Cancer stem cells are the origin of tumors and have been isolated successfully from different kinds of tumors. Breast cancer stem cells have been recently identified in breast carcinoma with markers CD44+/CD24-/dim. This population can cause tumor and display stem cell-like properties. However, direct evidences that breast cancer stem cells can be propagated in vitro is still lacking. This research was carried out to isolate and propagate in vitro breast cancer stem cells from tumor biopsy. Breast tumor biopsy was used to isolate breast cancer cells by primary tissue culture. As such, breast cancer stem cells were isolated from breast cancer cells by catcher-tube based cell sorter on flow cytometter machine. These cells were propagated by an in vitro culture in a free serum specific medium. The results showed that the CD44+CD24-/dim cell population that were maintained, were capable of self-renewal and extensive proliferation as clonal non-adherent spherical clusters. Interestingly, cultured cells were CD44+CD24-/dim expressed by the putative stem cell marker Oct-4, resistant with verapamil at 50 µg/ml, and gave rise to new tumors when as few as 1000 cells were injected into the mammary fat pad of immune-deficient mice. This population was a suitable in vitro model to study breast cancer stem cells and develop therapeutic strategies to treat breast cancer.


Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a challenging clinical syndrome characterized by multifocal peritoneal collections of extracellular mucins. Mucins are high molecular weight, heavily glycosylated proteins differentially expressed by various types of epithelial cells. In this pathological condition, goblet cells originating from a mucinous tumor of the appendix gain access to the peritoneal cavity where they secrete mucin ectopically. Secreted mucin thus accumulates and forms the characteristic feature of the disease. Therefore, goblet cells and secreted mucins constitute the two key elements of the disease. MUC2 is the PMP's specific, predominant mucin. It is a highly viscous, gel-forming mucin that accounts for the characteristic appearance of PMP mucinous deposits as compared to the mucinous implants of ovarian origin. Mucin deposits are the real cause of PMP's morbid complications irrespective of the site of origin, the mechanism of peritoneal spread, or the level of neoplastic transformation. In this article, role of mucin in gastrointestinal physiology and PMP pathology are reviewed and the potential of MUC2 as a therapeutic target are discussed


With recruitment, returning to work and retention being key to the future of veterinary nursing what are the issues that are common across all these areas? What they wear gives veterinary nurses limited visibility in their role. There is also the lack of a media image that reinforces the veterinary nurse skills base and a lack of veterinary nursing presence in the financial aspect of both business and client relations. These factors all contribute to a role that is hard for people to visualise and define. In part one of this two part series the uniform and presentation of a veterinary nurse is examined including looking at all the aspects that present a professional image. The impact of the television image on veterinary nursing visibility is reviewed and set in the context with the history of the nursing image.


Torenia fournieri is an important ornamental plant in Bangladesh that can grow in a variety of soils in moist areas. It is an extensively studied plant species to investigate fertilization and movement of chromosome. This investigation was carried out to establish a suitable protocol for large scale in vitro regeneration. In vitro mass propagation is one of the best biotechnological methods that can be ensured rapid multiplication of disease-free propagules and genetically identical plant production for plant breeding. In vitro plant regeneration in Torenia was obtained on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l BA using nodal segments as explants. Maximum 95% of the explants were produced multiple shoots in this medium. The maximum number (12) of shoot per explant and the maximum shoot length of 5.5 cm were observed after 60 days of culture. The well-rooted were found when strong and healthy shoots were transferred into half strength of MS+ 1.0 mg/l IBA. The maximum number (18) of root per shoot and the maximum root length of 4.83 cm were recorded in this medium after 30 days of culture whilst 90% of shoots induced root. In vitro raised plantlets did not show any morphological variation and 90% of plantlets was survived in the natural environment. In this study, rapid multiplication of planting material in Torenia through in vitro propagation techniques such as shoot initiation, multiplication, rooting, hardening and optimizing the concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators is developed. This regeneration protocol will be helpful in in vitro mutagenesis technique to create new variation of this plant within short time cycle.


The DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT-2 inhibitors are newer agents for glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes that can offer additional health benefits. All three treatments carry a low risk of hypoglycaemia. GLP-1 RAs and SGLT-2 inhibitors are associated with weight loss and DPP-4 inhibitors are weight neutral. The GLP-1 RAs and SGLT-2 inhibitors offer protection against cardiovascular events. SGLT-2 inhibitors are the agents of choice to add on to metformin for glycaemic control in chronic kidney disease and heart failure, with GLP-1 RAs an alternative to be considered if SGLT-2 inhibitors are poorly tolerated or contraindicated. DPP-4 inhibitors are very well tolerated. Gastrointestinal side-effects can be problematic with GLP-1 RAs though frequently these settle with time. Genital thrush is a common side-effect with SGLT-2 inhibitors and diabetic ketoacidosis is a rare but serious side-effect. It is important that healthcare professionals with responsibility in diabetes familiarise themselves with these treatments in order to know when and how to safely and effectively deploy them. The selection of newer agents should be based on careful assessment of individual circumstances. Overall, the standpoint has shifted from a largely glucocentric approach to one considering the impact of treatments on weight, risk of hypoglycaemia, and co-morbidities (notably atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure and chronic kidney disease). Case histories are used in the article to illustrate the pragmatic use of these agents.


Creating inclusive and effective learning environments for all children can be extremely challenging. How do teachers recognize the needs of their different children, the dynamics between them and adapt in response? This paper presents work from a doctoral study and aims to investigate the integration of multidisciplinary fields (design, art therapy, and education) to create a design thinking-based framework and toolkit, which can be applied in the classroom setting to enhance teaching and learning experiences for autistic children (children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)).This paper reports on initial fieldwork (case study) that investigates the design thinking of teachers applying arts practices to support the learning of autistic children, aged 5-6 years old. The case study has been carried out at Marine Park Primary School in the Northeast of England. This paper presents an initial cycle of the case study, which is researcher-driven. Further in the doctoral study ownership transitions from the researcher to the teacher and autistic children. This initial cycle resulted in the development of an arts therapy informed toolkit applied to create immersive learning experiences to address inattention and engagement with instructions and story-based tasks. The toolkit breaks down the lesson plans into more readily comprehensible components and translates tasks and worksheets into an immersive 3D learning experience. Reflections from teacher-research dialogues are presented that indicate an initial framework for day-to-day design thinking for more inclusive learning.


Zinc is an essential micronutrient that is required for optimum plant growth. It is present in soil in insoluble forms. Bacterial solubilization of soil unavailable form of Zn into available form, is an emerging approach to alleviate the Zn deficiency for plants and human beings. Zinc solubilizing bacteria (ZSB) could be a substitute for chemical Zn fertilizer. The present study aimed to isolate and characterize bacterial species from the contaminated soil and evaluate their Zn solubilizing potential. Zn resistant bacteria were isolated and evaluated for their MIC against Zn. Among the 13 isolated bacterial strains ZSB13 showed maximum MIC value upto 30mM/L. The bacterial strain with the highest resistance against Zn was selected for further analysis. Molecular characterization of ZSB13 was performed by 16S rRNA gene amplification which confirmed it as Pseudomonas oleovorans. Zn solubilization was determined through plate assay and broth medium. Four insoluble salts (zinc oxide (ZnO), zinc carbonate (ZnCO3), zinc sulphite (ZnS) and zinc phosphate (Zn3(PO4)2) were used for solubilization assay. Our results shows 11 mm clear halo zone on agar plates amended with ZnO. Likewise, ZSB13 showed significant release of Zn in broth amended with ZnCO3 (17 and 16.8 ppm) and ZnO (18.2 ppm). Furthermore, Zn resistance genes czcD was also enriched in ZSB13. In our study, bacterial strain comprising Zn solubilization potential has been isolated that could be further used for the growth enhancement of crops.


Background: Nowadays, nanotechnology has become a key word of public interest, and is a part of their daily life. Considering the extensive applications of nanosilver in our country and lack of detailed documentation on the toxicity of these nanoparticles, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nanosilver on the enzyme Alkalin phosphtase. Methods and Materials: In this study, 40 adult male Wistar rats were injected by 50,100,200 and 400 ppm of nanosilver. Then blood samples were collected and tissue samples from the liver prepared and studied using silver staining. Data were analyzed using a two-way ANOVA. Results : Results showed that different concentrations of silver nanoparticles hah no significant effect on the Alkalin phosphatase ( P =0.705) . Moreover, the tissue changes were seen in 400 PPm concentration of silver nanoparticles compared to the control group . Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the use of nanoparticle is safe for this enzyme in the above-mentioned condition. The histological changes were shown that nano silver in 400ppm concentration induced apoptosis in liver probability. Considering the physiological similarities between rats and humans , these results could be used in preventing the side effects of using appliances containing silver nanoparticles.


In Romania the main direction of sheep breeding was until two decades ago, wool production, while the milk and meat productions were left in the background. After the 1990s, particularly after the accession of Romania to the European Union, sheep production redirected toward milk and meat production focusing on the identification of the most adequate techniques to increase these productions. One solution to restore this sector is to produce suckling lambs or fat lambs, competitive on the foreign markets. Within this context, the objective of our paper, part of a larger program, is to use industrial crosses to improve meat production in the local sheep breeds. We present here the results of crossing the local Teleorman Black Head (TBH) with imported meat rams: Suffolk and German Black Head (GBH). The studies monitored the performance of the (milk) hybrids F1 compared to the local breed lambs. 60 lambs assigned to three groups (20 lambs per group) were weaned at 2 months, when control slaughtering was used to determine: the slaughter house and commercial yield, proportion of carcass parts, proportion of butchery parts, meat to bone ratio for each part, carcass measurements, chemical composition of the meat, fatty acids and cholesterol included. At birth, the local breed lambs had 4.77 kg and a gain of 0.253 kg and reached 18.31 kg at slaughter. GBH hybrids lambs weighed 4.76 kg at birth, a gain of 0.277 kg and reached 20.63 kg at slaughter; Suffolk hybrids lambs weighed 5.36 kg at birth, 0.322 kg daily weight gain and 24.92 kg at 2 months. The slaughterhouse yield, the meat to bone ratio and carcass dimensions were better in the hybrids than in the local breed. The Suffolk and German Black Head rams transmitted to their progeny a higher speed of growth, a conformation specific to the meat breeds and a better dressing in muscles, a higher slaughter yield and a better meat to bone ration than the local breed lambs.


Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant health problem in the U.S. Specifically, AUD is associated with memory problems and other cognitive defects. DNA methylation of CpG sites and other epigenetic factors have been found to play an important role in the development of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). Because of this, it was hypothesized that individuals with AUD would show differential methylation in neurotrophic factors, specifically, the BDNF gene, as compared to controls. Methods: Precuneus brain tissue from 49 Alcohol Use Disorder cases and 47 controls were obtained from the New South Wales and Victorian Tissue Resource Centre. DNA from each sample was extracted, and methylation levels were analyzed using Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. 450,000 CpG sites were interrogated between AUD cases and controls; however, only 97 CpG sites in the Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene were analyzed. Results: Of the 97 CpG sites in the BDNF gene, only 4 displayed significant methylation differences between AUD cases and controls with the employment of a Bonferroni p-value correction. To obtain more accurate results of overall methylation, CpG sites were grouped according to gene loci (Promoter, 5'UTR, first exon, gene body, and 3'UTR). Only the gene body of the BDNF gene approached significance (p=0.093) for a difference in methylation between AUD cases and controls with AUD cases being slightly hypomethylated. Conclusion: No BDNF gene regions were found to be differentially methylated in the AUD group. This could be due to the small and homogenous sample. However, one CpG region in the gene body approached statistical significance. Overall, gene body methylation is important for splicing kinetics. This may lead to different BDNF mRNA transcripts being produced between AUD cases and controls which can affect the half-life of BDNF mRNA. Future research is needed to examine this possibility in a larger study.


In the past decade, the use of multiple-criteria decision analysis technology has dramatically increased in solving complex real-world problems in solid waste management. Likewise, many municipalities have paid attention to finding feasible solutions for disposal and recycling of solid waste due to the increase in waste generation rates worldwide. Therefore, policy-makers must determine which recycling program to be implemented among various recycling program options. In this paper, a new approach to select a recycling program for recovered paper and pulp recyclables was proposed using analytic hierarchy process–Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (AHP-TOPSIS) techniques. A set of essential parameters of the decision-making system were identified, and a numerical case to illustrate the procedure was conducted. Our findings show very encouraging results to use a combined model between AHP and TOPSIS to select a suitable recycling program for different recovered recyclable materials.


As a front-burner problem in incremental learning, class incremental semantic segmentation (CISS) is plagued by catastrophic forgetting and semantic drift. Although recent methods have utilized knowledge distillation to transfer knowledge from the old model, they are still unable to avoid pixel confusion, which results in severe misclassification after incremental steps due to the lack of annotations for past and future classes. Meanwhile data-replay-based approaches suffer from storage burdens and privacy concerns. In this paper, we propose to address CISS without exemplar memory and resolve catastrophic forgetting as well as semantic drift synchronously. We present Inherit with Distillation and Evolve with Contrast (IDEC), which consists of a Dense Knowledge Distillation on all Aspects (DADA) manner and an Asymmetric Region-wise Contrastive Learning (ARCL) module. Driven by the devised dynamic class-specific pseudo-labelling strategy, DADA distils intermediate-layer features and output-logits collaboratively with more emphasis on semantic-invariant knowledge inheritance. ARCL implements region-wise contrastive learning in the latent space to resolve semantic drift among known classes, current classes, and unknown classes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on multiple CISS tasks by state-of-the-art performance, including Pascal VOC 2012, ADE20K and ISPRS datasets. Our method also shows superior anti-forgetting ability, particularly in multi-step CISS tasks.


BACKGROUND
The Sysmex XT-2000iV is a hematology analyzer that combines impedance and optical techniques and has been previously validated for dogs. Specific reference intervals (RIs) are useful when interpreting results.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to determine hematologic RIs for the Sysmex XT-2000iV using a large reference population of client-owned clinically healthy blood donor dogs, adopting an indirect sampling method.

METHODS
Dogs were screened for breed, size, health, travel history, and previous blood transfusions, and the quality of blood specimens was also reviewed. Results from specimens that met inclusion criteria were used to determine RIs using a nonparametric method. Specimens from Akitas and sighthounds were excluded from the study.

RESULTS
Of 992 specimens that had been collected from blood donors and analyzed, 297 were initially included in the RI study. An additional 38 specimens were excluded as outliers, and hematologic RIs for the Sysmex XT-2000iV were based on analysis of specimens from 259 clinically healthy dogs. Measurands evaluated had variable distributions, and intervals obtained were generally comparable to previously reported RIs. Differences observed included higher lower and upper reference limits (LRL and URL, respectively) for MCV and lower URL for WBC count. Reticulocyte count and the LRL of the absolute lymphocyte count were also higher than previously reported, and the RI for platelet count was narrower and lower.

CONCLUSIONS
Canine RIs for the Sysmex hematology analyzer were established using an indirect sampling method with reference individuals selected from a large database of client-owned clinically healthy blood donor dogs. For specimens included in this study, time from collection to analysis was similar to what veterinary commercial laboratories experience.


This study examines the support of the government, the community, and the private sector in advancing the tourism sector in Gowa district. The abundant natural potential in Gowa Regency makes it difficult for the government to manage itself with its limitations. Support from other parties in tourism management is not only in the form of financial assistance. The involvement of other parties in managing and creating innovations that have a positive impact not only on improving the regional economy but on improving people's welfare. Through unstructured interviews and observations, as well as literature studies, which were then analyzed using the Interactive Model Analysis, the results showed that the government in developing the tourism sector acted as a motivator and facilitator. The involvement of the tourism sector contributes to the thought of developing a more modern tourism sector. Artificial tourist destinations developed by the private sector by maintaining natural beauty, make the tourist area in Malino Village a leading destination in Gowa Regency. This study also shows that the community provides support to tourism development by participating in managing and maintaining existing facilities and infrastructure. In addition, smart people see opportunities, turning their private homes into lodgings for tourists at lower prices.


The hippocampal formation is believed to be critical for the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of episodic memories. Yet, how these processes are supported by the anatomically diverse hippocampal networks is still unknown. To examine this issue, we tested rats in a hippocampus-dependent delayed spatial alternation task on a modified T maze while simultaneously recording local field potentials from dendritic and somatic layers of the dentate gyrus, CA3, and CA1 regions by using high-density, 96-site silicon probes. Both the power and coherence of gamma oscillations exhibited layer-specific changes during task performance. Peak increases in the gamma power and coherence were found in the CA3–CA1 interface on the maze segment approaching the T junction, independent of motor aspects of task performance. These results show that hippocampal networks can be dynamically coupled by gamma oscillations according to specific behavioral demands. Based on these findings, we propose that gamma oscillations may serve as a physiological mechanism by which CA3 output can coordinate CA1 activity to support retrieval of hippocampus-dependent memories.


In a prospective study, iatrogenic medication errors were registered among paediatric admissions. The two most common causes of incidents were neglecting to give a medication on schedule and administration of an incorrect dose-but extra dose errors, errors of omission, wrong rate errors and administration of unauthorized drugs also occurred. After implementation of a satellite pharmacy, medication error rates were compared, and a reduction of the more serious and potentially harmful incidents was shown.


We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) resolved observations of molecular gas in galaxies up to z = 0.35 to characterize the role of global galactic dynamics on the global interstellar medium properties. These observations consist of a sub-sample of 39 galaxies taken from the Valparaiso ALMA Line Emission Survey (VALES). From the CO(J = 1–0) emission line, we quantify the kinematic parameters by modelling the velocity fields. We find that the infrared (IR) luminosity increases with the rotational to dispersion velocity ratio (Vrot/σv, corrected for inclination). We find a dependence between Vrot/σv and the [C II]/IR ratio, suggesting that the so-called [C II] deficit is related to the dynamical state of the galaxies. We find that global pressure support is needed to reconcile the dynamical mass estimates with the stellar masses in our systems with low Vrot/σv values. The star formation rate (SFR) is weakly correlated with the molecular gas fraction (fH2) in our sample, suggesting that the release of gravitational energy from cold gas may not be the main energy source of the turbulent motions seen in the VALES galaxies. By defining a proxy of the 'star formation efficiency' (SFE) parameter as the SFR divided by the CO luminosity (SFE′ ≡ SFR/L′CO), we find a constant SFE′ per crossing time (tcross). We suggest that tcross may be the controlling time-scale in which the star formation occurs in dusty z ∼ 0.03–0.35 galaxies.


The electrochemical sensor for As(III) were developed by using carbon nanotube/amino acid modified platinum electrode using cyclic voltammetry. Experimental conditions such as pH, supporting electrolyte and scan rate were optimized. It was observed that the modified electrode has significantly superior analytical performance in determination as As(III) compared to the unmodified electrode. The determination of As(III) by using modified electrode was reproducible with R.S.D of 7.33%. Determination of As(III) was observed to be free interference at pH 4 acetate buffer. The electrocatalytic redox peak current of As(III) showed a linear response towards different concentration of As(III) and linear calibration cuves were obtained. The sensitivity expressed as the slope of the linear regon of the calibration curve. This method was also examined for determination of As(III) in some real samples, such as industrial waste water from wood industry and electroplating industry.


Good second language classrooms in international schools are vehicles for fostering intercultural understandings as well as learning an additional language. This paper emanates from a study into the teaching of second languages undertaken across six countries in International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program schools. A range of languages, IB regions and language teaching approaches were investigated. This paper reports on the Australian case study. Three structural and pedagogic strategies that contribute to teaching a second language and fostering intercultural understandings are identified, including; school leadership, inquiry and concept based learning, and the inclusion of the school community. The findings highlight the compliance role of the IB Programme Standards and Practices for leadership, governance and management. It offers successful leadership and pedagogic strategies that may be useful for other schools engaged in teaching second languages as a means to nurturing intercultural understanding.


The objective of the present invention is to capture a fiducial marker provided at a base side and a fiducial marker provided at a mounting head side with one recognition camera. In the present invention, a substrate recognition optical path (81) for recognizing a substrate marker (BM) provided on a substrate (B) from above and a component recognition optical path (82) for recognizing a component picked up by a pickup nozzle (55) from below are separately provided for the optical axis of the recognition camera (50), a first fiducial marker (91) to be captured via the substrate recognition optical path is disposed at a predetermined position on the base side, a second fiducial marker (93) to be captured via the component recognition optical path is disposed at a predetermined position on the mounting head (47) side, and a calculation means is provided for calculating the positional relationship of the first and second fiducial markers relative to the optical axis of the recognition camera by capturing the first fiducial marker and the second fiducial marker with the recognition camera.


The practice of cardiovascular exercise triggers a cascade of neurobiological mechanisms that enhancing human memory processing. The objective of this study was to understand the relationship of acute, moderate-intensity exercise to working memory (WM) performance by using N-back task as a performance measure.  In a within-participants design, UiTM students aged between 19 to 24 years old, females (n = 25) performed a N-back task to assess working memory before and 5-minutes immediately after the following interventions: 1) a rest-cognition intervention, in which they performed a cognitive task without exercising; 2) an exercise-cognition intervention, in which they exercised performed a cognitive task 5-minutes immediately after the task. 8 subjects had increment in N-back load compared to before exercise,11 had similar N-back load performance. The exercise-only intervention resulted in increment pattern of hit rate and decreased reaction times, suggesting that simple aerobic exercise had a beneficial impact on working memory. However, for memory reaction time and accuracy, both did not show significant differences. 6 subjects decreased in performance which is indicative of cognitive fatigue caused by the additional cognitive demands. This preliminary study provides an initial indication that exercise may help to improve students' working memory cognition and cognitive fatigue may interfere the beneficial post-exercise outcomes on working memory.


OBJECTIVE
To systemically review the efficacy and safety of heparin for treatment of sepsis.

METHODS
Database search of IM/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, SCIE, CBM, CNKI, VIP Data, WanFang Data (from January 2000 to June 2012) was conducted. The quality of included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about heparin for treatment of sepsis was assessed, and relevant data were extracted according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then meta analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1.

RESULTS
17 trials with 1 167 participants were included. The results of meta-analysis showed: compared with the control group, heparin significantly decreased 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis [odds ratio (OR)=0.59, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 0.45-0.77, P=0.0001]; heparin did not deteriorate coagulation disorders, but corrected sepsis-induced platelet (PLT) count reduction [mean difference (MD)=13.94, 95%CI 10.15 to 17.72, P<0.000 01], while it had no significant effect on the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT, APTT: MD=-3.18, 95%CI -6.88 to 0.53, P=0.09; PT: MD=-0.68, 95%CI -1.48 to 0.12, P=0.09). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidence of bleeding either. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHEII) score of heparin group was significantly lower than that of the control group (MD=-2.58, 95%CI -3.29 to -1.87, P<0.000 01), and the incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) was significantly lower than that of the control group (OR=0.32, 95%CI 0.17 to 0.61, P=0.000 6). In addition, heparin could shorten intensive care unit (ICU) stay (MD=-4.43, 95%CI -6.79 to -2.07, P=0.000 2), whereas it showed no significant effect on the total length of hospital stay.

CONCLUSIONS
Heparin can ameliorate sepsis, and has high degree of safety and lower hospital expense. Due to limitation of the quality of included studies, larger sample and well-designed RCTs are needed to further support this conclusion.


Objectives This study aimed to examine whether preoperative cervical muscle size, composition, and asymmetry from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can predict post-operative outcomes in patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Methods A total of 171 patients with DCM were included. Relative total cross-sectional area (RCSA), functional CSA (fat-free area, FCSA), ratio of FCSA/CSA (fatty infiltration) and asymmetry of the multifidus (MF) and semispinalis cervicis (SCer) together (MF + SCer), and cervical muscle as a group (MF, SCer, semispinalis capitis, and splenius capitis) were obtained from T2-weighted axial MR images at the mid-disk, at the level of maximum cord compression and the level below. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between baseline cervical muscle measurements of interest with the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA), Nurick Classification, Neck Disability Index (NDI), and SF-36 health survey at 6-month and 12-month post-surgery. Results Lower RCSA of MF + SCer, less CSA MF + SCer asymmetry and greater FCSA/CSA for the cervical muscle group (e.g., less fatty infiltration), and younger age were significant predictors of higher mJOA scores (e.g., less disability) at 6-month and 12-month post-surgery (all p < 0.05). Greater CSA asymmetry in MF + SCer and lower FCSA/CSA (e.g., more fatty infiltration) for the cervical muscle group were significant predictors of higher Nurick scores (e.g., more disability) at 6-month and 12-month post-surgery (all p < 0.05). Lower FCSA MF + Scer asymmetry, lower FCSA/CSA asymmetry of the muscle group, and greater RCSA MF + SCer were significant predictors of higher NDI scores at 6-month and 12-month post-surgery. Finally, greater FCSA/CSA asymmetry of the MF + SCer, greater FCSA asymmetry of the muscle group, greater RCSA of the muscle group, and greater CSA asymmetry of MF + SCer were significant predictors of lower post-operative SF-36 scores at 6- and 12-month post-surgery. Conclusion Our result suggested that cervical paraspinal muscle morphology, specifically greater asymmetry, and fatty infiltration may be important predictors of functional recovery and post-surgical outcomes in patients with DCM.


Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with alterations in immune regulation that results in T cell activation and release of the soluble interleukin 2 receptors (sIL-2R) in serum. SLE, a disease with varied clinical manifestations also has regulatory T cell subset abnormalities in blood. Levels of sIL-2R in serum of patients with active SLE were higher than in those with other common rheumatic diseases. Patients with active SLE and an increased percentage of CD4+ CDw29+ helper inducer (memory) and decreased percentage of CD4+ CD45R+ suppressor inducer (virgin) T cell subsets in blood demonstrated elevated levels of sIL-2R in serum. When compared with clinical manifestations of the disease, the sIL-2R levels in the sera of the patients with active SLE and thrombocytopenia were higher (mean 1710 units/ml) than those in active SLE with nephrotic syndrome (mean 1230 units/ml) or in active SLE with central nervous system disease (mean 1157 units/ml). However, patients with active SLE with humoral immunodeficiency (hypogammaglobulinemia) had highly elevated levels of sIL-2R in serum as compared to other patients with active SLE. The highly elevated levels of sIL-2R in serum may indicate that in vivo T cell activation plays an important role in this disease.


A theoretical investigation of bifurcation structures of periodically forced oscillators is presented. In the plane of forcing frequency and amplitude, subharmonic entrainment occurs in v-shaped (Arnol'd) tongues, or entrainment bands, for small forcing amplitudes. These tongues terminate at higher forcing amplitudes. Between these two limits, individual tongues fit together to form a global bifurcation structure. The regime in which the forcing amplitude is much smaller than the amplitude of the limit cycle is first examined. Using the method of multiple time scales, expressions for solutions on the invariant torus, widths of Arnol'd tongues, and Liapunov exponents of periodic orbits are derived. Next, the regime of moderate to large forcing amplitudes is examined through studying a periodically forced Hopf bifurcation. In this case the forcing amplitude and the amplitude of the limit cycle can be of the same order of magnitude. From a study of the normal forms for this case, it is shown how Arnol'd tongues terminate and how complicated bifurcation structures are associated with strong resonances. Aspects of model and experimental chemical systems that show some of the phenomena predicted from the above theoretical results are mentioned.


We illustrate our experimental observation of the periodic changes of spatial splitting of the generated four-wave mixing (FWM) signal induced by different polarization states of one of the dressing beams. It is pointed out that the changes of intensity of the dressing beam and the FWM signal have influences on the spatial splitting and their influences compete with each other. The differences between p- and s-polarized FWM beams are demonstrated. The influences of the dressing beams, which lead to the larger spatial splitting with different polarization states or frequency detuning, are observed as well.


We have developed a new technique for studying flux dynamics in high-Tc films using bismuth Hall probes deposited directly onto the superconductor surface. Using this approach we demonstrate single fluxon resolution in YBa2Cu3O7- delta thin films with good signal-to-noise ratio. The results of coincidence measurements at adjacent Hall voltage contacts indicate that flux motion in the films is uncorrelated at 4.2 K consistent with a high density of strong pinning centres. We propose that this new technique could become a very sensitive tool in the challenge to understand vortex dynamics in high-Tc superconductors at the microscopic level.


Model-based decomposition of polarimetric radar covariance matrices holds the promise that specific scattering mechanisms can be isolated for further quantitative analysis. In this paper, we show that current algorithms suffer from a fatal flaw in that some of the scattering components result in negative powers. We propose a simple modification that ensures that all covariance matrices in the decomposition will have nonnegative eigenvalues. We further combine our nonnegative eigenvalue decomposition with eigenvector decomposition to remove additional assumptions that have to be made before the current algorithms can be used to estimate all the scattering components. Our results are illustrated using Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar data and show that current algorithms typically overestimate the canopy scattering contribution by 10%-20%.


A sulfur-tolerant deoxidizing catalyst using Co-Mo non-noble metal as the active component and γ-Al2O3 as the support was successfully prepared. The deoxidizing performance was measured in a fixed bed micro-reactor. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) was used to study the catalyst's desorption behavior of H2 and O2. Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) was also applied to study the hydrogen consumption of fresh and deactivated catalyst samples. Results from TPD profiles show that, on this catalyst, H2 has two desorption peaks corresponding to two different active sites, O2 has four desorption peaks corresponding to four different active sites. Water vapour occupies weak active site in priority, thus withholding further H2 and O2 active absorptive capacity. Results of TPR show that this catalyst has three catalogues of hydrogen consumption peaks, peak areas are in obesity type, and this catalyst has reduction performance at various temperature. The synergistic reaction between Co-Mo and Al2O3 affects its deoxidizing activity, and this synergistic reaction in fresh catalyst is stronger than that in deactived catalyst. The results of this study are significant for the use, deactivation and reactivation of Co-Mo/γ-Al2O3 deoxidizing catalyst.


An English scientist has designated the present time as the ''bacteriologic era." It has also been properly called "the period of preventive medicine." The reason and propriety of these appellations as together applied to the times, appear in the fact, that the more important advances made in medicine and surgery in late years have been dependent upon, or more or less connected with, discoveries and practical work in bacteriology. The names of scientists who have been and are now engaged in this work of advancement in different countries require no mention. It has been claimed that different characteristics in scientific and practical work have national or provincial origins and belongings; that, for instance, it was for German scientists, by patient investigation, to discover and furnish the foundation-material, to be utilized largely by practical workmen of other nations. In this country it is remembered when in medicine and surgery the making


The goals of tympanoplasty in children include improvement in hearing, prevention of earinfections, and elimination of the need for water precautions. However, tympanoplasty in children is a controversial subject. In the present study the outcome of tympanoplasty in children is examined with regard to its success in achieving these goals and to the level of parental satisfaction with its outcome. Fifty-four children undergoing 62 tympanoplasties at our institution were included in the study. The surgical success rate was 72.5 per cent. Fifty per cent of parents reported that their child's hearing had improved (p = 0.181 for association with surgical success), 78 per cent reported a decrease in ear infections (p = 0.023), 45 per cent reported their child to be participating in activities previously refrained from (p = 0.003), and 79 per cent of parents were satisfied with the overall surgical outcome (p < 0.001). Our findings show that successful tympanoplasty may confer benefits on children and may help guide parents' expectations of the surgery.


My research interests have revolved around creating realistic animated humans. Animated humans are important to a variety of applications, including: entertainment, where they appear as characters in games and as special effects in movies; training simulations, which are used by the military to prepare soldiers and by industry to instruct workers in using equipment; and visualization aids, such as for medical analysis (studying an injured person's gait) and equipment design (determining if controls can be comfortably accessed). My thesis work focused specifically on animating realistic human motion; that is, having characters move correctly, regardless of how (for example) their skin and clothing looks. This is a challenging problem for two reasons. First, human motion is intrinsically complicated. The human body is an intricate structure containing hundreds of individual bones and muscles, and it is capable of both subtle movements (such as shrugging shoulders) and highly dynamic motions (such as a back flip). Second, people are natural experts on human motion. Having seen other people move our entire lives, we are highly attuned to the subtleties of human movement, and casual viewers can readily identify even minor inaccuracies in animated motion. A popular way of animating realistic motion is to use a technology called motion capture, which obtains accurate 3D recordings of the movement of a live performer. However, by itself motion capture offers no control over what a character does; much like a video, it can only be used to play back the original performance. My thesis shows how to use motion capture data to build generative models that provide high-level control over a character's actions, while preserving the realism of the original data. For example, an artist might ask a character to walk down a path and open a door, and the model would handle the details of constructing appropriate walking and door-opening motions. The single most important contribution of my existing research is the development of automated methods that make it feasible to work with large data sets. This is crucial because data-driven models can only reliably produce motion "near" the original examples, and hence expressive models require large amounts of data. My thesis work provides a comprehensive set of techniques that span multiple levels of focus, from enforcing low-level kinematic properties during motion synthesis, to building models that can synthesize entire motions at once, to providing intuitive high-level interfaces for creating motions with specific properties.


For an important family of asymmetric auctions, we show that the seller's expected revenue is higher in the sealed high-bid auction than in the open auction. This is true for any arbitrary numbers of weak and strong buyers. The family has linear equilibrium bidding strategies, and provides a fertile ground for research in asymmetric auctions. We establish many interesting properties of the linear asymmetric auction model. Revenue comparisons for the two auction formats are performed using data observed in U.S. forest timber auctions. By taking realistic parameters fitting the data, and compare the theoretical predictions of the revenues from the two auction formats, we show that the revenue difference is minimal with a fixed number of participants. When the difference in participation is taken into account, the revenue difference predicted by the linear model is quite similar to the empirical results of Athey, Levin and Seira (2004).


Time-dependent measurements of the decays B s (t) → φK 0 and B d(t) → K K0 can be used to compare the weak phases of B d-B 0 d mixing and the t-quark contribution to the b → d penguin. Since these two phases are equal in the standard model, any discrepancy would be a sign of new physics, specifically in the b → d flavourchanging neutral current (FCNC). The method can be applied to other pairs of decays, such as B s (t) → J/ΨKS and B 0 d(t) → J/Ψπ .


The emergence of China in the Nile basin happened simultaneously to the cooperative developments among the 10 riparian countries. This paper argues that the power structures shifted from international agencies, which advance basin-wide cooperation, to private (Chinese) enterprises that advance unilateral undertakings. The decline of influence from international agencies who generally act in accordance to the Western liberal-democratic morale and China's increasing influence by unilateral development, challenges the cooperative (multilateral) regime. Generally, this shift in the balance of power in the Nile region is regarded with suspicion by the Western dominated view as they question the 'responsible' engagement of China and the risks that come with 'no strings attached' policy that come with unilateral development.


Abstract There is a large body of evidence linking muscular weakness, as determined by low grip strength, to a host of negative aging-related health outcomes. Given these links, grip strength has been labeled a "biomarker of aging"; and yet, this metric provides no biological plausibility. The objective of this study was to determine the association between grip strength and DNA methylation (DNAm) age acceleration. Middle age and older adults from the 2006-2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study with 8-years of follow-up were included. Cross sectional and longitudinal modeling were performed to examine the association between grip strength (normalized to body mass: NGS) and DNAm age acceleration, adjusting for cell composition, sociodemographic variables, and smoking. Three DNAm clocks were incorporated for estimating age acceleration including the established DunedinPoAm, Levine, and GrimAge clocks. There was a robust and independent cross sectional association between NGS and DNAm age for men (β:-0.36; p<0.001) and women (β:-0.36; p<0.001) using the DunedinPoAm clock, and for men only using the Levine (β:-8.04; p=0.01) and GrimAge (β:-4.76; p=0.01) clocks. There was also an independent longitudinal association between baseline NGS and DNAm age for men (β:-0.27; p<0.001) and women (β:-0.36; p<0.001) using the DunedinPoAm clock, and for women only using the Levine (β:-8.20; p<0.001) and GrimAge (β:-6.04; p<0.001) clocks. Our findings provide some evidence of age acceleration among men and women with lower NGS. Future research is needed to understand the extent to which DNAm age mediates the association between grip strength and chronic disease, disability, and mortality.


This paper analyzed three control strategies (direct power control, per-phase harmonic reference generation method, conventional Ip-Iq method) for active power filters in three-phase four-wire systems. They were applied to a 4-leg inverter to compensate input currents of an office building. Differences in harmonic detecting and switching sequence generation of these three control strategies were analyzed. Per-phase harmonic reference generation control is used to reduce capacity of dc bus capacitor. Direct power control is designed for better harmonic compensation as well as smaller power capacity. The simulation results are presented to substantiate the theoretical analyses.


The Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney (WMW) test is often used to compare the means or medians of two independent, possibly nonnormal distributions. For this problem, the true significance level of the large sample approximate version of the WMW test is known to be sensitive to differences in the shapes of the distributions. Based on a wide ranging simulation study, our paper shows that the problem of lack of robustness of this test is more serious than is thought to be the case. In particular, small differences in variances and moderate degrees of skewness can produce large deviations from the nominal type I error rate. This is further exacerbated when the two distributions have different degrees of skewness. Other rank‐based methods like the Fligner–Policello (FP) test and the Brunner–Munzel (BM) test perform similarly, although the BM test is generally better. By considering the WMW test as a two‐sample T test on ranks, we explain the results by noting some undesirable properties of the rank transformation. In practice, the ranked samples should be examined and found to sufficiently satisfy reasonable symmetry and variance homogeneity before the test results are interpreted. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper presents a proof-of concept study for demonstrating the viability of building collaboration among multiple agents through standard Q learning algorithm embedded in particle swarm optimisation. Collaboration is formulated to be achieved among the agents via some sort competition, where the agents are expected to balance their action in such a way that none of them drifts away of the team and none intervene any fellow neighbours territory. Particles are devised with Q learning algorithm for self training to learn how to act as members of a swarm and how to produce collaborative/collective behaviours. The produced results are supportive to the algorithmic structures suggesting that a substantive collaboration can be build via proposed learning algorithm.


DISCLAIMER
In an effort to expedite the publication of articles related to the COVID-19 pandemic, AJHP is posting these manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time.

PURPOSE
Oral oncolytics come with significant concerns of noncompliance due to complex regimens, adverse effects, and high overall costs. The Geisinger Oral Chemotherapy Clinic is a fully telephone-based medication therapy disease management (MTDM) program designed to integrate pharmacists as advanced practitioners in hematology/oncology clinics for comanagement of oral chemotherapy.

SUMMARY
To date, Geisinger has 11 oncology clinics and 3 full-time pharmacists designated to the management of oral chemotherapy. Pharmacists receive referrals for comanagement of patients starting oral oncolytics. Under a collaborative practice agreement, they can order laboratory tests as well as supportive care medications and refills. Pharmacists review planned therapies, perform medication reconciliations, and provide medication counseling. Once treatment has been initiated, pharmacists contact patients for laboratory and toxicity assessments. The clinic incorporates the use of customized smart data elements within the electronic medical record to collect data regarding pharmacist interventions and time allocations in the clinic. As of March 31, 2021, the clinic was actively following approximately 1,100 patients, resulting in an average of 80 to 90 encounters per day for new referrals, chemotherapy education, and laboratory and toxicity assessments. Approximately 2,113 patients were followed from December 1, 2019, to March 31, 2021, with 46,929 interventions documented.

CONCLUSION
By obtaining provider buy-in for pharmacy services, acquiring enough personnel resources to meet the needs of the growing patient population and respective therapies, and proper utilization of technology, the program has thrived, allowing for increased provider and patient satisfaction. Future goals include expanding collection of pharmacist intervention metrics and analysis of patient perceptions of services provided by the clinic.


In this paper we consider the monoid $\DPC_n$ of all partial isometries of a $n$-cycle graph $C_n$. We show that $\DPC_n$ is the submonoid of the monoid of all oriented partial permutations on a $n$-chain whose elements are precisely all restrictions of the dihedral group of order $2n$. Our main aim is to exhibit a presentation of $\DPC_n$. We also describe Green's relations of $\DPC_n$ and calculate its cardinal and rank.


and language are local to the east Texas hip-hop community (such as "liquid bar," which refers to a purple mixture of promethazine with codeine cough syrup and Sprite, known elsewhere as simply "syrup"), but most of the vocabulary is popular urban slang, and Kid B does a good job of describing the various break dance moves that he names, such as windmills, bellymills, suicides, etc. Kid's narration is fully stylized insider hip-hop fo' shizzle, making this an informative ethnography of b-boy culture for outsiders, and a great way to entice readers who are more at home on cardboard than carpet. KC


6-Azido-6-deoxy-N-acetylglucosamine (6AzGlcNAc) was recently introduced as a new selective metabolic chemical reporter (MCR) for labeling O-GlcNAc-modified proteins in cells. To investigate whether O-6AzGlcNAc is readily cleaved by O-GlcNAcase (OGA), the enzyme responsible for removing the O-GlcNAc modification, we synthesized PNP-6AzGlcNAc. This analog mimics O-GlcNAc and can be used in vitro to define the kinetic parameters for OGA thereby defining whether O-6AzGlcNAc can be employed as an appropriate tool to monitor O-GlcNAc dynamics in cells. Both PNP-6AzGlcNAc and PNP-GlcNAc were efficiently hydrolyzed by OGA with similar kinetics suggesting that an azido-modification at the GlcNAc C6 position does not significantly interfere with the β-hexosaminidase activity of OGA.


SUMMARY TRPM8 is a calcium ion channel that is activated by multiple factors, such as temperature, voltage, pressure, and osmolality. It is a therapeutic target for anticancer drug development, and its modulators can be utilized for several pathological conditions. Here, we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of a human TRPM8 channel in the closed state that was solved at 2.7 Å resolution. Based on our reconstruction, we built the most complete model of the N-terminal pre-melastatin homology region. We also visualized several ligands that are bound by the protein and modeled how the human channel interacts with icilin. Analyses of pore helices showed that all available TRPM8 structures can be grouped into closed and desensitized states based on the register of pore helix S6 and the resulting positioning of particular amino acid residues at the channel constriction.


AIM
To determine the fluoride content of commercially-available bottled water in Bangkok.

METHODS
 Thirty brands of bottled water (17 bottled plain water and 13 bottled mineral water) were obtained from supermarkets in Bangkok. Two randomly-selected samples of each brand were purchased 6 months apart. A 5-mL sample was mixed with 5 mL of total ionic-strength adjusting buffer III. The fluoride content of each sample was determined in triplicate by a fluoride ion-selective electrode. Fluoride standards ranging in concentration from 0.01 to 1.00 ppm were used to calibrate the measurements. Data were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, version 13.0.

RESULTS
The fluoride content of bottled water in Bangkok ranged from 0.03 to 0.72 ppm, with a mean ± standard deviation of 0.17 ± 0.16 ppm. The mean fluoride content of bottled mineral water was slightly higher than that of bottled plain water, but the difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
Most commercially-available bottled water in Bangkok contains negligible amounts of fluoride. This serves as baseline data for dentists prescribing a fluoride supplement to make the utmost use of the fluoride caries preventive effect, while avoiding adverse effects, such as dental fluorosis.


Landau was the first to advance hydrodynamic concepts such as density and velocity to describe the superfluidity of liquid He$^4$. Due to the recent spectacular success of experiments demonstrating Bose Einstein condensation in dilute Bose atomic gases, interest has been revitalized in the theoretical description of Bose Einstein condensates. Many of the properties of these gases were obtained by using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) to derive the hydrodynamic equations for the gases. However, it is interesting to apply the hydrodynamic equations obtained by Yee for bosons. Many of the properties obtained for the dilute Bose gases are also consequences of Yee's hydrodynamic equations, which derive from a formalism distinct from that of the GPE.


We propose visual memes, or frequently reposted short video segments, for tracking large-scale video remix in social media. Visual memes are extracted by novel and highly scalable detection algorithms that we develop, with over 96% precision and 80% recall. We monitor real-world events on YouTube, and we model interactions using a graph model over memes, with people and content as nodes, and meme postings as links. This allows us to define several measures of influence. These abstractions, using more than two million video shots from several large-scale event datasets, enable us to quantify and efficiently extract several important observations: over half of the videos contain re-mixed content, which appears rapidly; video view counts, particularly high ones, are poorly correlated with the virality of content; the influence of traditional news media versus citizen journalists varies from event to event; iconic single images of an event are easily extracted; and content that will have long lifespan can be predicted within a day after it first appears. Visual memes can be applied to a number of social media scenarios: brand monitoring, social buzz tracking, ranking content and users, among others.


PREFACE Powerful forces of change are at work within the American health care system. The public debate concerning health care financing and access to insurance coverage is intensifying. But below the surface of the media and policy debate about cost and access, a quieter but perhaps more significant process of change is under way: the transformation of health care management and delivery--indeed, health professional work itself-through health care quality improvement. The innovative, interdisciplinary quality improvement (QI) movement has begun to significantly upgrade delivery of health care in the United States. Taking its cue from reform approaches in other industries, and driven especially by studies indicating a shockingly widespread incidence of medical errors and a striking lack of consistency in the standard of care patients receive in different facilities and from different practitioners, the QI movement has arrived in health care. Using knowledge gained from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, health care management, and medical and health services research, it attempts to mobilize people within the health care system to work together in a systematic way to improve the care they provide. In this work, discipline-specific knowledge is combined with experiential learning and discovery to make improvements. Ethical issues arise in QI because attempts to improve the quality of care for some patients may sometimes inadvertently cause harm, or may benefit some at the expense of others, or may waste scarce health care resources. Ethical issues also arise because some activities aimed at improvement have been interpreted as a form of medical research in which patients are used as subjects. If this interpretation is correct, QI would come under the same complex review and regulatory requirements that have been set up to govern biomedical and other types of research. But is this type of regulation necessary, given what QI involves? Is it the most effective and reasonable way to regulate QI to ensure that it is carried out in an ethical fashion? These are important questions, both conceptually and practically. Thus far, however, relatively few attempts have been made to address QI from an ethical perspective, and the interface between research and quality improvement has not been adequately explored or defined. Federal agencies with responsibilities in this area have disagreed on where the interface between medical research and QI lies and how it should be handled. (See Box 1 for a particularly dramatic example of such a conflict.) The strict ethical rules of oversight, regulation, and patient consent for human subjects research, including the requirement for institutional review board (IRB) approval, have significant implications for the feasibility and cost of pursuing QI activities. More specifically, the mechanism developed to govern ethical conduct in one important area--human subjects research--could have the perverse, if unintended, consequence of interfering directly with an equally important ethical imperative in another area-that is, unceasing efforts by health care professionals to make clinical care safer and more effective. The current state of uncertainty about what is ethically and legally required to safeguard participants in QI activities has already become a disincentive to engage in QI, making it more difficult to bring about the system transformation urgently needed if health care is to be made better and safer for patients. 1. The Pittsburgh ESRD Case In October 2000, a nephrologist coauthored an article about a project to improve the dialysis care delivered to patients in Medicare's End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program. (1) Some time after the article appeared, the university at which he held a faculty appointment notified him that an audit of faculty publications had identified this project as a quality improvement effort that met the definition of human subjects research but had not undergone IRB review. …


Background: Physiotherapy management of patients with low back pain (LBP) raises ethical issues that may affect practitioners' efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Objective: The objective of this study was to have insight into the ethical issues and dilemmas encountered by physiotherapy practitioners in management of patients with LBP. Methodology: An exploratory study design using qualitative method was used. Two Focus Group Discussions were conducted at two major hospitals in Lusaka. Sixteen physiotherapy practitioners participated in this study. Data was analysed according to the modified principle of Giorgi's phenomenological analysis and presented verbatim. Results: Results revealed four dimensions of ethical issues encountered in management of LBP. These included Conflict of culture and treatment process, Patient/Physiotherapy practitioner relationships, Informed Consent and dilemmas encountered in management of LBP. Ethical issues were raised concerning cultural competences and recognising professional boundaries in clinical practice. Conclusion: Physiotherapy practitioners encountered cultural and professional boundary ethical challenges in the management of patients with LBP. These may affect in the effectiveness of healthcare delivery. Physiotherapy practitioners would benefit from further training on ethics in clinical practice.


The solid liquid transitions of lead aggregates embedded in a silicon matrix are investigated through optical measurements. A phenomenological model linking optics and thermodynamics of melting is proposed.


Techniques from numerical analysis and crystallographic refinement have been combined to produce a variant of the Truncated Newton nonlinear optimization procedure. The new algorithm shows particular promise for potential energy minimization of large molecular systems. Usual implementations of Newton's method require storage space proportional to the number of atoms squared (i.e., O(N2)) and computer time of O(N3). Our suggested implementation of the Truncated Newton technique requires storage of less than O(N1.5) and CPU time of less than O(N2) for structures containing several hundred to a few thousand atoms. The algorithm exhibits quadratic convergence near the minimum and is also very tolerant of poor initial structures. A comparison with existing optimization procedures is detailed for cyclohexane, arachidonic acid, and the small protein crambin. In particular, a structure for crambin (662 atoms) has been refined to an RMS gradient of 3.6 × 10−6 kcal/mol/Å per atom on the MM2 potential energy surface. Several suggestions are made which may lead to further improvement of the new method.


ABSTRACT Sex segregation is a powerful phenomenon in childhood. It occurs universally whenever children have a choice of playmates and is found in sub-human primates too. Adults are not directly responsible for sex segregation. Data do not support the hypothesis that the most ladylike girls and the most rough and active boys first form the segregated play groups that emerge in nursery school. Modest evidence indicates that participation in all-girl play groups serves a positive socializing function for girls. For boys, no such evidence was found. Recent findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that the cultures developed by boys and girls in their segregated groups are distinctive and serve different functions. Altogether, these findings and results of primate studies suggest that females are first to initiate segregation to avoid being dominated by males. These conjectures, however, do not explain why boys avoid playing with girls. It is concluded that gender segregation appears to be relatively intractable; it may be unwise for adults to try to prevent boys and girls from choosing same-sex playmates in unstructured play situations. Adults can play a very large role, though, in setting up structured situations in which cross-sex interactions can occur without placing on children the burden of letting their peers see that they have chosen a cross-sex partner. (RH)


The authors present a new instrument for measurement of actual instantaneous pH in obstetrics. It has been developped to avoid most errors of the usual scalp-blood sampling. Its advantages are:--Aspiration is manual and controlled.--Results are obtained within 10--15 seconds. A comparative study with two other pH-meters has demonstrated an excellent correlation and reliability of this new instrument. The authors consider the method as simple, functional and reliable, all favourable factors for routine use.


Spontaneous vitreous hemorrhage, without trauma, accounted for 317 patients (375 eyes) seen during a four-year period from July 1, 1975, to June 30, 1979. The most common causes were proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 39.2%; retinal tear, 12.1%; posterior vitreous detachment, 12%; vein occlusion, 10.4%; retinal detachment, 6.7%; intraocular lens, 3.2%; proliferative sickle retinopathy, 1.3%; miscellaneous, 7.4%; and unknown, 6.7%. Emphasis is placed on the importance of establishing the specific cause so that specific therapy may be instituted.


Background. Delayed xenograft rejection (DXR) remains a roadblock to successful xenotransplantation. A feature of DXR is early recruitment of monocytes to the xenograft. Naïve human monocytes can recognize and adhere to unstimulated porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) more than human aortic endothelial cells, partly due to endothelial expression of the xenoantigen galactose-α(1,3)galactose-β(1,4)GlcNAc-R (α-gal). Previous work from our laboratory has implicated galectin-3 as a candidate molecule on monocytes involved in initial recognition and adhesion of human monocytes to PAEC. Methods. Flow cytometry was used to analyze monocyte activation and galectin-3 accumulation in PAEC. Reactive oxygen intermediate production was analyzed using dihydrorhodamine measured in a fluorescence plate reader. Western blotting was performed to determine galectin-3 secretion and expression by human monocytes. Immunofluorescence staining for the tight junction protein zona occludens-1 was used as a measure of PAEC monolayer integrity. Results. We demonstrate that galectin-3 can be secreted from monocyte intracellular stores on contact with α-gal. Soluble galectin-3 binds PAEC partly by expression of α-gal. Binding is reduced on endothelium derived from α-gal knockout animals, but not completely. Competing terminal sugars expressed on human aortic endothelial cells such as sialic acid, may block galectin-3 binding. Furthermore, soluble galectin-3 activates monocytes in an autocrine/paracrine manner. Blocking galectin-3 reduces the activation of human monocytes. Finally, the inhibition of galectin-3 reduces monocyte-mediated endothelial injury on co-culture with PAEC. Conclusion. Galectin-3 plays a role in human monocyte activation and adhesion in the presence of PAEC, which may contribute to DXR. Additional transgenic strategies targeting galectin-3 ligands on porcine endothelium may be required to achieve optimal xenograft survival.


Azo dyes are recognized as non-decomposable and recalcitrant compounds
and can be depleted into more dangerous secondary products in anaerobic environments. In the current
scenario, different water treatment strategies, including adsorption, photocatalysis, and advanced
oxidation processes based practices, are facing different limitations.

A literature survey was accomplished by searching the scientific data from different search
engines, including Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Springer, Taylor and Francis, Google Scholar,
Blackwell-Synergy, Wiley-Interscience and Research-Gate, etc. This article has been compiled after
intensively reviewing about 231 research papers, reviews, and book chapters in the fields of industrial
effluents, hazardous materials, and water treatment strategies with their advantages and limitations.

Molecular oxygen and other active species, such as O2•−, HO2•, H2O2, and •OH, play a significant
role in the degradation of dyes in AOPs and photocatalyst utilizes sunlight energy and accelerates
some chemical reactions depending upon the activation energies. Different reaction parameters,
including calcination temperature, pH, initial dye concentration, and catalyst dosage, have a significant
impact on photocatalytic degradation performance. Characterization of degradation processes
of dye-stuffs could be carried out by the state-of-the-art analytical techniques i.e. UV-Visible
spectroscopy, powdered XRD, FTIR (ATR), EDX-SEM, BET, and differential pulse voltammetry.
GC-MS and LC-MS investigation of photodegradation by-products and intermediates could provide
identification and possible degradation pathway for target dye molecules. This review covers research
related to photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes by TiO2 and ZnO, widely used photocatalysts,
and various combinations of zeolites.

It can be concluded that the combination of nano-sorbents (Fly Ash Zeolites) and photocatalysts
not only enhances the degradation but also effectively removes toxic dye molecules and
their by-products. The review explains the suitability of synergic applications of catalysts (TiO2,
ZnO) and catalytic bed (zeolites) for different industrial effluents and waste water treatment at a significant
pace towards green technology.


We introduce Isolde, an automatic garbage collection scheme designed specifically for managing memory in lock-free data structures, such as stacks, lists, maps and queues. Isolde exists as a plug-in memory manager, designed to sit on-top of another memory manager, and use it's allocator and reclaimer (if exists). Isolde treats a lock-free data structure as a logical heap, isolated from the rest of the program. This allows garbage collection outside of Isolde to take place without affecting the lock-free data structure. Isolde further manages objects allocated on a Isolde heap in a fully concurrent manner, allowing garbage collection to incrementally remove garbage without stopping other threads doing work.


To the Editor. —In a recent article, Dr Ubel and colleagues 1 argue that candidates for liver retransplant should receive a lower priority than candidates for primary transplant because of reduced 1-year survival. Looking at data in the aggregate may obscure important heterogeneities in retransplant candidates. For instance, Mora et al 2 divided retransplant candidates into two groups—nonelective and elective. They found that there was no statistically significant difference in actuarial survival between patients who received elective retransplants and primary transplants; however, both groups did much better than the nonelective retransplant group. Elective retransplants were usually performed because of chronic rejection or hepatic artery thrombosis, whereas nonelective transplants often followed primary graft failure or acute rejection. Another possible heterogeneity applies to age group. For instance, although the data of Saito et al 3 show a survival difference between first and second transplants, the difference is much less pronounced in children


Coffee is both an important source of export revenue for developing countries and the underlying asset for the largest futures markets in soft commodities. This paper examines the interdependence of these spot and futures markets, with particular emphasis on the effect futures trading activity, especially speculative behaviour, has on the price risk in spot markets. We identify change points associated with particularly poor harvests and modifications made to the underlying futures contract on one exchange. Findings indicate that spot and futures markets for coffee are indeed interdependent. However, futures markets for coffee appear to be increasingly driven by risks associated with the underlying spot markets.


Though bacteria of the radiation-resistant Deinococcus radiodurans have a high resistance to the lethal and mutagenic effects of many DNA-damaging agents, the mechanisms involved in the response of these bacteria to oxidative stress are poorly understood. In this report, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities produced by these bacteria were measured, and the change of SOD and CAT activities by 20 keV N+ beam exposure was examined. Their activities were increased by N+ beam exposure from 8×1014 ions/cm2 to 6×1015 ions/cm2. The treatment of H2O2 and [CHCl3 +CH3CH2OH] and the measurement of absorption spectrum showed that the increase in SOD activity was resulted from inducible activities of Mn-SOD in D. radiodurans AS1.633 by N+ beam exposure. These results suggested that this bacteria possess inducible defense mechanisms against the deleterious effects of oxidization.


This is a case of longstanding urinary tract symptoms in a 10 year old boy in which multi-modality imaging revealed multiple radio-opaque calculi including a giant vesical calculus. He had surgical removal of the stone with no post-op complications. Keywords: Giant, Vesical Calculus, 10 years old


Dysfunctional astrocytes are increasingly recognized as key players in the development and progression of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). One of the dramatic changes astrocytes undergo in MTLE with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) is loss of gap junction coupling. To further elucidate molecular mechanism(s) underlying this alteration, we assessed expression, cellular localization and phosphorylation status of astrocytic gap junction proteins in human and experimental MTLE‐HS. In addition to conventional confocal analysis of immunohistochemical staining we employed expansion microscopy, which allowed visualization of blood‐brain‐barrier (BBB) associated cellular elements at a sub‐µm scale. Western Blot analysis showed that plasma membrane expression of connexin43 (Cx43) and Cx30 were not significantly different in hippocampal specimens with and without sclerosis. However, we observed a pronounced subcellular redistribution of Cx43 toward perivascular endfeet in HS, an effect that was accompanied by increased plaque size. Furthermore, in HS Cx43 was characterized by enhanced C‐terminal phosphorylation of sites affecting channel permeability. Prominent albumin immunoreactivity was found in the perivascular space of HS tissue, indicating that BBB damage and consequential albumin extravasation was involved in Cx43 dysregulation. Together, our results suggest that subcellular reorganization and/or abnormal posttranslational processing rather than transcriptional downregulation of astrocytic gap junction proteins account for the loss of coupling reported in human and experimental TLE. The observations of the present study provide new insights into pathological alterations of astrocytes in HS, which may aid in the identification of novel therapeutic targets and development of alternative anti‐epileptogenic strategies.


The aim of this study was to determine whether GlideScope video laryngoscope (GVL) and intubating laryngeal mask airway (i-LMA) improve the intubation success rate and could be easily learned and performed by paramedic students when compared with the direct laryngoscopic (DL) method. The study was designed as a prospective randomized crossover trial that included 121 paramedic students. All participants were asked to intubate each Ambu Airway Management Trainer manikins after the lecture and demonstration. Successful intubation was defined as the passage of the tube through the vocal cord within 60 s. At the end of the study, a questionnaire survey was given to all participants about their preferences, and they were requested to define each method on an easy–difficult scale. Successful intubation was achieved by 95 students (78.5%) with DL, 112 students (92.6%) with i-LMA, and 111 students (91.7%) with GVL. Mean time of intubation was 25.06±14 s for DL, 22.32±12 s for i-LMA, and 22.63±10 s for GVL. Success rates of i-LMA and GVL were significantly higher compared with DL (P=0.005 and P=0.006, respectively). No significant difference was determined between i-LMA and GVL in terms of successful intubation (P>0.05). This study showed that GVL and i-LMA provided better intubation success rates and were easier for paramedic students when compared with the classic DL method.


Abstract The polarographic reduction of 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-(2-propenyl) azobenzene in Britton Robinson Buffer with pH range 3 and 12 at room temperature has been investigated in aqueous solution of ratio 1:1. Two straight lines were obtained from the Ep-pH plots for the compound. Using the pH dependence of the polarographic and voltammetric behaviour of the azo compound the pKa value was determined to be 10.70 ± 0.02 and 11.08 ± 0.02, respectively. An electrode reaction mechanism for the azo compound has been suggested. The determination limit has been found as 1 × 10−7 M.


The increase of PFC per spleen and the development of hemolytic foci were examined to clarify the patterns of clonal expansion of B‐lymphocytes in athymic nude mice (nu/nu) and normal littermates (nu/+) subjected to the procedure for antigenic competition between horse erythrocytes (HRBC) and sheep erythrocytes (SRBC). In normal littermates without pretreatment with HRBC, a small number of PFC and hemolytic foci of small size were detected 2 days after the challenge with SRBC. The number of PFC increased progressively from day 2 to day 4, and hemolytic foci increased in the number and size during the period. In nude mice, a small number of PFC were detected on day 2 and the number increased only slightly from day 2 to day 4. No large hemolytic foci were detected during the period. In normal littermates subjected to the procedure for antigenic competition, the patterns of increase of PFC and development of hemolytic foci were similar to those in nude mice. In nude mice, the procedure for antigenic competition exerted almost no effect on the patterns.


Vasopressin (AVP), produced in parvocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, regulates, together with CRH, pituitary ACTH secretion. The pituitary actions of AVP are mediated through the G protein receptor V(1b) (V(1b)|R). In man, hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been associated with depression and other stress-related conditions. There are also clinical data suggesting a role for AVP in the dysfunctional HPA axis described in some depressed patients. In this study, we have investigated the effect of a recently synthesised selective antagonist of the V(1b)R both on exogenous AVP-induced ACTH and corticosterone secretion, and on basal and stress-induced pituitary-adrenal activity. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats treated with the V(1b)R antagonist (Org, 30 mg/kg, s.c.) or vehicle (5% mulgofen in 0.9% saline, 2 ml/kg, s.c.). We found that blockade of the V(1b)R reduced the increase in both ACTH and corticosterone secretion induced by AVP (100 ng, i.v.). The same treatment had no effect either on basal ACTH and corticosterone levels or on the ultradian or diurnal rhythms of corticosterone secretion. Acute administration of the V(1b)R antagonist reduced ACTH secretion following both restraint and lipopolysaccharide, but did not antagonise the ACTH response to noise. The same treatment did not reduce corticosterone secretion in response to any of the three stressors used in this study. Our results confirm that this compound is an antagonist of the V(1b)R in the rat, and that its ability to reduce stress-induced ACTH responses is stressor dependent with differential modulation of pituitary and adrenal responses.


Objective. To successfully treat a patient with complex regional pain syndrome, refractory to standard therapy, to enable a rapid and full return to professional duties. Setting. This case report describes the rapid resolution of an unusual presentation of complex regional pain syndrome type I after four days of treatment with a continuous sciatic peripheral nerve block and a concomitant parenteral ketamine infusion. The patient was initially diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) I of the right lower extremity following an ankle inversion injury. Oral medication with naproxen and gabapentin, as well as desensitization therapy, failed to provide any relief of her symptoms. She was referred to the interventional pain management clinic. A lumbar sympathetic block failed to provide any relief. The patient was diagnosed with CRPS I and was admitted for treatment with a continuous peripheral nerve block and parenteral ketamine. Conclusion. This case suggests therapeutic benefit from aggressive treatment of both the peripheral and central components of CRPS.


Automatic parallelization in a compiler is becoming more important as computer technologies expand to include more distributed computing. This paper focuses on a comparative study of past and present techniques for automatic parallelization. It includes techniques such as scalar analysis, array analysis, and commutativity analysis. The need for automatic parallelization in compilers is growing as clusters and other forms of distributed computing are becoming more popular just as CPU technology is trending towards higher degrees and coarser granularities of parallelism. In this paper, we review known parallelization techniques for thread level identification in programs, and argue that these same techniques may also apply to generalized coarse-grain task identification.


If one may think of carbon as the basic element of organic structure, one may similarly look on oxygen as the basis of organic function. A considerable portion of the machinery of Metazoa is devoted to delivering an adequate supply of oxygen at the door of the individual cell, and the presence of special mechanisms (such as the carotid body) to insure the supply to the brain, as well as the prompt disturbance of neural function when oxygen is lacking, attests the special importance of oxygen for this organ. Neurons, like other body cells, require a continuous supply of energy for maintenance and action. This is obtained, in orthodox fashion, by oxidations with molecular oxygen in cell respiration and, to a lesser extent, by oxidations with organic molecules in the dismutations of glycolysis. Respiration of brain differs from that of muscle, so extensively studied as to be the tissue of


Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate the variability of the water exchanges in the Curonian Lagoon based on the hydraulic regime and the atmospheric forcings. A finite element hydrodynamic model has been applied to the Curonian Lagoon to simulate the circulation patterns for 10 years. With the help of a transport–diffusion model, the salinity distribution and the renewal times of the Curonian Lagoon have been investigated when forced by river runoff, wind, and Baltic Sea level fluctuations. The hydrodynamic model has been validated using in situ salinity measurements. Model results show that the variability depends mainly on seasonal changes in hydrographic forcing and on the dominant wind regimes that prevail over the Curonian Lagoon. Exchanges between the southern and the northern part of the lagoon mostly depend on the wind forcing and are much less influenced by the river discharge. However, when looking at the water renewal time, the most important factor is the river discharge into the lagoon. Other physical forcings only marginally determine the renewal time, and not even ice cover is able to influence it. Even if ice cover strongly inhibits the exchanges between the southern and northern lagoon, it is basically not able to change the absolute value of the renewal times.


Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals has developed and launched ezetimibe + simvastatin (Vytorin), a fixed combination tablet of Schering-Plough's cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimebe (Zetia), and Merck's HMG CoA reductase inhibitor simvastatin (Zocor), for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The drug had been launched in Germany and Mexico by April 2004, and, in July 2004, was approved in the US, with expected launch late in 2004.


This study investigates the impact on speech perception of the four primary differences that have been observed in the intonation patterns of declaratives and absolute interrogatives in Castilian Spanish. By means of a gating experiment, stimuli of partial or complete utterances in which the F0 pattern was manipulated to contain all possible combinations of cues to sentence type were presented to listeners. For the partial utterances, listeners responded following each gate as to whether they perceived a declarative or an interrogative utterance. For complete utterances, listeners likewise responded following each gate as to the type of sentence perceived, but also rated the naturalness of the utterance. Results show that listeners achieve a high degree of accuracy in perceiving sentence type from the first intonational difference presented, that all cues to sentence type affect perception to at least some degree, that the medial F0 pattern is the strongest nonfinal intonational cue to sentence type, and that in spite of the strength of perception based on earlier cues, the final F0 movement has the strongest effect on perception, overriding all previous cues.


Background: Eleven -30% of Juvenile Idiopathic arthritis (JIA) children develop uveitis. JIA associated uveitis is completely asymptomatic and thus all children with oligo/extended oligo and polyarticular JIA require regular slit lamp examination by an ophthalmologist– a time consuming and distressing procedure particularly for small children. If not diagnosed early, or inadequately treated, it may lead to glaucoma, cataracts, persistent cystoid macular oedema and ultimately results in visual impairment and blindness. Whilst Anti- nuclear antibody positivity is found more commonly in those with uveitis, it is not sufficiently sensitive or specific as a screening tool. However the presence of these antibodies and the detection of B cells in the inflammatory infiltrate around the ciliary body in JIA Uveitis suggests a significant role for humeral mediated immune dysregulation in the pathogenesis of JIA Objectives: Does the serum from Children with JIA associated uveitis contain antibodies directed against the ciliary body tissue of the human eye? Could these be used to identify JIA patients at risk of developing uveitis? Methods: Whole human globe were formalin fixed paraffin embedded and 4um sections were obtained. Following blocking with Goat sera blocking, sections were incubated with JIA sera from children with and without uveitis (1:50 in PBT) for 1h. Secondary antibody (goat anti-human IgG-488).DAPI counterstaining was used Sections analysed by EE, using a Leica SP8 confocal microscope using LAS software. The operator was blinded to the status of the patient Results: Sera from 13 patients were analysed: 5 with uveitis and 8 with no uveitis. Six had oligo JIA; 3 extended Oligo; 4 Poly JIA. Four were ANA –ve; 8 ANA+ve Max titre1/80 (using HEp2 cells); 1 unknown. Treatment: Seven NSAID; 1 MTX; 2 MTX and Pred; 3 Biologics. 5 Topical steroids All tissue sections were analyzed blindly. Of the 5 patients with Uveitis 3 had antibodies against ciliary antigens and 2 did not. Of the 8 patients without uveitis 2 had antibodies against ciliary antigens and 6 did not. Fig 1 demonstrates immune histochemical findings from 2 typical patient's sera. No patient had high titres of antinuclear antibodies and there was no association between ANA positivity and ciliary body positivity. Fluorescent intensity was also higher in the Uveitis +ve patients Fig 2. Conclusion: This preliminary work suggests that antibodies to ciliary body proteins may be valuable in identifying patients with JIA at risk of developing uveitis with 60% of those with uveitis being antibody positive compared with only 25% of those without uveitis. Concurrent treatment may alter the presence of antibodies in the serum and may also have suppressed the development of uveitis in those patients who were antibody positive yet had not developed uveitis. Antibody patterning within the ciliary body may also provide further useful information. We are currently studying a further group of patients who have not received immunosuppressive drugs Disclosure of Interests: None declared


Hummingbirds have two main foraging strategies: territoriality (defending a patch of flowers) and traplining (foraging over routine circuits of isolated patches). Species are often classified as employing one or the other. Not only have these strategies been inconsistently defined within the behavioral literature, but this simple framework also neglects the substantial evidence for flexible foraging behavior displayed by hummingbirds. Despite these limitations, research on hummingbird foraging has explored the distinct avenues of selection that proponents of either strategy presumably face: trapliners maximizing foraging efficiency, and territorialists favoring speed and maneuverability for resource defense. In earlier studies, these functions were primarily examined through wing disc loading (ratio of body weight to the circular area swept out by the wings, WDL) and predicted hovering costs, with trapliners expected to exhibit lower WDL than territorialists and thus lower hovering costs. While these pioneering models continue to play a role in current research, early studies were constrained by modest technology, and the original expectations regarding WDL have not held up when applied across complex hummingbird assemblages. Current technological advances have allowed for innovative research on the biomechanics/energetics of hummingbird flight, such as allometric scaling relationships (e.g., wing area-flight performance) and the link between high burst lifting performance and territoriality. Providing a predictive framework based on these relationships will allow us to reexamine previous hypotheses, and explore the biomechanical trade-offs to different foraging strategies, which may yield divergent routes of selection for quintessential territoriality and traplining. With a biomechanical and morphofunctional lens, here we examine the locomotor and energetic facets that dictate hummingbird foraging, and provide a) predictions regarding the behavioral, biomechanical, and morphofunctional associations with territoriality and traplining; and b) proposed methods of testing them. By pursuing these knowledge gaps, future research could use a variety of traits to help clarify the operational definitions of territoriality and traplining, to better apply them in the field.


Money supply can be divided into two components: the one serving nominal GDP production and the other serving stock market transactions. It is argued that weak fluctuations of money supply growth rates relative to nominal GDP growth rates provoke strong fluctuations of the money supply component serving stock market. This, in turn, leads to sharp fluctuations in the stock market conjuncture that implies not only financial turmoil but economic depression. The authors propose to manage this process through analyzing dynamics of the specially designed index.


Background – enraged software users to form a new political party? In his Circuits column of February 28, 2002, David Pogue of The New York Times reported about the several hundred emails he had received in response to an earlier column about "Lousy tech support". He quotes 12 of them, enraged users who testify about: simple tasks that fail, online help that does not help, online help numbers that get erased by software companies being drowned in complaints, and the Boston Tea Party as a model for how a new "support party" may be formed. David Pogue sums up his feeling with these words: "Clearly, there is enough anger in these messages to merit a Web site, a book, a political party. Just tell me where to sign."


A 49-year-old splenectomized man had an infection from an unidentified, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that adhered to the majority of his peripheral-blood erythrocytes. On transmission electron microscopy, the bacterium was seen to be extra-erythrocytic and was 0.2 micrometer wide by 1.0 to 1.7 micrometer long. It possessed a thick, granular cell wall, a trilamellar membrane external to the cell wall and prominent mesosomes. Attempts to cultivate the organism in vitro or to duplicate the patient's disease in splenectomized animals were unsuccessful. The patient's response suggested that the bacterium was susceptible to cell-wall-active antibiotics and to chloramphenicol but not to tetracycline. This bacterium may be the cause of other chronic, fever-producing, multisystem diseases of unknown origin.


In the 16th century, after the so-called Dark Middle Ages, the Reformation in the church in Western Europe aimed at reforming the church with consequences for society. Regarding the church itself, the Reformation aimed at bringing the total service of the church under the Word of God as its norma normans or norm of the norms. This is also true for the governing of the church and church polity. In the tradition of church polity and order that followed the thought of reformers, such as Bucer and Calvin, in the history of, specifically, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), scholars and churches came to the conclusion that the principle of sola scriptura means that Scripture provides the principles or norms for a church polity. This does not mean that every article in a church order should indicate the text of the Bible on which it is based. Rather, a church order should – at least – be based on principles derived from the Scripture or norms from outside the Scripture in harmony with the Bible. Contribution: The governing of the church cannot be isolated from society or, for example, from the generally accepted norms for natural justice. The Church order of the DRC of 1962 is an example of a reformed church order.


Transformer and its variants have shown state-of-the-art results in many vision tasks recently, ranging from image classification to dense prediction. Despite of their success, limited work has been reported on improving the model efficiency for deployment in latency-critical applications, such as autonomous driving and robotic navigation. In this paper, we aim at improving upon the existing transformers in vision, and propose a method for self-supervised monocular Depth Estimation with Simplified Transformer (DEST), which is efficient and particularly suitable for deployment on GPU-based platforms. Through strategic design choices, our model leads to significant reduction in model size, complexity, as well as inference latency, while achieving superior accuracy as compared to state-of-the-art. We also show that our design generalize well to other dense prediction task without bells and whistles. 3D convolutions along with velocity information for better scale-awareness.


High-resolution X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to investigate, as a function of the nominal Zn content in the range of 0–50%, the out-of-plane and in-plane crystallographic characteristics of Cd1−xZnxO films grown on r-plane sapphire substrates via atmospheric pressure metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. The study is conducted to search for knowledge relating to the structural details during the transition process from a rock-salt to a wurtzite structure as the Zn content increases in this CdO–ZnO system. It has been found that it is possible to obtain films exhibiting a single (001) cubic orientation with good crystalline quality up to a Zn content of about 10%. For zinc content values higher than 15%, the films become polycrystalline, with two main domains inclined with respect to the plane perpendicular to the surface that contains the c-axis of sapphire. The domains have a tilt that tends asymptotically to ±15° with the Zn content, and the cubic cell presents strong orthorhombic distortion. These two crystallographic domains (orientations) cannot be observed via conventional XRD measurements and are supposed to form part of an intermediate orthorhombic phase in the transition from a rock-salt structure towards a wurtzite structure, which finally appears at higher Zn content values.