BACKGROUND
One of the consequences of today's global economic crisis is the need to control healthcare spending, in particular by improving the level of appropriateness. Thus, admission to rehabilitation has become an issue, especially as regards inappropriateness of resource allocation. The scientific literature suggests that more attention should be paid to the problem of clinical appropriateness in order to better identify the patients' actual needs. For the first time in Italy, this study aims at defining the appropriateness of intensive rehabilitation admission criteria through use of the Delphi method involving a panel of national experts.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A three-round Delphi survey was conducted according to international guidelines. Electronic questionnaires were individually sent via e-mail to ensure the participants' anonymity throughout the process. Questions were mostly based on rehabilitation literature.

RESULTS
During the Delphi process, a total of 79 items were submitted to a heterogenous panel of rehabilitation experts who were asked to express their level of agreement to the item contents on a five-point Likert scale. At the end of the survey, a list of 19 appropriate criteria for admission to intensive rehabilitation facilities and 21 reasons for inappropriateness was drawn up.

CONCLUSION
This study represents the first attempt in Italy to define shared and objective appropriateness criteria for admission to intensive rehabilitation. Out of the total number of experts invited to participate (31), only 16 completed the entire survey. This poor participation rate unfortunately demonstrates the lack of awareness among Italian rehabilitation professionals, which is a further sign of both the scarcity of scientific evidence in this area and the need to reach consensus on admission criteria.


We report a rare case of cola-induced hypokalemia presenting as recurrent attacks of lower extremity weakness and falls. Excessive consumption of cola-based drinks has been associated with dental enamel erosion, obesity, and diabetes. There are very few published cases depicting the correlation between cola drinks and hypokalemic manifestations. In our patient an extensive workup was performed, and common causes were ruled out before making the diagnosis of cola-induced hypokalemia. Improvement in the patient's symptoms and electrolyte levels after reducing the consumption of cola-based drinks further confirmed our diagnosis. This case also emphasizes the importance of obtaining a detailed history and consideration of broad differential diagnoses in identifying uncommon but reversible etiologies.


Medical imaging systems have been used in various medical application domains like trauma centre, orthopedic, pain management and vascular and non-vascular. One of the oldest and frequently used devices to capture human bones is X-Ray. During the process of identifying fractures, a vital step is the extraction of bone structure from the x-ray image. In this paper, a model that combines multi-resolution wavelets, region growing algorithm and active contour model is proposed to segment the bone structure from the x-ray image. Further a fast Hough transformation is used to extract the diaphysis region from the segmented bone structure. Experimental results prove that the proposed algorithm is efficient both in the manner of segmentation and speed of segmentation.


Field population of Spodoptera litura from tomato ( resistant to the majority of the conventional insecticide molecules) were subjected to the in vivo toxicity of spinetoram 12 SC to assess whether cross resistance exists or not. Untreated larvae of both field and laboratory strains showed no mortality during 48 hours of feeding. After 48 hours of feeding on spinetoram 12 SC treated leaves, LC50s of field larvae were 0.28, 0.93, 3.71 and 7.11 ppm for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th instars of S. litura respectively. However, in the laboratory strain these values were 1.12, 5.86, 36.72 and 91.55 ppm for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th instars of S. litura respectively. Resistance ratio was 0.25, 0.16, 0.10 and 0.08 for the 2nd instar up to the 5th instar of S. litura.


TRACE (time-resolved amplification of cryptate emission), also called HTRF for pharmaceutical applications, is a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence technique well adapted for the study of molecular interactions. It is based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between europium trisbipyridine cryptate (TBPEu(3+)) as energy donor and cross-linked allophycocyanin, symbolized by XL665, as acceptor, leading to a long-lived FRET signal. TBPEu(3+)-labeled uridine triphosphate (UTP), referred to as K-11-UTP in the text, was obtained by coupling TBPEu(3+) moiety to a C-5 functionalized UTP analog. K-11-UTP can be directly incorporated in RNA strands during enzymatic synthesis. This was demonstrated in an in vitro transcription reaction promoted by T(7) RNA polymerase. The reaction was performed in the presence of K-11-UTP and biotin-labeled cytidine triphosphate (biotin-16-CTP) in admixture with natural ribonucleotides. After the addition of streptavidin-XL665 conjugate (SA-XL665), which binds on biotinylated cytidine residues, a long-lived FRET signal was obtained. This proved that both europium cryptate and biotin were incorporated into the same RNA strand and are close enough to generate a FRET signal. The study of this FRET detection assay format showed that such doubly labeled RNA can be easily detected even when a very low percentage of K-11-UTP is used (less than 1% of total UTP concentration). Europium-cryptate-labeled RNA can also be monitored using a homogeneous hybridization assay format involving a biotinylated probe. After the addition of SA-XL665, the FRET signal generated demonstrates the formation of RNA:DNA hybrids. Europium-cryptate-labeled nucleotide thus gives access to a new type of RNA nonisotopic labeling and homogeneous detection assays.


Background: The past 30 years have seen little improvement in the survival of patients with stage IV melanoma. Following the discovery of activating BRAF mutations in most melanomas, a wealth of preclinical experimentation has validated the BRAF/MAPK pathway as an excellent therapeutic target in melanoma. Despite these encouraging results, early clinical trials on BRAF/MAPK inhibition have been disappointing. Objective: In the current review, we discuss how differences between the preclinical and clinical settings may influence the response of melanoma cells to BRAF/MEK inhibition. As the BRAF/MEK signaling pathway is not solely responsible for the growth and survival of melanoma cells, we further discuss the therapeutic utility of inhibiting the PI3K/AKT and mTOR pathways both alone and in combination with BRAF/MEK. Conclusion: In looking ahead to the future, it is likely that new advances in melanoma biology, such as the identification of melanoma stem cells and a greater understanding of intratumoral heterogeneity, may play a role in the design of any future melanoma targeted therapy.


The changes in social and economic life that took place in Russia during last decades resulted in significant reduction in agricultural production, deterioration of life of rural population, limitation of accessibility and decreasing of quality of medical care that negatively impacted health of rural residents. The results of research studies testify low level of rural population health, which by many indices is worse as compared with urban population. The persistent tendency of its deterioration is established. These processes occur against the background of implementation of the Federal target program "The sustainable development of rural areas in 2014-2017 and until 2020" which is a logical continuation of the program "The social development of rural areas until 2013". The programs determine main directions of regulating integrated development of rural areas including such an integrated section as development of rural health care. The study was targeted present proposals concerning reformation and prospects of development of rural health care on the basis of analysis of key indices of medical organizations functioning, supporting rural population, with consideration of morbidity and accessibility of medical care to rural areas residents.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether measures of quantitative spectral electroencephalography (EEG) can predict survival in patients with early Alzheimer disease.

DESIGN
Prospective cohort study; median duration of follow-up was 4.4 years in survivors and 2.6 years in nonsurvivors. Cox proportional hazards models, with adjustment for age and sex were used to estimate relationships between EEG measures and survival. Log relative percentage values of EEG bands were used as predictors.

SETTING
Outpatient university memory clinic.

PARTICIPANTS
One hundred one consecutively referred patients with early probable Alzheimer disease according to National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria were studied with EEG at the time of diagnosis. The mean age of the patients was 79.2 years, which was higher than in previous EEG studies.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Mortality.

RESULTS
Fifty-one patients (50.5%) died during follow-up, with a median survival time in all patients of 4.1 years. The following EEG variables were significantly associated with increased risk of mortality: from parieto-occipital leads, higher theta (hazard ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-3.66; P<.05), lower alpha (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.25-0.76; P<.01), and lower beta (hazard ratio, 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.68; P<.001) activity; and from frontocentral leads, higher theta activity (hazard ratio, 2.07; 95% confidence interval, 1.17-3.66; P<.05). Stepwise Cox regression analysis showed that loss of parieto-occipital beta (P<.01) and alpha (P<.05) power were independent and significant predictors of mortality. Both beta (12.6-35.4 Hz) and alpha (7.5-12.5 Hz) activity remained significantly associated with mortality after adjustment for education, dementia severity, symptom duration, level of cognitive function, presence of extrapyramidal symptoms or hallucinations, presence of vascular risk factors, and presence of leukoaraiosis or local cortical atrophy.

CONCLUSIONS
Decreases of beta and alpha activity on quantitative spectral EEG are independent predictors of mortality in patients with early Alzheimer disease. In the clinical context, the use of EEG technology for prediction of survival in individual patients remains to be determined.


'The economic crisis, however serious, must not prevent the introduction of stringent measures for environmental protection. Damage to the environment in Europe is already so great that we can no longer postpone action if we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren a habitable continent,' said Dr Karl Ahrens, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in Athens, Greece, on 25 April 1984. The occasion was when, after Vienna (in 1973), Brussels (in 1976), and Berne (in 1979), the Environment Ministers of Council of Europe member countries met in Athens from 25 to 27 April 1984 to discuss European cooperation in the field of environmental protection. This 4th European Ministerial Conference on the Environment brought together Ministers and Senior Officials from the 21 Council of Europe member countries and Finland, as well as representatives of the EEC Commission and the main international organizations concerned. The urgent need to protect Europe's banks and shores, and the introduction of a policy for integrating ecological considerations into any economic development scheme, were the central themes of the discussions, which were based on a report by the Greek delegation entitled:


Hydraulic fracturing operations in unconventional reservoirs are typically monitored using geophones located either at the surface or in the adjacent wellbores. A new approach to record hydraulic stimulations uses fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). A fiber-optic cable was installed in a treatment well in the Meramec formation to monitor the hydraulic fracture stimulation of an unconventional reservoir. A variety of physical effects, such as temperature, strain, and microseismicity are measured and correlated with the treatment program during hydraulic fracturing of the well containing the fiber and also an adjacent well. The analysis of this DAS data set demonstrates that current fiber-optic technology provides enough sensitivity to detect a considerable number of microseismic events and that these events can be integrated with temperature and strain measurements for comprehensive hydraulic fracture monitoring.


Through silicon via (TSV) is an emerging technology for MEMS packaging for MEMS packaging. 370μm deep TSV vias with diameter of 60μm were filled by bottom up copper electroplating with copper methylsulfonate and methane sulfonic acid as base electrolyte. Insulating layer of the wafer was silicon nitride deposited by LPCVD. The TSV vias filling processes include electroplating to fill the vias and wet etching to remove the seed layer and adhesion layer. Patterned photoresist mask was adopted to obtain ideal electroplating results and protect the copper in the vias during the wet etching process. The copper filled wafer with silicon nitride was bonded with Pyrex_7740 glass having cavities by anodic bonding. The results of Helium pressure tests showed that the leak rate was less than 3*10-9 Pa·m3/s. The results suggested the potential of TSV application in wafer level MEMS vacuum packaging.


: Some readers have been appalled at the lack of abortion counseling t een-age patients receive while others are appalled that anything at all on abortion is published. The abortion patient is at a particularly vulnerable time in her life. The reality of the situation is that since 1966, with the liberalization of abortion laws in a number of states, the number of abortion patients has been steadily increasing. This means that an increasing number of patients will seek care that most nurses have not been educated to render. Nurses who see abortion as an unconscionable act should protect both her patient's freedom and her own by refusing to work in a situation which she finds morally offensive. Respecting the rights of other makes one humane.


Grafting the circumflex coronary artery has been more difficult technically than the right or anterior descending because of its posterior location and the angles of its marginal branches. However, grafting this artery has been substantially simplified by a method wherein the graft is passed directly through the transverse sinus and anastomosed to the back of the ascending aorta. This follows the most direct course to the ascending aorta and the graft is much shorter than one brought anterior to the heart. There is little chance of kinking the graft, since its angle of attachment is ideal, and due to the anatomical configuration of the transverse sinus, there is more room for the graft and compression is unlikely. This allows more room on the anterior surface of the aorta for grafts to other coronary arteries. This method has been used in 50 cases and blood flows have been excellent. Twelve of these cases have been restudied postoperatively and the grafts are patent.


ABSTRACT Background Breastfeeding is nearly universal in Kenya. However, supplementation of breast milk starts too early, thereby exposing the infants to diarrhoea and other infections. Despite the recom-mendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) of exclusive breastfeeding (EB) from birth to six months, EB is rare and poorly timed and complementary feeding (CF) practices are still common. The study describes feeding practices of children aged 0 to 24 months in the Mumias Division of the Kakamega district in Kenya. Method Using a cross-sectional study, 180 mothers of infants/children were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, feeding practices and sources of information on the same were obtained from the mothers. Results Whereas 92.1% of the children were breastfed, only 12.2% of the mothers practiced EB up to 4 to 6 months. Mothers introduced liquids and complementary foods at a mean age of 2.7 months and by the fourth month, more than one-third (34.5%) of the mothers had initiated CF. Apart from water, fresh milk, tea, commercial juices, maize-meal/millet porridge, mashed potatoes, bananas and fruits were also introduced. The perceived reasons for introducing these foods included the child being old enough (33.8%), another pregnancy (25%), insufficient milk (20.3%), sickness of the mother or child (10.5%) and in order for the child to eat other foods (11.4%). Over half (53.3%) of the mothers obtained information on BF and CF from friends, neighbours, media advertisements and health workers. Conclusion Breastfeeding is common; however, mothers do not seem to practice the WHO recom-mendations. Mothers in this study area and other rural communities need to be empowered with information on the correct BF and CF practices through existing government health services, non-governmental organisations and other community-based networks, especially in the light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate clinical effect, the quality of life, and prognosis of patients with hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage treated with aspirin combined with clopidogrel after decompressive craniectomy and removal of intracranial hematoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The individual patient data of 120 patients with hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage admitted to Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from January 2015 to July 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into a research group (62 cases) and a control group (58 cases). The control group was treated with aspirin, while the research group was treated with aspirin combined with clopidogrel. The prevalence of adverse reactions was compared between the two groups. Activity of daily living (ADL) was used to evaluate the quality of life. The amount of hematoma before and after operation was compared between the two groups. The prognosis of the two groups and the risk factors of postoperative rebleeding in patients with cerebral hemorrhage were analyzed.

RESULTS
The prevalence of adverse reactions in the research group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.05). The ADL scores of both groups 14 days after the operation were higher than those before the operation (p<0.05), and the ADL scores of the research group were significantly lower than those of the control group 14 d after the operation (p<0.05). The amount of hematoma in the two groups after surgery was lower than that before surgery (p<0.05), and the amount of hematoma in the research group was higher than that in the control group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of aspirin and clopidogrel will increase the prevalence of adverse reactions and reduce the quality of life of patients after decompressive craniectomy and removal of intracranial hematoma in patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. Careful medication is required in clinic.


A 26-year-old woman is referred to the Internal Medicine consultation due to increases in laboratory studies associated with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC) that was confirmed by histopathological studies. Her clinical history revealed that, at 3 months of age, she was successfully treated with surgery for cleft lip (CL) and at the age of 24 years was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FOXE1 and its promoter regions have been associated with various etiologies related to the thyroid, including orofacial clefting, specially cleft palate (CP) and CL, hypothyroidism (HT), and thyroid cancer. The association of CL, HT, and PTC might be component of a new syndrome; however FOXE1 coding region, which has been involved with these entities, has not exhibited mutations or SNPs. Further study of other genes may help in better characterization of the possible syndrome.


C-Glycosylation presents a rare mode of sugar attachment to the core structure of natural products and is catalyzed by a special type of Leloir C-glycosyltransferases (C-GTs). Elucidation of mechanistic principles for these glycosyltransferases (GTs) is of fundamental interest, and it could also contribute to the development of new biocatalysts for the synthesis of valuable C-glycosides, potentially serving as analogues of the highly hydrolysis-sensitive O‑glycosides. Enzymatic glucosylation of the natural dihydrochalcone phloretin from UDP‑D-glucose was applied as a model reaction in the study of a structurally and functionally homologous pair of plant glucosyltransferases, where the enzyme from rice (Oryza sativa) was specific for C-glycosylation and the enzyme from pear (Pyrus communis) was specific for O-glycosylation. We show that distinct active-site motifs are used by the two enzymes to differentiate between C- and O-glucosylation of the phloretin acceptor. An enzyme design concept is therefore developed where exchange of active-site motifs results in a reversible switch between C/O-glycosyltransferase (C/O-GT) activity. Mechanistic proposal for enzymatic C-glycosylation involves a single nucleophilic displacement at the glucosyl anomeric carbon, proceeding through an oxocarbenium ion-like transition state. Alternatively, the reaction could be described as Friedel–Crafts-like direct alkylation of the phenolic acceptor.


The authors investigated the moderating effect of sales experience on the relationship between salespeople's procedural knowledge and their performance, using a sample of 108 salespeople working at three car dealerships in Japan. Moderated regression analyses suggested that the more experience salespeople gain, the stronger the relationship between procedural knowledge and performance becomes. The results provide some support for the hypothesis that the sales experience moderates the relationship between procedural knowledge and performance, which is consistent with Anderson's (1982, 1983) model and the ten‐year rule of necessary preparation in expertise research. The results also suggest that a high‐performing sales expert has customer‐oriented and active selling knowledge. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings in managing salespeople are discussed.


Background/Aims
The serum aminotransferase level is usually elevated in rhabdomyolysis, and these enzymes originate from the skeletal muscle. On the other hand, there is limited data showing whether the degree of elevation of these enzymes differs according to the concurrent liver disease.

Methods
Patients with rhabdomyolysis were selected when their serum creatinine kinase level was >1,000 U/L. They were categorized as the group with and without concurrent liver disease. The AST and ALT levels in both groups were compared. In addition, the aminotransferase level was compared between those with rhabdomyolysis and those with alcoholic liver disease.

Results
Among the 165 patients with rhabdomyolysis, 19 had concurrent liver disease. The median peak AST was higher in the group with concurrent liver disease (332 U/L [interquartile range (IQR), 127-1,604] vs. 219 U/L [IQR, 115-504]). In addition, the median peak ALT was higher in the group with concurrent liver disease (107 U/L [IQR, 74-418] vs. 101 U/L [IQR, 56-218]). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in both enzymes between the two groups. The median peak AST level was significantly higher in those with rhabdomyolysis than in those with alcoholic liver disease (221 U/L [IQR, 118-553] vs. 103 U/L [IQR, 59-206]), but the median peak ALT was not significantly different (102 U/L [IQR, 58-222] vs. 51 U/L [IQR, 26-117]).

Conclusions
Rhabdomyolysis showed an elevated AST-dominant aminotransferase level, which is not different according to concurrent liver disease. Therefore, it is recommended that rhabdomyolysis be considered first in cases of elevated aminotransferase levels in patients with a suspicious skeletal muscle injury.


Objectives To report our approach to the surgical management of vestibular schwannomas (VSs) and hearing rehabilitation in neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2). Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary referral NF2 unit. Patients Between 1981 and 2011, seventy-five patients were managed in our NF2 unit, of which, 58 patients are under current review. Main Outcome Measures Patients who underwent VS excision were evaluated for tumor size, surgical approach, and outcomes of hearing and facial nerve function. All current patients were evaluated for NF2 mutation, hearing, and auditory implantation outcomes. Results Forty-four patients underwent resection of 50 VS in our unit, of which, 14% had facial neuroma excision and reinnervation during the same operation. At 12 months after surgery, facial nerve outcomes were House-Brackmann (HB) 1 in 33%, HB2 in 21%, and HB3 in 30%. Total VS resection was achieved in 78% of patients using a translabyrinthine approach. Seventy-two percent of the current patients have American Association of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery class A to C hearing (maximum speech discrimination score over 50%) in the better hearing ear, and a further 14% are full-time users of cochlear implants or auditory brainstem implants. The remaining patients have been assessed for auditory implantation. Conclusion By following a policy of treating VS in NF2 patients where tumor growth is observed, complete tumor resection can be achieved through a translabyrinthine approach while achieving comparable facial nerve outcomes to published series. We advocate proactive hearing rehabilitation in all patients with timely assessment for auditory implantation to maintain quality of life.


Plasmonic dark modes are not easy to be observed in the far field due to their weak photon emission. By contrast, it has been shown that a dark mode can be excited effectively by a near-field source such as an electron beam. In this Letter, we show theoretically that the photon emission from the monopole-like dark mode supported on a plasmonic nano-disc could be unexpectedly strong when excited by an electron beam through its hole. Even though this monopole mode is considered to be dark, it is found that the emission can be even "brighter" than the dipolar bright modes when the electron speed is higher than 0.6c. Due to the high conversion efficiency from electron energy loss to photon energy, the results could also suggest an optical method for the detection of high-energy electrons passing through the hole with negligible changes in electron speed.


The objective of this study was to examine the effects of feeding conventional corn silage (CCS) or brown midrib corn silage (BMCS) to dairy cows on CH4 emissions from stored manure. Eight lactating cows were fed (ad libitum) a total mixed ration (forage:concentrate ratio 65:35; dry matter basis) containing 59% (dry matter basis) of either CCS or BMCS. Feces and urine were collected from each cow and mixed with residual sludge obtained from a manure storage structure. Manure was incubated for 17 wk at 20°C under anaerobic conditions (O2-free N2) in 500-mL glass bottles. Methane emissions and changes in chemical composition of the manure were monitored during the incubation period. The total amount of feces and urine excreted was higher for cows fed BMCS than for cows fed CCS [8.6 vs. 6.5 kg/d of volatile solids (VS)]. Manure from cows fed BMCS emitted more CH4 than manure from cows fed CCS (173 vs. 146 L/kg of VS) throughout the incubation period. Similarly, VS and neutral detergent fiber losses throughout incubation were higher for manure from cows fed BMCS versus cows fed CCS (37.6 vs. 30.6% and 46.2 vs. 31.2%, respectively). Manure NH3 concentration (79% of total manure N) was not affected by corn silage cultivar. Results of this study show that using a more digestible corn silage cultivar (BMCS vs. CCS) may increase the contribution of manure to CH4 emissions, and may offset gain achieved by reducing enteric CH4 emissions.


The specialized academic regulation has dominated the production of scientific knowledge
during a long period of the twentieth century. Specialized communities seemed to
settle within their intellectual and institutional boundaries pursuing and publishing more
specialized and detailed knowledge about their respective fields. However, the interest
in accurate specialized knowledge engendered a poor perception of social phenomena,
as it does not consider their comprehensive goals and nature. There is an increasing interest
in interdisciplinary communications to reach a level of re-integration of knowledge
allowing a more balanced approach to study and research social phenomena while taking
into consideration their comprehensive goals and nature on the one hand, and their details
and components on the other hand, especially in interdisciplinary studies. However,
interdisciplinary studies seem to suffer from confusion and lack of clarity in defining the
concepts and the know-how of the integration process between the visions of specialties
to create an integrated and comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon. In this context,
this study proposes the concept of bridging (tajseer) as a framework for knowledge
communication that includes a number of critical benchmarks, especially those related
to problem solving. The study also contributes to displaying the bridging between scientific
disciplines, which results in three tracks: the bridging exploration track, the bridging
synthetic track, and the transdisciplinary track. In order to reach these results, the study
benefits from a revision of the philosophical assumptions of social sciences suggesting a
critical realist foundation for such efforts as an alternative to the substantive and hermeneutical
basis of social sciences.


Background Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an endogenous signaling molecule that exerts powerful anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects. Linking an H2S-releasing moiety to an NSAID greatly reduces the gastrointestinal (GI) damaging effects of the NSAID, as demonstrated in extensive pre-clinical testing in animal models (mouse, rat, dog). ATB-346 is an H2S-releasing derivative of naproxen; the latter is considered the most cardiovascular-safe of all NSAIDs. In addition to the a profound reduction in GI toxicity with ATB-346 (significant decreases in ulceration and bleeding throughout the GI tract), plasma levels of ATB-346-derived naproxen in rats and dogs remained elevated much longer after administration of ATB-346 when compared to equimolar doses of naproxen. ATB-346 suppresses COX-1 and COX-2 in vivo and in vitro with similar potency to naproxen, and is effective in reducing inflammation in various animal models. We now report on the first human trial of ATB-346. Methods ATB-346 was orally administered at a range of doses to healthy volunteers, both as a single dose, and as a daily (or twice-daily) dose for 14 days. Each cohort consisted of 8 subjects, with 6 receiving ATB-346 and 2 receiving placebo. A total of 8 cohorts were studied in the single-dose study (25 mg to 2000 mg), and 3 cohorts in the multiple-dose study (250 and 750 once daily, and 750 mg bid). All adverse events were recorded, and blood samples were drawn prior to and for at least 72 h after drug administration for measurement of ATB-346-derived naproxen levels. Routine cardiovascular, renal, hepatic and hematological biomarkers were monitored, along with clinical signs. Multiple ascending dose studies examined ATB-346 at doses of 250 and 750 mg once daily, and 750 mg twice daily. Results ATB-346 treatment did not produce any serious adverse events across the dose-ranges and treatment paradigms studied, nor were there any significant gastrointestinal, cardiovascular renal, or hematological findings associated with administration of this drug. As in animals, ATB-346 administration to humans resulted in a marked prolongation of therapeutically relevant levels of naproxen in the blood, supporting the possibility of once daily dosing for chronic conditions. Conclusions ATB-346 was very well tolerated and shown to be safe at all administered dose levels. These studies suggest a high level of safety of this drug, and support progression of testing to a relevant patient population in Phase 2 trials. Disclosure of Interest J. Wallace Shareholder of: Antibe Therapeutics Inc., Employee of: Antibe Therapeutics Inc.


Background: The aim of the third WHO challenge released in 2017 was to attain a global commitment to lessen the severity and to prevent medication-related harm by 50% within the next five years. To achieve this goal, comprehensive identification of barriers to reporting medication errors is imperative.Objective: This review aimed to identify studies that investigated barriers to reporting medication administration errors among nurses, systematically summarize the findings to make recommendations for improving error reporting, and for future investigation.Design: An integrative review Review methods: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) including Google scholar were searched to identify published studies on barriers to medication error reporting from January 2016 to December 2020. The reviewers independently assessed the quality of all the included studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018.Results: Of the 10937 articles reviewed, 14 studies were included. The main themes and subthemes identified after the integration of results from qualitative and quantitative studies were; organizational barriers (inadequate reporting systems, management behavior, and unclear definition of medication error), and professional and individual barriers (fear of management/colleagues/lawsuit, individual reasons and inadequate knowledge of errors).Conclusion: It is not expected that nurses will freely report medication errors in a fearful, punitive, and blaming culture. Providing an enabling environment void of punitive measures and blame culture is imperative for nurses to report medication errors. To minimize the burden on nurses reporting medication errors, an effective, non-time consuming, and uncomplicated anonymous system is required. An open feedback system for motivating or rewarding nurses for reporting medication errors is imperative and will therefore increase the rate of error reporting. Policymakers, managers, and nurses should agree on a uniform definition of what constitutes medication error to enhance nurses' ability to report.


The QSAIBA shallow core hole in NW Saudi Arabia penetrates a sequence of Ordovician-Silurian rocks. This study concentrates on the Sarah and Qasim Formations, below the Qalibah Formation (Qusaiba Member) that is Llandovery (Aeronian) in age. A detailed palynological analysis of these formations has been undertaken including spores (this study), chitinozoans (Paris et al ., IPC, Bonn 2008) and acritarchs (Le Herisse et al ., IPC, Bonn 2008). Four assemblages of chitinozoans have been distinguished, dating the oldest samples as late Caradoc or earliest Ashgill and the youngest as Rhuddanian in age. Acritarchs suggest similar ages. The forty studied samples all produced rich assemblages of well-preserved palynomorphs of low thermal maturity (yellow to orange in color). They are dominated by marine elements, but most of them also contain spores. The spore assemblages contain the classical assemblages of cryptospores well-known in many coeval localities on the Gondwana and Euramerican plates. Envelope-enclosed cryptospores are abundant (e.g., Segestrespora spp., V elatitetras spp.). Naked monads are less frequent (e.g., Gneudnaspora spp.). Of interest is the occurrence of a new genus of quadrahedral tetrads. It is similar to the ?alga Quadrisporites , but has a thicker wall, is sometimes enclosed within an envelope, and never has an operculum similar to that seen in several species of Quadrisporites . Identical specimens of this new genus have also been observed in the Llandovery from Paraguay. The most interesting aspect of this study is the discovery of laevigate and ornamented trilete spores that occur in most of the samples. The assemblage of trilete spores is composed of specimens of laevigate Ambitisporites , Synorisporites ornamented either with low verrucae or convolute muri and a ? Synorisporites or Aneurospora ornamented with grana or small verrucae. These are the oldest trilete spores known. Hitherto, the earliest accepted record of trilete spores was of extremely rare small Ambitisporites from the Hirnantian of Turkey. In general, rare Ambitisporites have been reported in the Rhuddanian and lower part of the Aeronian, becoming more abundant in the upper Aeronian. Archaeozonotriletes makes its appearance in the Telychian and the earliest ornamented trilete spores ( Synorisporites spp.) are reported from Homerian layers from the UK. Some specimens observed in Saudi Arabia seem to be similar to the UK ones. This discovery suggests that our conception of the primitive vegetation and its terrestrialization has to be re-evaluated (Wellman et al. , IPC, Bonn 2008). Pref. Session: 40. Miller/Steemans/Wellman: Paleozoic palynology of the Arabian Plate and adjacent areas Pref. Presentation: oral


Background and Aims: Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer, and it affects mostly teenagers and children. Although the emergence of multidrug therapies has improved available treatments for osteosarcoma, approximately 30% of patients will still develop metastasis. Thus, there is a clear need to identify new anticancer therapies. Currently, much anticancer therapy uses drugs that affect molecular targets, such as up-regulation of p53 and down-regulation of Sp1. Building on this knowledge, our aims in this work were to evaluate the ability of trans-Chalcone to reduce viability, induce apoptosis, and to alter the levels of p53 and Sp1 in human osteosarcoma cell lines. Chalcones are secondary metabolites of plants and have been demonstrated to induce apoptosis in human cancer cells. Methods: Osteosarcoma cell viability and apoptosis were evaluated by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression of p53 and sp1 was assessed by Western blotting. Transcriptional and post-translational regulation were measured by luciferase assay and proteasomal inhibitor experiments. Results: We identified that cell growth was inhibited by trans-Chalcone in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with a significant inhibition at 10 μM after 48 hours. After 24 hours of treatment with trans-Chalcone, apoptosis was induced in a dose-dependent manner-fold induction at 1.9 and 3.6 at 10 μM and 50 μM, respectively, compared to control. Western blot analysis indicated that trans-chalcone reduced Sp1 and induced p53 expression, compared to control cells. Further experiments suggest that trans-Chalcone affected Sp1 down-regulation at the transcriptional level, whereas trans-chalcone up-regulated p53 expression at the post-translational level. These results were confirmed by a luciferase assay of the MDM2 promoter and a proteasomal degradation assay using several inhibitors. Conclusions: Trans-Chalcone inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells and targets p53 tumor suppressor and Sp1 oncogenic proteins in osteosarcoma. Thus, trans-chalcone could be the focus of future clinical trials to develop an anti-cancer drug for osteosarcoma patients. Support: The University of Tennessee Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases and Human Health and a grant (No. process: BEX 3159/14-0) from the CAPES Foundation, an agency under the Ministry of Education of Brazil. Citation Format: Gabriel da Silva, Mozart Marins, Ana Lucia Fachin, Seung J. Baek. Antitumorigenic activity of trans-chalcone in osteosarcoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4654. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4654


Introduction Epidemiological and genetic studies have recorded the association between proinflammatory cytokines and the development of insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The role of interleukin 6 (IL-6), NH2-terminal portion pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and resistin in the pathogenesis of heart disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is still a matter of controversy. The current study aimed to evaluate the role of these biomarkers in the development of left ventricular systolic dysfunction and the ability to use them as non-invasive test in the prediction of left ventricular hypertrophy and systolic dysfunction in T2DM. Research design and methods 150 participants were included in this case–control study. Patients were divided into two subgroups according to echocardiographic findings: group 1a included 46 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and echocardiographic evidence of abnormal systolic function; group 1b included 54 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and with normal echocardiogenic study; and group 2 included 50 apparently healthy controls. Routine laboratory investigations such as complete blood count, liver and renal function tests, and lipid profile, serum IL-6, NT-proBNP, and resistin were measured in all participants. Conventional echocardiography was done with special concern on the assessment of left ventricular systolic function (ejection fraction). Results There was a significant increase in the level of resistin, NT-proBNP and IL-6 in group 1a patients compared with group 1b and in healthy controls. Echocardiographic parameters showed a significant increase in left ventricular mass index, left ventricle posterior wall thickness, interventricular septum thickness, and left ventricle mass in group 1a compared with group 1b and the control group. The increased left ventricular mass index was associated with higher levels of IL-6, NT-proBNP and resistin. Conclusions Proinflammatory cytokines had a clear relation with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and hypertrophy and can be used as early non-invasive markers for detection of left ventricular remodeling and systolic dysfunction in patients with T2DM.


A detailed study of photon temperatures (Tph) of hard X-ray emission in lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) plasmas is presented. The photon temperature increases with the increase in plasma current and decreases with the increase in plasma density. In lower hybrid power and phase scanning experiments; there is no appreciable change in the photon temperature. The numerical results based on ray-tracing calculation and Fokker–Planck solver gives reasonable explanation for the experimental observation. Both experimental and numerical results reveal that the photon temperature depends mainly on global effects of the fast electron population, synergy between the fast electron and the loop voltage and the Coulomb slowing down.


The authors experience in diagnosing and treating 67 patients with abscesses are summarized. The value of different methods of topic diagnosis is analyzed. New approaches to surgical treatment are presented, which involves the use of both open methods (dissection, sanitation and drainage of abscesses) and minimum invasive methods (abscess puncture under ultrasound and video laparoscopy guidance). The new method of assisted minimum invasive surgical treatment of large hepatic abscesses is described. To realize the principle of different approach to choosing treatment method and using new technologies permits improvement of treatment outcomes in these patients.


Plant virus movement proteins bind host components to promote virus movement from initially infected cells to neighbouring cells. In this study, cDNA clones encoding p8 and p9, two small proteins required for the movement of Turnip crinkle virus, were used as 'bait' in a yeast two-hybrid system to screen an Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA library for interactive proteins. One A. thaliana clone was identified that encodes a protein, designated Atp8, which interacted with p8 in yeast cells and in vitro. The apparent full-length of Atp8 mRNA was sequenced and shown to encode a protein with two possible transmembrane helices, several potential phosphorylation sites and two 'RGD' sequences.


Maternal dietary fatty acids (FFAs) intake and corresponding human milk composition relationships have been assessed throughout the first month of lactation in 34 lactating women consecutively enrolled. All mothers were on their habitual diet. Food records (95 items) were administered to the mothers, six-times during the first month of lactation (1 day after delivery, 4, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after colostrum appearance) and referred to maternal dietary intake of the day before. Milk collected on day 1 was considered as colostrum, day 4 and 7 samples as transitional milk, and day 14, 21 and 28 samples as mature milk. Five gas chromatographic analyses were performed on each sample. Statistics were made using Friedman's and Pearson's test. Maternal dietary saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) were significantly related to the corresponding milk pattern in the phase of transitional milk (P<0.01), while total polyunsaturated (PUFAs) content was significantly related only to the mature milk (P<0.01); in this phase about 42% of the variations occurring in PUFAs milk content can be related to variation of maternal PUFAs dietary intake. The results in the present study provide evidence of the relationships between maternal diet and milk composition. The degree of correlation between maternal diet and PUFAs milk content increases throughout milk maturational process and reaches significance only in mature milk. This would imply that advancing lactation, milk PUFAs provision sources gradually shift from adipose tissue catabolism to maternal diet.


Today, the rapidly increasing environmental awareness and the need for available space posed environmentally sensitive change of mining activities and created the target of producing alternative economic values in the fields it is used. For this reason, especially for the last two decades, in the context of the rehabilitation and reactivation in the nature of open-cast mines whose production is either finisher or ongoing, nature restoration work after mining activities have gained momentum. In terms of country and regional planning studies, in the mining activities especially carried out in large areas, the rehabilitation of the sites in terms of the preservation and sustainability of the natural balance within the area is of great importance. With advanced technological equipment, remote sensing systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and increasing data processing techniques, it is possible to follow up the mining initiatives and rehabilitation works carried out especially in large areas. In this way, transaction tracking and success percentages of transactions can be revealed. In the study prepared for this purpose, a sample coal operation was taken into consideration and the rehabilitation works carried out especially at the dump sites were examined. As a result of the study, the adaptation of the species planted to the nature and the survival percent obtained were revealed. In addition to this, the rehabilitation processes on the dump sites were monitored with the help of plant index maps obtained by using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and photogrammetric software and the success of applied methods was evaluated.


Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic, autoimmune mediated, orphan disease with significantly increased morbidity and mortality and a low quality of life. Besides skin fibrosis, SSc causes alterations of the microvasculature and severe peripheral vasculopathies, including perivascular fibrosis, Raynaud's phenomena and the formation of digital ulcers (DU). Many drugs, proposed to have anti-fibrotic effects, inhibit wound healing and might thus further complicate the healing of ischemic ulcers in SSc. Objectives Although sGC stimulators like Riociguat inhibit the release of collagen in experimental models of fibrosis, they also improve acral perfusion due to their vasodilatory effects. We thus speculated that the vasodilatory effects of Riociguat may balance its inhibitory effects on collagen release in wound healing and may thus not negatively affect wound healing in SSc patients. The aim of these studies was to characterize the effects of the sGC stimulators BAY 63-2521 (Riociguat) and BAY 41-2272 on wound healing in the tsk-1 mouse skin fibrosis model. Methods The tight-skin (tsk-1) mouse model of SSc was used to evaluate the effects of the sGC stimulators BAY 63-2521 (Riociguat) and BAY 41-2272 on wound closure in mice with skin fibrosis. During anesthesia, WT mice and tsk-1 mice were bilaterally punched, establishing a defined round wound with 4 mm in diameter. WT mice and tsk-1 mice were treated with either placebo, BAY 63-2521 or BAY 41-2272 and efficacy was measured by reduction of wound area, 3 days after punching. Results In WT mice a reduction in wound size by 68%±2% was found after 3 days. Compared to WT mice, wound closure was significantly attenuated in tsk-1 mice with a reduction in wound size of only 52%±2%. Treatment with the sGC stimulator BAY 63-2521 (Riociguat) had no influence on wound healing in WT mice. In tsk-1 mice both sGC stimulators caused a dose-dependent and significant improvement of wound healing. Wound sizes were reduced by 59%±4%, 65%±3% (p<0.05) and 70%±2% (p<0.0001) with 0.3, 1 and 3 mg/kg BAY 63-2521, respectively. And tsk-1 mice treated with 1 and 3 mg/kg BAY 41-2272 showed a reduction of 64%±3% and 73%±2% (p<0.0005). Conclusions These data imply that the sGC stimulators BAY 63-2521 (Riociguat) and BAY 41-2272 could become and efficacious treatment option for SSc-related vasculopathies, especially for prevention and healing of DU. Disclosure of Interest E. Haasbach Employee of: Bayer Pharma AG, C. Beyer: None declared, J. Distler: None declared, P. Sandner Employee of: Bayer Pharma AG


Understanding female mate choice in nonresource-based mating systems, where females appear to express strong preferences despite receiving no direct benefits from mate choice, remain a challenge to behavioral ecology. Brown (Brown JL. 1997. A theory of mate choice based on heterozygosity. Behav Ecol. 8:60--65) proposed the "good-genes-as-heterozygosity" hypothesis, which sought to establish the genetic nature of male quality. Despite recent attention, few studies have examined how multiple components of genetic quality influence mate choice in a highly promiscuous mating system such as that of the lekking wire-tailed manakin (Pipra filicauda, Aves: Pipridae). Based on a 4-year study in the Amazon basin of Ecuador we ask whether female wire-tailed manakins use heterozygosity and/or dissimilarity (relatedness) as mate-choice criteria, and if heterozygosity influences the ontogeny of male social status. Our data show that females select more heterozygous males as their partners. Females do not, however, appear to select mates based on their genetic dissimilarity as mated pairs were more related than expected under random mating. Heterozygosity of territorial males was correlated with 2 male morphological traits (wing and tarsus length), which suggests that females may assess male genetic quality via phenotypic correlates. In addition, our data show that heterozygosity was related to male social rise (territory acquisition) and suggests that heterozygosity may act as a filter of male reproductive potential. Lastly, we find no support for indirect benefits (i.e., increased offspring genetic quality) obtained via female choice for heterozygous males. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.


Ehud Kamar provides an in-depth analysis of a specific aspect of the divergence between -social and private incentives to bring suit,1 a topic that has been explored more generally by Steven Shavell.' Shareholder suits provide two social benefits: they deter wealth-destroying managerial behavior and clarify legal duties by creating precedents. Kamar argues that in order to provide plaintiffs sufficient incentive to bring suit, we may have to set damages at a level so high that risk-averse managers will become too timid to manage effectively. Conversely, if we set damages low enough to make it feasible for managers to operate in a world of legal uncertainty, we may give shareholders insufficient incentives to bring socially valuable suits. Kamar argues that when corporations purchase director and officer liability insurance, they decouple the award to the shareholder/plaintiff and the damages paid by the manager/defendant in a way that better aligns private and social incentives. Insurance acts as a private subsidy to litigation, in the sense that shareholders deliberately incur costs to encourage suits that will ultimately produce better managerial decisions. Adhering to the commentator's traditional role as devil's advocate, I will express some skepticism that the encouragement of litigation to reduce legal uncertainty is an important function of insurance and indemnification in the corporate context. That insurance is prompted by legal uncertainty, I think, is clear. Whether insurance helps produce a more nearly optimal level of litigation is a much more complex question and, I will argue, one we lack sufficient facts to answer. As a positive account of why insurance exists, I am inclined to credit the simple view that managers want to reduce the risk of undeserved liability and shareholders want a third party to monitor management.


According to Vedic Astrology, the status of the planets, their motion, and constellations associated with them have a great impact on the lives of individuals. There exists a co-relationship between celestial bodies and plants. Each of these grahas/rashis/nakshatras is associated with a specific plant that resonates with his/her birth chart. These sacred plants are used in curing any ill outcomes associated with astrology. Moreover, these plants are considered as sacred because of their medicinal, aesthetic, and natural traits. Since ancient times, our culture, food, folklore, and therapeutic practices are deeply connected and affected by the use of plants. That is why since our ancestry we revered plants like Gods and Goddesses and honored them as divine elements. These are powerful sources of many pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancerous, etc. In Indian culture worshipping of plants, thus, form the basis for conserving many plant species. These days, there are numerous variables answerable for the depletion of biodiversity like deforestation, misuse, industrialization, unsustainable development, and so forth so, in this circumstance, the objective of this paper is to an all-encompassing perspective on the significance of plants in our day to day existence from the viewpoint of Vedic astrology, i.e., plants related with navgrah, rashi, and nakshatra alongside their cultural, socio-religious beliefs, mythological facts, and pharmacological properties. Planting and revering plants as indicated by one's astrological chart is a significant strategy to ensure and conserve biodiversity, eventually benefiting individuals. The human relationship with flora might be useful in conserving plant species for their treasured characteristics.


Aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrozole, are established in the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancer. However, approximately 20% of patients treated with anastrozole do not respond, and it remains impossible to accurately predict sensitivity. Thus, novel markers to predict response are required. The K303R estrogen receptor (ER)α mutation confers resistance to tamoxifen treatment. Moreover, K303R-expressing MCF-7 cells, transfected with an aromatase expression vector and stimulated with androstenedione (an aromatase substrate), were found to be resistant to the inhibitory effect of anastrozole. The aim of this study was to verify whether the presence of the K303R ERα mutation is associated with response to 3-month neoadjuvant treatment with anastrozole (Arimidex) in a cohort of post-menopausal breast cancer patients. Of 37 patients with ER(+) tumors, 19 showed a clinical response to anastrozole and 18 were resistant. Biopsies were obtained from tumors responding to the therapy or from non-responding tumors. None carried the K303R ERα mutation. To our knowledge, this is the first study to search for K303R ERα mutations in tumors clinically responsive or resistant to an aromatase inhibitor. Lack of the mutation leads us to believe that this mutation has in vivo biological significance in only a subset of breast cancers.


A developed mobile satellite communication system is required to provide customers superior multimedia service at high data rate by using proper alignment and Los between the satellites, we can achieve high speed communication. Performance of inter satellite communication is degraded by satellite vibration. In this paper, we have designed a high speed data communication system for inter satellite O.W.C. by using RZ and NRZ modulation factor, eye opening and BER., which uses space and polarization diversity technique. The system has a link distance of 8000 km and by simulation we analyze achievable bit rate 40 Gbps. The system performance is based on Q.


Current guidelines and recommendations for genotoxicity testing of pharmaceuticals are disparate, both in terms of the most appropriate tests to use and the protocols to follow. Recent attempts have been made to standardise genotoxicity testing procedures, coinciding with the current review of the OECD guidelines and the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). However, as with other aspects of non-clinical safety assessment of pharmaceuticals, guidelines have been prepared by evaluation of general chemical data due to the lack of specific information on pharmaceuticals. To address this, a project was undertaken to collect and collate information specifically pertaining to the genotoxicity testing of pharmaceuticals in order to obtain a clear understanding of international strategy and procedures in the pharmaceutical industry. It is clear that the practices and regional variations are strongly influenced by national guidelines and do not necessarily follow companies' preferences. However, there is a surprising amount of variation in approach between companies on some issues. This is evident in how companies define a genotoxin. This ranges from a positive result in an in vivo assay as indicative of a genotoxin (43%) to any positive result in vitro or in vivo (30%). Indeed many companies (particularly in Japan) will terminate development on the strength of a clear positive result in an Ames test. There is much debate within the ICH process concerning tests to detect gene mutations in mammalian cells as part of a primary test battery. This survey shows that in general, the pharmaceuticals industry has severe doubts about these assays. Thirty-seven (78%) of the 47 participating pharmaceutical companies include an in vitro test to detect gene mutation in mammalian cells as part of their routine test battery. The HPRT test using Chinese hamster cells has the most widespread use, although there is only limited use of such tests in Japan. Compound development has been affected by the results of such tests, but usually only in terms of clarification of equivocal results in other genotoxicity tests in the test battery. The majority (63%) of companies do not support its use as a primary regulatory requirement, and 83% do not consider the mouse lymphoma assay (L5178Y) an acceptable replacement for in vitro mammalian cytogenetics. In conclusion, this survey has provided valuable information on the current modus operandi of the international pharmaceutical industry for consideration in current harmonisation initiatives.


Abstract:In the past decade, several publications in gender studies have been grappling with conservative and reactionary politics claiming to defend women and sexual minorities against immigrants. Sara Farris's concept of femonationalism offers explanations for the paradox of far-right actors pretending to care about women and sexual minorities and some feminists making racist statements. Yet Farris's methodology as well as her arguments show important shortcomings. In a close reading of Farris's book, this article refutes her hypothesis of a conversion of far-right, EU, neoliberal, and feminist politics and lays out alternative perspectives in order to develop a better understanding of the ongoing phenomenon. The article deconstructs the false opposition of heterosexual familialist migrant and Muslim communities versus queer-friendly feminist Europeans. In presenting recent feminist studies, the article suggests it is necessary to understand paradoxical far-right sexual politics in their familialist, capitalist, and colonialist contexts.


A 67-year-old male with a history of hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes mellitus type 2, obstructive sleep apnoea and obesity was referred for evaluation of an abnormal ECG. At presentation, the patient was asymptomatic and denied prior cardiac symptoms. Resting 12-lead ECG demonstrated marked ST and T-wave abnormalities consistent with anterolateral ischaemia (Figure 1A). On single-photon emission CT myocardial perfusion (SPECT) wall motion images, the left ventricular chamber was noted to have a peculiar 'spade-shaped' contour (Figure 1B,C, online supplementary media clip 1). …


Background/introduction Research suggests that drug use may be higher among men who have sex with men (MSM), and links between drug use and risky sexual behaviours are well established. Evidence suggests that MSM who report 'ever using' drugs may report using a variety of drug types. Aim(s)/objectives To explore multi-drug use and associated sexual risk behaviours within a community sample of MSM in Scotland. Methods Analysis of data from 1292 MSM participating in bar-based surveys in Scotland in 2014. Factors related to 'ever using' and multi-drug use within the previous 12 months were examined. Multi-drug use was calculated using those who reported more than one type of drug use in the previous 12 months (injecting, snorting or psychoactive drugs). Results The mean age of men sampled was 34.72 years (range 18–82, SD = 11.23). Most men identified as gay (92.3%) and reported being educated post 16 (85.8%). 42.6% of men reported 'ever using' drugs and of those, 55.3% had used within the last 12 months. 47.8% of men using within the last 12 months reported multi-drug use. Men who had used drugs within the last 12 months and those reporting multi-drug use were more likely to report more risky sex, specifically group sex. However, they also reported higher rates of both HIV and STI testing. Discussion/conclusion The percentage of men reporting multi-drug use is consistent with previous research. Although men reported more risky sexual behaviours, testing rates would suggest they understand and respond to these risks. HIV/STI screening may present opportunities to identify and address potentially problematic drug use with attendees.


Abstract Energy efficiency has become more important in every industry and daily life. Designing and building a more efficient marine vehicle can lead to lower fuel consumption and a longer lifetime for the components of the vehicle. Erosion caused by cavitation reduces the service life of the propeller and the related components in the propulsion and maneuvering system. Reducing cavitation leads to a longer life for these components. This paper aims to explain and investigate propeller blade cup as a cavitation reduction method for marine propellers. A cavitating no-cup propeller is created and analyzed then the cupped version of this propeller is generated and analyzed to compare with the no-cup propeller. Cavitation results of these propellers are investigated. In addition, the thrust, torque, and efficiency of the propellers are compared.


The Amazonian savannas of French Guiana are rare and of high ecological and cultural value but are also highly threatened. They are socioecological systems that have been coconstructed by humans and nature and today form mosaic landscapes along the country's coast. From pre-Columbian raised fields through colonial and Créole uses to contemporary uses, they have been largely shaped and modified by human activities. They are currently threatened by changes in fire regimes, agricultural practices, invasive species, and infrastructure development. Less than 3% are protected, despite their importance for several endangered animal and plant species. A shift is required in the way we think about their conservation to create a new strategy that would be completely different from existing French environmental protection tools and adapted to the complexity of these landscapes.


This chapter examines the dual system of family law in the USA. It observes that the USA has a set of laws that regulates more affluent families and an entirely distinct set of laws that regulates poor families. Moreover, the family law for the poor is uniquely punitive. The chapter offers that the dual system of family law, and the brutal nature of family law for the poor, can be explained in terms of the moral construction of poverty—the idea that poverty is a result of an individual's shortcomings. The chapter proposes that the moral construction of poverty offers a unique framework through which to view and critique the family law for the poor. It demonstrates the utility of the framework through an analysis of the Court's 1970 decision in Dandridge v. Williams, upholding the constitutionality of family cap policies that restrict the size of the grants that welfare beneficiaries receive to support their families.


In order to realize the flexibility optical trapping offers as a nanoassembly tool, we need to develop natural and intuitive interfaces to assemble large quantities of nanocomponents quickly and cheaply. We propose a system to create such an interface that is scalable, inter-changeable and modular. Several prototypes are described, starting with simple interfaces that control a single trap in the optical tweezers instrument using a 3-dimensional Phantom haptic device. A networkbased approach is adopted early on, and a modular prototype is then described in detail. In such a design, individual modules developed on different platforms work independently and communicate with each other through a common language interface using the Neutral Messaging Language (NML) communication protocol. A natural user interface is implemented that can be used to create and manipulate traps interactively like in a CAD program. Modules such as image processing and automatic assembly are also added to help simplify routine assembly tasks. Drawing on lessons learned from the prototypes, a new system specification is formulated to better integrate the modules. Finally, conclusions are drawn on the overall viability and future of network-based systems for nanoassembly using optical tweezers.


Electrophysiological brain signals contain oscillatory activity in various frequency bands, such as delta (<2 Hz), theta (3–8 Hz), alpha (8–13 Hz), beta (18–25 Hz), and gamma (>30-Hz), which are believed to be produced by frequency-specific networks in the brain and are believed to map on to various aspects of cognition (Lakatos et al. 2007; Fries 2009; Schroeder and Lakatos 2009; Siegel et al. 2012). Gamma oscillations have received particular attention over the last decade for their hypothesized role in mediating information transfer across the cortex (Tallon-Baudry et al. 1996; Tallon-Baudry and Bertrand 1999; Lachaux et al. 2005; Womelsdorf and Fries 2007). In particular, gamma synchronization, that is, the (phase) synchronization of neural firing within a cortical region, has been proposed to enable their effective communication (Fries 2005). To date, there have been a considerable number of high-profile studies supporting this hypothesis (Womelsdorf et al. 2007; Bosman et al. 2012; Siegel et al. 2012; Brunet et al. 2015). However, a study by Hermes et al. in this issue of Cerebral Cortex raises critical new questions about the role of gamma oscillations in mediating neuronal communication. They find that oscillatory gamma activity (30–80 Hz) in the human visual cortex is only reliably induced by some stimuli, such as oriented gratings and only some natural images. While previous studies have shown some stimulus-dependent variability in the frequency and amplitude of gamma oscillations (Gieselmann and Thiele 2008; Ray and Maunsell 2010), this is the first study to show in humans that the gamma rhythm is simply completely absent for some stimuli. This finding directly challenges the notion that gamma oscillations are an essential and general prerequisite for visual processing. Hermes et al. used electrocorticography (ECoG) to investigate the emergence of gamma band activity after the onset of different types of visual stimuli such as square wave gratings of varying frequencies, noise patterns, and pictures of faces and houses. Their rational was that "if" the gamma activity was a critical component of visual processing, "all" stimuli would induce some degree of gamma oscillations. However, they found that while gratings and pictures of select spatial patterns generated clear gamma activity, many types of stimuli did not evoke any gamma activity, including noise patterns and many pictures of faces and houses tested. In addition to narrowband gamma oscillations (30–100 Hz), the authors examined broadband high-frequency activity (80–200 Hz). Broadband high frequency does not have a narrow peak in the spectrum and is considered a reflection of asynchronous activity instead of an oscillation such as gamma activity (Miller et al. 2009). Previously research has found that the power of the narrow gamma oscillations to be negatively correlated with multiunit activity (i.e., total neural activity in the region) (Jia et al. 2011; Ray and Maunsell 2011), see Sedley and Cunningham (2013) for review. In contrast, multiunit activity and the power of broadband high-frequency oscillations have been found to be very highly correlated (Ray and Maunsell 2011). Although this suggests that these 2 types of signals stem from different underlying circuits (Manning et al. 2009; Miller et al. 2009; Ray and Maunsell 2011), they have not been consistently separated in previous studies. Hermes et al. separated these 2 signals and found that, contrary to the stimulus specificity of the narrowband gamma oscillations, all visual stimuli induced broadband high-frequency responses. This would then implicate the broadband highfrequency activity to play a fundamental role in the processing of visual information, rather than the narrowband gamma. At first sight, the conclusions from Hermes et al. might seem in contradiction with an earlier study by Yuval-Greenberg et al. (2008). Yuval-Greenberg et al. were able to demonstrate quite unequivocally that the broadband gamma activity (30– 100 Hz) previously attributed to the perceptual binding of several stimulus features did not originate from the visual cortex. Importantly, these results were acquired using scalp Electroencephalograph which is rather susceptible to highfrequency muscle artifacts. In contrast, the high-frequency activity in Hermes et al. was obtained using ECoG, which predominantly picks up activity from the areas of cortex that are very close to the electrode patch, and as such unlikely to be contaminated by artifacts from muscle activity. The principle findings of Hermes et al. render the current theories about the role of narrowband gamma synchronization in facilitating information transfer across the brain incomplete at best. However, it should be noted that the principle of synchronization as a mechanism of information transfer is not really challenged here. It is possible to have synchronization still be an essential prerequisite for neural communication, with that the frequency band in which the synchronization occurs to be reliant on stimulus properties. This would mean that any new theories on the role of any oscillation in visual information processing now need to incorporate stimulus properties.


Background Teenage pregnancy is a complex issue globally, which is also a challenge in South Africa. Pregnant learners are allowed by the law to attend school for the whole duration of pregnancy. Although not medically trained or equipped to handle any emergencies, the school management teams are tasked to manage these learners by the Measures of the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy Policy. Aim This study aimed to determine the school management teams' perceptions of managing pregnant learners in urban secondary schools. Setting This study was conducted in four secondary schools in Gauteng province, Soweto-Pimville District 10. Methods This study employed a qualitative, descriptive design. Purposive sampling was carried out (n = 13), semi-structured WhatsApp video call interviews were conducted and Tesch's data analysis steps were utilised to analyse the data. Results Five themes emerged: Theme 1: the role of school management teams in managing pregnant learners; Theme 2: challenges of unplanned deliveries at school; Theme 3: personal thoughts of educators on managing pregnant learners; Theme 4: skills training requirements for educators to manage pregnant learners; and Theme 5: coping mechanisms for school management teams. Conclusion Collaboration between the department of health, department of education and the department of social development is essential in the management of pregnant learners at school. Contribution Similar studies have been conducted in various rural areas of South Africa. Limited literature was found for urban areas; therefore, the researcher is of the opinion that the findings of this study could contribute to the body of knowledge.


Abstract After the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the European Union (EU) staked its claim as an important international player in the fight against global terrorism. The EU encouraged new initiatives at the United Nations and devoted newfound attention to aid and assistance programs to third states. The EU's ambitions and heightened activity prompts a number of questions about rhetoric versus action and offers a useful test case for assessing the quality of the EU's 'actorness'. This article applies the actorness concept to shed light on the EU's behaviour in global counter-terrorism activities. It draws together existing insights on actorness into an analytical framework containing four sets of variables – context, coherence, capability and consistency – and applies the framework to evidence gathered on the EU's international and third country role in countering terrorism. Our results show that the actorness approach sheds considerable light on the EU's international behaviour in global counter-terrorism and suggests the EU has some way to go before becoming a full actor in this area.


Mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase (HMGCL) deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting the leucine catabolic pathway and ketone body synthesis, and is clinically characterized by metabolic crises with hypoketotic hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis and hyperammonemia. In the present study, we initially used PCR with genomic followed by direct sequencing to investigate the molecular genetic basis of HMGCL deficiency in two patients clinically diagnosed with the condition. Although we identified a mutation in each patient, the inheritance patterns of these mutations were not consistent with disease causation. Therefore, we investigated HMGCL using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) to determine the copy numbers of all exons. A heterozygous deletion that included exons 2–4 was identified in one of the patients. MLPA revealed that the other patient had two copies for all HMGCL exons. Paternal uniparental isodisomy of chromosome 1 was confirmed in this patient by microarray analysis. These findings indicate that MLPA is useful for the identification of genomic aberrations and mutations other than small-scale nucleotide alterations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study describing HMGCL deficiency caused by uniparental disomy.


InP crystals grown by the liquid encapsulated Czochralski method under different parameters are investigated by Hall effect, IR absorption, atomic absorption spectroscopy and glow discharge mass spectroscopy. The concentrations of total and electrically active Fe atoms (substitutional for In) in ingots pulled under different growth conditions are independently determined. The results prove that the pulling rate can affect the effective Fe distribution coefficient. Quite surprisingly, we found that the electrical activity of the incorporated iron (expressed as ratio ) changes dramatically between the top and tail of the LEC crystals.


The performance of high-speed vehicles may be enhanced in numerous ways by the controlled addition of energy to the air flow. The particular mechanisms that are currently receiving attention include the reduction of drag by a plasma air spike in front of a vehicle, active control of shock location by direct energy addition or by MHD processes, rapid vehicle steering by localized energy addition, power extraction by MHD processes, and control of transition and boundary layer phenomena by acoustic forcing. This paper outlines approaches that are under consideration for adding energy to the flow in order to accomplish these tasks. The paper discusses laser and electron beam-controlled addition of microwave energy for drag reduction, steering and related applications, the use of electron beams for establishing conductivity for MHD applications, and the addition of up to megahertz of acoustic energy into a boundary layer using pulse-burst laser concepts.


Many recent human-robot collaboration strategies, such as Assist-As-Needed (AAN), are promoting human-centered robot control, where the robot continuously adapts its assistance level based on the real-time need of its human counterpart. One of the fundamental assumptions of these approaches is the ability to measure or estimate the physical capacity of humans in real-time. In this work, we propose an algorithm for the feasibility set analysis of a generic class of linear algebra problems. This novel iterative convex-hull method is applied to the determination of the feasible cartesian wrench polytope associated to a musculoskeletal model of the human upper limb. The method is capable of running in real-time and allows the user to define the desired estimation accuracy. The algorithm performance analysis shows that the execution time has near-linear relationship to the considered number of muscles, as opposed to the exponential relationship of the conventional methods. Finally, real-time robot control application of the algorithm is demonstrated in a Collaborative carrying experiment, where a human operator and a Franka Emika Panda robot jointly carry a 7 kg object. The robot is controlled in accordance to the AAN paradigm maintaining the load carried by the human operator at 30% of its carrying capacity.


Meta-forecasting is a newly emerging field which combines meta-learning and time series forecasting. The goal of meta-forecasting is to train over a collection of source time series and generalize to new time series one-at-a-time. Previous approaches in meta-forecasting achieve competitive performance, but with the restriction of training a separate model for each sampling frequency. In this work, we investigate meta-forecasting over different sampling frequencies, and introduce a new model, the Continuous Frequency Adapter (CFA), specifically designed to learn frequency-invariant representations. We find that CFA greatly improves performance when generalizing to unseen frequencies, providing a first step towards forecasting over larger multi-frequency datasets.


The aim of this article is to analyse the transition period in the history of illustrating children's educational books on the material of Russian-language publications. It is the period in which the function of an intermedial representation gradually develops from emblematic to encyclopedic and narrative-figurative images. This process is related to the literary history of children's books and their genre transformations. In the last third of the 18th century, children's literature in Russia was formed as an independent direction with its special goals, and the basis for further search for specific methods of children's book design, including educational ones, was laid. In the first quarter of the 19th century, the children's book had a typical European visual design and continued the trends inherited from the 18th century: translations, borrowings, and revised texts in publications often copied illustrations rather than made new ones. A new stage came at the end of the 1820s, when Russia was actively developing independent children's literature, and professional authors and criticism appeared. It was the time of the pedagogical experiments of Vasily Zhukovsky. This article does not claim to analyse Zhukovsky's pedagogical activity comprehensively, but this activity is significant for the subject-matter of the study. In his pedagogy, Zhukovsky went to a new level when searching for intermedial ways of transmission of the universal coherence of phenomena, the systemic representation of knowledge about the world, and the ideas of the world as a system. The search, though much slower, was also observed in contemporary children's books. The integration of cognitive and didactic functions in the Russian-language children's book of the 18th century resulted in a mix of different principles of illustration in one publication. These principles are: (1) emblematic: the title, image, and text form a three-part structure; (2) encyclopedic: the sheet contains separate numbered images of the same type of objects excluded from the visual context; (3) narrative: the plot, expressive and figurative, including caricature, illustrations are readily used in an educational book due to their persuasiveness. Each of these principles has its own ways of displaying coherence. An encyclopedic illustration shows an object in a series of similar ones, in an enumeration, shows the structure of the object. An emblem gives its symbolic and allegorical interpretation. A narrative illustration shows its functions and its involvement in causal relations, depicting the environment of events and objects. The children's book of the studied period tends to integrate all these ways. While the emblem as an independent intermedial genre degrades, certain elements of the emblematic tradition are actively borrowed by new forms of publications. The emblem gives the European book of modern times the most important intermedial tools for displaying universal coherence, the world as a system. The change of the epochs leads to an inevitable blurring of the meaning of the emblematic sign. The transitive nature of the analysed period is expressed in the search for a new intermedial form of coherence, similar to the lost emblematic bimediality of the text and illustration in terms of effectiveness. In the search for such a form, encyclopedic publications that claimed to be all-encompassing use the emblematic and narrative principles of illustration. In turn, the narrative illustration, driven by a similar desire for inclusiveness, consistency, and universality, absorbs the emblematic and encyclopedic principles.


Attempts have been made by numerous investigators to prepare antiserum for normal and malignant tissue protein (1). These antisera necessarily contained antibodies for blood serum proteins. No matter how finely tissue is ground and how thoroughly it is washed, it always contains sufficient blood proteins to elicit antibodies. Lumsden (2) believed that he could wash ground tissue free from blood, but the toxicity of his antiserum may have been due to antibodies for serum proteins.

When the precipitins for blood serum proteins are removed from antiserum by adsorption with their antigens, antibodies for tissue proteins are also partially or completely removed. Spinka and Weichselbaum (3) were the first to attempt the preparation of specific antiserum for kidney and liver proteins by fixing the finely ground washed tissue on aluminium cream and injecting this material intramuscularly into rabbits. Their attempts to remove the blood serum protein precipitins from the antiserum by adsorption resulted in the removal of all or practically all tissue precipitins. They were not successful in their attempt to apply the adsorption in vivo method (4). They discovered, however, that rabbits injected with tissue proteins, after a period of months, lost the blood serum precipitins, whereas the precipitins for tissue proteins remained in relatively high titers. Hektoen and Welker (5) previously observed that rabbits, immunized with aluminium cream on which many antigens had been adsorbed, lost the precipitins for the different antigens at different intervals. This disappearance seemed to bear a relation to the quantity of the different antigens in the injected cream. It is to be expected that as a given antigen is exhausted from the aluminium cream depot, the related precipitin antibody will sooner or later disappear from the blood. We have applied this method in the case of certain antigens with traces of other antigens. On injection, precipitins will be called forth for all the antigens, but the precipitins for traces of antigens soon disappear.


This paper ranks the high courts of the fifty states, based on their performance during the years 1998-2000, along three dimensions: opinion quality (or influence as measured by out-of-state citations), independence (or non-partisanship), and productivity (opinions written). We also discuss ways of aggregating these measures. California and Delaware had the most influential courts; Georgia and Mississippi had the most productive courts; and Rhode Island and New York had the most independent courts. If equal weight is given to each measure, then the top five states were: California, Arkansas, North Dakota, Montana, and Ohio. We compare our approach and results with those of other scholars and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose influential rankings are based on surveys of lawyers at big corporations.


For some years now, an opposition has been drawn, not only among Israeli academics but among politicians and journalists as well, between Jewish nationalist or Zionist thought and the kind of thinking that is called "postmodern." The argument is that a Zionist cannot be a postmodernist and vice versa, the two being incompatible. It appears that this opposition originated with an identification made between "post-Zionist" historical revisionism (of the kind associated with Ilan Pappe, Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, Simha Flapan, and Tom Segev) and postmodernist methods, assumptions, and claims. In some cases, the identification was made by the "new historians" themselves. While there is considerable bad blood between post-Zionist scholars and those, inside and outside the academy, who defend one or another version of the Zionist narrative, it needs to be demonstrated that postmodernism has nothing to do with their adversarial relations. The effort of this article is to show that, even before postmodernism was heard of, nationalist thinkers such as Rabbi A. I. H. Kook (1865-1935), Rabbi M. A. Amiel (1883-1946), Rabbi Abraham Hazan (1920-2003), and Professor André Neher (1914-1988) mounted Zionist arguments of a sort that we now regard as poststructuralist or postmodern.


Over the past few years, memory analysis has been an issue that has been discussed in digital forensics. A number of tools have been released that focus on memory acquisition of Windows system. However, the implementation of memory analysis is still limited as it encounters a lot of difficulties. The aim of this paper is to outline one of the difficulties with regards to the structure of EPROCESS block. It will discuss about the differences in offset between Windows 2000 and Window XP. Further, the important of internal structures in EPROCESS block will be identified as they play an important role in the analysis and theory reconstruction for forensic investigation. Nevertheless, an address translation for x86 platforms will be demonstrated in this paper. Hence, the limitation of the address translation algorithm will also been discussed and identified.


This paper describes the recognition of the 3-D pose and shape of articulated objects like a human hand and visual tracking of moving persons from a sequence of images. In the first stage of pose and shape recognition, the rough estimation of the pose is obtained by silhouette matching to a rough model of a hand and fingers. In the second stage, the model is refined using restrictions of the shape and pose of the object. Modifying the extended Kalman filter so as to satisfy the restrictions, the depth ambiguity is gradually resolved from observed images. Next, a method is proposed for tracking an object from the optical flow and depth data acquired from a sequence of stereo images. A target region is extracted by Baysian inference in terms of the optical flow, disparity and the predicted target location. Occlusion of the target can also be detected from the abrupt change of the disparity of the target region. Real-time human tracking in a real image sequence is shown.


In recent years, several unsupervised, "contrastive" learning algorithms in vision have been shown to learn representations that perform remarkably well on transfer tasks. We show that this family of algorithms maximizes a lower bound on the mutual information between two or more "views" of an image where typical views come from a composition of image augmentations. Our bound generalizes the InfoNCE objective to support negative sampling from a restricted region of "difficult" contrasts. We find that the choice of negative samples and views are critical to the success of these algorithms. Reformulating previous learning objectives in terms of mutual information also simplifies and stabilizes them. In practice, our new objectives yield representations that outperform those learned with previous approaches for transfer to classification, bounding box detection, instance segmentation, and keypoint detection. % experiments show that choosing more difficult negative samples results in a stronger representation, outperforming those learned with IR, LA, and CMC in classification, bounding box detection, instance segmentation, and keypoint detection. The mutual information framework provides a unifying comparison of approaches to contrastive learning and uncovers the choices that impact representation learning.


The interactions of cobalt sulphate and nickel acetate with ofloxacin (ofo, I), a 4-quinoline derivative, were studied. The hydrothermal technique was adopted in this work. The isolated solid complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectra, electronic spectra, fluorescence spectra and thermal analysis. The results support the formation of complexes of the formula Co(ofo)2 x 4H2O (II) and Ni(ofo)2 x 4H2O (III). The infrared spectra of the isolated solid complexes suggested that ofo acts as bidentate ligands through one of the oxygen atoms of the carboxylic group and the ring carbonyl oxygen atom. Thermogravimetric (TG) and its differential (DTG) were carried out for the complexes. The data obtained indicated that the thermal decomposition of the two complexes in inert atmosphere proceeded approximately with two main degradation steps. I showed a intense fluorescence in solid state at lamda(ex)/lamda(em) = 365 nm/461 nm, and two complexes displayed weakly similar emission maximum at 470 nm in the powder samples at ambient temperature, while the emission of II and III may be mainly originated from the intraligand excited states of I. I, II and III were assayed against two kinds of gram-positive and two kinds of gram-negative bacteria by in vitro doubling dilutions method. The results indicated that II and III have the similar minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) as the I against S. Aureus, M. Lutens, E. Coli and P. Aeruginosa. The inhibitory effect of I, II and III on leukemia HL-60 cell line has been measured by using MTT (Methyl-Thiazol-Tetrozolium) method and that on liver cancer BEL-7402 cell line measured by SRB (Sulphurhodamin B) method. The results indicated that the complexes in the high concentration have inhibitory effect on HL-60 cell line.


Partial nucleotide sequences were determined for mer operons located on large and small plasmids previously described in Acinetobacter spp. isolated from different mercury mines of the USSR. Inspection of the sequences shows that: 1. All Acinetobacter mer operons studied belong to a family of transposons homologous to transposons found in clinical isolates. 2. The transposons located on the small plasmids originated by recombinations between the transposons from the large plasmids and Tn501, a transposon found in a Pseudomonas hospital strain isolated in Australia. The left arm of each hybrid transposon was donated by a transposon of a large Acinetobacter plasmid and the right arm - by the Tn501.


The intermittent fasting (IF) diet has profound benefits for diabetes prevention. However, the precise mechanisms underlying IF's beneficial effects remain poorly defined. Here, we show that the expression levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an enzyme that produces prostaglandins, are suppressed in white adipose tissue (WAT) of obese humans. In addition, the expression of COX-2 in WAT is markedly upregulated by IF in obese mice. Adipocyte-specific depletion of COX-2 led to reduced fractions of CD4+Foxp3+ Tregs and a substantial decrease in the frequency of CD206+ macrophages, an increase in the abundance of γδT cells in WAT under normal chow diet conditions, and attenuation of IF-induced antiinflammatory and insulin-sensitizing effects, despite a similar antiobesity effect in obese mice. Mechanistically, adipocyte-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) promoted Treg proliferation through the CaMKII pathway in vitro and rescued Treg populations in adipose tissue in COX-2–deficient mice. Ultimately, inactivation of Tregs by neutralizing anti-CD25 diminished IF-elicited antiinflammatory and insulin-sensitizing effects, and PGE2 restored the beneficial effects of IF in COX-2–KO mice. Collectively, our study reveals that adipocyte COX-2 is a key regulator of Treg proliferation and that adipocyte-derived PGE2 is essential for IF-elicited type 2 immune response and metabolic benefits.


Quality-diversity (QD) algorithms search for a set of good solutions which cover a space as defined by behavior metrics. This simultaneous focus on quality and diversity with explicit metrics sets QD algorithms apart from standard single- and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, as well as from diversity preservation approaches such as niching. These properties open up new avenues for artificial intelligence in games, in particular for procedural content generation. Creating multiple systematically varying solutions allows new approaches to creative human-AI interaction as well as adaptivity. In the last few years, a handful of applications of QD to procedural content generation and game playing have been proposed; we discuss these and propose challenges for future work.


We focus on the mean achievable rate per user of the coordinated base station downlink transmission in a clustered cellular environment, with transmit power constraints at the base stations. Block Diagonalization is employed within the cluster to remove interference among users while the interference from other clusters remains. The average achievable rate per user is evaluated considering the effects of the propagation channel and the interference and a theoretical framework is presented to provide its analytical expression, validated by simulation results with different power allocation schemes. As an application, the number of cells of the cluster that maximizes the mean achievable rate per user is investigated. It can be seen that in most of the cases a reduced cluster size, close to seven cells, guarantees a rate very close to the maximum achievable.


With the rediscovery of classical antiquity and the emergence of Renaissance humanism innovative theories about the origins of the European states occured. Traditionally, the legitimation of rule in early modern Europe referred to ancienniety, continuity, christianitas and its classical antique origin; however, as the unity of christianitas shattered by the Reformation, even pre-Christian (substitute) antiquities were used as references. This is true even in the case of Orthodox Europe, where Catholicism and Rome were no options to legitimize the tsars' rule and where instead Byzantium and/or the Slavic past were important means of maintaining power. Moreover, the theories in question constructed frontiers and anti-worlds at the periphery of the European states, allegedly lacking a past whatsoever and being thus de-legitimized to exercise power.