormal platelet activation, increased inflammatory markers, and endothelial dysfunction have real and immediate consequences.

Major depression is predictive of developing cardiac disease and of adverse outcomes among patients with existing cardiac disease and surgery (2). Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery leads to a 25% incidence of major depression (3) and up to a 75% incidence of adjustment disorder with depressed mood. Screening patients for depression during the preoperative work-up may reap benefits for the patient with regard to the smoothness of the postoperative recovery.

Depressed patients experience more fatigue, pain, insomnia, and anorexia during the postoperative period. Symptoms such as these that can easily be attributed to the effects of surgery might also be caused by major depression. A Geriatric Depression Scale score of 10 or more is more predictive of poor functional improvement after CABG than such traditional measures of disease severity as previous myocardial infarction, heart failure on admission, history of diabetes, and left ventricular ejection fraction (3). Although these patients may be often dismissed as being needy or annoying, their depression could be a signal for poor outcomes and is a risk factor for postoperative delirium.

Studies have shown that there is a delay in getting psychiatric consultations for depressed patients on inpatient units (4). Delayed treatment results in a significant increase in length of stay (5,6), because the symptoms of major depression influence functional recovery post-CABG. Detecting ongoing major depression in a patient who will undergo cardiac surgery will allow the surgical team to get a preoperative psychiatric consult for the patient. Timely psychiatric intervention and follow-up will result in a speedier recovery and a shorter length of stay in this group of patients. Depression impacts outcomes in cardiac surgery and depression management needs to take its proper place on the preoperative cardiac surgery checklist along with such things as glucose management, kidney injury, and blood management.


Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) is a human pathogen using type III secretion system for delivery of proteins directly into the human host. The system contains a single ATPase, EscN, which is essential for uncoupling of proteins from their complexes with chaperones before the delivery. The structure of EscN ATPase (PDB code: 2obm) was used to screen computationally for small molecule inhibitors blocking its active site. Two lead candidates were examined but only one, Compound 54, was selected for further optimization. After extended QSAR optimization, two derivatives were found to be competitive inhibitors of EscN capable of blocking ATPase activity with a Ki below 50 µM. One candidate, WEN05-03, with a Ki=16±2 µM, was also minimally toxic to mammalian cells as determined by other assays. In the cell infection model of HeLa cells with EPEC, Compound WEN05-03 completely blocked actin cluster formation at 100 µM concentration, when analyzed by confocal microscopy. The second best inhibitor of EscN ATPase activity was WEN04-34 with a Ki=46±2 µM. However, the compound was highly toxic to the BALB/3T3 cell line. In summary, the work identifies a compound blocking bacterial ATPase in its active site without causing cellular toxicity to the host cells. It is the first report showing feasibility of using bacterial virulence system ATPase as a target for safe, non-toxic compounds and offering a proof-of-concept for non-antibiotic alternatives.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore to which extent the quality of social media short text without extensions can be investigated and what are the predictors, if any, of such short text that lead to trust its content.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applies a trust model to classify data collections based on metadata into four classes: Very Trusted, Trusted, Untrusted and Very Untrusted. These data are collected from the online communities, Genius and Stack Overflow. In order to evaluate short texts in terms of its trust levels, the authors have conducted two investigations: (1) A natural language processing (NLP) approach to extract relevant features (i.e. Part-of-Speech and various readability indexes). The authors report relatively good performance of the NLP study. (2) A machine learning technique in more precise, a random forest (RF) classifierusing bag-of-words model (BoW).FindingsThe investigation of the RF classifier using BoW shows promising intermediate results (on average 62% accuracy of both online communities) in short-text quality identification that leads to trust.Practical implicationsAs social media becomes an increasingly new and attractive source of information, which is mostly provided in the form of short texts, businesses (e.g. in search engines for smart data) can filter content without having to apply complex approaches and continue to deal with information that is considered more trustworthy.Originality/valueShort-text classifications with regard to a criterion (e.g. quality, readability) are usually extended by an external source or its metadata. This enhancement either changes the original text if it is an additional text from an external source, or it requires text metadata that is not always available. To this end, the originality of this study faces the challenge of investigating the quality of short text (i.e. social media text) without having to extend or modify it using external sources. This modification alters the text and distorts the results of the investigation.


Medical assistants (MAs) are one of the fastest-growing occupations in the United States. As of 2014 there were about 585,000 MAs in the United States, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected the MA workforce to grow by 29% from 2012 to 2022. The MA population is primarily female, ethnically and racially diverse, and paid about $15.01 per hour. MAs are primarily educated in private schools, many at for-profit institutions. The MA curriculum and length of training can be quite varied and can lead to uneven preparation for practice. Traditionally, the MA role has involved a limited clinical role and little involvement with team care, particularly in larger practices or clinics. Medical groups, clinics, and health systems are now taking a new look at MAs and how they can play a greater role in reforming health care delivery models. Expanded roles for MAs might include health coach, referral coordinator, disease registry manager, and health screener using protocols. In expanding MA roles, education and regulatory issues need to be addressed by the provider community including current inconsistent regulation and certification requirements and the lack of preparation for expanded roles in traditional MA training programs. MAs are well positioned to help address challenges in the health care delivery system including improving access to care while reducing overall cost. Successful model practices using MAs in expanded roles need further formal evaluation and replication across practice settings.


Abstract : This thesis analyzes the potential effectiveness of preventive war, preventive strikes, and interdiction as tools for the United States to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) Examination of these three counterproliferation techniques is important because the George W Bush administration has given more prominence to military operations to deal with WMD threats, Six historical cases of preventive war, preventive strikes, and interdiction, against adversarial WMD programs are examined to show the conditions that make military options desirable and effective and the issues that make their implementation difficult, These case studies reveal that interdiction and preventive strikes are viable and can be effective under very limited legal, political, and military circumstances, Although the United States successfully conducted a preventive war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, this strategy is not likely to succeed in the cases of Iran and North Korea,


All over the world intelligence services are collecting data concerning possible terrorist threats. This information is usually transformed into network structures in which the nodes represent the individuals in the data set and the links possible connections between these individuals. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to keep track of all individuals in the resulting complex network. Therefore, Lindelauf et al. (2013) introduced a methodology that ranks terrorists in a network. The rankings that result from this methodology can be used as a decision support system to efficiently allocate the scarce surveillance means of intelligence agencies. Moreover, usage of these rankings can improve the quality of surveillance which can in turn lead to prevention of attacks or destabilization of the networks under surveillance. The methodology introduced by Lindelauf et al. (2013) is based on a game theoretic centrality measure, which is innovative in the sense that it takes into account not only the structure of the network but also individual and coalitional characteristics of the members of the network. In this paper we elaborate on this methodology by introducing a new game theoretic centrality measure that better takes into account the operational strength of connected subnetworks. Moreover, we perform a sensitivity analysis on the rankings derived from this new centrality measure for the case of Al Qaeda's 9/11 attack. In this sensitivity analysis we consider firstly the possible additional information available about members of the network, secondly, variations in relational strength and, finally, the absence or presence of a small percentage of links in the network. We also introduce a case specific method to compare the different rankings that result from the sensitivity analysis and show that the new centrality measure is robust to small changes in the data.


Acute cholangitis secondary to ascariasis is rare and occurs mainly in areas of high endemicity. The clinical presentation is non-specific, sometimes complicated by liver abscess. Abdominal ultrasound plays an important role in diagnosis and therapeutic surveillance. We report the case of a 35-year-old Malagasy woman with an acute cholangitis secondary to ascariasis and complicated by liver abscesses and its course to full recovery under medical treatment.


Hereditary cancer syndromes provide powerful insights into dysfunctional signaling pathways that lead to sporadic cancers. Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a hereditary human cancer stem cell syndrome currently linked to deregulated imprinting at chromosome 11p15 and uniparental disomy (UPD) and is characterized by overgrowth and is associated with an 800-fold increased risk of embryonal neoplasms of childhood that include Wilms' tumors, hepatoblastomas, pancreatoblastoma, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and adrenocortical carcinomas. The transcriptional insulator CTCF (CCCTC-binding factor), a highly conserved zinc finger protein, has been implicated in BWS and has diverse regulatory functions, including transcriptional activation/repression, insulation, imprinting, and X chromosome inactivation However, causal molecular defects and genetic models have remained elusive to date in the majority of cases. TGF-β employs Smad proteins as intracellular mediators of signaling to regulate the target gene expression by activating or repressing gene transcription. The non-pleckstrin homology (PH) domain β-general-spectrin (β2SP), a scaffolding protein, functions as a potent TGF-β signaling Smad3/4 adaptor in tumor suppression and development. Yet, the role of the β2SP/TGF-β pathway in human tumor syndromes remains unclear, Our previous data have shown that β2SP is an important effector of TGF-β tumor suppressor function. Deletion of β2SP results in a dramatic and spontaneous formation of liver, gastrointestinal (GI) and pancreatic cancers. Aims: In this study, we investigated the relationship between epigenetic silencing of β-2 Spectrin/TGF-β[[Unsupported Character - ]] Signaling and loss of CTCF protein stabilization in a Human Cancer Stem Cell Disorder: Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome. Results show that: 1) β2SP is silenced at its promoter by DNA Methylation in human BWS non-tumor tissues and cell lines. 2) Loss of β2SP, mis-localization of Smad3 and disruption of TGF-β signaling are observed in human Beckwith-Wiedemann non-tumor tissues and cell lines 3) Ectopic expression of β2SP in human BWS cells rescues Smad3 localization and TGF-β target gene activation 4) Increased IGF2 expression in β2SP+/− and β2SP+/−/Smad3+/− mice is similar to that observed in human BWS. 5) CTCF protein levels are markedly decreased in β2SP+/− and β2SP+/−/Smad3+/− tissues. Conclusions: Our results suggest that epigenetic regulation of the TGF-β pathway results in the loss of β2SP and its crucial Smad3 adaptor function. The loss of an adaptor protein β2SP affecting CTCF stabilization, is causally related to the genesis and progression of human BWS. In addition, β2SP+/− and β2SP+/−/Smad3+/− mice provide an important animal model to study BWS. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4912.


This paper proposes a new model-free control input design method for systems with input saturation by using a convex programming technique. This method yields the optimal control input sequence, which achieves approximate trajectory tracking subject to input saturation, from input-output data without using any plant model. Furthermore, we extend the method to the two-degree-of-freedom control case in order to enjoy the merits of feedback control. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by numerical examples.


Atrial fibrillation is increasingly prevalent, especially in the elderly, and challenging to detect due paroxysmal nature. Here, we propose novel computational methods based on heart beat intervals to facilitate rapid and robust discrimination between atrial fibrillation and sinus rhythm. We used low-cost Android smartphones, and recorded short, 30 second waveform data from 194 participants. In addition, we evaluated our approach on 8528 hand-held ECG recordings to show generalization.
Our approach achieves a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 94% on 30 second waveforms, significantly outperforming previously proposed heart rate variability features and smartphone-based AFib detection methods, and substantiates the feasibility of real-world application on low-cost hardware.


Agriculture is the main source of rural employment but being deprived of irrigation facilities a majority of small and marginal farmers are heavily under-employed for 6 to 8 months in a year in rain fed farming system. Even under well established irrigated condition the growth of agriculture sector itself has been almost stagnant for the last 8 to 10 years. Sustainable agriculture seeks to achieve three main goals, economic efficiency, environmental quality and social responsibilities. It is estimated that about 7 million hectares of land in this country is affected by varying degree of soil salinity and sodicity that inhibit the agriculture production in the affected areas. The farmers generally unaware of the magnitude of the problems continue to grow crops without soil reclamation measures, and harvest very poor yields. The rain fed farming comprises about 91% area coarse cereals, 91% of pulses and 80% of oilseeds and 65% of cotton besides supporting major animal production systems. The production and productivity is yet not up to the mark which necessitates an integrated intensive farming system that includes almost all the components of crop and allied agri-enterprises available or can be improved in the rain fed agriculture. This farming system approach which comprises not only crops, but also horticulture, livestock, fisheries and agro forestry is in practice by and large which needs improvement through the technology intervention in addition to the policy support. The farmers through their experience have established these farming systems to meet their food, fiber and fuel requirements in a manner that they are least dependant on the external sources. The study encompasses the effort to maximize the output from the land based enterprises comprising all possible combinations of the enterprises to have an appropriate cost effective farming system to make farming profession much more stable, sustainable and profitable benefiting the farming communities in general and resource poor farmers in particular. The issues of such intensive integrated farming system address rain fed agriculture/farming with integrated watershed approach, cropping system approach, multistoried farming system, livestock cum cropping system, integrated agro forestry system, organic farming system, alternate farming system, integrated fish farming, shifting cultivation system, integrated crop management etc. to combat the effects of climate change issues and challenges in rain fed agriculture with reference to small and marginal farmers to generate sustainable livelihood.


Potential climate change effects on aspects of conjunctive management of water resources can be evaluated by linking climate models with fully integrated groundwater–surface water models. The objective of this study is to develop a modeling system that links global climate models with regional hydrologic models, using the California Central Valley as a case study. The new method is a supply and demand modeling framework that can be used to simulate and analyze potential climate change and conjunctive use. Supply‐constrained and demand‐driven linkages in the water system in the Central Valley are represented with the linked climate models, precipitation‐runoff models, agricultural and native vegetation water use, and hydrologic flow models to demonstrate the feasibility of this method. Simulated precipitation and temperature were used from the GFDL‐A2 climate change scenario through the 21st century to drive a regional water balance mountain hydrologic watershed model (MHWM) for the surrounding watersheds in combination with a regional integrated hydrologic model of the Central Valley (CVHM). Application of this method demonstrates the potential transition from predominantly surface water to groundwater supply for agriculture with secondary effects that may limit this transition of conjunctive use. The particular scenario considered includes intermittent climatic droughts in the first half of the 21st century followed by severe persistent droughts in the second half of the 21st century. These climatic droughts do not yield a valley‐wide operational drought but do cause reduced surface water deliveries and increased groundwater abstractions that may cause additional land subsidence, reduced water for riparian habitat, or changes in flows at the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The method developed here can be used to explore conjunctive use adaptation options and hydrologic risk assessments in regional hydrologic systems throughout the world.


Seven patients who, following thyroidectomy for medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT) had elevated peripheral basal or stimulated plasma calcitonin (CT) levels but no other evidence of disease, were prospectively studied to determine if disease could be localized by selective venous catheterization with pentagastrin stimulation. Disease was correctly localized to a surgically resectable area of the neck in every case and removed with low morbidity rates. Postoperative CT levels decreased in six of seven patients studied, suggesting reduction in tumor burden. One patient had no detectable CT following repeat selective venous catheterization with pentagastrin stimulation. Preoperative and postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen levels changed in a similar manner to CT levels in four of five patients studied. All patients remain alive 6 months to 3 years following the initial operation.


Objective: Mechanical complications of peritoneal dialysis (PD) may occur because of surgical complications when inserting a Tenckhoff catheter or non-surgical complications during chronic care of a PD catheter. We aim to highlight the latter by presenting a case report of twisted external catheter. Method: We report an 11-year-old Indonesian girl with end-stage renal disease on continuous ambulatory PD at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital who was hospitalized due to repeat peritonitis.Result: Upon examination, the external catheter seemed twisted without inflow, outflow, or ultrafiltration problems. Her exit score was 4 with gaping. Both abdominal X-ray and ultrasound showed that the catheter and its cuffs were properly placed. The patient frequently pulled and manipulated her PD catheter. Additionally, the catheter-site care procedure was frequently done by untrained caregivers and catheter fixation was also not performed. A retraining program for all involved caregivers was carried out. Peritonitis resolved after 14-day-treatment using intraperitoneal gentamicin. We determined that the twisted catheter and repeat peritonitis were due to a combination of mechanical trauma, poor chronic catheter-site care, and suboptimal PD catheter training. Conclusion: Maintaining compliance for chronic PD catheter exit-site care by well-trained caregivers and by patients themselves, as well as the external catheter fixation are important.


Africanized honey bees (AHB) can seriously disrupt beekeeping and agricultural practices, as well as kill people. This study examines the progress of AHB in the United States from their first detection in 1990 through 1995. AHB are now established in southern portions of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. While the bees' northward migration has slowed dramatically in recent years, the ultimate extent of their range remains uncertain. AHB's impact on California agriculture will depend on how much of the state they colonize, and on the effectiveness of new beekeeping practices and management of AHB as an urban pest.


Central nervous system involvement in Behçet's disease, usually called neuro-Behçet's syndrome (NB), includes acute type and chronic progressive type. Acute NB is characterized by acute meningoencephalitis with focal lesions, presenting high intensity areas in T2-weightened images or FLAIR images on MRI scans. Cyclosporin A frequently causes acute NB. Acute NB responds to steroid therapy, and is usually self-limiting. By contrast, chronic progressive NB is characterized by intractable slowly progressive dementia, ataxia and dysarthria with persistent elevation of cerebrospinal fluid IL-6 activity (more than 20 pg/ml). In our series, most patients (approximately 90%) with chronic progressive NB were HLA-B51 positive, and had history of attacks of acute NB prior to the development of progressive neurological symptoms. Chronic progressive NB is resistant to conventional treatment with steroid, cyclophosphamide, or azathioprine. However, recent studies suggest the efficacy of low dose methotrexate in chronic progressive NB.


This paper presents a comprehensive phonetic and phonological description of Northern Sangtam, an essentially
 undescribed Tibeto-Burman language of central Nagaland belonging to the Aoic subgroup. It is a noteworthy language from a number
 of phonological perspectives, not least because its phoneme inventory contains two of the world's rarest phonemes: a pre-stopped
 bilabial trill, and a doubly-articulated labial-coronal nasal. These unique segments are described in detail, and an attempt is
 made to determine how they might have developed their phonemic status. The tone system is also of interest, as it demonstrates
 evidence of debuccalization resulting in the development of a new high tone. Following a systematic description of the syllable
 and word structure, the tone system, and the segmental phonology, some observed age-related differences in the phoneme inventory
 are discussed. The paper is linked to an online repository containing the audio-visual data and transcribed word lists of
 approximately 900 items, based on the recorded utterances of eight speakers.


A new transformer fault prediction method based on rough sets and grey theory was presented. The improved three-ratio attribute decision table was constructed and simplified by the knowledge acquisition method based on rough sets, and the minimal rules were obtained. Then, the prediction models of three ratios in decision table were constructed respectively. The ratios of feature gases could be predicted by grey model and their future state feature was obtained. According to the minimal rules, the incipient failure could be predicted, and its probability was acquired by combination rules' credibility with the number of the failure acquired from predicted feature of gases' ratios. The method can detect incipient failure early and correctly by combination predicted future state feature of gases' ratios with minimal rules. According to predicted incipient failure, pertinent repair can be done early. Finally, the effectiveness and correctness of this method were validated by the result of fault prediction examples.


The ability to synthesize pyrimidine nucleotides is essential for most organisms. Pyrimidines are required for RNA and DNA synthesis, as well as cell wall synthesis and the metabolism of certain carbohydrates. Recent findings, however, indicate that the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway and its intermediates maybe more important for bacterial metabolism than originally thought. Maksimova et al., 1994, reported that a P. putida M, pyrimidine auxotroph in the third step of the pathway, dihydroorotase (DHOase), failed to produce the siderophore pyoverdin. We created a PAO1 DHOase pyrimidine auxotroph to determine if this was also true for P. aeruginosa. Creation of this mutant was a two-step process, as P. aeruginosa has two pyrC genes (pyrC and pyrC2), both of which encode active DHOase enzymes. The pyrC gene was inactivated by gene replacement with a truncated form of the gene. Next, the pyrC2 gene was insertionally inactivated with the aacC1 gentamicin resistance gene, isolated from pCGMW. The resulting pyrimidine auxotroph produced significantly less pyoverdin than did the wild type. In addition, the mutant produced 40% less of the phenazine antibiotic, pyocyanin, than did the wild type. As both of these compounds have been reported to be vital to the virulence response of P. aeruginosa, we decided to test the ability of the DHOase mutant strain to produce other virulence factors as well. Here we report that a block in the conversion of carbamoyl aspartate (CAA) to dihydroorotate significantly impairs the ability of P. aeruginosa to affect virulence. We believe that the accumulation of CAA in the cell is the root cause of this observed defect. This research demonstrates a potential role for pyrimidine intermediates in the virulence response of P. aeruginosa and may lead to novel targets for chemotherapy against P. aeruginosa infections.


We present an unambiguous identification of low-frequency terahertz vibrations in the archetypal imidazole-based metal-organic framework (MOF) materials: ZIF-4, ZIF-7, and ZIF-8, all of which adopt a zeolite-like nanoporous structure. Using inelastic neutron scattering and synchrotron radiation far-infrared absorption spectroscopy, in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT), we have pinpointed all major sources of vibrational modes. Ab initio DFT calculations revealed the complex nature of the collective THz modes, which enable us to establish detailed correlations with experiments. We discover that low-energy conformational dynamics offers multiple pathways to elucidate novel physical phenomena observed in MOFs. New evidence demonstrates that THz modes are intrinsically linked, not only to anomalous elasticity underpinning gate-opening and pore-breathing mechanisms, but also to shear-induced phase transitions and the onset of structural instability.


The mechanical properties of hydrogen-free tetrahedral amorphous diamond-like carbon have been investigated in connection with its elastic and failure properties. Micro-tension specimens of gage thickness of 1.2–1.8 μm and widths of 10 μm or 50 μm have been fabricated by the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The mechanical characterization has been conducted via in situ AFM measurements and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) data strain analysis and the local deformation fields of (a) uniform and (b) internally notched tension specimens with acute notches (K=27) have been experimentally obtained. Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio were measured for the first time directly from such small specimens and averaged 750 GPa and v=0.16 respectively, while the tensile strength was found to be very consistent averaging 7.1 GPa. Stressed material domains with smaller dimensions in the vicinity of micronotches exhibited even higher failure strengths reaching 11.5 GPa with limited data scatter. AFM images of in situ tested specimens have indicated sp 3 to sp 2 phase transformations on the film surface that was subject to ultra-high tensile stresses (>6 GPa). This is the first time these phase transformations are observed during tensile tests of brittle materials.


Preliminary lipid analyses of Amazon Fan sediments focused on the general characteristics of bitumen composition. Of particular interest was the identification of distinct sedimentary facies on a molecular level. We investigated sediments from dif ferent fan environments (pelagic and hemipelagic sediments as well as active channel-levee sediments). On a qualitative molecular level (i.e., types of compounds detected), bitumen compositions of different fan environments are very similar to each other. Relative differences in bitumen distribution in terms of marine vs. terrigenous origin appear to be significantly correlated with the dilution of the autochthonous signal by terrigenous detritus. These differences distinguish normal hemipelagic sediment (Site 942) from active channel-levee sediment (Site 940) of the Amazon Channel, where marine compounds represent a background signal. The range of the ratio of two distinct groups of lipids (i.e., terrigenous wax alcohols over plankton-derive d fatty acids) corresponds very well to rough sedimentological estimates of sediment accumulation rates, which vary, depending on location and sea level, by more than 2 orders of magnitude. We suggest that this approach can be utilized for a rough estimate of the dilution of the autochthonous signal by terrigenous detritus in environments such as the Amazon Fan.


The migrant mortality advantage (MMA) has been observed in many immigrant-receiving countries, but its underlying factors remain poorly understood. This article examines the role of return migration selection effects in explaining the MMA among males aged 65+ using a rich, unique dataset from France. This dataset contains information on native-born and foreign-born pensioners who are tracked worldwide until they die, providing a rare opportunity to assess return migration selection effects and their impact on the MMA. Results provide evidence of substantial and systematic negative return migration selection among foreign-born males in France. Old-age returns, in particular, appear particularly affected by such selection; however, they are not frequent enough to explain the MMA at ages 65+. By contrast, returns at younger ages are much more frequent, and the MMA at ages 65+ essentially disappears once these earlier returns are considered. This study extends the literature on negative selection at return and its impact on the MMA by providing evidence that such negative selection may operate not only at older ages but throughout the life course, with impacts on the MMA that are larger than previously suggested.


should aim at social justice and respect of nature. It should strive for economic efficiency without, however, letting these concerns be an end to themselves. If international organizations continue to deny third-world countries the funds they need for development, if developed nations do not improve their trade and investment relationship with them, it will be impossible to create conditions for sustained development. Global policies and economic relations must be democratized in order to eradicate poverty on earth with minimal damage to the environment.


We study a Douglis-Nirenberg elliptic system of quasi-linear equations. We solve the problem of the limiting admissible rate of growth of the non-linear terms of the system with respect to their arguments consistent with the possibility of obtaining estimates of the derivatives of a solution in terms of its maximum absolute value. The restrictions on the smoothness of the non-linear terms are minimal and the results are sharp. We construct an example that shows the optimality of the upper bound for the exponent of growth. A priori -estimates are obtained both inside the domain for solutions belonging to certain Sobolev spaces. We obtain estimates of the Hölder norms of the derivatives of a solutions. We prove a theorem on a removable isolated singularity of bounded solutions of general elliptic systems of quasi-linear equation. All results are new, even for a single second-order equation.


Abstract Production of free radicals and oxidative damage during physical activity is a topic that is intensively studied and paid a lot of attention, first of all in professional sports. Marathon is categorized as extremely demanding sports discipline, as it induces high energy consumption and also requires special mental self-control. We presented cases of two athletes of different age, who have been on dissimilar level of sports readiness, and also had various approach to physical activity and exercise. During 10 days they ran out 10 marathons, partly on a flat terrain, and partly on hilly, which produced different level of effort in conquering the terrain. Also, both athletes had complex supplementation scheme in order to prevent electrolyte imbalance and excessive production of free radicals. Blood samples were taken in the morning and immediately after the end of the marathon. Measured oxidative stress biomarkers changed without a noticeable pattern, but these changes did not vary greatly among themselves. Catalase activity in both marathon runners was higher after marathon almost after every race for 10 days. On the other hand, amount of reduced glutathione was lower after marathon in both athletes in the same manner. Based on the obtained results we can conclude that adequate supplementation could have crucial role in prevention of oxidative damage.