X-ray dark-field measured on laboratory sources with large focal spots and detector apertures is sensitive to intra-pixel phase gradients abundant in the lungs due to its hierarchical structure of subdividing airways terminating in thin-walled alveoli. This work leverages this sensitivity to exploit complementary information from x-ray dark-field and attenuation computed tomography (CT) images to improve quantification of morphology in pulmonary fibrosis. Specifically, a darkfield enhanced attenuation technique is developed to restore edges and small features in the attenuation image lost to blurring by appropriately scaling and subtracting the dark-field image. An intratracheally treated bleomycin mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis was used to evaluate the impact of the proposed dark-field enhanced attenuation technique on quantifying fibrosis extent. The mouse model was fixated ex vivo to be imaged with a Talbot-Lau grating interferometer micro-CT to generate x-ray dark field and attenuation volumes of 60 µm voxels. Then the specimen was imaged with a reference micro-CT scanner at 5 μm voxel resolution to get a ground truth approximation of local structure. The volumes were co-registered for visual and pixelwise comparisons. Qualitative image comparisons were used to assess visual sharpness while Bland-Altman plots were used to assess agreement with the reference scan at quantifying fibrosis in terms of tissue area fraction measured in 80 randomly sampled nonoverlapping 2 mm square patches. Visual comparisons demonstrated enhanced sharpness and retention of small lung structures while BlandAltman analysis revealed an improved agreement ratio of 0.544 compared to 0.374 in the original attenuation image with a reduction in variance. These results demonstrate that dark-field and attenuation images can be used together to improve resolution of small structures and aid in quantification of pulmonary fibrosis in a mouse model.


Abstract In 2018 a teacher in a Montessori school captured on camera two children in her special education classroom using a touchscreen tablet to interact. To her it was significant: these pre-verbal children had found a way to independently share aspects of their lives. In 1965 a Nigerian mother commented that volunteering on a care rota in a playgroup in a housing estate in west London gave her the confidence to greet her neighbours when she saw them on the street. To Ilys Booker, the community development worker assigned to the area, this was also a marker of significant change and an indication of success. Using these two instances as starting points, this article explores the links between play/space/city and literacy/civic/citizenship by drawing together two case studies: Notting Dale, London, 1964–1969 and River Montessori School, Australia, 2018. In both case studies, the institutional concern is over how the target groups are educated to become literate as citizens, with a focus on exhibited values and virtues. Working from a historical perspective this paper asks: what are the historical conditions which determine our current understandings of participatory culture? How do these enable and/or limit the possibilities of Open Literacy? How do communities form in a liberal democracy and what roles do institutions play?


This study used hydrodynamic modeling to investigate the hydrodynamic circulation and pollutant transport of the Guajara Bay-PA. The hydrodynamic modeling was performed using the classical Saint-Venant model for shallow waters. The pollutant dispersion was described using a Lagrangian deterministic model that simulates advective–diffusive transport with kinetic reactions for two-dimensional flow. The finites elements method was used to solve the Saint-Venant and transport equations. The bathymetry data were obtained by combining the data from nautical charts provided by the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation of the Brazilian Navy. The substrate grain size data for the determination of rugosity were obtained from literature. Data on the tides, the wind and the flowrate of the rivers that form the Guajara bay were used as the boundary conditions in the simulation of the hydrodynamic circulation and the pollutant dispersion scenarios. Flood and ebb tide patterns were simulated, which enabled the contaminant plumes of the Guajara Bay to be simulated. An analysis of the simulated fecal coliform plumes indicated that these pollutants that are produced in the metropolitan region of Belem flow towards the beaches in the North, especially those in the Icoaraci and Outeiro districts, affecting the bathing water quality.


The present study is concerned with the use of everyday concepts in ordinary discourse. Concepts have largely been a concern in philosophy, logic, psychology, and psycholinguistics. Scholars from these disciplines have tended to treat concepts merely as theoretical objects and explanatory resources; for example, they have usually been concerned with how concepts affect people's experience, behavior, or whatever. But scarce attention has been paid to concepts as people's own concern, that is, as the object of their definition, argumentation, and manipulation and as a means to achieve practical social ends. The present investigation then will take a discursive perspective on the latter sort of concept and attempt to understand how everyday concepts are discursively constructed in sociocultural context. In conclusion, issues about how concepts in human (discursive) interaction should be conceptualized are discussed.


M5076, a tumorigenic murine macrophage cell line, demonstrates diverse proliferative responses to a panel of protein kinase C activators. Thus, the tumor-promoting phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and mezerein potently inhibit cellular proliferation (by greater than 90%), whereas the diacylglycerol analogue 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol markedly stimulates proliferation of serum-starved, quiescent M5076 cells. Another DG analogue, 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol, has no effect on growth. However, all of these agents induce expression of c-fos oncogene mRNA levels to a similar magnitude and activate protein kinase C as determined by Mr 80,000 phosphorylation. Levels of c-fos protein induced by these treatments were markedly different with the antiproliferative agents producing greater c-fos protein levels.


The hyper-constrained nucleoside, methylene-bridged hexopyranosyl nucleoside (BHNA) was incorporated into the antisnese oligonucleotides (AON), which show more preference for binding toward the complementary RNA (Tm loss by ca 5°C) than that with the complementary DNA (Tm loss by 10°C), vis-a-vis corresponding native duplex. The origin of reduction of Tm of the duplexes formed by the BHNA incorporated AON and the complementary RNA or DNA was further investigated by thermal denaturation study with the single-mismatched DNA or RNA, CD spectroscopy, RNase H digestion study, as well as by molecular model building. These studies showed that the introduction of BHNA causes only a limited local conformational perturbation in the AON/RNA heteroduplex, whereas it affects the global conformation in the AON-DNA duplex. BHNA incorporated AONs also show improved stability in the human blood serum, which may prove to have some potential therapeutic application.


Bipolar plates made from graphite are highly desirable in fuel cell applications due to the properties of high electrical conductivity, low weight and resistance to corrosion that graphite possesses. However, the poor mechanical properties of natural graphite lead to prohibitive machining costs. Graphite parts are made by indirect SLS using graphite powder mixed with a phenolic resin binder which is subsequently burnt out. These parts fabricated using indirect SLS have poor green strength and electrical conductivity. The current work deals with the addition of carbon fiber to the graphite-phenolic mixture with an aim to improve green part strength and brown part conductivity. This research work also addresses fabrication of graphite bipolar plates for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs) with internal features and flow channels with different cross-sectional geometry that are difficult to produce using conventional machining processes.


The principles of three independent extraction methods were utilized to develop an integrated extraction scheme for use in routine therapeutic monitoring of seven antiepileptic agents. The final method, in which the three extraction methods were interfaced, permitted routine monitoring in a single 1 ml volume of human plasma of any one or combination of the following drugs: phenytoin (PHT), phenobarbital (PB), primidone (PD), 5-ethyl-5-phenylhydantoin (EPH), ethosuximide (ES), carbamazepine (CBZ), and valproic acid (VPA). An on-column methylation technique was used for simultaneous determination of PHT, PB, PD, EPH, and ES. CBZ and VPA were determined by independent methods as the underivatized compounds. Six appropriate internal standards were employed in the integrated method for quantitation of the drugs.


This review describes clinical characteristics, mode of inheritance, and molecular genetic testing for the following monogenic kidney diseases: polycystic kidney disease, Alport syndrome, autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease, and nephronophthisis. The same is described for steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome, kidney stones and congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract, which in some cases have a monogenic cause. Knowledge of possibilities within molecular genetic testing may help more kidney disease patients to receive a specific diagnosis.


Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most urgent problems in modern oncourology. Every year the world is recording more than 900 thousands new cases of prostate cancer. For this reason, the diagnosis and treatment of this disease has recently been given more attention, both abroad and in the Russian Federation. Despite improvements in diagnostic methods and implementation of programs for active detection of the disease in its early stages, the number of patients suffering from advanced forms of prostate cancer remains high. Currently, the main method of treatment in patients with metastatic prostate cancer remains the hormone therapy (HT). Patients with metastatic prostate cancer most frequently have localization of metastatic lesions in the lymph nodes and bones. Frequent localization of metastatic lesions in the bones is due to tumor cell tropism of prostate cancer to the bone. Metastatic bone disease, as well as long-term HT conducted in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, leads to irreversible disruption of bone remodeling, which may be accompanied by osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Bone metastases in patients with PC are the most common cause of complications and significantly impair the quality of life of patients. Therapy underlying the prevention of bone complications can be specific, aimed directly at the tumor tissue and non-specific, to strengthen bones and decrease its resorption processes. The article provides an overview of the literature covering the effectiveness of modern drugs, aimed at non-specific prevention of bone complications in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, such as bisphosphonates, and inhibitors of the ligand RANKL, as well as an overview of studies to assess the effectiveness of domestic analogue zolendronovoy acid preparation Resorba in the prevention of osteoporosis. Ключевые слова: кастрационно-рефрактерный рак предстательной железы, костные осложнения, бисфосфонаты, «Резорба», профилактика.


Daidzein compounds dynamic and the effect of yam tuber (Pachyrhizus erosus (L)) Urb on myometrium rats model of estrogenic were investigated. Twenty four of 5 months-old female Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups as followed, control, Daidzein administraton and yam tuber juice administration for 24 days. The administration of yam tuber juice were given by orally using a stomach with gavage tube in the morning. Every 8 h, the rats blood and urine were collected from tail until 24 h. The treatment were continued until 24 days. The result showed that the level of daidzein in blood and urine of rats that administratered by Yam tuber juice is lower than pure daidzein treatment rats every 8 until 24 hours of collection. The results demonstrated that the administration of yam tuber juice significantly myometrium proliferated in rats. It is assumed that genistein and quercetin is estrogenic as found in daidzein so that the miometrium is potentially more effecctive. This study suggest that phytoestrogen compound from Pachyrhizus erosus may offer a potential as natural estrogenic in women.


Hydroxylamine-derived reagents have enabled versatile nitrene transfer reactions for introducing nitrogen-containing functionalities in small-molecule catalysis, as well as biocatalysis. These reagents, however, result in a poor atom economy and stoichiometric organic waste. Activating hydroxylamine (NH2OH) for nitrene transfer offers a low-cost and sustainable route to amine synthesis, since water is the sole byproduct. Despite its presence in nature, hydroxylamine is not known to be used for enzymatic nitrogen incorporation in biosynthesis. Here, we report an engineered heme enzyme that can utilize hydroxylammonium chloride, an inexpensive commodity chemical, for nitrene transfer. Directed evolution of Pyrobaculum arsenaticum protoglobin generated efficient enzymes for benzylic C-H primary amination and styrene aminohydroxylation. Mechanistic studies supported a stepwise radical pathway involving rate-limiting hydrogen atom transfer. This unprecedented activity is a useful addition to the "nitrene transferase" repertoire and hints at possible future discovery of natural enzymes that use hydroxylamine for amination chemistry.


In this paper, we describe our autonomous vision-based quadrotor MAV system which maps and explores unknown environments. All algorithms necessary for autonomous mapping and exploration run on-board the MAV. Using a front-looking stereo camera as the main exteroceptive sensor, our quadrotor achieves these capabilities with both the Vector Field Histogram+ (VFH+) algorithm for local navigation, and the frontier-based exploration algorithm. In addition, we implement the Bug algorithm for autonomous wall-following which could optionally be selected as the substitute exploration algorithm in sparse environments where the frontier-based exploration under-performs. We incrementally build a 3D global occupancy map on-board the MAV. The map is used by the VFH+ and frontier-based exploration in dense environments, and the Bug algorithm for wall-following in sparse environments. During the exploration phase, images from the front-looking camera are transmitted over Wi-Fi to the ground station. These images are input to a large-scale visual SLAM process running off-board on the ground station. SLAM is carried out with pose-graph optimization and loop closure detection using a vocabulary tree. We improve the robustness of the pose estimation by fusing optical flow and visual odometry. Optical flow data is provided by a customized downward-looking camera integrated with a microcontroller while visual odometry measurements are derived from the front-looking stereo camera. We verify our approaches with experimental results.


We calculate total cross sections for coherent pion production using localized plane-wave approximations for the shell-structure of valence nucleons that are excited to delta particles in the intermediate state in the (12C, 12B) and (12C, 12N) charge-exchange, heavy-ion reactions. We find comparable agreement to projectile downshift data for 12C(12C, 12B)12N. Then we improve the formalism by replacing the localized plane wave bound states with harmonic oscillator states which are imbedded in a multipole expansion approach and calculate pion differential cross sections to test for the sensitivity of the spectra to the single-particle mass parameter.


To the Editor: We read with great interest the systematic review and meta-analysis of reoperation for failed macular hole surgery or reopening of a previously closed macular hole by Reid et al.1 The authors cited literature stating that an increased duration between reoperations may contribute to a poorer visual acuity and anatomic end points.2 However, they also noted a great disparity in the surgical techniques from study to study. This factor, in addition to the small sample sizes in each study, makes it difficult to reach meaningful conclusions on the timing of reoperation. The success of surgery for vitreo-maculopathies such as a macular pucker and macular holes increases with more extensive peeling procedures, often with the aid of intraoperative tissue staining, called chromodissection.3 The multilaminar structure of the inner limiting membrane of the retina4 likely explains why this is generally a safe procedure, insofar as most membrane peeling only removes the innermost layers of the inner limiting membrane, leaving the outermost layers intact to protect the inner segments of Müller cells and the nerve fiber layer. However, more extensive chromodissection, such as occurring in reoperations, can theoretically injure the inner retina. We performed a study looking at the functional outcomes of repeat surgery for a macular pucker and/ or macular hole with specific consideration of the timing of reoperation.5 In this histopathologic case series, we found that reoperations within a six-month window resulted in worse visual acuity outcomes. These cases had a large central scotoma on visual field testing, thinner retina by optical coherence tomography measurement, and positive staining for neurofilaments in the surgically excised tissue specimens. This marker for inner retinal tissue provided histopathological evidence that corroborated the clinical observations, leading to the conclusion that these cases constituted an inner retinal optic neuropathy (IRON), which might be avoided by delaying reoperation5 These findings in humans are consistent with the studies of Nakamura et al6 in a chimpanzee model of membrane peel surgery, histologically examining the retinal interface at progressive postoperative time points. Their study found that Müller cell footplate reformation over a bare retinal nerve fiber layer occurred at the sixmonth time point. We thus believe that there is an anatomic basis for improved outcomes after reoperations by waiting between surgeries and allowing the retinal surface to reform a protective layer before undertaking repeat vitrectomy peeling procedures.


Fuzzy rules are important elements that being highlighted in any fuzzy expert system.This research proposes the framework of subjective
performance evaluation using fuzzy technique for ranking the performance of the financial performance of a company under a multi criteria environment.There are a lot of techniques used such as fuzzy similarity function, fuzzy synthetic decision and satisfaction function have been adopted.The framework is based on fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making that consists of fuzzy rules.The use of fuzzy rules, which were
extracted directly from input data through Weighted Subsethood-based (WSBA) Rule Generation Algorithm.WSBA rule generation use the subsethood values to generate the weights which finally produced the fuzzy general rules.The rules generated through the data provided knowledge in developed fuzzy rule The fuzzy rules embedded in the framework
of subjective evaluation method showed advantages in generalizing the evaluation of the performance achievement, where the evaluation process can be conducted consistently in producing good evaluation results with the use of the membership set score.The results from the numerical examples
are comparable to other fuzzy evaluation methods, even with the use of small rule size.


The adhesion or welding mechanism of an Ag-60Pd alloy during extremely short arcs on closure is investigated. The effect of oxygen on the adhesion is also examined under nonarcing conditions in an ultrahigh vacuum. The adhesion force and contact resistance are simultaneously measured under the conditions of a 10-g contact force, l-min contact duration, and 30-s contact interval. An Ag-60Pd alloy as well as Ag and Pd-Si alloy electrodes, whose surfaces are cleaned by Ar ion bombardment, are discharged by an R-C circuit in various atmospheres. It has been found that neither anode nor cathode arcs adhered the Ag-60Pd alloy over the voltage range of 50-400 V, which corresponded to arc energies of 300-10 000 ergs. The main cause of increase in adhesion is due to the surface cleaning effect of the short arc. The reason why adhesion in air is prevented by a cathode arc is considered to be due to surface oxidation because of the arc extinction before physical closure of the contacts.


The technique of enamel microabrasion is considered an aesthetic alternative conservative and effective for stain removal or surface irregularities of the enamel and different materials or pastes can be used for this purpose  Objetives :  The objective of this study was to compare the efficiency of the technique of enamel microabrasion using two different pastes at removing hypoplastic stains by fluorosis. Methods:  The female patient, 18 years, was submitted to enamel microabrasion, and in the right half of the maxilla was manipulated in the proportion of 1:1 by volume a paste of pumice (SSWhite) and 37% phosphoric acid (Etch Alpha, DFL), and in the left half of the maxilla used paste based on hydrochloric acid and 6.6% silicon carbide (Micropol, DMC Equipment Ltd.). In both hemi-arches was performed the same clinical protocol and repeated three times, by the application of 1.0 mm thickness of paste and realized the enamel microabrasion through mechanical friction with rubber cup at low speed for 10 seconds. Then, the teeth were polished with felt disc and diamond paste, and topical fluoride APF 1.23% for 3 minutes was applied. Results: The clinical outcome was similar for both hemi-arches, regardless of the used technique. The success in removing stains on tooth enamel is directly related to a correct diagnosis and accurate indication of microabrasion technique. Conclusions:  It can be concluded that the two pastes used in the enamel microabrasion were effective for removing intrinsic stains from fluorosis, with similar results and with the re-establishment of aesthetics of the teeth involved.


GW506U78 or nelarabine (Glaxo-SmithKline) is a nucleoside analog that is rapidly converted by cells of lymphoid lineage to its corresponding arabinosylguanine nucleotide triphosphate (araGTP). The triphosphate form of araG acts as a substrate for DNA polymerases and araG gets incorporated into the DNA, resulting in inhibition of DNA synthesis and subsequent cytotoxicity. It has been shown that nelarabine has activity as a single agent in patients with T-cell malignancies that have relapsed or are refractory to other therapy. The ongoing research on nelarabine has earned fast-track status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma who have not responded to or whose disease has progressed during treatment with at least two standard regimens. It is likely that nelarabine will be a useful drug in the treatment of leukemic diseases in the future and therefore nelarabine is an interesting drug to study further. Here we present an overview of what is known about the mechanism of action of nelarabine and its status in clinical trials.


This study focused on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that is characterized by the lack of expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). The primary goal of this study was to describe the relation between triple-negative receptor status and survival. This is the first study about triple-negative breast cancer in our community of the 1541 patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2007 at the Cancer Institute (Tehran, Iran). 107 patients were identified as TNBC and 107 patients were randomly selected as non-TNB. HER-2, ER and PR status were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Analyses of their collected data were performed retrospectively and then clinical and pathologic parameters were compared between two groups. In multivariate analysis, a significantly decreased overall survival was observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (55.7 months versus 60.7 mounts; 95%CI: 51.1-60.3 and 57.9-63.5 for TNBC and non-TNBC respectively, P=0.0008). The 2- and 5-year estimates for overall survival were 69.8% and 62.3% for TNBC, and 90% and 83% for non-TNBC, respectively. During the study period, 36 (33.6%) patient of TNBC and 14 (13.1%) of non-TNBC presented local recurrence. Significantly decreased disease-free survival was also observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (P=0.0004). The 2- and 5-year estimates for disease-free survival were 68% and 63% for TNBC; and 89% and 82% for non-TNBC, respectively. Significantly decreased distant metastasis free survival was also observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (54.4 mounts versus 61.7 mounts; 95%CI: 49.8-59.0 and 59.1-64.4 for TNBC and non-TNBC respectively, P=0.0004). Triple negative breast cancer has a biologic aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. Therefore aggressive treatment and regular follow-up in early stage of diagnosis can be a significant impact on their prognosis.


In recent years, researchers have shown a higher interest in gifted individuals, children, teen agers, and even adults. These individuals share many common characteristics such as being highly sensitive, using abstract and complex thinking, enjoying solving problems involving numbers and puzzles, and having a developed sense of idealism and justice at an early age. These are just a few characteristics mentioned in the literature. In the language classroom, teachers can design materials tailored to the needs of these students. In this paper, teachers will be acquainted with various integrated language  activities which require the gifted students to use their: Excellent memory Unusually large vocabulary and complex sentence structure Advanced comprehension of abstract ideas Concern with social and political issues and injustices Because gifted learners have a vivid imagination and a highly developed curiosity, these integrated activities can help them enjoy more their English language classrooms in addition to developing their communication and leadership skills. DOI = 10.24897/acn.64.68.106


Nowadays, many applications, such as consumer electronics, the automotive industry, and telecoms require high power density and low height power electronics converters. To implement slim power converters, Planar Transformers (PT) have emerged, featuring low height, low leakage inductance, and low thermal resistance. Despite these benefits, PTs have large parasitic capacitance, which degrades the performance of power converters. Capacitive effects in transformers are divided into two groups: inter-winding and intra-winding capacitance. Inter-winding capacitance generates large amounts of Common-Mode (CM) noise, creating serious Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) problems. Intra-winding capacitance affects the performance of the converter and can cause loss of voltage regulation in the LLC resonant converter. The inter-winding capacitance can be reduced by separating primary and secondary windings, at the cost of increased leakage inductance and AC resistance. On the other hand, interleaved structures minimize AC resistance and leakage inductance but significantly increase the inter-winding capacitance. Therefore, there is an unfortunate trade-off in the transformer design. In order to resolve this trade-off as well as problems resulting from PTs large parasitic capacitance, this dissertation develops new design methods that target the root cause of the problem. A detailed parasitic capacitance model is developed for PTs that relate the distributed capacitance of layers to the equivalent circuit of the transformer. Based on this model, the concept of paired layers is introduced that provides criteria to achieve zero CM noise generation in PTs. Paired layers can be used to design interleaved structures that not only have low AC resistance and leakage inductance but also have almost zero CM noise generation. Multiple examples are provided for different types of windings, different turn ratios, and different topologies to show the generality of the method. The proposed method is validated using analysis, Finite Element Method (FEM), and experiments. Besides the paired layers method, this dissertation studies the detrimental effects of PTs large intrawinding capacitance on light-load voltage regulation of LLC resonant converter. It is shown that large intrawinding capacitance results in loss of voltage regulation. To resolve this, six improved winding layouts with low intra-winding capacitance are presented to maintain voltage regulation even under no-load condition. iii


In wireless sensor networks, the energy consumption is mainly occurred in the stage of information transmission. The Low Density Parity Check code can make full use of the channel information to save energy. Because of the widely used decoding algorithm of the Low Density Parity Check code, this paper proposes a new decoding algorithm which is based on the LLR-SPA (Sum-Product Algorithm in Log-Likelihood-domain) to improve the accuracy of the decoding algorithm. In the modified algorithm, a piecewise linear function is used to approximate the complicated Jacobi correction term in LLR-SPA decoding algorithm. Construct the tangent by the tangency point to the function of Jacobi correction term, which is based on the first order Taylor Series. In this way, the proposed piecewise linear approximation offers almost a perfect match to the function of Jacobi correction term. Meanwhile, the proposed piecewise linear approximation could avoid the operation of logarithmic which is more suitable for practical application. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm could improve the decoding accuracy greatly without noticeable variation of the computational complexity. Copyright © 2014 IFSA Publishing, S. L.


Lithography is fundamental to integrated circuit fabrication, necessitating large computation overhead. The advancement of machine learning (ML)-based lithography models alleviates the trade-offs between manufacturing process expense and capability. However, all previous methods regard the lithography system as an image-to-image black box mapping, utilizing network parameters to learn by rote mappings from massive mask-to-aerial or mask-to-resist image pairs, resulting in poor generalization capability. In this paper, we propose a new ML-based paradigm disassembling the rigorous lithographic model into non-parametric mask operations and learned optical kernels containing determinant source, pupil, and lithography information. By optimizing complex-valued neural fields to perform optical kernel regression from coordinates, our method can accurately restore lithography system using a small-scale training dataset with fewer parameters, demonstrating superior generalization capability as well. Experiments show that our framework can use 31% of parameters while achieving 69× smaller mean squared error with 1.3× higher throughput than the state-of-the-art.


This two-volume work presents a comprehensive survey of all the ways people celebrate religious life around the globe. Religious Celebrations is an alphabetically organized encyclopedia that covers more than 800 celebratory occasions from all of the world's major religious communities as well as many of the minor faith traditions. The encyclopedia provides a complete reference tool for examining the myriad ways people worldwide celebrate their religious lives across religious boundaries, providing information on numerous celebratory activities never before covered in a reference work. Offering the most comprehensive coverage of religious holidays ever assembled, this two-volume book covers festivals, commemorations, holidays, and annual religious gatherings all over the world, with special attention paid to the celebrations in larger countries. Entries written by distinguished researchers and specialists on different religious communities capture the unique intensity of each event, be it fasting or feasting, frenzied activity or the universal cessation of work, a huge gathering of the faithful en masse or a small family-centered event. The work spotlights celebrations that currently exist without overlooking now-abandoned celebrations that still impact the modern world. * More than 800 A-Z entries on religious holidays and calendars * Photographs of people celebrating various holidays around the world * A bibliography with each entry that offers sources for further research


Pi phenotypes were classified by isoelectric focusing of the sera of 200 full-term Finnish newborns at the age of 3--5 days. The phenotype PiM was found in 95% of the neonates. The frequencies of the alleles PiM1, PiM2 and PiM3 were 0.682, 0.189 and 0.129, respectively. The serum concentration (mean +/- SD) of alpha-1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) in the whole study group was 2.72 +/- 0.61 g/l. The concentration of alpha 1-AT in the newborns with the phenotype PiM3 (1.79 +/- 0.65 g/l) was significantly lower (p less than 0.025) than in other PiM subtypes. No difference in serum concentrations of alpha 1-AT between boys (2.78 +/- 0.66 g/l) and girls (2.66 +/- 0.55 g/l) was observed.


Living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) involves a lot of emotional suffering which may be hidden behind the complex and controversial nature of the condition and treatment. The condition is still largely under-diagnosed, undertreated and stigmatized. This paper described the emotional battle faced by a patient living with the disorder and the application of psychosocial treatments in helping her to recover.


. The legal regulation of contractual transactions in the field of e-business in the last decade, in regards to respecting consumer rights, has marked rapid advancements which have never been seen before. However, in Kosovo, this issue is not only problematic but also complex. Sufficient attention has not been paid to legal regulation of business transactions made by electronic means. This assertion was elaborated from the perspective of comparative legislation in order to influence the local policy makers. This is because there is an urgent need to address the issues derived from this nature and this aims to influence the policy makers' dealing with electronic contracts and indent. However, this has led to the achievement of the provision of a high quality legal consent and a reduction in the probability of evidence for the existence and interpretation of the content of the electronic contract via electronic form as an essential condition for its validity. The Republic of Kosovo has a deficit in terms of completing e-business legislation and e-contracts. Local legislation needs to be completed in order to complement the elements for secure attachment of an advanced electronic signature and cohesive legal grounds dedicated to this issue, with particular emphasis on the standardization of electronic document integrity protection and the identity of the electronic signature. For the realization of this protection, referring to the comparative legislation, in the case of conclusion of an electronic contract with errors or the legal effects they produce in cases when certain quantities of goods or their values are exceeded, it should be regulated on the basis of specific information statements placed in the e-mail editorial office, which means their authentic and prior receipt and signature.In addition, referring to comparative law, in the case of signing an electronic contract with irregularities, in particular its legal consequences in overcoming its quantity or value, in this case the contract should be amended based on clear information (specific conditions) stipulated by the editor (contractor) of electronic contract, which inter alia means prior acceptance and authentication signature.


at presenting the anaesthesia and early intensive therapy aspects of liver transplantation from aptitude assessment, through anaesthesia to early intensive therapeutic treatment.


Summary.

The need for detailed investigations into the life-history and morphology of Phaedon cochleariae F. first became apparent during field experiments which were designed to elucidate the problem of the control of this beetle on cultivated watercress in South Wales and Monmouthshire. Reference to literature revealed that our knowledge hitherto concerning this species was very meagre, and that even the information available differed in important respects from the experience gained during these preliminary studies on its control.

In the course of these investigations, the life-cycle of the beetle, as it occurs on watercress, has been followed out together with its hibernation habits and the duration of the various larval and pupal stages. A perusal of accounts of previous work on this beetle showed that only two generations of adults have been described, but in the present work it was found that actually there are three generations produced in the year. In addition, a detailed study has been made of both the external and internal anatomy of all stages in the life-cycle.


Filtration rates and oxygen consumption rates were measured in mussels (Mytilus edulis) with and without pea crabs (Pinnotheres maculatus). Noninfested mussels had a significantly higher rate of oxygen consumption per hour (0.578 ml±0.012) than did infested mussels (0.352 ml±0.012). There was no significant effect of pea crab size on mussel respiration. Filtration rates of infested mussels were significantly lower than those of uninfested mussels. Assimilation efficiency was not significantly affected by pea crab infestation. The relationship between body size and oxygen consumption inP. maculatus is given by the following equation: {ie264-1} W0.626, where {ie264-2} is oxygen uptake (ml h−1), and W is dry weight (g). There was no difference between the sexes. It is concluded that the decreased oxygen consumption observed in infested mussels is not due to limitation of oxygen availability, but rather reflects a real metabolic response to the presence of the symbiont and the concomittant deprivation of food to the host. The effect is probably reversible, that is, damage can be compensated for after the symbiont has vacated the mussel, depending upon the period of infestation. Our results indicate that the mussels infested by pea crabs may be at an energetic disadvantage relative to mussels without pea crabs.


Methods of quantifying changes in spectrum analysed Doppler waveforms have been assessed in an experimental canine model. Artificial stenoses of varying (0-95%) area reduction have been inserted in the iliac artery of five anaesthetised greyhounds. 133 sets of Doppler waveforms recorded distally have been subjected to principal component analysis (PCA), transfer function analysis (TFA) and pulsatility index calculation (PI). Transfer function damping factor delta and PI were only able to distinguish those stenoses of greater than 85% area reduction. PCA, however, was more reliable in this range, and was usually able to distinguish stenoses of 65% and 77% area reduction. We conclude that PCA deserves further assessment in patients with aorto-iliac disease.


We determine the forcing number of complete d-ary trees. With an appropriate extension of the complete binary trees we disprove the conjecture of Gentner and Rautenbach on the size of minimum forcing sets in graphs with maximum degree 3. We characterize all connected graphs on n vertices with forcing number at least n− 2.


The treatment of epilepsy has great impact on the quality of life and survival of pediatric patients. The Hospital Universitario San Ignacio (HUSI) features human and technical resources to develop epilepsy surgery, which is an effective alternative for refractory epilepsy. Methods: A review of literature on the surgical treatment of epilepsy was performed. Subsequently, a descriptive study of 34 cases of epilepsy surgery in HUSI (January 2010-March 2014) was performed. Results: Patients were on average with 2.9 anticonvulsants. 12 of 34 patients had temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common surgical procedure was temporal lobectomy (10/34). 6 of 34 patients had minor complications. 19/34 were classified as Engel class I postoperatively. Conclusions: Surgery is an alternative for the treatment of epilepsy that offers less seizures and even remission.


There exists no satisfactory theory of risk in current normative decision theories. Notions based on utility curvature, loss aversion and probability weighting are derivative, cannot be applied to nonnumerical consequences, and are not psychologically intuitive. I develop Pure Risk theory which resolves these problems – it is consistent with existing normative theories, and both internalises and generalises the intuitive notion of risk being related to the probability of not achieving one's aspirations. The theory shows that existing models are misspeci...ed. E¤ects hitherto modelled as loss aversion or utility curvature may be due instead to Pure Risk.


This guide presents credible print and electronic resources in athletic & exercise sciences available through the Camosun College Library and open access web sites.


An approach to ensuring fault-tolerance of multiprocessor systems is presented. The approach is based on arranging computations in a system in such a way that in the presence of faults of some processing modules (PMs) the tasks (which have to be executed by the system) can be reassigned for execution between the remaining nonfaulty PMs, thereby reactivating the system. This reactivation may be performed with the system operation quality degraded within acceptable limits. The problem of developing the methods of task reassignment (TR) which meet system requirements for fault-tolerance and optimize the given parameters of the system operation quality are considered. This goal is achieved by means of fault-tolerant mapping algorithms (which have to be executed by the system) onto its hardware structure.<<ETX>>


In the opinion of Willis (2009, page 66) from a broken home will be born children who experienced a personality crisis, so any custom behavior. They are susceptible to interference. The case of a broken home is often found in schools with poor adjustment, such as lazy learning, aggressive, ditching, and love against the teacher. Therefore to minimize misconduct and develop custom character comity and responsibility among students despite the family conflict (broken home) Students should be given particular character education comity character and responsibility. The approach used in this study is a qualitative approach to the case study method. Data collected through observation, interviews, library research and study documentation. Subjects in this documentation are: Coordinator of Guidance and Counselling teachers, civic education teachers, homeroom, students broken home who were randomly selected, As well as the parents of a broken home. The study found that: 1. Student broken home has character and responsibility comity. The first education given within the family With regard to the education of character, making every student to know and understand the importance of having and practicing an attitude of respect and character of such responsibilities. 2. Factors that can shape and influence the development of the character and attitude of respect is the responsibility of environmental factors and education. Be a family first and foremost in providing direction, guidance and education on which the child lives.3. Student broken home have not been able to practice the two main characters properly. As well, they were able to practice the comity character, but have not been able to practice Character responsible attitude, and vice versa. 4. Efforts are made of the school in terms of fostering an attitude of respect and character of the student's responsibility broken home in a social interaction In school is to conduct coaching and guidance on a regular basis. In addition, the school collaborates with the parents. The school and parents must come together in terms of educating, guiding, nurture, observe, supervise, as well as cultivate an attitude of respect character and responsibility. Keywords : Comity, Responsible, Family, Broken Home, Social Interaction


Recently, researchers have been increasingly focusing on microRNAs (miRNAs) with accumulating evidence indicating that miRNAs serve as a vital role in various biological processes and dysfunctions of miRNAs are closely related with human complex diseases. Predicting potential associations between miRNAs and diseases is attached considerable significance in the domains of biology, medicine, and bioinformatics. In this study, we developed a computational model of Personalized Recommendation-based MiRNA-Disease Association prediction (PRMDA) to predict potential related miRNA for all diseases by implementing personalized recommendation-based algorithm based on integrated similarity for diseases and miRNAs. PRMDA is a global method capable of prioritizing candidate miRNAs for all diseases simultaneously. Moreover, the model could be applied to diseases without any known associated miRNAs. PRMDA obtained AUC of 0.8315 based on leave-one-out cross validation, which demonstrated that PRMDA could be regarded as a reliable tool for miRNA-disease association prediction. Besides, we implemented PRMDA on the HMDD V1.0 and HMDD V2.0 databases for three kinds of case studies about five important human cancers in order to test the performance of the model from different perspectives. As a result, 92%, 94%, 88%, 96% and 88% out of the top 50 candidate miRNAs predicted by PRMDA for Colon Neoplasms, Esophageal Neoplasms, Lymphoma, Lung Neoplasms and Breast Neoplasms, respectively, were confirmed by experimental reports.


This paper contributes to the debate about the role of realism and instrumentalism in social science. It asserts that the debate should distinguish between ex ante and ex post perspectives. Ex post, i. e. once the research is done, instrumentalism is to be given priority because in this situation, significant predictive power is the key. On the other hand, ex ante, i. e. before any model revealed its predictive power, only realism may give a hint of which direction is promising to pay off the effort. In this paper I argue that in order to develop economic realism, we should have recourse to phenomenology. Phenomenology analyzes the thought constructs of everyday people, classifies them and seeks the underlying invariant structure. Realistic social science should build on these invariant structures, abiding by three postulates: the postulate of logical consistency, the postulate of subjective interpretation and the postulate of adequacy. Only then is the link to social reality not lost.


The non-unitary model operator approach, which has been previously used for calculating the binding energy of closed shell nuclei for central potentials, is formulated in a way suitable to realistic potentials, such as the Hamada-Johnston and the Reid soft-core ones. The factor-cluster expansion, truncated at the two-body terms, together with a 'healing condition' is used. The Euler-Lagrange equations which result from the application of the variational principle are integrodifferential and two kinds of coupling appear: one because of the tensor potential and one because of the non-unitary model operator. By solving these equations numerically for 4He, the binding energy of this nucleus is obtained for various values of the harmonic oscillator parameter and saturation is observed. The results are superior to those obtained with the simple (central) Kallio-Kolltveit potential and the 'healing condition' but for those the author used the Euler equation resulting from the (left) 'unitary' model operator approach.


Fura-2 fluorescent calcium imaging was used for analyzing the subtype of AMPA receptors in freshly dissociated horizontal cells of carp retina. Exogenous application of AMPA induced an increase of intracellular concentration of free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in horizontal cells, while the [Ca2+]i increase was partly inhibited by nifedipine. The residual [Ca2+]i increase was completely eliminated by joro spider toxin-3, a blocker of Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors. On the other hand, the application of pentobarbital, which blocked Ca2+-impermeable AMPA receptors, could also partly inhibit the increase of [Ca2+]i, implying that the application of AMPA induced the activation of both Ca2+-permeable and Ca2+-impermeable AMPA receptors and the consequent activation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Taken together, these results suggested that Ca2+-permeable and Ca2+-impermeable AMPA receptors were coexpressed on horizontal cells.


Experimental magnetic field dependent Hall and resistivity data is presented for two modulation-doped AlGaN/GaN heterostructures in the temperature range from 6 to 300 K and for a magnetic field up to 12 T. The mobility and concentration of electrons within the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the AlGaN/GaN interface and within the underlying GaN layer are readily separated and characterized using quantitative mobility spectrum analysis. The observed transport parameters of the 2DEG are explained using the classical band theory for a degenerate electron gas. Analysis of the temperature dependencies of mobility and electron concentration in the GaN layer and 2DEG indicates that electron transport in the GaN layer is dominated by carriers in the conduction band for the case of low-doping ( 1018 cm−3). The simultaneous analysis of the multilayer AlGaN/GaN structure applied in this work renders the results applicable directly...


Calculating text similarity is a key point in the detection of content duplication of science and technology project application documents, academic papers and degree papers. Aiming at the Chinese text similarity detection, a text similarity detection method based on Hadoop was proposed. The text to be detected and sample text are converted into a word segmentation matrix by using the word segmentation results, and the detection results are obtained by scanning and analyzing the matrix. MapReduce was used to realize the parallel optimization of the algorithm and improve the execution efficiency. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


Compressed complete call graphs (cCCGs) are a newly developed memory data structure for event based program traces. The most important advantage over linear lists or arrays traditionally used is the ability to apply lossy or lossless data compression. The compression scheme is completely transparent with respect to read access decompression is not required. This approach is a new way to cope with todays challenges when analyzing enormous amounts of trace data. The article focuses on CCG construction and compression, querying and evaluation are briefly covered.


This article examines historically the social influence of scientific physiology as the foundation of medicine and the tension between cosmopolitan and universal science and particular daily contexts. These tension is traced back to the machine metaphor, central in nineteenth century physiology, modified by the human and social sciences, which introduce "historicity" (as different from mere temporality ) as a modifying factor. Physiological regulations find limits of application in social medicine, in the development of standards in work and sports and in the assessment of environmental harmfulness. Discursive construction of implicit metaphors is proposed as a means for establishing a dialogue between rationalities and persons, thus permitting bioethical deliberation.


The establishment of a solid understanding of regional economic development has proved to be highly elusive. Research efforts within this area have focused largely on major urban areas, yet this somewhat narrow focus means that economic development activities in smaller urban centers have not received the attention that they deserve. This article investigates regional economic development within a smallcity context through a survey-based study of the entrepreneurial ecosystems operating in two small cities in the province of Manitoba. The results indicate that many currently accepted bases of regional business community expansion, such as government support and development of local suppliers, have limited utility within these cities. Concurrently, business leader survey responses from the two cities reveal a unique set of factors that drive economic development success in this non-metropolitan case study, keyed by the pivotal role of a unique mix of nonlocal linkages, local cultural resources, and social connections in catalyzing local business expansion. These findings indicate that business community growth in the study cities proceeds from a distinctive template relative to larger centers, and suggest that increased research attention is necessary to elucidate the bases of business success in a more diverse selection of successful small cities.


More parents are considering the use of herbal remedies to maintain their children's good health and to treat their illnesses. They look to pediatricians and other primary care clinicians for advice concerning the safety and efficacy of herbal products for children. This article reviews principles for the clinician to keep in mind while investigating the literature on herbal medicine and addressing the use of herbal medicines with parents.


India's family planning program is not improving. The performance in 1973-1974 was about 1/3 of the 1972-1973 performance. It is the opinion of some experts that the family planning program is not being managed well and that greater success can be realized if the standard management tools, with appropriate modifications, are utilized. Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling people, materials, machines and money in order to realize the optimum achievement of the program objectives. The family planning program should be reviewed as a system. Decisions made in the various sub-systems of the family planning system should be made in such a way that the various sub-systems act in a coordinated manner to achieve the overall program objective. The approach of the current family planning program is trial and error. In order to make the family planning workers more committed and motivated, the program should be planned at the micro level on the basis of 2 management principles -- participation and decentralization. Various management principles may be used to plan a family planning system. The principles of marketing can be effectively utilized. Evaluation should be a built-in process of the program. An effective Management Information and Evaluation System (MIES) should be devised because such a system furnishes relevant data in a useful form to the right person at the right time, for use in policy decision.


Abstract:ABSTRACTOn January 12, 2010, an earthquake in Haiti sent shockwaves across the world, triggering an unprecedented international response. In the months that followed, international news, legal, development, human rights, and solidarity agencies highlighted the issue of gender-based violence, which has by all accounts increased since the earthquake. Despite activists' nuanced understanding and efforts, official responses have been inadequate while reproducing troubling, albeit familiar, discourses that tend to trigger either denial or demonization. This article aims to address this situation by offering necessary context, grounding violence in Haitian women's own analyses, before and after the earthquake. To understand the narratives and realities Haitian women face, it is critical to first understand structural violence, the long-term, often invisible system of inequality and poverty and how structural violence intersects with intersectionality, the multiple forms of oppression based on distinct but overlapping identities, such as of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and parental status. As in other contexts, these pre-existing gender inequalities rendered Haitian women more vulnerable to disasters. Through the testimonies and lived realities of Haitian women, this article highlights the continuities and argues for the need for intersectional interventions grounded in Haitian women's own lived experiences and priorities.


Postharvest losses in sweet potato can occur due to poor handling practices and inadequate knowledge on maintaining the quality and safety of the roots by handlers across the value chain. This study involved an assessment of postharvest handling practices of sweet potato in Bungoma and Homabay Counties, Kenya. A survey was carried out between November 2015 and February 2016, structured questionnaires were administered to a total of 165 respondents comprising 96 farmers, 64 traders, and 5 processors drawn from two constituencies of each of the Counties. Four key informants were also interviewed. Results showed that 68%, 87%, and 40% of sweet potato farmers, traders, and processors respectively, were women. Iron bars and wooden sticks were used in piecemeal harvesting while hoes (jembes) and ox-plows were used in wholesale harvesting of roots. Informal marketing systems that quantified roots using bags, buckets, and heaps were prevalent. Motorcycles, donkeys, bicycles, public service vehicles, foot, and carts were used by 26%, 21%, 11%, 8%, 7%, and 6% respectively to transport roots to the markets. Storage was rarely practiced by 43% of farmers and 45% of traders. Root curing was not common. Processed products included flour, puree, and dried chips. High perishability and unreliable supply of roots were major challenges indicated. The establishment of storage facilities, promotion of processing opportunities as well as formulation and enactment of a comprehensive sweet potato policy could move this industry to a commercial level. There is a need for collective action by policymakers and other stakeholders to address the challenges noted to ensure the reduction of postharvest losses for food security and better incomes.


The mainstream news media is frequently criticized for presenting news in a bipolar and superfi-cial manner, often choosing sensationalism over practicalities, and escalation over solution-oriented goals. The peace journalism model offers a different approach to news gathering, colla-tion and coverage by presenting alternative sources and outcomes. This paper examines the online journalism frames used by the Helsinki Times and Helsingin Sanomat in a news report on an im-migrant taxi driver in Finland. It demonstrates that on one hand, the current model in The Helsinki Times is one closely aligned to peace journalism, and in Helsingin Sanomat , there are signs of trans-media reporting, supporting the hypothesis that in the digital age, the use of socially-responsible interactive news narratives may be able to engage more people in critical thinking, and be more effective in fostering improved inter-cultural relations. However, there is a need to create a format that allows both functions to be optimally utilized in order to enhance distribution and reception practices.


Based on an actual foundation pit supporting project,according to the region's layer conditions,the concrete strut and Soil Mixed Wall are used for proposed basement foundation pit,compared with other supporting structure,it has obvious economy and superiority,also it has strong reference and reference value for similar soft soil foundation pit supporting projects.


In order to meet the needs of Hydropower Plant (HPP) production new algorithms and software were developed for daily, seasonal, annual and long-term control of the runoff for the design of dam and weirs. This control is carried out for monitored periods from 20 to 50 years. The control depends on economic considerations, namely that the accepted probability of required water power is 90%, i.e. concerning the runoff and in this way for the useful volume of water dams. The research is accomplished by a design with the observations. First the hydrometric stations are selected at the available analogy with the building project and then the correlative connection is found assessed by general and true correlative coefficients. The transferring to the project of the observations for the average annual and average monthly water discharges is made with the coefficient of the analogy. The theoretical probability curves are chosen with a minimum dispersion. By the last curves the average monthly distributions are settled with probability from 2% to 90% by statistical method. During the investigated period of the regulation the volumes of discharge, overflow and shortage are calculated as and the determination for the accepted volume of the reservoir if the normative probability of the need is executed. As well the power output of the HPP and its participation in the coverage of the charge diagram on the peak load, under peak load, daily and nightly part are determined in separate observed or forecasting periods. The upper problems about the design and the operation of HPP, water output, reservoir volume and coverage of the charge diagram are solved by iterations. Practical examples are given for the runoff and for the time forecasting system.


Video transcript summarization is a fundamental task for video understanding. Conventional approaches for transcript summarization are usually built upon the summarization data for written language such as news articles, while the domain discrepancy may degrade the model performance on spoken text. In this paper, we present VT-SSum, a benchmark dataset with spoken language for video transcript segmentation and summarization, which includes 125K transcript-summary pairs from 9,616 videos. VT-SSum takes advantage of the videos from VideoLectures.NET by leveraging the slides content as the weak supervision to generate the extractive summary for video transcripts. Experiments with a state-of-the-art deep learning approach show that the model trained with VT-SSum brings a significant improvement on the AMI spoken text summarization benchmark. VT-SSum is publicly available at https://github.com/Dod-o/VT-SSum to support the future research of video transcript segmentation and summarization tasks.


Polyglycosylceramides (PGCs), complex glycolipids containing up to 50 or more sugar residues, are recognized as the minor components of the cell-surface membranes, but a knowledge on their tissue distribution, structure, and function is limited. In this study, the binding of influenza viruses to preparations of PGCs was investigated using a TLC overlay assay and a microwell adsorption assay. The ability of PGCs to bind influenza virus was dependent on the source from which they were derived. Preparations of PGCs from human erythrocytes were found to support binding of A and B influenza virus strains at a much lower concentration than sialyl-6-paragloboside and to be somewhat better receptors for these viruses compared to the sialylglycoprotein fetuin. A high virus-binding activity of PGCs suggests that these species could potentially serve as biologically important cell-surface receptors for influenza viruses.


Aim The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) compared to hemodialysis (HD) on 28 uremic patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (2HPT) but positively selected for good and stable control of phosphatemia in order to evaluate the independent effects of dialysis treatments on bone turnover metabolism. Methods: The study was divided into 3 periods of observation: a) HD for three months; b) HFR for three months; c) HFR for a further 3 months. We analysed the trend of: whole PTH, 1–84 PTH, 7–84 PTH, alkaline phosphatase and its bone isoenzyme, total and ionised calcium, phosphatemia, dose of phosphate binder agents, β2-microglobulin, CRP. All the variations found were evaluated through mean values ± SD, t-tests, multivariate analysis. Results We observed a deceleration in bone turnover characterized by a reduction of the total and bone alkaline phosphatase (IU/mL) from 92.3 ± 82.8 and 35.8 ± 49.8 at the end of HD to 63.4 ± 23.9 and 16.0 ± 8.7 at the end of HFR, respectively, and 1–84 PTH from 317.5 ± 264.6 pg/mL at the end of HD to 287.5 ± 258.9 pg/mL at the end of the 3rd month of HFR. β2-microglobulin was reduced from 32.9 ± 16.1 mg/L at the end of HD to 26.4 ± 8.1 mg/L already at the end of the first three months of HFR. CRP was reduced from 2.5 ± 2.6 mg/dL at the beginning of the study to 1.3 ± 1.7 mg/dL at the end of HFR. There were no differences with regard to: dialytic efficiency, nutritional status, calcemia, phosphatemia (maintained in the K-DOQI range for the entire duration of the study), also thanks to more careful use of phosphate chelating agents. Conclusion We are of the opinion that HFR - essentially thanks to the use of ultrapure endogenous infusate - induces a deceleration in bone turnover due to 2PHT. In addition, phosphate substraction in HFR is better compared to HD, thanks to the improvement of the anti-inflammatory conditions by removing the cytokines harmful to bone metabolism and excluding a priori the negative effects related to hyperphosphatemia. (Int J Artif Organs 2006; 29: 1042–52)


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Melanoma is considered to be one of the most aggressive form of human tumors and current therapies are only partly effective. The mutation rate is higher in melanoma compared to other cancer types. The most frequent mutation, BRAFV600E is found in 50-70% of melanomas and promotes proliferation and survival. BRAF inhibitors have shown a good clinical responds rate, however resistance eventually develops. Therefore research into other pathways active in melanoma remains important. Other oncoproteins with limited knowledge about in melanoma are the Pim kinases Pim1, 2 and 3. They are involved in several pro-survival pathways, are weakly oncogenic and found over-expressed in several cancer types. We have found that Pim3 is highly expressed in melanoma compared to other cancer types, while expression of Pim1 and Pim2 are relatively low. Previous work in the lab has shown that PIM3 is regulated by c-MYC, a gene known to be critical for melanoma proliferation and survival. This suggests that Pim kinase inhibitors could have efficacy in tumors expressing high levels of Pim3.

We have started the Sahlgrenska Translational Melanoma Group (SATMEG). The goal is to create a platform that can be used amongst other to test the effect of different drugs in mono- or combination therapy in vivo. Tumor biopsies from patients with stage III and IV melanoma are serially transplanted into immunocompromised mice making a patient derived xenograft (PDX) and analyzed for molecular characterization by expression sequencing. The mice can be divided in treatment groups and dosed with different compounds. Tumor growth can be monitored by in vivo imaging (IVIS) for evaluation of drug efficiency. The platform can also be used to increase the prediction value of clinical trials by pre-screening the patients using the PDXs and identifying a common biomarker for the responding PDXs. Thereby patients can be recruited to clinical trials based on molecular characteristics and those how would not benefit from the therapy can be excluded.

This study aims at analyzing the effect of Pim kinase inhibition on melanoma cells both in vitro and in vivo. Investigate if Pim kinase inhibition can synergize in a cytotoxic manner with other compounds and analyse Pim kinase downstream targets. The ultimate goal is to define a predictive biomarker to identify patients which would benefit from Pim kinase inhibitor mono- or combination therapy. Since the role of Pim kinases have not been characterized in melanoma it is important to fully explore this option as a new line of treatment. Data on the effect of Pim kinase inhibition on melanoma and the use of the platform will be presented.

Citation Format: Berglind Osk Einarsdottir, Roger Olofsson, Joydeep Bhadury, Henrik Jespersen, Jan Mattsson, Lisa Nilsson, Ulrika Stierner, Lars Ny, Jonas Nilsson. Identifying new treatment options for metastatic melanoma using patient derived xenografts: Defining the role of Pim kinases. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1215. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1215


UNESCO estimates that our planet's oceans and lakes are home to more than three million shipwrecks. Of these three million, the locations of only 10% are currently known. Apart from the historical and archaeological interest in finding wrecks, there are other reasons why we need to know their precise locations. While a shipwreck can provide an excellent habitat for marine life, acting as an artificial reef, shipwrecks are also potential sources of pollution, leaking fuel and corroding heavy metals. When a vessel runs aground on an iron-free environment, changes in the chemistry of the surrounding environment can occur, creating a discoloration called black reef. In this work, we examine the use of supervised deep learning methods for the detection of shipwrecks on coral reefs through the presence of this discoloration using satellite images. One of the main challenges is the limited number of known locations of black reefs, and therefore, the limited training dataset. Our results show that even with relatively limited data, the simple eight-layer, fully convolutional network has been trained efficiently using minimal computational resources and has identified and classified all investigated black reefs and consequently the presence of shipwrecks. Furthermore, it has proven to be a useful tool for monitoring the extent of discoloration and consequently the ecological impact on the reef by using time series imagery.


The synthesis of many transition metal complexes containing 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole (Hdatrz) as a ligand with different counter anions Br⎺, Cl⎺, ClO4⎺ and SO42- has been studied extensively, but the chemistry of transition metal nitrate and acetate compounds and their reactivity are relatively unexplored. In this research work, two new series of metal(II) complexes (M = Ni, Co, and Zn) {[Ni3(Hdatrz)6(H2O)6](NO3)6 (1), [Co3(Hdatrz)6(H2O)6](NO3)6 (2), [Zn3(Hdatrz)6(H2O)6](NO3)6 (3), [Ni3(Hdatrz)6(H2O)6](OAc)6 (4), [Co3(Hdatrz)6(H2O)6] (OAc)6 (5) and [Zn3(Hdatrz)6(H2O)6](OAc)6 (6)} have been synthesized. These synthesized complexes were characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. All six complexes were found to be trinuclear and bridged through the Hdatrz ligand. Spectral data suggested a distorted octahedral environment around the central metal ions in these complexes. It also revealed that the NH and OH groups are involved in hydrogen bonding. These complexes were tested against the fungal strains Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Aspergillus niger. These synthesized complexes have not been observed to have antifungal activities. The machine learning K-nearest neighbours evaluates the analytical characteristics and solubility behavior of the metal complexes. Machine learning models provide results with 75% precision.


The conceptual model for economic
evaluation of innovative technologies that focuses on the
consumer value thereof has been developed.
Contemporary role and significance of the value that is
laid in the technology and is a condition for their
innovativeness have been substantiated, a set of tools for
practical implementation of the proposed model
established. The model enables evaluators to take into
consideration the parameters of the impact of technology
due to current market phenomena and trends, which
helps to make better management decisions on the
strategy for development of innovative technologies.


Objective: To functionally and oncologically assess the treatment of GCT on radius distal end (stage B3) following wide resection and reconstruction with avascular autologous graft from proximal fibular end. Methods: The residual function was assessed using ISOLS score, measurement of the global residual arch of the operated wrist, residual percentage of the hand apprehension strength between thumb and index fingers. The oncologic monitoring was assessed by clinical examination of the operated limb and by imaging tests of the wrist and thorax. Results: 17 patients were assessed: 10 females (58.8%) and seven males (41.2%), with aged ranging from 16 to 61 years (mean: 32.3 years), all of them right-handed. On the functional assessment (ISOLS), the results were as follows:


In an attempt to understand the allelic diversity and mutability of the human FMR1 CGG repeat, we have analyzed the AGG substructure of this locus within six genetically-closed populations (Mbuti pygmy, Baka pygmy, R. surui, Karitiana, Mayan, and Hutterite). Most alleles (61/92 or 66%) possessed two AGG interspersions occurring with a periodicity of one AGG every nine or ten CGG repeats, indicating that this pattern is highly conserved in all human populations. significant differences in allele distribution were observed among the populations for rare variants possessing fewer or more AGG interruptions than the canonical FMR1 CGG repeat sequence. Comparisons of expected heterozygosity of the FMR1 CGG repeat locus with 30 other microsatellite loci, demonstrated remarkably similar levels of polymorphism within each population, suggesting that most FMR1 CGG repeat alleles mutate at rates indistinguishable from other microsatellite loci. A single allele (1 out of 92) was identified with a large uninterrupted tract of pure repeats (42 pure CGG triplets). Retrospective pedigree analysis indicated that this allele had been transmitted unstably. Although such alleles mutate rapidly and likely represent evolving premutations, our analysis suggests that in spite of the estimated frequency of their occurrence, these unstable alleles do not significantly alter the expected heterozygosity of the FMR1 CGG repeat in the human population.


National strategies aimed at boosting economic growth following the global financial crisis have spawned monetary imbalances between industrial and emerging economies. By implementing ultra-expansionary monetary policies, the industrial economies drive down interest rates, while the emerging economies tighten their monetary policies by raising rates, thus generating a burgeoning foreign-currency carry trade. Vulnerability is caused by the sudden reversal of such capital flows or the high cost of insuring against this by accumulating reserves. This paper estimates that the cost of reserve accumulation between 2008 and 2014 averaged 1.83% of GDP, so the free capital mobility espoused by the Mexican authorities makes it very costly to play by the rules of financial globalization.


The concept "quality of education" is widely used in modern educational practice; however, in teaching, there is no common understanding of the pedagogical phenomenon that underlies this concept. In this regard, it is necessary to present reflections on the content of such terms as "education" and "quality" in relation to the cultural and historical prerequisites for the formation of the category "quality of education" and various approaches to its content. Besides, the article touches upon different approaches to the procedures for measuring the quality of education and distinguishes their strengths and weaknesses. The authors encourage the reader to think about the problems of defining the quality of education as a pedagogical phenomenon in modern conditions through cultural and historical traditions. The study results in the consideration of various aspects of the evolution of such terms as "quality" and "education" in Russian pedagogy, which have influenced the modern interpretations of the concept "quality of education" and the approaches to its measurements. The article reveals the advantages of a practical understanding of the quality of education, as well as the risks associated with the transformation of education into a service and the absolutization of its quantitative parameters in measuring the quality of education. The authors raise the questions that remain open and require their solution despite the continued interest in the problems of education quality in pedagogical theory and practice. The novelty of the research is provided by taking into consideration Russian cultural and historical traditions of the formation of such terms as "education" and "quality" and the justification of the possible ways of their use in modern approaches to the measurements of quality of education, as well as the justification of the importance of using the applied aspect of the quality of education in Russian educational practice.


Personal care products and facial cosmetics are commonly used by millions of consumers on a daily basis. Direct application of cosmetics on human skin makes it vulnerable to a wide variety of ingredients. Despite the protecting role of skin against exogenous contaminants, some of the ingredients in cosmetic products are able to penetrate the skin and to produce systemic exposure. Consumers' knowledge of the potential risks of the frequent application of cosmetic products should be improved. While regulations exist in most of the high-income countries, in low income countries there is a lack of similar standards. In most countries for which these legal regulations have been identified, restrictions on the permissible level of heavy metals are strict. There is a need for enforcement of existing rules, and rigorous assessment of the effectiveness of these regulations. The occurrence of metals in cosmetic products is of concern for three principal reasons: (i) the use of cosmetic products could represent a possible source of population-wide exposure daily, and often long-term exposure to metals in cosmetic products (ii) metals can accumulate in the body over time, and (iii) a number of them are known to exhibit different chronic health effects, such as cancer, contact dermatitis, developmental, neurological and reproductive disorders, brittle hair and hair loss. Some metals are potent endocrine disruptors and respiratory toxins. Moreover, some metals, such as Cd, As, Pb, Hg and Sb, are exceptionally toxic with a wide variety of chronic health effects, whereas Cr, Ni and Co are well known skin sensitizers. Since the issue of heavy metals as deliberate cosmetic ingredients has been addressed, attention is turned to the presence of these substances as impurities.


The present paper surveys the production volatility of the virgin olive oil in Mediterranean countries. European Union (EU) is the leading world producer and consequently the survey of its volatility attracts great interest. Especially, countries in the Mediterranean basin are the substantial producers of this crop and provide them with a comparative and competitive advantage in international markets. In addition, the virgin olive oil is a major source of income and employment for the aforementioned countries. Entropy has been used in the study of the time series analysis. The results confirmed a strong positive correlation between the entropy and both forms of the standard deviation. In addition, the virgin olive oil production is quantified with the assistance of ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) models. The estimation of ARIMA model for every country was found to provide the policy makers with a useful intervention tool for the virgin olive oil production.

 Key words: Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, comparative analysis, EU, virgin olive oil.


The procedures for calculating estimates of the remaining life of key engineering components and the material properties used in those procedures are usually computerized. This paper reviews the properties that are typically needed for remaining life calculations and discusses how they should be computerized to properly interface with analytical methods. The properties include stress-strain and creep deformation behavior, fatigue and creep damage accumulation, tensile strength, crack-growth resistance, and fracture toughness. For remaining life calculations, computerized models of these properties should include the effect of aging caused by elevated-temperature service exposure. Typical methods for computerized modeling of material properties are illustrated by means of two specific examples: (1) the prediction of remaining creep-rupture life of fired furnace tubes and (2) the prediction of remaining creep-rupture and creep-crack-growth life of welded pipes and pressure vessels.


We perform a theoretical analysis of the semileptonic decays $\eta^{(\prime)} \to \pi^0 \ell^+ \ell^-$ and $\eta' \to \eta \ell^+ \ell^-$, where $\ell = e, \mu$, via a charge-conjugation-conserving two-photon mechanism. The underlying form factors are modeled using vector-meson dominance, phenomenological input, and $\mathrm{U}(3)$ flavor symmetry. We consider both a monopole and a dipole model, the latter tailored such that the expected high-energy behavior is ensured. Furthermore, we benchmark the effect of $S$-wave rescattering contributions to the decays. We infer significant effects of the form factors neglected in the literature so far, still finding branching ratios of the various decays well below the current experimental upper limits.


The local normal form of a dynamical system undergoing a bifurcation of co-dimension two, weakly perturbed by noise, is used to derive analytical expressions for the mean exit times from the domains of the attracting fixed point or limit cycle.


In order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the emitting cone in a liquid metal field ion source (LMIS), the response of a LMIS to an extraction voltage pulse when the emitter voltage is close to the threshold voltage has been investigated. A delay between the leading edge of the extraction pulse and the onset of ion emission, which is due to the formation of the emitting cone, has been observed for emitters with threshold voltages in the range of 3.5–5.5 kV. The formation time varied in the range of 0.5–2 μs depending on the amplitude and repetition rate of the extraction pulse. Stable pulsed operation of a LMIS with an ion pulse length down to 50 ns FWHM is demonstrated. In the case of emitters with low threshold voltages in the range of 1.5–2 kV, an extraction pulse amplitude of 6 V was sufficient to achieve stable pulsing and the formation time of the emitting cone was less than 20 ns.


Pulmonary fibrosis is a kind of interstitial lung disease with progressive pulmonary scar formation, leading to irreversible loss of lung functions. The TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway plays a key role in fibrogenic processes. It is associated with the increased synthesis of extracellular matrix, enhanced proliferation of fibroblasts, and transformation of alveolar epithelial cells into interstitial cells. We investigated P-Rex1, a PIP3-Gβγ–dependent guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rac, for its potential role in TGF-β1–induced pulmonary fibrosis. A high expression level of P-Rex1 was identified in the lung tissue of patients with pulmonary fibrosis than that from healthy donors. Using the P-Rex1 knockdown and overexpression system, we established a novel player of P-Rex1 in mouse lung fibroblast migration. P-Rex1 contributed to fibrogenic processes in lung fibroblasts by targeting the TGF-β type Ⅱ receptor (TGFβR2). The RNA-seq analysis for expression profiling confirmed the modulation of P-Rex1 in cell migration and the involvement of P-Rex1 in TGF-β1 signaling. These results identified P-Rex1 as a signaling molecule involved in TGF-β1–induced pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting that P-Rex1 may be a potential target for pulmonary fibrosis treatment.


The folate inhibitor trimethoprim (TMP) is active against and potentially cidal to a few higher microorganisms and a wide spectrum of pathogenic bacteria except for Bacteroides, Branhamella, Brucella, Chlamydia, Clostridium, Mycobacterium, Mycoplasma, Nocardia, Neisseria, Pseudomonas and Treponema. These organisms tend to be more sensitive to sulfonamides (SUL) than to TMP, whereas TMP is 10- to 100-fold more active than SUL against most other bacteria. Synergy between TMP and SUL occurs at drug concentrations equal to or less than their respective MICs and is often seen in vitro with isolates that are sensitive or moderately resistant to one or both of the components. Synergy occurs over a wide range of ratios between TMP and SUL, the optimal being that between their respective MICs when acting singly. In vitro synergy is more impaired by bacterial resistance than by suboptimal TMP:SUL ratios. The vast majority of clinical isolates of Haemophilus, staphylococci, streptococci and enteric bacteria are inhibited in vitro by the minimum concentrations of drug attained in plasma during therapy. Exceptions are found among Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Serratia, Proteus and in particular Klebsiella where SUL resistance is common and isolates with TMP MICs of 5 mg/l or more may occur and lead to failure of TMP-SUL therapy in systemic infections. In the urinary tract drug concentrations that are synergistic and therefore inhibitory in vitro against isolates moderately resistant to SUL (MIC less than or equal to 1 g/l) and/or TMP (MIC less than or equal to 0.1 g/l) are present during TMP-SUL therapy. However, whether the synergy and the bactericidal effect of TMP-SUL observed in vitro play a role in vivo is controversial.


In the last two decades, studies about using technology for automatic detection of human fall increased considerably. The automatic detection of falls allows for quicker aid that is key to increasing the chances of treatment and mitigating the consequences of falls. However, each type of fall has its specificities, and determining the correct type of fall can help treat the person who has fallen. Although it is essential to use computational methods to classify falls, there are few studies about that in the literature, especially compared to the studies that propose solutions for fall detection. In this sense, we execute a systematic literature review (SLR) using the Kitchenham (2009) [1] method to investigate the computational solutions used to classify the different types of falls. We performed a search on Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed scientific databases looking for computational methods to falls classification in their papers. We use the grounded theory methodology for a more detailed qualitative analysis of the papers. As a result of our search, we selected a total of 36 studies for our review and found two different computational methods for classifying falls. Related to the steps used in each method, we found fourteen different types of sensors, four different techniques for background and foreground extraction of videos, twenty-one techniques for feature extraction, and seven different fall classification strategies. Finally, we also identified fifty-one different types of falls. In conclusion, we believe that the methods and techniques analyzed in our study can help developers to create new and better systems for classification, detection, and prevention of falls and falls database. Besides, we identified gaps that can be explored in future research related to the automatic classification of falls.


Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) proposed using influenza surveillance systems to carry out coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance due to the similarity between the two diseases in some respiratory symptoms. To assess the prevalence of COVID-19, we analyzed the influenza-like illness (ILI) and positive rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detections in ILI patients reported to the influenza Surveillance Information System (CNISIS) since late 2022. Methods Data related to ILI were reported by national surveillance sentinel hospitals. Positive testing for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses was conducted using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) detection by the national influenza surveillance network laboratories. Surveillance data were reported to CNISIS. Results Beginning on December 12, 2022 (Week 50), the ILI percentage increased dramatically, peaking in Week 51 at 12.1%. Subsequently, the ILI percentage began to decline rapidly from Week 52, 2022, and by Week 6, 2023 (February 6–12), the ILI and ILI percentage had returned to the levels observed at the beginning of December 2022. From December 1, 2022 to February 12, 2023, 115,844 specimens were tested for both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus. Of these, 30,381 (26.2%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 1,763 (1.5%) were positive for influenza virus. The positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 tests peaked at 74.1% around December 23 and 25. Conclusions Sentinel-based surveillance, previously established for influenza, is an effective way to track the circulation trend of SARS-CoV-2 during community-level epidemics. There was no co-prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, even during the winter influenza season. However, it is important to remain vigilant for the potential rise of influenza activities following the COVID-19 epidemic.


Reinforcement machine learning is implemented to survey a series of model potential energy surfaces and ultimately identify the global minima point. Through sophisticated reward function design, the introduction of an optimizing target, and incorporating physically motivated actions, the reinforcement learning agent is capable of demonstrating advanced decision making. These improved actions allow the agent to successfully converge to an optimal solution more rapidly when compared to an agent trained without the aforementioned modifications. This study showcases the conceptual feasibility of using reinforcement machine learning to solve difficult environments, namely, potential energy surfaces, with multiple, seemingly, correct solutions in the form of local minima regions. Through these results, we hope to encourage extending reinforcement learning to more complicated optimization problems and using these novel techniques to efficiently solve traditionally challenging problems in chemistry.


Absolute differential cross sections for vibrationally elastic electron scattering from sulphur dioxide (SO2) have been measured using a crossed electron-molecular beam apparatus at incident energies from 1-30 eV. These data are compared with two previous experimental measurements and serve to resolve a discrepancy which existed in the absolute magnitude of these measurements. The differential cross section data have also been integrated to obtain total elastic and elastic momentum transfer cross sections.


Neuroendocrine dysfunction, long recognized as a consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), is a major cause of disability that includes physical and psychological involvement with long-term cognitive, behavioral, and social changes. There is no standard procedure regarding at what time after trauma the diagnosis should be made. Also there is uncertainty on defining the best methods for diagnosis and testing and what types of patients should be selected for screening. Common criteria for evaluating these patients are required on account of the high prevalence of TBI worldwide and the potential new cases of hypopituitarism. The aim of this review is to clarify, based on the evidence, when endocrine assessment should be performed after TBI and which patients should be evaluated. Additional studies are still needed to know the impact of post-traumatic hypopituitarism and to assess the impact of hormone replacement in the prognosis.


Objectives To investigate the variability of patients' length of stay in intensive care after cardiac surgery. To investigate potential interactions between such variability, booked admissions, and capacity requirements. Design Mathematical modelling study using routinely collected data. Setting A cardiac surgery department. Source of data Hospital records of 7014 people entering intensive care after cardiac surgery. Main outcome measures Length of stay in intensive care; capacity requirements of an intensive care unit for a hypothetical booked admission system. Results Although the vast majority of patients (89.5%) had a length of stay in intensive care of <48 hours, there was considerable overall variability and the distribution of stays has a lengthy tail. A mathematical model of the operation of a hypothetical booking system indicates that such variability has a considerable impact on intensive care capacity requirements, indicating that a high degree of reserve capacity is required to avoid high rates of operation cancellation because of unavailability of suitable postoperative care. Conclusion Despite the considerable enthusiasm for booked admissions systems, queuing theory suggests that caution is required when considering such systems for inpatient admissions. Such systems may well result in frequent operational difficulties if there is a high degree of variability in length of stay and where reserve capacity is limited. Both of these are common in the NHS.


Bioreactors are powerful tools for in vitro development of engineered substitutes through controlled biological, physical, and mechanical culture conditions: bioreactor technology allows a closer in vitro replication of native tissues. One of bioreactors applications is the design of in vitro 3D tissue models as a bridge between 2D and in vivo models, allowing the application of 3R (replacement, reduction, refinement) principle. To this aim, bioreactors can be used to culture cells seeded on engineered scaffolds under in vivo-like conditions. Another key use of bioreactors is for perfusion decellularization of tissues and organs to be used as scaffolds. This contribution describes a dynamic stretching. bioreactor, imposing a mechanical stretching to the cultured constructs, allowing the development of skeletal muscle engineered constructs, and a decellularization bioreactor, designed for decellularization of blood vessels.


A new portable CE instrument is presented. The instrument features the concurrent separation of anions and cations in parallel channels. Each channel has a separate buffer container to allow independent optimization of separation conditions. The microfluidics circuit is based on off‐the‐shelf parts, and can be easily replicated; only four valves are present in the design. The system employs a miniature automated syringe pump, which can apply both positive and negative pressures (‐100 to 800 kPa). The application of negative pressure allows a semi‐automatic mode of operation for introducing volume‐limited samples. The separations are performed in a thermostatted compartment for improved reproducibility in field conditions. The instrument has a compact design, with all components, save for batteries and power supplies, arranged in a briefcase with dimensions of 52 × 34 × 18 cm and a weight of less than 15 kg. The system runs automatically and is controlled by a purpose‐made graphical user interface on a connected computer. For demonstration, the system was successfully employed for the concurrent separation and analysis of inorganic cations and anions in sediment porewater samples from Lake Baldegg in Switzerland and of metal ions in a sample from the tailing pond of an abandoned mine in Argentina.


Johnston N, Mandhane P, Dai J, et al. Pediatrics. 2007;120(3). Available at: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/120/3/e702 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY. To evaluate whether montelukast, when added to usual asthma therapy, would affect the asthma symptoms experienced during the annual asthma epidemic occurring each year when school resumes after summer vacation. STUDY POPULATION. Participants included 194 subjects from 2 to 14 years of age with physician-diagnosed asthma. More than 90% of the children had prescriptions for an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). METHODS. Children were randomly assigned to receive either an age-appropriate dose of montelukast (n = 98) or placebo (n = 96). The first tablet was taken the evening of September 1 and continued nightly for 45 days. Asthma symptoms, cold symptoms, use of oral prednisone, and unscheduled physician visits resulting from asthma were recorded daily. Subjects were instructed to take the tablet in addition to their usual asthma therapy. RESULTS. Children who received montelukast experienced 53% fewer days with "worse asthma symptoms" compared with children who received placebo (3.9% vs 8.3%; P < .02). In addition, there was a 78% reduction in the number of unscheduled visits to a physician for asthma (4 vs 18; P = .011). These improvements were seen in patients with and without cold symptoms. Among boys, the greatest benefit from montelukast was seen in those aged 2 to 5 years. Girls benefited most from montelukast when they were between the ages of 10 and 14 years. CONCLUSIONS. Montelukast, when added to usual asthma therapy, reduced the risk of worsening asthma symptoms and unscheduled physician visits during the annual September asthma epidemic. REVIEWER COMMENTS. It has long been recognized that epidemics of asthma exacerbations occur annually after students return to school after summer vacation. This study demonstrates that montelukast, a leukotriene-receptor antagonist, could be used in conjunction with usual asthma medications to attenuate some of these annual symptoms. The study population enrolled in this study was composed largely of persistently asthmatic children, based on the fact that >90% were prescribed ICSs. Additional studies are needed to investigate whether a similar reduction in asthma symptoms would be seen in subjects with less-severe asthma. In addition, compliance with the use of prescribed ICS in this study was relatively poor, with only 47% of subjects using an ICS routinely. This is in agreement with other studies that have shown that ICS prescription filling is at its lowest just before the return to school. It remains to be seen whether simply improving compliance with prescribed ICSs at the start of the academic school year would also lead to a significant reduction in asthma symptoms.