Cumulative evidence suggests that, aside from patterning the embryonic neural tube, Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling plays important roles in the mature nervous system. In this study, we investigate the expression and localization of the Shh signaling receptors, Patched (Ptch) and Smoothened (Smo), in the hippocampal neurons of young and mature rats. Reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting analyses show that the expression of Ptch and Smo remains at a moderate level in young postnatal and adult brains. By using immunofluorescence light microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy, we examine the spatial distribution of Ptch and Smo within the hippocampal neurons. In young developing neurons, Ptch and Smo are present in the processes and are clustered at their growth cones. In mature neurons, Ptch and Smo are concentrated in dendrites, spines, and postsynaptic sites. Synaptic Ptch and Smo often co‐exist with unusual structures—synaptic spinules and autophagosomes. Our results reveal the anatomical organization of the Shh receptors within both the young and the mature hippocampal neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:3684‐3699, 2011. ©2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This dissertation deals with theory and algorithms for computer simulations of classical and quantum systems in the canonical ensemble. First, the approach of Nosé-Hoover and its generalization, known as the NoséHoover chain dynamics, are introduced. Such methods are used in classical molecular dynamics simulations to control the temperature of particle systems through a coupling to a few additional fictitious variables, mimicking an infinite thermal reservoir. In order to introduce the extension of the Nosé-Hoover method to quantum systems, the features of the Wigner representation of quantum mechanics are reviewed. Finally, a recent approach [A. Sergi and F. Petruccione, J. Phys. A 41 355304 (2008)], which extends the Nosè-Hoover and Nosè-Hoover chain equations in quantum phase space, is described. Such a method is applied to a single harmonic mode, and the conditions for quantum-to-classical transitions as a function of the thermodynamical temperature are studied by means of numerical simulations. It is shown that, in the case of strong coupling, the open system dynamics simulated by Nosè-Hoover chain equations leads to quantum-classical transition of the Wigner function of the harmonic mode. Agreement between the numerical and analytical results is also found. The algorithms and results illustrated are of interest to the numerical simulation of the quantum dissipative dynamics of more general systems.


The authors studied sixty patients affected by classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to evaluate the possible existence of retinal vasculitis, by employing fluorescein angiography. Retinal vasculitis was found in 18% of the examined patients, even if no clinical and ophthalmoscopic signs of retinal vessel inflammation were present. The authors suggest that the retina should be examined in RA patients, since retinal vasculitis may be asymptomatic at the beginning, but can represent one of the possible extra-articular manifestations of the disease.


This paper proposes an iterative receiver employing multiuser detection (MUD) and channel estimation for uplink MIMO-OFDM interleave-division multiple access (IDMA). IDMA can perform low-complexity MUD by employing a low-rate channel code and an individual interleaver for each user, and is expected to improve spectrum efficiency in mobile communications. However, an excellent channel estimator has not been proposed in the uplink MIMO-OFDM IDMA. This paper proposes the iterative receiver that repeats a joint processing of MUD and channel estimation by exploiting log-likelihood ratios of coded bits (bit LLRs) which channel decoders of all users provide. The receiver employs soft decision-directed channel estimation (SDCE) using the bit LLRs during data symbols, in addition to initial channel estimation (ICE) using known preambles. To improve an accuracy of the channel estimation, it performs tap selection (TS) that extracts only dominant paths from a channel impulse response estimated by ICE or SDCE. Moreover, this paper evaluates transmission performances of the proposed receiver, and shows that the receiver can achieve an excellent performance in 4-by-4 MIMO-OFDM IDMA with four users.


We employ the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA) in conjunction with the fluctuation exchange approximation (FLEX) to study the Hubbard model. The DCA is a technique to systematically restore the momentum conservation at the internal vertices of Feynman diagrams relinquished in the dynamical mean field approximation. The FLEX is a perturbative diagrammatic approach in which classes of Feynman diagrams are summed over analytically using geometric series. The FLEX is used as a tool to investigate the complementarity of the DCA and the finite size lattice technique with periodic boundary conditions by comparing their results for the Hubbard model. We also study the microscopic theory underlying the DCA in terms of compact (skeletal) and noncompact diagrammatic contributions to the thermodynamic potential independent of a specific model. The significant advantages of the DCA implementation in momentum space suggests the development of the same formalism for the frequency space. However, we show that such a formalism for the Matsubara frequencies at finite temperatures leads to acausal results and is not viable. However, a real frequency approach is shown to be feasible.


The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently updated clinical practice guidelines on the treatment and prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with cancer. Although several new studies have been reported, many questions remain about the close relationship between VTE and malignant disease. The risk of VTE among patients with cancer continues to increase and is clearly linked to patient-, disease- and treatment-specific factors. In general, VTE among patients with cancer is treated in a similar fashion to that in other patient populations. However, the greater risk of VTE in patients with cancer, the multitude of risk factors, and the greater risk of VTE recurrence and mortality among patients with cancer pose important challenges for surgeons, oncologists, and other providers.


A leaky waveguide (LWG) has been developed for an automated highway system (AHS). This LWG enables continuous communication between vehicles and roadside units at the frequency of 5.8 GHz. By studying slot spacing and slot length of LWG, the developed LWG met required characteristics that were based on the 2.6 GHz leaky coaxial cable used for AHS experiments in Japan. For practical use, effects of wave reflected from road surface and of shadowing, which is caused by the shielding of other cars, were measured. The results showed that space diversity of vehicle antennas can reduce these effects. By using this LWG, continuous communication can be achieved.


With the development of intelligent robots in modern society, the application of robots has speedily spread from industry to service industry and enhance the quality and convenience of life. However, when practically applied in restaurants or coffee shops, it is easy to meet problems, including overlong delivery time, wrong location, challenging setting, etc. Most service robots adopt SLAM technology, which is for localization and map construction simultaneously. This research explores optimizing the service robot's time and space axis parameters using ZENBO Robot in experiments. Furthermore, through 6σ architecture to refine by the Taguchi method to optimize SLAM technology and the time axis parameter of the user interface. In the actual use situation, experiments with other impact factors to improve UI/UX problems to make the service robot minimize error when advancing. After improvement, the UI/UX of the service robot has improved. Moreover, the delivery time is improved by 47%, accuracy and stability are improved by 65%, and it provided users with simplified setting steps and the environment's best parameters. This research proves that using the Taguchi method can effectively improve the performance of service robots in actual applications.


This work focused on the mechanical properties of 30SiMn2MoVA high strength steel gun barrel processed by cold radial forging. Three states of the tube made of this material (the state without forging, the as-forged state without annealing, and the as-forged state with annealing) were chosen to compare the axial and circumferential mechanical properties. As a result, anisotropy was found at as-forged state. The circumferential mechanical properties were inferior to the axial. The circumferential yield and tensile strength were about 150 MPa lower than the axial after forging, and the axial elongation was 155% higher than the circumferential. Even after annealing, the circumferential elongation cannot be restored to the same level as the state without forging. The reasons for anisotropy were investigated by the microstructure. The banded structure along the axial direction was observed in the forged barrel. Meanwhile, the crystalline grains of the forged gun barrel had the highest intensity of {111}〈110〉 texture which meant the grains had obvious preferential orientation. The relationship between crystallographic texture and yield strength was analyzed based on the Schmid factor. Additionally, the elastic limit internal pressure of anisotropic gun barrel was calculated, and it was lower than that under isotropic condition.


This study gives an overview of the theoretical foundations, the empirical procedures and the derived results of the literature on the determinants of agricultural land prices. A particular interest is given to the effects of government support policies. Almost all empirical studies on the determination of land prices either refer to the net present value method or the hedonic pricing approach. While the two approaches have different theoretical basis, they converge in their empirical implementation. Empirical studies use a broad range of variables to explain land values and we systematise these into six categories. In order to investigate the influence of different measures of government support on land prices, a meta-regression analysis is carried out based on 242 observations from 26 articles. Results indicate that a 10% decrease of agricultural support would decrease land prices by 3.3% to 5%. Therefore, a considerable part of farm subsidies is realized by initial owners of land instead of operating farmers. Results in regard to differences in capitalization for different support measures are ambiguous. Model assumptions, data structure and estimation techniques do have a significant influence on capitalization estimates.


Objective: Mental health professionals frequently classify children's attachment style using a combination of the parent/caregiver interview, an interview with the child, the interviewer's clinical impressions, and at times, the child's responses to projective tests not aimed at eliciting attachment specific information. However, no studies have been conducted on the validity or reliability of attachment classifications based on developmental histories. This study aimed to investigate the accuracy of history-based attachment classifications. Method: Attachment classifications based on intake interviews, administered to 35 eight to twelve-year- old children and their caregivers attending an outpatient mental clinic service in a government hospital in Johannesburg, were compared to classifications obtained through the Attachment Story Completion Test (ASCT). The level of agreement between rates and across assessment measures was analysed. Results: The association between ASCT and history-based attachment classifications was poor. Conclusion: The possible misclassification of children's attachment styles according to histories has implications for both diagnosis and treatment.


Abstract Manufacturers and retailers are continually extending the geographical scope of their activities, and the degree of acceptance by local consumer cultures is integral to the success or failure of their operations. It is, therefore, important that cultural influences on consumption behaviour are fully conceptualized and understood. Central to this understanding is a need to address how consumers prior- itize their own principles and set them against other criteria, bringing these to bear in the process of choosing particular products. This paper attempts to address the paucity of research in this respect by attempting to integrate areas of literature on culture, consumption and product choice. These relationships are explored through a simple con- ceptual framework, which is then used to discuss the influ- ence of culture on one particular type of behaviour - 'ethical consumption' - the degree to which consumers prioritize their own ethical concerns when making product choices. The paper concludes by highlighting the general implica- tions of the framework for research.


BACKGROUND
According to current understanding the drug-coated balloon carries a sufficient dose of an effective antineoplastic agent, i.e. paclitaxel, to the target lesion.

METHODS
Literature review and report on experimental studies simulating the access of coated balloons to the treatment site and studies in pigs.

RESULTS
The drug adheres to the balloon membrane and is partially hidden below the folds which are wrapped around the shaft. Upon inflation solid paclitaxel particles are pushed into the vessel wall. Premature loss of paclitaxel and transfer to the vessel wall is controlled by the formulation including an inactive additive. Particles in the tissue dissolve slowly resulting in a terminal half-life of almost 2 months. Premature loss of the drug, dissolution, elimination, efficacy and tolerance are limited by the very low solubility of paclitaxel. From exemplary DCB approximately 10% of drug is lost before the target lesion is reached, 5-20% is transferred into the vessel wall and 10% remain on the balloon after withdrawal. The difference is distributed in the general circulation. Inhibition of neointimal proliferation in animal models is reliable and as persistent as with drug-eluting stents. Histology reveals slight to moderate dose-dependent downstream effects without functional or clinical symptoms.

CONCLUSION
For the time being paclitaxel remains the drug of choice, the dose varies between 2 and 3.5 μg/mm² balloon surface. Neither in animal experiments nor in clinical trials problems have been detected in vessel segments treated with overlapping balloons. Future developments are expected improving efficacy in additional disease conditions (e.g., calcified vessels) and vessel territories.


Entomologists call it the windshield phenomenon: Car windshields used to be covered in the spring and summer months with the remains of insects. Today, cars remain clean. Observations about splattered bugs don9t count as scientific, of course, but remarkably few reliable data exist on the fate of these important species. Scientists have tracked alarming declines in domesticated honey bees, monarch butterflies, and lightning bugs. But few have paid attention to the moths, hover flies, beetles, and countless other insects that buzz and flitter through the warm months. Of the scant records that do exist, many come from amateur naturalists, whether butterfly collectors or bird watchers. Now, a new set of long-term data is coming to light, this time from a dedicated group of mostly amateur entomologists who have tracked insect abundance at hundreds of nature reserves across western Europe for more than 30 years. Over that time, the group, the Krefeld Entomological Society, has seen the expected ups and downs in the yearly insect catches. But in 2013 they spotted something alarming. When they returned to one of their earliest trapping sites from 1989, they found that the total mass of their catch had fallen by nearly 80%. Perhaps it was a particularly bad year, they thought, so they set up the traps again in 2014. The numbers were just as low. The group, which had carefully saved thousands of samples over 3 decades, did more direct comparisons. They found dramatic declines across more than a dozen other sites. Their observations raise questions about how widespread such losses are, and what might be the cause.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a key technique for wireless communication because of its robustness for narrow band interference, frequency selective fading and spectral efficiency. Channel estimation and equalization in OFDM is necessary in order to nullify the effect of impairments induced by the frequency selective fading channel. Frequency domain comb type pilot assisted channel estimation has been implemented for the channel estimation purpose. Modified Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) estimator is considered for estimation of the channel at pilot subcarriers. The performance and complexity comparison is made between the modified MMSE and MMSE estimator for fast fading Rayleigh channel. Linear, Low Pass and spline cubic interpolation techniques have been used with the proposed modified MMSE estimator. The effect of increase in number of channel taps on the performance of both estimators has been studied.


An experimental study was performed on a vertical glass door refrigerated display cabinet in order to determine the energy saving potential at partial load operation, i.e. at less demanding climatic conditions and door opening frequencies than the design requirements. The cabinet was tested with full loading in a climate room according to ISO 23953. The baseline test was conducted at the design conditions of 25 degrees Celsius (25°C) and 60 percent relative humidity, with the tests simulating partial load conditions at 19°C and 50 percent relative humidity. Two different series of tests were performed: stable night conditions (closed doors, lights off) during a 24 hour span, and an ISO 23953 door opening test. The procedure was to minimize the total energy consumption and comply the specified M-package temperature class of M0 (-1 to +4°C), while adjusting the cabinet settings separately. The tests demonstrate that, compared to standard settings, the total energy consumption at partial load can be decreased by as much as 28 percent and 22 percent during stable night conditions and standard door opening test, respectively.


Amikacin is used as a therapy for patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) who are resistant to macrolide antibiotics or have severe symptoms. This study aimed to characterize the pharmacokinetic properties of amikacin in patients with NTM-PD by developing a population pharmacokinetic model and to explore the optimal pharmacotherapy in patients with NTM-PD. For this study, all data were retrospectively collected. The amikacin pharmacokinetic properties were best described by a two-compartment model with first-order elimination. The estimated glomerular filtration rate and body weight were identified as significant covariates for clearance and the volume of distribution, respectively. A model-based simulation was conducted to explore the probability of reaching the target therapeutic range when various dose regimens were administered according to the body weight and renal function. The simulation results indicated that the amikacin dosage should be determined based on the body weight, and for patients who weigh over 70 kg, it is necessary to adjust the dose according to renal function. In conclusion, the optimal pharmacotherapy of amikacin for patients with NTM-PD was recommended based on the population pharmacokinetic model, which is expected to enable the personalization of drug therapy and improve the clinical outcomes of amikacin therapy.


Loss of expression of retinoic acid receptor beta2 (RARbeta2), a potent tumor suppressor gene, is commonly observed during breast carcinogenesis. RARbeta2 silencing can be traced to epigenetic chromatin changes affecting the RARbeta P2 promoter. Here we show that retinoic acid therapy fails to induce RARbeta2 in primary breast tumors, which carry a methylated RARbeta P2 promoter. DNA methylation leads to repressive chromatin deacetylation at RARbeta P2. By inducing an appropriate level of histone reacetylation at RARbeta P2 we could reactivate endogenous RARbeta2 transcription from unmethylated as well as methylated RARbeta P2 in breast cancer cell lines and xenograft tumors, and obtain significant growth inhibition both in vitro and in vivo. This study may have translational implications for breast cancer and other cancers carrying an epigenetically silenced RARbeta P2 promoter.


MOTIVATION
According to the models of divergent molecular evolution, the evolvability of new protein function may depend on the induction of new phenotypic traits by a small number of mutations of the binding site residues. Evolutionary relationships between protein kinases are often employed to infer inhibitor binding profiles from sequence analysis. However, protein kinases binding profiles may display inhibitor selectivity within a given kinase subfamily, while exhibiting cross-activity between kinases that are phylogenetically remote from the prime target. The emerging insights into kinase function and evolution combined with a rapidly growing number of publically available crystal structures of protein kinases complexes have motivated structural bioinformatics analysis of sequence-structure relationships in determining the binding function of protein tyrosine kinases.

RESULTS
In silico profiling of Imatinib mesylate and PD-173955 kinase inhibitors with protein tyrosine kinases is conducted on kinome scale by using evolutionary analysis and fingerprinting inhibitor-protein interactions with the panel of all publically available protein tyrosine kinases crystal structures. We have found that sequence plasticity of the binding site residues alone may not be sufficient to enable protein tyrosine kinases to readily evolve novel binding activities with inhibitors. While evolutionary signal derived solely from the tyrosine kinase sequence conservation can not be readily translated into the ligand binding phenotype, the proposed structural bioinformatics analysis can discriminate a functionally relevant kinase binding signal from a simple phylogenetic relationship. The results of this work reveal that protein conformational diversity is intimately linked with sequence plasticity of the binding site residues in achieving functional adaptability of protein kinases towards specific drug binding. This study offers a plausible molecular rationale to the experimental binding profiles of the studied kinase inhibitors and provides a theoretical basis for constructing functionally relevant kinase binding trees.


The authors describe the method of control of the course of an early wound process in patients with endoprosthesis of the hip joint in early postoperative period, which is based on determination of the level of lysozyme in the wound. The method allows detection of the development of suppuration and start of antibacterial therapy in the early postoperative period, before the appearance of the clinical symptoms.


This paper describes a novel consensus-based protocol, referred as Average TimeSync (ATS), for synchronizing a wireless sensor. This algorithm is based on a class of popular distributed algorithms known as consensus, agreement, gossip or rendezvous whose main idea is averaging local information. The proposed algorithm has three main features. Firstly, it is fully distributed and therefore robust to node failure and to new node appearance. Secondly, it compensates for clock skew differences among nodes, thus maintaining the network synchronized for longer periods than using simple clock offset compensation. Finally, it is computationally lite as it involves only simple sum/product operations. The algorithm has been implemented and preliminary experimental results are provided.


Background: Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) has been used extensively to diagnose and monitor diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients with type 2 DM are at risk of experiencing comorbidities and complications such as iron deficiency anemia (IDA). This study aimed to determine the correlation of HbA1c with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in type 2 DM.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 115 types 2 DM patients at a hospital in South Jakarta, Indonesia from November to December 2021. Data on HbA1c levels and IDA were obtained from medical records.  Data were analysed with the Chi-Square test and significancy at  p<0.05.Results: In total, 43 men and 72 women with type 2 DM were included, with predominantly age over 45 years (89.6%), had DM for more than ten years (55.7%), had obesity I (53.9%), and with hypertension as the most common comorbidity (65.2%). Furthermore, the patients did not smoke (64.3%), had poor glycemic control ((76.5%) and had anemia (58.3%). There was a significant relationship between HbA1c levels and IDA (p = 0.003).Conclusions: This study shows a relationship between HbA1c and IDA in type 2 DM, therefore, DM patients with poor glycemic control need to be well monitored for iron deficiency anemia.


This study aims to describe the process of establishing character values through children's songs. Factors causing the fading of children's character are the crisis of religious values and the fading out of national cultural values which are the effects of globalization. Therefore, the establishment of character values must be carried out from early childhood. Some of the efforts that can be made are to build up some character values in early childhood through singing children's songs in the learning process. This research used a phenomenological qualitative type of research. The research subjects were teachers, students, and parents of the Mutiara Kasih Pre-School Mangli Jember. In collecting the data, this study used interview, observation, and documentation techniques. The collected data were analyzed using a spiral analysis model having the procedures of data management, reading and memo-ing, description, classification, interpretation, and presentation/visualization. The results of the study showed that it was important to build up character values since early childhood because the establishment of character values from an early age is considered to be more effective and very influential in the future development of children. To set up these good character values in children requires a long process and must be started from early childhood. Building up character values in this school was done by singing children's songs. Those songs are songs that contain character values. The strategies or techniques that were used in building up character values through children's songs was done by giving exemplary and make the students get used to doing good things.


A coherent optical Fourier transform system is studied for which masks of curves only are used as input. A general theory for this problem is discussed, resulting in the functional connection between input and output data and limitations due to thickness, curvature, and extension of the curve. The general result can be simplified for a curve which represents a signal modulated by a carrier. In this case the Fourier transform of the signal can be found optically in first-order diffraction. The method is applied to interferogram curves arising in Fourier spectroscopy.


The aim of this thesis is to present an extension to the string graphs of Dixon, Duncan and Kissinger that allows the finite representation of certain infinite families of graphs and graph rewrite rules, and to demonstrate that a logic can be built on this to allow the formalisation of inductive proofs in the string diagrams of compact closed and traced symmetric monoidal categories.
String diagrams provide an intuitive method for reasoning about monoidal categories. However, this does not negate the ability for those using them to make mistakes in proofs. To this end, there is a project (Quantomatic) to build a proof assistant for string diagrams, at least for those based on categories with a notion of trace. The development of string graphs has provided a combinatorial formalisation of string diagrams, laying the foundations for this project.
The prevalence of commutative Frobenius algebras (CFAs) in quantum information theory, a major application area of these diagrams, has led to the use of variable-arity nodes as a shorthand for normalised networks of Frobenius algebra morphisms, so-called "spider notation". This notation greatly eases reasoning with CFAs, but string graphs are inadequate to properly encode this reasoning.
This dissertation extends string graphs to allow for variable-arity nodes to be represented at all, and then introduces !-box notation (and structures to encode it) to represent string graph equations containing repeated subgraphs, where the number of repetitions is abitrary. It then demonstrates how we can reason directly about !-graphs, viewed as (typically infinite) families of string graphs. Of particular note is the presentation of a form of graph-based induction, allowing the formal encoding of proofs that previously could only be represented as a mix of string diagrams and explanatory text.


The growth of public awareness of the environment is directly proportional to the development of the use of electric cars. Electric cars operate by consuming electrical energy from battery storage, which must be recharged periodically at the charging station. Solar panels are one source of energy that is environmentally friendly and has the potential to be applied to charging stations. The use of solar panels causes the charging station to no longer depend on conventional electricity networks, which the majority of it still use fossil fuel power plants. Solar panels have a problem that is not optimal electrical power output so that it has the potential to affect the charging parameters of the battery charging station. Adaptive Velocity-Particle Swarm Optimization (AV-PSO) is an artificial intelligence type MPPT optimization algorithm that can solve the problem of solar panel power optimization. This study also uses the Coulomb Counting method as a battery capacity estimator. The results showed that the average sensor accuracy is more than 91% with a DC-DC SEPIC converter which has an efficiency of 69.54%. In general, the proposed charging station system has been proven capable to enhance the energy security by optimizing the output power of solar panels up to 22.30% more than using conventional systems.


Evaluation of: Decloedt E, McIlleron H, Smith P, Merry C, Orrell C, Maartens G. Pharmacokinetics of lopinavir in HIV-infected adults receiving rifampin with adjusted doses of lopinavir–ritonavir tablets. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 55(7), 3195–3200 (2011). HIV and TB coinfection is a widespread problem, especially in resource-limited settings. Interactions between drugs metabolized through cytochrome P450 enzymes and p-glycoprotein efflux pump, such as rifampin and HIV protease inhibitors, complicate the management of both pathologies when they coexist. The article by Decloedt et al. elegantly assesses the pharmacokinetics of three twice-daily escalating doses of lopinavir/ritonavir (400/100 mg, 600/150 mg and 800/200 mg), together with 600 mg daily of rifampin in 21 black African HIV-infected patients without TB. The article also reports safety, tolerability and virological outcomes after 3 weeks. Doubling lopinavir/ritonavir dose overcomes rifampin induction effect with good tolerability. However, concerns arise regarding the real interactions, tolerability and virological efficacy in HIV-TB-coinfected patients, which may differ from healthy volunteers or HIV-infected patients without TB.


According to the Malleus maleficarum, devils refer to the Virgin Mary as extensa mulier or "the distended woman." Although this peculiar phrase finds no echo in western demonology or western witch-trial testimony before or after the Malleus, a very similar epithet is widely attested in Polish sources from the 16th-18th centuries, where both accused witches and the demon-possessed report that devils call Mary Szeroka or "the Wide Woman." The present article explores two possibilities: that Polish folk demonology got its "Wide Woman" from the Malleus, or that the Malleus got 'extensa mulier' from Slavic folk demonology. It argues for the second option, suggesting thereby that the collective concept of the diabolical witch drew more widely from European folklores than is usually supposed.


This paper analyses the effects of flow pollution implied by the use of nonrenewable resources on an overlapping economy. Notably, it shows that, on the balanced growth path, flow pollution reduces the resource use and thus increases the ability of an economy to sustain a non-decreasing consumption path. In addition, the paper analyses decentralization strategies that are able to put the decentralized economy on an optimal balanced growth path. If the resource stock is privately owned by households, resource taxation is necessary and the optimal tax level is characterized. If the state owns the resource stock, it should entrust the resource management to a fund constraint by an extraction rule which is also defined.


Among the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) family, the secreted PLA2 (sPLA2) family in mammals contains 11 members that exhibit unique tissue or cellular distributions and enzymatic properties. Current studies using knockout and/or transgenic mice for a nearly full set of sPLA2s, in combination with comprehensive lipidomics, have revealed the diverse pathophysiological roles of sPLA2s in various biological events. Individual sPLA2s exert specific functions within tissue microenvironments, likely through the hydrolysis of extracellular phospholipids. Lipids are an essential biological component for skin homeostasis, and disturbance of lipid metabolism by deletion or overexpression of lipid-metabolizing enzymes or lipid-sensing receptors often leads to skin abnormalities that are easily visible on the outside. Over the past decades, our studies using knockout and transgenic mice for various sPLA2s have uncovered several new aspects of these enzymes as modulators of skin homeostasis and disease. This article summarizes the roles of several sPLA2s in skin pathophysiology, providing additional insight into the research fields of sPLA2s, lipids, and skin biology.


While a great deal of organizational research has been devoted to the study of individual differences and task characteristics as the major determinants of job satisfaction, the role of organizational variables in explaining employee satisfaction has received little empirical attention. The present study argues that the extent to which employees perceive that their activities are controlled by managers, peers, or themselves may have significant effects upon their corresponding levels of job satisfaction. Based upon this rationale, this study investigated perceptions of different control approaches in relation to job satisfaction of 62 systems professionals of a local government organization. Bivariate analyses indicated that managerial control, team-member control, and self-control were highly correlated with general satisfaction. Additional analyses indicated that self-control had strong positive effects on both intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction, while, managerial control had a strong positive effect on extrinsic satisfaction. Implications of the findings for the management of information systems personnel and future research are discussed.


1. In order to confirm the potential anti-anaphylactic properties of verapamil, the effects of this calcium antagonist were assessed on several experimental models: anaphylactic shock in mice, passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in Rats, and degranulation of Rat peritoneal mast cells. 2. At a dose of 5 mg/kg IP, half-an-hour before challenge, verapamil decreased systemic anaphylaxis-induced lethality significantly. On the reverse, in the same conditions, it was unable to inhibit passive cutaneous anaphylaxis at 0.1-0.5-1 or 10 mg/kg; it did even increase it at a dose of 5 mg/kg IP over the last 3 days. However, specific degranulation of rat peritoneal mast cells was significantly decreased after in vitro incubation with verapamil (0.25 and 1.25 micrograms/ml or after pretreatment with 5 mg/kg/day over 3 days). 3. These early results confirm the hypothesis of verapamil anti-anaphylactic properties whose consequences warrant further investigation.


Since the power integrity problem has become one of the critical issues that limit the design performance, it is essential to obtain the supply current waveforms at early design stages to make efficient reduction of the supply noise. Therefore, a high-level macro current model is proposed in [11] for logic blocks to provide quick current waveform estimation at RTL. However, due to the different arrival time of internal signals, it is not easy to accurately model the supply current of the whole logic blocks as some fixed templates. Therefore, a levelized high-level current model is proposed in this work for macro blocks. By grouping those gates with similar arrival time as a super-gate, the current waveform of this super-gate can be recorded easily with less error. Then, combining all triangles of every super-gate in time obtains a more accurate supply current waveform, especially for multi-peak cases. In order to consider the different arrival time of different input patterns, a dynamic levelization algorithm is also proposed. As shown in the experimental results, the average peak error of the proposed levelized current model is improved by almost 23% compared to the conventional single-stage current model.


On the pavement of the Cikampek-Palimanan Toll Road, STA 166 + 650, there is predicted deformation due to the influence of the expansive soil underneath. Based on this background, it is necessary to conduct research with the aim of obtaining information on the character and physical properties of the sub grade, so as to determine the type of soil stabilization. From the results of soil identification using the single index method according to Chen, 1988 and Snethen, 1977, if the land at the project site is not replaced (replaced) with land that is not expansive, it will have high swelling potential. The potential for settlement of settlement based on Terzaghi and Peck, namely the amount of reduction of 7.3 cm and the time required for a stable condition or consolidation process occurs for 4.8 months. Force height (total heave) for the original soil conditions is relatively large up to 8.52 cm which causes the pavement of the Cikampek-Palimanan Toll Road to experience deformation.


Aim: To compare risks of pulmonary embolism (PE) for ambulatory
treatment of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and treatment of
patients with DVT in St.Anns Universitary Hospital Brno, Czech
Republic. Methods: We compared two groups of patients with DVT
: first group of them were treated from XI/1993 to XII/2003 by
ambulatory treatement (LMWH in average for 11 days with
transition to warfarin, INR 2-3, total 457 patients). The
second group was formed by 100 patients hospitalised from
I/2003 to XII/2004 in Cardioangiological Departement with DVT.
Every patient had signs of DVT on duplex ultrasound and
positive D-dimers. Results: In the first group, formed by 457
patients with mainly distal DVT (distal DVT-under knee had 318
of them), occured 15 pulmonary embolism, no one was submassive
or massive. In the second group of 100 hospitalised patients,
pulmonary embolism (verified by CT or scintigraphy) occured in
10 cases, no one was lethal. Every PE was detected following
anamnesis and clinical symptoms at admission at hospital
(allways with pain or dyspnea in medical records), except 2
asymptomatic patients included in study requiring pulmonary
scintigraphy. One patient with DVT died on bronchopneumonia.
Conclusion: Only 3% of our ambulatory patients with DVT
suffered of pulmonary embolism. Among hospitalised patients
with DVT, we observed 10 % of PE. The reason of this difference
is probably evident selection of patients at the first contact,
age of these patients, their co-morbidity and mobility.


A method to fabricate large-area superconducting hybrid tunnel junctions with a suspended central normal metal part is presented. The samples are fabricated by combining photo-lithography and chemical etch of a superconductor—insulator—normal metal multilayer. The process involves few fabrication steps, is reliable and produces extremely high-quality tunnel junctions. Under an appropriate voltage bias, a significant electronic cooling is demonstrated. We analyze semi-quantitatively the thermal behavior of a typical device.


The complexity and vulnerability of physical, psychological and social conditions result in the possibility of adolescents slumping in the circumstance of social media addiction in the existing era of digitalization. The problem of mother's support to adolescents is very complex and undeniably becomes very necessary in directing teenagers throughout the utilization of social media. However, research related to the assistance of a mother towards adolescents in accompanying social media is still highly restricted. This study intends to explore forms of mother assistance to adolescents in utilizing social media based on their experiences. This qualitative study applied a phenomenological approach, involving twelve mothers with adolescent children and determined based on purposive sampling techniques. Data collection is done through in-depth interviews and compiled into transcripts, further determining the code, categories, and themes. The analysis process uses Colaizzi method, so that after the theme is formulated, the validation of the theme by participants is carried out. Trustworthiness, peer de briefing is conducted to ensure the validity of research results. The three themes produced related to the mother's experiences in accompanying adolescents are educating themselves, openness in communicating and formulating a mutual commitment. It can be concluded that the mother is a strong figure in keeping teenagers from falling into the heartbreaking condition of social media addiction. It is recommended that social media addiction prevention programs be developed through the coordination of families, teachers and peers based on the policies of the education department.


COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia started as a small wave of 22 cases in January 2020 through imported cases. It was followed by a bigger wave mainly from local transmissions resulting in 651 cases. The following wave saw unexpectedly three digit number of daily cases following a mass gathering urged the government to choose a more stringent measure. A limited lock-down approach called Movement Control Order (MCO) was immediately initiated to the whole country as a way to suppress the epidemic trajectory. The lock-down causes a major socio-economic disruption thus the ability to forecast the infection dynamic is urgently required to assist the government on timely decisions. Limited testing capacity and limited epidemiological data complicate the understanding of the future infection dynamic of the COVID-19 epidemic. Three different epidemic forecasting models was used to generate forecasts of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia using daily reported cumulative case data up until 1st April 2020 from the Malaysia Ministry of Health. The forecasts were generated using a Curve Fitting Model with Probability Density Function and Skewness Effect, the SIR Model, and a System Dynamic Model. Method one based on curve fitting with probability density function estimated that the peak will be on 19th April 2020 with an estimation of 5,637 infected persons. Method two based on SIR Model estimated that the peak will be on 20th - 31st May 2020 if Movement Contro (MCO) is in place with an estimation of 630,000 to 800,000 infected persons. Method three based on System Dynamic Model estimated that the peak will be on 17th May 2020 with an estimation of 22,421 infected persons. Forecasts from each of model suggested the epidemic may peak between middle of April to end of May 2020. Keywords: COVID-19, Infection dynamic, Prediction Modeling, SIR, System Learning, Lock-down


The paper utilizes the neural network method to identify the loads of the WZ12–1 offshore platform. Firstly, the finite element model of the WZ12–1 platform is build using the software of ANSYS. By applying loads to the identification points of the finite element model, we can obtain the data for training a neural network model. Then, a three-layer BP network is established and trained until converges using the data obtained previously. Finally, we input the actual response data into the trained network and obtain the corresponding loads on the WZ12–1 platform. The results show that the neural network method could gain a great advantage over the traditional techniques in the load identification of offshore platforms which are large and complex.


A simple design of a metallic circular cross-sectional air-filled cavity is presented. Two probes of varied lengths are used to excite TE/sub 112/-mode wave into the cavity to give a resonant frequency of 5.86 GHz. The experiments show that the resonant frequency of the cavity resonator decreases as the lengths of the probes are increased. The shortest probe in the range of study gives the closest resonant frequency to the one desired.


OBJECTIVES
The nail salon industry has seen significant growth in recent years. Nail technicians provide manicures, pedicures and apply artificial nails; tasks that expose them to chemicals, including acrylates that are known skin and respiratory sensitizers. This paper reports on potential skin exposure to acrylates among nail technicians in Toronto, Canada.

METHODS
Hand skin wipes were collected after (i) the application of artificial nails, (ii) the application of ultraviolet cured gel nail polish, and (iii) deliberate contact with nail polish. Surface wipes were collected from work areas and surfaces contaminated with known products. Wipe samples were analysed for eight acrylates: methyl acrylate (MA), ethyl acrylate (EA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), ethyl methacrylate (EMA), 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry.

RESULTS
Thirty-five wipe samples were collected. No acrylates were detected in skin samples (n = 8) or work surfaces (n = 6). However, MMA, EMA, EA, HEMA, and HPMA were detected in the samples of surfaces contaminated with known products. MMA was detected in 28% of products tested. HEMA and HPMA were detected where deliberate contact with nail polish occurred.

CONCLUSIONS
These results confirm that acrylates are present in nail products. However, no acrylates were detected in skin wipes. MMA, a chemical prohibited for use in cosmetics in Canada, was detected in nail polishes. Nail technicians should continue to employ safe work practices that reduce the probability of skin contact with acrylates and other chemicals.


ABSTRACT This article presents case study findings on the Vanuatu-based Northern Islands Market Vendors' Association (NIMVA) as a vehicle for women-led collective action. While NIMVA's existence and organisational strength challenges existing political norms, strong gender norms restricting the role of women in society and politics continue to marginalise its capacity to participate politically and pursue transformative change. Using a "permitted empowerment" frame, the article assesses NIMVA's emergence as a vehicle for women market vendors to undertake collective action to improve livelihoods, and the implications for those seeking to support more inclusive forms of local-level development.


Intracellular protozoan parasites are causative agents of infectious diseases that constitute major health problems for developing countries. Leishmania sp., Trypanosoma cruzi or Toxoplasma gondii are all obligate intracellular protozoan parasites that reside and multiply within the host cells of mammals, including humans. Following up intracellular parasite proliferation is therefore an essential and a quotidian task for many laboratories working on primary screening of new natural and synthetic drugs, analyzing drug susceptibility or comparing virulence properties of natural and genetically modified strains. Nevertheless, laborious manual microscopic counting of intracellular parasites is still the most commonly used approach. Here, we present INsPECT (Intracellular ParasitE CounTer), an open-source and platform independent software dedicated to automate infection level measurement based on fluorescent DNA staining. It offers the possibility to choose between different types of analyses (fluorescent DNA acquisitions only or in combination with phase contrast image set to further separate intra- from extracellular parasites), and software running modes (automatic or custom). A proof-of-concept study with intracellular Leishmania infantum parasites stained with DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) confirms a good correspondence between digital results and the "gold standard" microscopic counting method with Giemsa. Interestingly, this software is versatile enough to accurately detect intracellular T. gondii parasites on images acquired with High Content Screening (HCS) systems. In conclusion, INsPECT software is proposed as a new fast and simple alternative to the classical intracellular Leishmania quantification methods and can be adapted for mid to large-scale drug screening against different intracellular parasites.


The mass media exert tremendous influence globally and on individual states, affecting all members of society of different ages in all walks of life. The unprecedented increase in communication technology has accelerated this trend. In urban and rural areas at home, school, and worship places or on the streets; the cultural values, norms, beliefs and attitudes are continually being altered by media messages. These messages are delivered in various forms, aimed at achieving specific goals for specific groups of people. Children's high receptivity and absorption of information indiscriminately renders them vulnerable to developing unwanted socio-cultural behaviours. This article builds a case for an urgent need to introduce and implement media education in early childhood programmes in Tanzania as a way of curbing adverse media influences on young children. Key words: Media education, early childhood programmes, Tanzania.


Superficial brachytherapy (BT) is used to treat skin cancers at various locations. In areas of poor vascularization, which are subjected to constant trauma, such as extremities, radiotherapy may cause prolonged healing, poorly treatable chronic ulcerations, and even necrosis, requiring subsequent surgical intervention. In this case study, we report on an elderly patient with basal cell carcinoma located on lower leg that was treated with superficial BT. The cancer was cured, but the patient developed complex and prolonged skin toxicity that eventually resolved after 15 months.


Policy development and implementation is a dynamic process. Via generic administrative functions and according to specific normative processes it must ascertain that the policy, which must include the policy goals, is acceptable and manageable. Identifiable but not easily quantifiable risks emerge from these concepts, norms and administrative functions. A dominant risk factor is the capabilities of senior civil servants responsible for policy advise to the minister and policy implementation. It is suggested that the analytical hierarchy process can be used to quantify risks in large systems.


In this study, we applied near-infrared fluorescent quantum dots (NIRF-QDs) for non-invasive in vivo and in situ imaging of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The U14 squamous cancer cell line with high expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was implanted subcutaneously into the head and neck regions of nude mice to establish HNSCC models. NIRF-QDs with an emission wavelength of 800 nm (NIRF-QD800) were conjugated with EGFR monoclonal antibodies to develop the QD800-EGFR Ab probe. In vivo and in vitro studies demonstrated that the QD800-EGFR Ab probe can specifically bind EGFR expressed on U14 cells. U14 squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck can be clearly visualized by in vivo imaging after intravenous injection of QD800-EGFR Ab probes. The results suggested that in situ imaging using NIRF-QD-EGFR Ab probes has unique advantages and prospects for the investigation of tumor development, early diagnosis and personalized therapy of HNSCC.


The timing, magnitude, style, and kinematics of deformation in the Eastern California shear zone and Walker Lane belt are important in defining interactions between shear-dominated plate-boundary tectonics and extension-dominated plate-interior tectonics. Geologic studies of middle Miocene strata in a 50-km-long north-south belt along the west margin of the Wassuk Range, west-central Walker Lane belt, reveal a pattern of folding on subhorizontal axes associated with displacements on convex-upward faults, a pattern that greatly reduces estimates of extension. We report an array of previously unrecognized shortening structures, including east-west folds, reverse faults, and steep-axis folds that formed at high angle to, and synchronous with, regional extension in the Coal Valley portion of the Walker Lane belt west of the Wassuk Range. We also report new radiometric age data and field relationships that support a reinterpretation of the history, magnitude, and distribution of extensional deformation. Instead of extreme (150%–200%) extension at 15–13 Ma, the new data support moderate (perhaps 30%) extension beginning ca. 10 Ma, coincident with the development of an inboard component of plate-boundary transtensional deformation. Also, new age data from moderately tilted pre-extension volcanic rocks forming the lower part of the Tertiary stratigraphic section in the southern Singatse Range, west of the northern Wassuk Range, show a lack of the extreme extension reported for coeval strata in the central part of that range. Published tectonic models that assume that extreme middle Miocene extension was uniformly distributed from the central Singatse Range through the Coal Valley area and southward to the Mina Deflection are invalid, as are models of 100 km of westerly extensional strain migration from the Basin and Range into the Sierra Nevada. Our reinterpretation reflects a return to a Miocene history, developed almost four decades ago, of formation of a volcanic highland, followed by sedimentation in broad basins controlled partly by east-west structures, followed in turn by extensional deformation that formed the existing ranges and basins after ca. 10 Ma. Following these early studies, the history was revised based on geologic mapping and thermochronologic studies in the Gray Hills–Wassuk Range directly north of the Coal Valley area. The published thermochronologic studies of a transect across the Wassuk Range show approximate invariance across 4 km of the central range. Previously, these data had been modeled as recording rigid, whole-block west tilting of ∼50° at ca. 15 Ma, and the approximate invariance resulted in geologically instantaneous uplift of ∼6 km. However, middle Miocene strata lack evidence for such rapid large uplift; that is, large volumes of proximal coarse clastic rocks are not found, and the strata do not exhibit a pattern of growth-fault fanning expected in the tilted fault-block model. The invariance is more consistent with arching during and following magmatism than with fault-related whole-block tilting. During main-phase extension, which began at ca. 10 Ma, the range was again flexed during uplift, similar to smaller structural blocks directly to the west. How or whether the extension-normal shortening structures we describe accommodated plate-boundary strain is not clear. Northwest-striking dextral faults are not reported in the Coal Valley area or to the northwest, so there is no clear association between the shortening structures and strain accommodation at terminations, left bends, or stepovers of such faults. We speculate that the complex heterogeneous Miocene strain of the Coal Valley area records coupling of approximately east-west regional extension with extension-normal shortening. The shortening could record midcrustal flow, possibly responding to lateral gravity gradients.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this paper is to enhance nursing and collaborative practice by presenting a concept analysis of clinical debriefing and introducing an operational definition.

BACKGROUND
Debriefing has taken many forms, using a variety of approaches. Variations and inconsistencies in clinical debriefing, and its related terms, still exist in the clinical setting.

DESIGN
Concept analysis.

METHODS
Walker and Avant's eight-step approach to concept analysis.

RESULTS
The defining attributes of clinical debriefing identified in this analysis are described as the five E's: educated/experienced facilitator, environment, education, evaluation, and emotions. Antecedents identified in this analysis include the critical event, the desire or need to review such an event, and the organizational awareness to execute clinical debriefs. The consequences of clinical debriefings are primarily advantageous and positively impact involved nurses, healthcare teams, patients, and organizations. Empirical referents of clinical debriefing are complex and multifactorial. The productivity of a clinical debrief can be enhanced through a series of proposed questions. Together, the defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences shape a proposed operational definition of clinical debriefing.

CONCLUSION
Clinical debriefing is a valuable tool within healthcare organizations. Debriefing can be a holistic, interprofessional, collaborative experience when all five defining attributes are present. Further investigation is required to standardize debriefing practices in clinical settings.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
A concept analysis on clinical debriefing promotes uniformity of debriefing practices, reflective practice among nurses and healthcare teams, and contributes to nursing science by creating a platform for the development of practice standards, research, and theory development.


Concurrent behaviour therapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of anorexia nervosa creates significant problems in the development of a therapeutic alliance and in the multiple roles staff are required to assume. Our protocol was developed to keep treatment personnel in their usual roles so that their various treatment skills could be fully utilised. A physician treated the anorexia with naso-gastric feeding, freeing the psychotherapist to act in the usual manner. This avoided role confusion, and the split of 'bad' and 'good' treatment personnel was appropriate and therapeutic, rather than pathological. Four successful cases are described.


In order to control seed-borne diseases, we obtained extracts from commercial fermented food products of Kimchi, Gochujang, Doenjang, Ganjang and Makgeolli and their suppressive effects against seed-borne diseases were studied. In addition, the suppressive effects of bacterial strains isolated from the fermented foods were screened in vitro and in vivo. Among fifty food extracts, twenty food-extracts suppressed more than 92% incidence of seedling rots in vitro and seven food extracts increased 58.3-66.8% of healthy seedling in the greenhouse. Among 218 isolates from the fermented foods, 29 isolates showing high antifungal activity against seven seed-borne fungal pathogens were selected. Among 29 isolates, 13 isolates significantly reduced seedling rot and increased healthy seedlings. Sixteen isolates with high antifungal activity and suppressive effect against sesame seedling rots were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. Fourteen of sixteen isolates were identified as Bacillus spp. and the other two isolates from Makgeolli were identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was confirmed that B. amyloliquifaciens was majority in the effective bacterial population of Korean fermented foods. In addition, when the bioformulations of the two selected effective microorganisms, B. amyloliquifacien Gcj2-1 and B. amyloliquifacien Gcj3-1, were prepared in powder forms using bentonite, kaolin, talc and zeolite, talc- and kaolin-bioformulation showed high control efficacy against sesame seed-borne disease, followed by zeolite-bioformulation. Meanwhile control efficacy of each bentonite-bioformulation of B. amyloliquifacien Gcj2-1 and B. amyloliquifacien Gcj3-1 was lower than that of bacterial suspension of them. It was found that the selected effective microorganisms from Korean fermented foods were effective for controlling seed-borne diseases of sesame in vitro and in the greenhouse. We think that Korean fermented food extracts and useful microorganisms isolated from the extract can be used as bio-control agents for suppressing sesame seed-borne diseases based on above described results.


Charged Particle Therapy is a technique for cancer treatment that exploits hadron beams, mostly protons and carbons. A critical issue is the monitoring of the dose released by the beam to the tumor and to the surrounding tissues. We present the design of a new tracking device for monitoring on-line the dose in ion therapy through the detection of secondary charged particles produced by the beam interactions in the patient tissues. In fact, the charged particle emission shape can be correlated with the spatial dose release and the Bragg peak position. The detector uses the information provided by 12 layers of scintillating fibers followed by a plastic scintillator and a small calorimeter made of a pixelated Lutetium Fine Silicate crystal. Simulations have been performed to evaluate the achievable spatial resolution and a possible application of the device for the monitoring of the dose profile in a real treatment is presented.


Abstract Nuclear power pipeline ice plug technology, as the main technical method of nuclear power safety maintenance and innovative design, plays a protective role in the long-term safe operation of nuclear power plants. During the ice plug process, pipelines have complex stress states, which can easily lead to problems such as material yielding, cracking, and even damage. In this study, by building an ice plug test platform for nuclear power pipelines, an ice plug test and a numerical analysis of nuclear power pipelines are carried out to explore the stress distribution of nuclear power pipelines during the ice plug process and its impact on the performance of pipeline materials and to analyze the safety of pipelines in the ice plug process. This study shows that the distribution of stress in the pipeline during ice plug is related to the temperature change and cooling rate of the pipe wall. The stress distribution in different parts is uneven, and the maximum stress appears near the edge of the jacket. According to the temperature data of the pipe wall, the stress distribution of the pipe wall can be obtained by the finite element method. From the test and finite element results, it can be seen that when the frost line length of the pipeline is less than 200 mm, the pipeline ice plug method is safe and feasible.


An investigation is made of the nonlinear interaction of electrostatic waves at a narrow inhomogeneous layer of a warm magnetoactive plasma. The amplitudes of the radiated second-harmonic waves are calculated. The effect of the external magnetic field is to increase the amplitudes of the generated waves.


Abstract One of the eternal questions in the visual arts, including architecture, is that of the distinction between invention and tradition. Appropriation – copying, or borrowing – is a mechanism accepted in contemporary art and common for nineteenth-century Beaux-Arts architects, but is now loaded with cultural anxiety for contemporary architects. This alphabetical list of English language synonyms for appropriation aims to show just how far the horror and delight in copyright infringement is embedded in our fears, and also in our desires.


Upregulation of the IL-4/IL-13 mediated Th2 response is a characteristic of allergic diseases such as asthma, a common and often debilitating disease.1 STAT6 is a critical signalling molecule in the Th2 signalling pathway, and mice lacking STAT6 are protected from allergic pulmonary manifestations.2 The importance of STAT6 in asthma is also evident from studies showing that STAT6 gene expression is markedly upregulated in airway epithelial cells in asthma.3 STAT6 is important in the expression of VCAM-1 in endothelial cells and of chemokines, such as eotaxin, in epithelial cells following stimulation with IL-4 and IL-13.4 As a consequence, STAT6 has been considered a strong candidate for predisposition to atopic asthma. Indeed, the human STAT6 gene is mapped to chromosome 12q13.3−q14.1, a region linked to total serum IgE concentration and atopy in several populations.5 A number of common polymorphisms have been identified, including a GT repeat in exon 1 and three common SNPs (G4219A, A4491G, and A4671G; GenBank AF067575) in the 3′ untranslated region of the human STAT6 gene.6–9 Although all four of these polymorphisms have been shown to be associated with allergic phenotypes in various populations, their functional relevance remains unclear.

Dinucleotide repeats are the most frequent of the simple repeats distributed throughout the human genome, and many of these exhibit length polymorphisms. Investigations into the effect of dinucleotide repeats on gene expression have shown enhanced10 or decreased transcriptional activity11,12 in the context of different genes and cell types. These regulatory effects have been proposed to be due, in part, to the fact that dinucleotide repeats have potential to form alternative DNA structures, such as Z-, H- and cruciform DNA.13 The Z-DNA sequences in human genes tend to be located near transcription sites, which makes it possible that they play …


The recording industry and Hollywood in general have responded to declining music sales by attempting to expand excessively intellectual property protection, domestically through the proposed, yet indefinitely postponed, Stop Online Piracy Act and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, and internationally through the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the intellectual property provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Such legislation restricts free speech, reduces innovation, and weakens due process rights on the internet. This paper proposes an alternative revenue-generating strategy—bespoke musical recordings that would be privately auctioned rather than publicly released. For example, a recording of Anne-Sophie Mutter playing a piece she has never publicly performed would be sold to a music lover or an investment fund as a one-of-a-kind recording, as unique as an Artemisia Gentileschi painting or a Camille Claudel sculpture. Besides providing the recording industry with additional revenue, bespoke recordings would generate more income for musicians, augment funds for music outreach programs and other music nonprofits, and increase the chances of discovering new musical talent. Similarly to many new markets, it would take time for such recordings to generate substantial revenue. To aid the development of a fluid market for bespoke recordings, numerous new legal and institutional arrangements would be established, including a bespoke recording registry, tailored contractual agreements, anti-counterfeit protections, and a secure bespoke recording storage facility. By facilitating an extreme form of ownership for isolated recordings, we might prevent the overall expansion of the intellectual property regime.


KERNEL is an ERC funded project (ERC CoG 2015 # 683029) that aims at boosting the angular resolution of any telescope using the power of interferometry. Looking at the formation of astronomical images as the result of an interferometric process, the mathematical framework at the heart of the KERNEL project makes it possible to use direct focal images to extract either robust observables called kernel-phases that extend the self-calibrating properties of closure-phase to arbitrary apertures and do super-resolution; or wavefront metrology information that can easily and efficiently scale up to multiple references for wide field applications. Currently limited to the small aberration regime, the KERNEL framework can be more widely applied when dealing with spectrally dispersed focal data. The paper presents the current status of the KERNEL project and some of its recent developments and applications that lead to recommendations to reach the ELT's full angular resolution potential, as soon as the first generation AO system becomes available.


We analyse wave scattering by an interface between a positive refractive index medium and a medium for which both the permittivity and the permeability are negative. We show that the negative refraction effect can be deduced directly from Maxwell equations, without references to causality or losses.


We have developed an on-line separation method for audio signals. The adopted approach makes use of the time-frequency transform of the signals as a sparse decomposition. Since the sources for the most part do not overlap in the time-frequency domain, we get raw estimates of their individual mixing parameters with an analysis of the mixture ratios. We then obtain reliable mixing parameters by dynamically clustering these instantaneous estimates. The mixing parameters are used to separate the mixtures, even at time-frequency points where the sources overlap. In addition, even when the mixing parameters change over time, our approach is able to separate signals with only one pass through the data. We have evaluated this approach first on computer generated anechoic mixtures and then on real echoic mixtures recorded in a car.


This contribution reviews the WTO's achievements in the field of trade capacity building since the launch of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in 2001, and discusses the key challenges. The DDA has clearly created a strong footing for the delivery of the WTO's trade capacity building programmes. The evidence suggests that the beneficiaries are now much better equipped to address the challenges of the Multilateral Trading System (MTS), to take active part in the negotiations, define their strategic objectives and defend their economic and trade interests. There is no room for complacency, however, as key challenges remain to be addressed. Human and institutional capacity building remain a priority for developing countries, and irrespective of the outcome of the DDA negotiations.


Background: Cognitive-motor interference in multiple sclerosis has been well examined during walking, but not during upper limb (UL) performance. Objectives: To examine the dual-task cost (DTC) in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and healthy controls (HC) in various type and complexity of UL motor tasks. Method: In total, 30 pwMS without major UL impairment and 30 HC performed five different UL tasks, in single condition and combined with the phonemic word list generation task. The percent change in performances was evaluated by the motor, cognitive, and combined DTC. The motor tasks consisted of four unimanual (sustained hand grip strength, box-and-block test, Purdue pegboard test, finger tapping task) and one bimanual task (Purdue pegboard test). Group and task differences were analyzed with unpaired and paired t-tests, respectively, and overall effect with a multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The motor DTC ranged between 10% (Purdue pegboard bimanual) and 35% (box-and-block test). The cognitive DTC ranged between −8% (finger tapping test) and +21% (bimanual Purdue pegboard). The magnitude of the combined DTC did not differ significantly between pwMS and HC in any task. Conclusion: DTC is influenced by the complexity of the UL task, but was not significantly different between HC and cognitive intact, but mildly motor disabled pwMS.


Thymocytes from 3-day-old mice generate a strong, virus-immune cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response when primed in irradiated, vaccinia-infected recipients. Effector potential is not detected in spleen until day 4 or 5, when alloreactive precursors may also be present. Mice of 8 days or older survive inoculation with large doses of vaccinia virus, and generate significant CTL activity in spleen. There is, unlike the situation described by others for Listeria antigens, no major defect in stimulator function for spleens of 1-wk-old mice. This is true for both the virus-specific and alloreactive CTL responses.


Purpose: We present the case of a 22-year-old woman, diagnosed as having atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome with a hypertensive crisis, who presented a bilateral serous retinal detachment. Case Description: A 22-year-old woman, diagnosed as having atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, was referred for blurred vision in both eyes, evolving over 7 days. Treatment including hemodialysis, plasma exchange, systemic steroids, antihypertensive medications and eculizumab was started 1 month prior to referral. At presentation, best-corrected visual acuity was 20/40 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye. Retinal examination revealed bilateral serous retinal detachment in the posterior pole and some small, flat, variably pigmented lesions. Optical coherence tomography confirmed marked serous retinal detachment in both eyes. Fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography was performed. Treatment for systemic hypertension was changed. Seven days later, dilated fundus examination and optical coherence tomography demonstrated a significant regression of the serous retinal detachment. Her visual acuity improves in both eyes at the last control, showing at fundus examination a complete resolution of the exudative detachment but a persistence of variable flat pigmented lesion. Conclusion: Although multiple organ systems are commonly affected in hemolytic uremic syndrome, ocular involvement has only been described in very few cases. Ocular manifestations in atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome include retinal, choroidal and vitreal hemorrhages, retina and/or ischemic signs. Bilateral serous retinal detachment may also be a sign of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome or even the first manifestation of a hypertensive event.


Since 2011 and the extraordinary events of the Arab Spring we have it seems entered a new phase of protest, revolt and rebellion (Castells 2012; Mason 2013). There will be debates about the degree to which the date itself is significant in terms of providing a marker for developments that have their origin in deep lying phenomena. However there seems to be a degree of consensus amongst interested commentators that the events around the Arab Spring resonated with sufficient force to provoke a ripple effect in terms of sparking rebellions, protests and insurrections across the world. The symbolic occupation of space associated with Tahrir Square quickly became emblematic of a kind of citizen activism then witnessed in Spain, in Occupy Wall Street, in the 'Pots and Pans Protests' in Iceland, and more recently in public occupations and protests in Turkey, Bulgaria, Thailand, Brazil and many other locations besides.


Background: We have previously confirmed a clear decline in headache prevalence with increasing age. This parallels the pattern in other painful conditions but the age-related decline in prevalence is greater for headache. Objective: To investigate whether the decline in headache prevalence with age was associated with the elimination of work-related factors, increases in other health problems or concomitant use of pain-relieving medicines. We discuss these and other possible explanations from the literature. Methods: Cross-sectional postal survey to a random sample of 5,000 adults with follow-up by (i) consultations with general practitioners and prescriptions issued during the 12 months subsequent to the survey and (ii) a follow-up postal survey at 12 months. Results: Headache prevalence was similar in working and retired respondents within age strata. Headache sufferers were more likely to consult their general practitioner for any reason (excluding headache) compared with non-sufferers and this was true for each age group. Headache sufferers were also more likely to be frequent consulters compared with non-sufferers in all except the oldest age group (age 66 years and over) where there was no difference. There was a clear increase in prescriptions for analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs issued with increasing age. There was no difference in the percentage of daily medication users among headache sufferers compared with non-sufferers. Conclusion: Neither retirement from work nor the presence of other health problems account for the decline in headache prevalence with age. Whilst the data on concomitant use of pain-relieving medicines suggest this is also not a major factor in the age-related decline, the high use of such medicines in older age groups means we cannot rule out a link. Evidence from the literature suggests that there may be a number of age-related factors involved including changes in reporting of headache, biochemical changes, and the development of strategies to prevent and manage headaches.


Current climate and atmospheric chemistry models assume that all sea spray particles react as if they are pure NaCl. However, recent studies of sea spray aerosol particles have shown that distinct particle types exist (including sea salt, organic carbon, and biological particles) as well as mixtures of these and, within each particle type, there is a range of single-particle chemical compositions. Because of these differences, individual particles should display a range of reactivities with trace atmospheric gases. Herein, to address this, we study the composition of individual sea spray aerosol particles after heterogeneous reaction with nitric acid. As expected, a replacement reaction of chloride with nitrate is observed; however, there is a large range of reactivities spanning from no reaction to complete reaction between and within individual sea spray aerosol particles. These data clearly support the need for laboratory studies of individual, environmentally relevant particles to improve our fundamental understanding as to the properties that determine reactivity.


Summary

We have investigated the diversity for composition in seven eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars of the Occidental type. The results show that, with the exception of moisture content and pH, there is a wide diversity for all the analysed traits. Protein content was variable, but generally low. The content in available carbohydrates ranged between 2.99 and 4.19 mg 100 g−1, and the main soluble sugars were glucose and fructose. The fibre content was the most variable trait. In all cases, the dehydroascorbic acid content was higher than the ascorbic acid content. Total phenolics content was on average thirty-nine-fold higher than vitamin C content. Multivariate analysis showed that accessions from the black and striped groups presented a similar composition profile, while the white and pickling fruits were very distinct. The pickling eggplant H11 is identified as the best source for improving the nutritional and functional properties of Occidental eggplants.


The Standard Model (SM) is a successful approach to particle physics calculations. However, there are indications that the SM is only a good approximation to an underlying non-local reality involving fundamental entities (preons) that are not point particles. Furthermore, our universe seems to be dominated by a vacuum energy/cosmological constant. The holographic principle then indicates only a finite number of bits of information will ever be available to describe the observable universe, and that requires a holographic preon model linking the (0,1) holographic bits to SM particles. All SM particles have charges 0, 1/3, 2/3 or 1 in units of the electron charge, so the bits in a holographic preon model must be identified with fractional electric charge. Such holographic charged preon models require baryon asymmetry and also suggest a mechanism for stationary action. This paper outlines a holographic charged preon model where preons are strands with finite energy density specified by bits of information identifying the charge on each end. In the model, SM particles consist of three strands with spin states corresponding to wrapped states of the strands. SM particles in this wrapped preon model can be approximated by preon bound states in non-local dynamics based on three-preon Bethe-Salpeter equations with instantaneous three-preon interactions. The model can be falsified by data from the Large Hadron Collider because it generates baryon asymmetry without axions, and does not allow more than three generations of SM fermions.


This paper is concerned with the state estimation problem of discrete-time Markov jump linear systems where the noises influencing the systems are assumed to be arbitrarily correlated Gaussian noises. As a result, two algorithms are proposed. The first algorithm is an optimal algorithm of state estimate in the sense of minimum mean-square error estimate, which can exactly compute the minimum mean-square error estimate of systems state given an observation sequence. The second algorithm is a suboptimal algorithm which is proposed to reduce the computation and storage load of the proposed optimal algorithm. A numerical example is given to evaluate the performance of the proposed suboptimal algorithm.


Transportation systems are critical to regional economies and quality of life. The Random-Utility- Based Multiregional Input-Output Model (RUBMRIO) for trade and travel choices is used here to appreciate the distributed nature of commodity flow patterns across the United States' 3,109 contiguous counties and 12 industry sectors, for rail and truck operations. This paper demonstrates the model's sensitivity to various inputs using the method of local sensitivity analysis with interactions (LSAI). This work simulates both individual effects as well as interaction effects of model inputs on outputs by providing sensitivity indices of model outputs to variations of inputs under two scenarios. Model outputs include predictions of domestic and export trade flows, value of goods produced, labor expenditures, and household and industry consumption levels across the counties in the United States. The LSAI technique allows transportation system operators to appreciate the roles of any model input and the associated uncertainty of outputs.


OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of nano-Se-chondroitin sulfate on the growth and apoptosis of chondrocytes from patients with Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) exposed to T-2 toxin in vitro.

METHODS
Samples of the articular cartilage were obtained from 6 patients with grade II/III KBD diagnosed in line with the National Clinical Diagnostic Criteria of KBD (WS/T 207-2010) for chondrocyte separation and culture in vitro. The separated chondrocytes were treated with synthesized nano-Se-chondroitin sulfate particles and T-2 toxin, alone or in combination, and the cell growth and apoptosis were observed using MTT assay, HE staining and flow cytometry.

RESULTS
The synthesized nano-Se-chondroitin sulfate, with a selenium entrapment ratio of 10.1%, spontaneously formed nanoparticles in distilled water with sizes ranging from 30 to 200 nm. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy suggested a possible covalent bond that bound Nano-Se and chondroitin sulfate. Within the concentration range of 50-200 ng/ml, nano-Se-chondroitin sulfate significantly inhibited T-2 toxin-induced apoptosis of the cultured chondrocytes and reduced the early apoptosis rate to (8.64∓1.57)% (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Nano-Se-chondroitin sulfate can inhibit T-2 toxin-induced apoptosis of cultured chondrocytes from KBD patients in vitro, and serves as a promising candidate therapeutic agent for KBD.


DOI: 10.5152/IstanbulJPharm.2018.416835 In this study, a reversed-phase, high pressure liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was applied in the quantitative analysis of lycorine in the aerial parts and bulbs of Galanthus alpinus Sosn. var. alpinus collected from Rize during the flowering and fruiting seasons. A simple method to extract lycorine from the  plant specimens was performed, using pre-packed columns with diatomaceous earth (Extrelut®). The chromatographic separation was achieved employing an isocratic system with a mobile phase including trifluoroacetic acid-water-acetonitrile (0.01:95:5) measured at a flow rate of 1 mL/min using a diode array detector (DAD). The lycorine content in the bulbs during the flowering and fruiting seasons was detected as 0.01576 and 0.02351 %, respectively. Also, validation studies showed that the method was specific, accurate and precise.


Thyrinteina arnobia, is one of the most important defoliating caterpillars of Eucalyptus in Brazil The objective of this work was to evaluate the development and the reproduction of feeding on leaves of guava (Psidium guajava) or Eucalyptus grandis in the 15th generation, after rearing this species for 14 genrations on guava leaves. T. arnobia showed shorter larval period, better viability of caterpillars and pupae, heavier pupae, higher number of eggs per female, better egg viability and shorter longevity of females in guava leaves than in Eucalyptus leaves. The better development and reproduction with P. guajava showed that this insect could be reared in laboratory with guava leaves.


Natural products are an important and cost-effective source for screening antimicrobial agents. Here, we identified one compound, shikimic acid, from Illicium verum extract, exhibiting antimicrobial activity against S. mutans proliferation. It also inhibits biofilm formation of this bacteria through decreasing Gtf expression and EPS synthesis. Furthermore, this compound exhibits no significant cytotoxicity at its MIC against S. mutans, providing evidence for its clinical application. ABSTRACT Streptococcus mutans is known as an important oral pathogen causing dental caries, a widespread oral infectious disease. S. mutans synthesize exopolysaccharide (EPS) using glucosyltransferases (Gtfs), resulting in biofilm formation on the tooth surface. Bacterial cells in the biofilms become strongly resistant to a harsh environment, such as antibiotics and host defense mechanisms, making biofilm-based infections difficult to eliminate. Discovering novel antibiofilm agents, especially from natural products, helps to develop effective strategies against this kind of diseases. The present study investigated the inhibitory effect of shikimic acid (SA), one abundant compound derived from Illicium verum extract, on the biofilm formation of S. mutans. We found SA can reduce the EPS synthesized by this oral pathogen and modulate the transcription of biofilm formation related genes, leading to fewer bacterial cells in its biofilm. SA also interacted with cell membrane and membrane proteins, causing damage to bacterial cells. Ex vivo testing of biofilm formation on bovine teeth showed SA strongly decreased the number of S. mutans cells and the number of EPS accumulated on dental enamel surfaces. Moreover, SA exhibits almost no toxicity to human oral cells evaluated by in vitro biocompatibility assay. In conclusion, shikimic acid exhibits remarkable antibiofilm activity against S. mutans and has the potential to be further developed as a novel anticaries agent. IMPORTANCE Natural products are an important and cost-effective source for screening antimicrobial agents. Here, we identified one compound, shikimic acid, from Illicium verum extract, exhibiting antimicrobial activity against S. mutans proliferation. It also inhibits biofilm formation of this bacteria through decreasing Gtf expression and EPS synthesis. Furthermore, this compound exhibits no significant cytotoxicity at its MIC against S. mutans, providing evidence for its clinical application.


In rubber materials, both natural rubber and synthetic rubber, several different contact allergenic chemicals are added to the batch before vulcanization. These compounds are relevant for investigation of rubber allergy of workers in rubber factories. The number of workers in the rubber industry has declined, owing to increased automation of the process; however, the number of users of rubber products, such as rubber gloves, is increasing. Furthermore, users of finished rubber products are exposed to allergens other than those affecting workers in rubber factories because of chemical reactions during vulcanization between different additives, altering their structures. Our experience with thiuram mono- and disulfides is that during vulcanization, monosulfides are formed from disulfides. We have also seen that in rubber vulcanized with both thiurams and mercaptobenzothiazole compounds, chemicals are formed that contain both thiocarbamate and a mercaptobenzothiazole structure. Two examples of this are dimethylthiocarbamylbenzothiazole sulfide (DMTBS) and diethylthiocarbamylbenzothiazole sulfide (DETBS). The latter is a commercial accelerator with the name Ethylac. In an earlier study in which we patch tested 24 volunteers with a known allergy to thiuram mix and/or mercapto mix, we observed positive reactions to DMTBS (1% petrolatum) and/or DETBS (1% petrolatum) in 20 subjects. So far we have seen positive reactions to either DMTBS or DETBS in two patients who were investigated because of their dermatitis related to the rubber in their swimming goggles. Chemical analysis of the swimming goggles showed them to contain DMTBS and DETBS, respectively. Furthermore, several patients in the Netherlands and Belgium with allergy to their shoes were found to be allergic to DMTBS. Chemical analysis of these shoes has been performed and DMTBS was identified in the rubber lining. The allergy to DMTBS is an example of how a powerful allergen can be formed during vulcanization as a result of chemical reactions between well-known haptens. It also illustrates that chemical investigations of patients' rubber items can uncover the presence of allergens that were not added during manufacturing and therefore never show up in declarations from the producers. (Less)


Although recent studies indicate the impact of microbes on the central nervous systems and behavior, it remains unclear how the relationship between the functionality of the nervous system, behavior and the microbiota arise. We studied the eating behavior of Hydra, a host that has a simple nervous system and a low-complexity microbiota. To identify the neuronal subpopulations involved, we used a subpopulation specific cell ablation system and calcium imaging. The role of the microbiota was uncovered by reducing the diversity of the natural microbiota. Here, we demonstrate that different neuronal subpopulations are functioning together to control the eating behavior. The microbiota participates in control of the eating behavior since germ-free or mono-colonized animals have drastic difficulties in mouth opening. This was restored by adding a full complement of the microbiota. In summary, we provide a mechanistic explanation of how the eating behavior is controlled in Hydra and how microbes can affect the neuronal circuit. Highlights - Multiple neuronal modules and their networks control complex behavior in an animal lacking a central nervous system. - Its associated microbes participate in these neuronal circuits and influence the eating behavior. - Disorganization of the microbiota negatively impacts this eating behavior. - Glutamate participates in an evolutionary ancient interkingdom language.


What are informal political institutions? How different colonial institutions differently impact long-term economic and political development in former European colonies? What is the role of informal political institutions in the political stability of democratic and authoritarian regimes in post-colonial Africa? What is the dialectical relationship between formal state institutions and informal institutions of personal rule, ethnic clientelism and patronage? How informal institutions affect the public sphere, democratization and civil society?


Any trust situation involves a certain amount of risk for trustors that trustees could abuse. In some cases, intermediaries exist who play a crucial role in the exchange by providing reputational information. To examine under what conditions intermediary opinion could have a positive impact on cooperation, we designed two experiments based on a modified version of the investment game where intermediaries rated the behaviour of trustees under various incentive schemes and different role structures. We found that intermediaries can increase trust if there is room for indirect reciprocity between the involved parties. We also found that the effect of monetary incentives and social norms cannot be clearly separable in these situations. If properly designed, monetary incentives for intermediaries can have a positive effect. On the one hand, when intermediary rewards are aligned with the trustor's interest, investments and returns tend to increase. On the other hand, fixed monetary incentives perform less than any other incentive schemes and endogenous social norms in ensuring trust and fairness. These findings should make us reconsider the mantra of incentivization of social and public conventional policy.


Cellular dependent Machine-to-Machine (M2M) infrastructure is one of the key internet of things (IoT) empowering advances with immense market potential for cell specialist organizations sending 4G long term evolution (LTE) systems. The motivation for this paper is to investigate whether current commercial 4G LTE systems can possibly bolster a portion of the evolving strategic IoT applications. To accomplish this goal, we propose and devise a basic hybrid LTE uplink (UL) scheduling algorithm that uses a common LTE's dynamic scheduling for supporting human to human (H2H) applications just as M2M applications and SemiPersistent Scheduling (SPS) for strategic IoT services that consistently require steady radio resources sharing regularly. The simulation results show that present public 4G LTE networks can possibly sufficiently bolster a portion of the developing strategic smart grid applications including Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs), with a constraint latency as low as 20 ms and extraordinary reliability.


One of the policy mechanisms aimed at improving population health through health care delivery is the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) as outlined in the Affordable Care Act. Although numerous procedural and behavioral interventions have been implemented, the empirical evidence of the efficacy of these interventions is mixed and specific to certain patient segments. This review aimed to systematically assess studies of hospital interventions to reduce 30-day readmissions for specific diseases and populations. Following the PRISMA review checklist, searches were conducted from January 2000 to August 2018 in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases using terms such as "patient readmission", "readmit" and "re-hospitalization" in conjunction with disease terms such as "asthma", "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)" and "pneumonia". Of 3,806 articles identified, 45 were included after a 3-step inclusion process. The age group most frequently considered among the studies was the 65 age cohort. Multidisciplinary collaborative interventions were most frequently effective for the subset of elderly, female, Caucasian, and heart failure patients. Interventions involving patient or family education delivered before and after care were most effective for racial minority, elderly, COPD, and heart failure patients. Telephone follow-up, tele-homecare, and medication reconciliation were largely found to be successful in reducing readmissions. Major gaps exist in identifying successful interventions for reducing 30-day readmissions among patients who sought treatment for sepsis, stroke, and replacement of the hip or knee. Our findings indicate an opportunity for researchers to further study, and for healthcare organizations to implement, more well-informed interventional strategies to reduce readmissions.


Osteoporotic fractures became the most important cause of disability and an increasing burden to the public health costs in Italy and in many regions of the world. Health professionals play a central role in identifying people at high risk of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. However it is important to have available methods that allow to identify patients showing high risk of fragility fractures, with lower costs and high sensitivity than those currently adopted, e.g. Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). The computer-based algorithm (FRAX®) developed by WHO shows some barriers in primary care, for instance the difficulty to access this tool by General Practitioners (since it is not available in their DATABASE). Moreover, since the incidence of fracture and the prevalence of associated risk factors change over time, risk prediction algorithms need to be dynamic, so that they can be remodelled over time. In Italy, the Health Search - CSD Longitudinal Patients Database (HSD) could potentially provide the data needed to support the development and validation of an applicable prediction tool in primary care. In this framework we aim to develop and validate a prognostic score for osteoporotic fractures in Italian General Practice and to establish a risk map.