Endovascular aneurysm repair is a minimally invasive, durable and effective alternative to open surgery for treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). However, in patients who do not have an adequate sealing zone, open surgical repair is required, which may increase mortality and morbidity. An alternative treatment in patients with challenging anatomy is the so-called "chimney graft" technique. Here, we describe a case using the chimney graft technique for treatment of juxtarenal type I endoleak followed by a previous conventional stent graft insertion to the AAA with good results.


ABSTRACT Introduction: The treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) remains an open question for clinicians. There is scarce evidence available and the guidelines' conclusions diverge. Together with these factors, the complexity of BPD generates uncertainty in day-to-day practice. This narrative review aims to provide an overview of advances in BPD treatment and posit a critical opinion based on clinical evidence and practice. Areas covered: The authors review the clinical trials concerning the efficacy of the main classes of drugs in BPD: antidepressants, mood stabilizers, first-, second-, and third-generation antipsychotics, and other agents (opiate antagonists, clonidine, oxytocin, omega-3 fatty acids). They also include in this review studies on combinations of drugs and psychotherapies. Expert opinion: An individualized, tailored pharmacotherapy for BPD that targets the prominent symptom clusters can improve relevant aspects of the clinical picture. However, no medication is indicated to treat the global psychopathology of BPD. Polypharmacy should be avoided or strictly limited. To date, pharmacotherapy alone does not suffice to manage the complexity of BPD. Combining medication with psychotherapy may improve specific BPD symptom dimensions. In particular, it may help those aspects that respond slowly or not at all to monotherapy.


Specific allergen immunotherapy has been practiced for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis for over 100 years and is the only treatment option that is disease modifying. In the USA, immunotherapy is usually administered via subcutaneous injection; this is the only route with a US FDA-approved formulation. There is growing interest in developing US-standardized formulations for the sublingual route, but up until recently there have been few US trials. Most of the experience with sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) comes from Europe, where it is widely used and there is a large body of literature supporting its use. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent adult and pediatric clinical trials of SLIT in the USA. Most of the trials are for inhalant allergies, but there is some early work on SLIT as a novel therapy for food allergies.


Introduction. Nephrotoxicity is one the side effect of cisplatin therapy and erythropoietin has been candidate as a nephroprotectant agent. However, its nephroprotective effect when it is accompained with estrogen has not been studied in female. Methods. 27 ovariectomized female Wistar rats divided into five groups. Groups 1 & 2 received estradiol valerate (0.5 mg/kg/week) for four weeks, and single dose of cisplatin (7 mg/kg, ip) was administrated at the end of week 3. Then the group 1 was treated with erythropoietin (100 U/kg/day), and the group 2 received vehicle during week 4. Groups 3 and 4 were treated similar to group 1 and 2, except for placebo instead estradiol valerate. Group5 (negative control) received placebo during the study. Animals were killed at the end of week 4. Results. In non-erythropoietin treated rats, cisplatin significantly increased the serum levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine (P < 0.05). However, these biomarkers significantly decreased by erythropoietin (P < 0.05). The weight loss, kidney weight, and kidney tissue damage score in rats treated with cisplatin but without estradiol were significantly less than the values in similar group when estradiol was present (P < 0.05). Conclusion. It seems that erythropoietin could protect the kidney against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. This protective effect was not observed when estrogen was present.


After Three Gorges Dam (TGD) was built in June 2003, the water level abruptly rose from 66 to 135 m. A second-order polynomial relationship between upstream water level and reservoir surface area is found using Landsat ETM+ images. The impact of TGD on regional precipitation is examined using NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) from 1998 to 2009. Satellite estimates are found to have good quality after verifying with rain gauges following several methods. Monthly epoch analyses are performed. While composites of heavy rain days (top 25 percentile) do not show major distinguishable changes, composites of moderate rain days (mid 50 percentile) suggest that in the "Post Dam" periods, moderate precipitation is greatly reduced in the vicinity of the reservoir, while increased on both sides away from the reservoir. Overall, this analysis presents one of the most thorough and long-term analyses of TGD-hydroclimate relationships to date. INDEX WORDS: Precipitation, TRMM, Three Gorges Dam, Climate, Land Use/Land Cover PRECIPITATION CHANGES NEAR THREE GORGES DAM, CHINA


OBJECTIVES
To quantify spontaneous and activation-induced apoptosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of HIV-infected patients and to look for correlations between PBMC apoptosis levels, stages of HIV disease, CD4 count, and plasma viral load.

STUDY POPULATIONS
75 consecutive inpatients and outpatients infected with HIV (mean CD4 count, 202 +/- 182 x 10(6)/L; mean plasma viral load, 4 +/- 1.29 log10 RNA copies/ml) and a control group composed of 18 healthy, HIV-negative adults.

METHODS
Spontaneous apoptosis was detected at the single-cell level by direct incorporation of fluorescein-deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) in PBMC DNA strand breaks. Activation-induced apoptosis was determined after in vitro stimulation with anti-CD3 antibodies and interleukin-2 (IL-2).

RESULTS
Spontaneous apoptosis was low in patients and controls, whereas activation-induced apoptosis was significantly higher in HIV-infected patients (5.22 +/- 4.32% versus 2.46 +/- 1.77%, respectively; p = .009). The degree of activation-induced apoptosis was positively correlated with the plasma viral load (r = 0.29; p = .029) and negatively correlated with the CD4 count (r = -0.37; p = .0009). Although activation-induced apoptosis was significantly higher in patients fulfilling AIDS criteria, it did not differ significantly between patients with an acute AIDS-defining event and those with stable disease.

CONCLUSION
Susceptibility of PBMC to apoptosis in HIV-1-infected patients is correlated to the plasma viral load and the stage of the disease.


This guide is designed to help students in the Kremen School of Education and Human Developments several options for Master of Science degrees in Counseling.


Monte-Carlo calculations of nucleon emission and energy deposition of spalla-tion neutron sources induced by intermediate energy protons were made. The cascade, evaporation, and fission reaction processes are considered in our calculations. The target materials 186W, 208Pb, 232Th, and 238U and incident proton energies 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 MeV were chosen which are pencil beam on target axis. The number and spectra of neutrons and protons emitted from different regions of the target surface were calculated. The energy conservation is considered approximately, for which the bind energies are obtained according to the mass changing. The ionization energy induced by protons, nuclear recoil energy in cascade processes, and fission fragment energy in different regions inside the target are recorded. The calculated results show that the most of the outgoing neutrons are emitted from the front part of the target. Since the target is longer the most of the outgoing neutrons are emitted from 30~150 degrees against the z axis of the target. The calculated results also show that the most part of the deposited ionization energy, nuclear recoil energy, and fission fragment energy are distributed in the front part especially near the z axis of the target.


Both heparin and the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor cilazapril inhibit intimal thickening in rat carotid arteries injured by the passage of a balloon catheter. The purpose of this study was to determine if combinations of the two drugs were more effective than either drug alone and whether the effect could be accounted for by inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation. Heparin (0.1-03 mg/kg/hr) administered by continuous intravenous infusion with or without cilazapril (0-25 mg/kg/day p.o.) produced a dose-dependent inhibition of smooth muscle accumulation at 14 days after rat carotid ballooning. At the lower doses, the inhibitory effects of heparin and cilazapril were additive when the drugs were used together. This overall effect on growth was reflected in decreased smooth muscle cell proliferation at 2 and 7 days. A 7-day course of heparin combined with cilazapril, a regimen that might be applicable in the clinical setting, produced an 80% inhibition of intimal thickening at 28 days. These results provide evidence that heparin and cilazapril together might prove to be more effective than either drug alone in the control of intimal hyperplasia after arterial injury.


 Abstract — The Solidarity Economy (SE) acts in the re-articulation of the economic field to the other spheres of social action. The significant participation of women in SE resulted in the formation of a national network of self-managed enterprises in Brazil: The Solidarity and Feminist Economy Network (SFEN). The objective of the research is to identify factors of gender justice and feminist self-management practices that adhere to the reality of women in SE enterprises. The conceptual apparatus related to feminist studies in this research covers Nancy Fraser approaches on gender justice, and Patricia Yancey Martin approaches on feminist management practices, and authors of postcolonial feminism such as Mohanty and Maria Lugones, who lead the discussion to peripheral contexts, a necessary perspective when observing the women's movement in SE. The research has a quantitative nature in the phases of data collection and analysis. The data collection was performed through two data sources: the database mapped in Brazil in 2010-2013 by the National Information System in Solidary Economy and 150 questionnaires with women from 16 enterprises in SFEN, in a state of Brazilian northeast. The data were analyzed using the multivariate statistical technique of Factor Analysis. The results show that the factors that define gender justice and feminist self-management practices in SE are interrelated in several levels, proving statistically the intersectional condition of the issue of women. The evidence from the quantitative analysis allowed us to understand the dimensions of gender justice and feminist management practices intersectionality; in this sense, the non-distribution of domestic work interferes in non-representation of women in public spaces, especially in peripheral contexts. The study contributes with important reflections to the studies of this area and can be complemented in the future with a qualitative research that approaches the perspective of women in the context of the SE self-management paradigm.


Millions of dollars change hands daily through online auction markets. However, fraud has been on the rise in these markets. Using a game theoretic approach, we propose a design of an economic incentive mechanism, the trusted third party (TTP), to serve the online auction communities. The proposed model addresses both the economic and technological aspects of online auction transactions by assigning a digital certificate to each participant. Thus, each participant's identity as well as his or her reputation can be established by other market participants. The analytical results demonstrate that when online transactions take place with the assistance of digital certificates issued by a TTP, the most utilitarian course of action for a market participant is to behave honestly. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


A flexible versatile electromagnetic model constructed with the PLASIMO platform is employed to explore electromagnetic features of microwave-induced plasma torches. The bases, formed by a full-vector formulation of the Maxwell equations, provide the possibility to formulate the boundary conditions in a natural way. Together with the use of a direct matrix solver this gives a convergence speed-up of more than a factor of 100 when compared with a scalar formulation on an azimuthal magnetic field that uses an iterative solver. As a result, this electromagnetic model is ready to act in future studies as part of the self-consistent description of plasma–electromagnetic coupling. With the electromagnetic model three types of configuration were studied: the closed, semi-open and open configurations, all three based on the same simplified model plasmas. It is found that the closed configuration, acting as a cavity for which (de)tuning is extremely sensitive for the plasma conditions, is less suitable for applications in which changes in plasma compositions can be expected. The semi-open configuration can be seen as a model for the practice often used in laboratories to place microwave-induced plasma torches in a grid that aims at protecting the environment against microwave electromagnetic radiation. Calculations show that this is good practice provided the radius of this cylindrical grid is in the order of 90 mm. For the most often used configuration, the open version, we found that the power balance as expressed by the coefficients of absorption, transmission and reflection depends on the electron density of the plasma. The reason is that the plasma acts as an antenna, which converts the electromagnetic waves from the coaxial structure to that of the expansion region, and that this antenna function depends on the electron density. The influence of various other antenna elements is investigated as well.


In the light of the need to achieve a ranking which is understood by all tennis supporters, the ATP ranking is exposed to constant complaints from players and at the same time exposes new players to be benefited with a good tournament to be able to start progressing in their careers. Moreover, the ATP ranking is not powerful enough to predict with certainty who will be the winner of a match if we are based solely on the positions. In order to combat these problems, the idea of creating a new ranking that can indicate what are the real chances of victory of a player before the start of a new tournament arises. Based on the PageRank method, generated by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, we created a new ranking that specifically uses the characteristics of the tournament to generate data. Based on a history of 40,000 matches, we intend to evaluate how the new method is performed as compared to other existing rankings in order to analyze if we really achieved an improved and real reflection. Once we have obtained the ranking, we intend to evaluate, taking a sample game, the ranking of the players that dispute it and the characteristics of such game to be able to indicate the precise probability for the player with better ranking to win the game.


Low-concentration, stationary, nonimaging concentrators (CPC's) with flat receivers illuminated on both sides are considered as viable alternatives to flat-plate solar collectors. Closed-form, analytic formulae are derived for the geometric characteristics of two concentrator types of greatest interest (i.e., stationary collectors for year-round energy delivery), which enable calculations of collectible energy without computer ray-tracing stimulations. The relative merits of these concentrators in terms of energy collection and production costs are assessed with respect to each other as well as to flat-plate collectors.


Thousands of Web services have been available online, and mashups built upon them have been creating added value. However, mashups are mostly developed with a predefined set of services and components. The extensions to them always involve programming work. Furthermore, when a service is unavailable, it is challenging for mashups to smoothly switch to an alternative that offers similar functionalities. To address these problems, this paper presents a novel approach to enable mashups to select and invoke semantic Web services on the fly. To extend a mashup with new semantic services, developers are only required to register and publish them as Linked Data. By refining the strategies of service selection, mashups can behave more adaptively and offer higher fault-tolerance.


Here we prove an asymptotically optimal lower bound on the information complexity of the $k$-party disjointness function with the unique intersection promise, an important special case of the well known disjointness problem, and the AND$_k$-function in the number in the hand model. Our $\Omega(n/k)$ bound for disjointness improves on an earlier $\Omega(n/(k \log k))$ bound by Chakrabarti {\it et al.}~(2003), who obtained an asymptotically tight lower bound for one-way protocols, but failed to do so for the general case. Our result eliminates both the gap between the upper and the lower bound for unrestricted protocols and the gap between the lower bounds for one-way protocols and unrestricted protocols.


This research article draws attention to how the shale gas rush phenomenon is creating path dependence and threatening community viability. The article features an instrumental case that includes school districts across seven Appalachian Ohio counties: Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison, Monroe, and Noble. There, it has become commonplace for public schools to lease oil and gas rights; to factor revenue from ad valorem taxes, industry-related construction, and pipeline construction into district budgets; and to engage in tax negotiations for natural gas-fired power plants and affiliated industrial growth. The case is prefaced by a review of school funding norms in the United States and a discussion of the influence that path dependence has on school funding in the Appalachian region. Following this, the case of eastern Ohio schools is presented. The article culminates with a list of actions stakeholders can take to foster public school and community viability in Appalachia.


OBJECTIVES
To provide an overview of radiation therapy treatment planning and delivery, and discuss technologic advances and their importance in present and future oncologic care.

DATA SOURCES
Radiation oncology textbooks and radiation physics and treatment planning textbooks.

CONCLUSIONS
The increased sophistication and complex abilities of modern radiation therapy planning and delivery are steadily improving cancer treatment outcomes and quality of life. Radiation is now an essential and integral part of cancer care and may be used alone or as part of combined modality therapy. Further technologic advances will allow improvement in the ability of radiation therapy to cure cancer and improve quality of life for an ever-increasing variety of patients.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
Oncology nurses with an understanding of the components of radiation treatment plans and their delivery will be able to provide appropriate education for patients offered radiation and prepare them for the lengthy and complex process of radiation therapy.


Tetracycline given to mice via their drinking water for long periods changed the gram-negative enteric flora and increased the minimal inhibitory concentration of tetracycline for Proteus and Escherichia coli in the feces.


Recent concern about the many environmental problems associated with the transport of fine sediment by rivers has generated a need to obtain spatially distributed evidence of the erosion rates operating within a catchment and to explore more explicitly the links between sediment mobilisation, transfer, storage and output. In the past few decades, the fallout radionuclides caesium-137 (137Cs) and unsupported lead-210 (210Pbex) have been successfully used as tracers to estimate soil erosion and deposition rates in many areas of the world. However, to date, most studies using this approach have focussed on relatively small areas, such as individual fields or small catchments. There is a need to explore the potential for upscaling the approach to larger areas or catchments. The present paper reports an attempt to use the fallout radionuclides 137Cs and 210Pbex to explore further the relationship between sediment mobilisation, sediment transfer and storage, and sediment yield for a medium-scale (31.61 km2) catchment located in Calabria, southern Italy. The results emphasise that the low value of specific sediment yield derived for the study catchment from measurements of the suspended sediment flux at the catchment outlet obscure the existence of appreciable erosion rates in many areas of the catchment. Much of this erosion is balanced by deposition and sediment storage, resulting in a relatively low sediment delivery ratio for the catchment.


The currently observed climate warming will lead to widespread degradation of near‐surface permafrost, which may release substantial amounts of inorganic nitrogen (N) into arctic ecosystems. We studied 11 soil profiles at three different sites in arctic eastern Siberia to assess the amount of inorganic N stored in arctic permafrost soils. We modelled the potential thickening of the active layer for these sites using the CryoGrid2 permafrost model and representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 (a stabilisation scenario) and 8.5 (a business as usual emission scenario, with increasing carbon emissions). The modelled increases in active‐layer thickness (ALT) were used to estimate potential annual liberation of inorganic N from permafrost soils during the course of climate change. We observed significant stores of inorganic ammonium in permafrost, up to 40‐fold higher than in the active layer. The modelled increase in ALT under the RCP8.5 scenario can result in substantial liberation of N, reaching values up to the order of magnitude of annual fixation of atmospheric N in arctic soils. However, the thaw‐induced liberation of N represents only a small flux in comparison with the overall ecosystem N cycling. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Neurological Evaluation of Neuropathic Pain Abstract. Neuropathic pain arises after lesions of the central or peripheral nervous system. The treatment of nociceptive pain - pain in which the somatosensory nervous system is intact - is different from neuropathic pain. Patient history and detailed neurological examination describe the patient's specific pain phenotype, and with additional diagnostic tests the structural damage or functional impairment of the somatosensory nervous system can be identified. Some of these tests have been validated in the assessment of neuropathic pain and comprise MR and ultrasound imaging, histopathological examinations, and neurophysiological studies.


The article is based on the published literature regarding the family Giraffidae, particularly about the extinct Siwalik species. The provided information is collected from the previous published articles, aiming to produce the basic information of the Siwalik giraffids. The distribution of the Siwalik giraffid species is also briefly discussed.


Microbiocoenoses in the gastrointestinal tract, especially in the ceca, play an important part in life processes of poultry. Identification of the structure and taxonomic composition of microorganisms in the cecum using molecular genetic methods serves as a crucial approach in understanding how a cecal microbiota interplays with the chicken organism during ontogenesis. For this purpose, we studied an intestinal bacterial community composition in the ceca of the Hisex Brown laying hens at age of 40, 155 and 315 days using T-RFLP and RT-PCR. In the chickens studied, development of the cecal microbial communities, changes in their content, and appearance of new microorganisms occurred in the ontogeny. A broader spectrum of bacteria was found in 40- and 155-day-old birds (221±11 and 258±9 phylotypes, respectively) as compared with 315-day-old laying hens (178±8 phylotypes). Also, 315-day-old birds showed the least content of unidentified phylotypes. In the ceca of adult hens, there was a change in the dominant microbial taxonomic groups including a higher proportion of acid-utilising bacteria of the class Negativicutes and cellulolytic bacteria of the class Clostridia, with a lower content of the classes Bifidobacteriales and Bacillales. Lactobacteria (order Lactobacillales) showed a greater content in 315-day-old laying hens (33.15±1.05%) as compared with 40- and 155-day-old birds (5.13±0.23% and 24.58 ± 0.86%, respectively). The variety and number of bacteria in the ceca conventionally attributed to various pathogens of poultry diseases, including the genera Enterobacter, Pantoea, Listeria, Acinetobacter and Mycoplasma, families Campylobacteraceae and Pasteurellaceae, and phylum Fusobacteria, increased with the age of birds. Thus, in the course of molecular genetic studies, the species composition and dynamics of the microbiocoenoses in the cecum of the Hisex Brown laying hens was determined as related to their ontogeny. This research is supported by a grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Contract No. 14.W03.31.0013.


The paper proposes to revisit the concept of multimedia document consistency. Within this context, numerous works have addressed approaches for the temporal consistency verification of such documents, especially those that are encoded using the SMIL language, but to our best knowledge, no one has proposed to handle the resource conflict issue and its impact on both multimedia presentation quality and consistency. Therefore, we propose to work out this issue by taking into account the resource needs when carrying out the consistency verification. Hence, a new paradigm called "qualitative consistency" is defined improving the previous concepts already defined for this topic.


The Internet of Things (IoT), which attaches dynamic devices that can access the Internet to create a smart environment, is a tempting research area. IoT-based mobile wireless sensor networks (WSN-IoT) are one of the major databases from which the IoT collects data for analysis and interpretation. However, one of the critical constraints is network lifetime. Routing-based clustered protocols and cluster head (CH) selection are crucial in load balancing and sensor longevity. Yet, with clustering, sensor node mobility requires more overhead because the nodes close to the center may get far and thus become unsuitable to be a CH, whereas those far from the center may get close and become good CH candidates, influencing energy consumption. This paper suggests an energy-efficient clustering protocol with a dynamic cluster head selection considering the distance to the cluster center, remaining energy, and each node's mobility degree implementing a rotation mechanism that allows cluster members to be equally elected while prioritizing those with the minimum weight. The advised algorithm aims to delay the first node death (FND) and thus prolong the stability period and minimize energy consumption by avoiding re-clustering. The performance of the proposed protocol exceeds that achieved in our previous work, Improved OKmeans, by 11%, in first dead node lifetime maximization, 43% in throughput, and 44% in energy efficiency.


We have studied interaction of well known antioxidant L-ascorbic acid with magnetic nanoparticles containing insoluble Fe(III) in their core. In analogy with ferritin, mobilization of iron in the form of water soluble Fe(II) was observed, especially pronounced at higher temperatures. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide cytotoxic hydroxyl radicals are produced. These results suggest possible harmful effects of widely used magnetic nanoparticles as a MRI contrast agents in combination with overload of organism with ascorbic acid in some specific conditions, like fever of patient. On the other hand combination of magnetic nanoparticles and ascorbic acid may be used for a cancer therapy using alternating magnetic field for the release of Fe(II) via Néel relaxation of magnetic moment of used nanoparticles. We have further found that lipoic acid is an efficient antioxidant scavenging hydroxyl radicals produced by Fenton reaction from Fe(II).


In order to determine the prognosis of reoperation for valvular replacement, we reviewed the results of a consecutive series of 124 patients operated in the department between 1974 and 1992 (163 multi redo operations). There were 69 women and 55 men, with a mean age 48 years; 77% of the patients were in functional class III or IV. Operations were performed as an emergency in 30% of cases. Endocarditis was found in 24% of cases and was an important risk factor in this content. The main indications for reoperation were periprosthetic leakage in 28.8% of cases and failure of bioprostheses in 23.7%. The valvular replacement was simple in 61%, double in 32% and triple in 7% of cases. An associated procedure was necessary in 27% of cases. Mechanical devices were implanted in 62.3% of cases. Peroperative mortality was 3% and hospital mortality, mainly from cardiac causes, was 21.7% for the second, 20% for the third and 55.6% for the fourth reoperations. Operative mortality was dependent on the number or reoperations, functional class, emergency surgery, duration of bypass and cross-clamping time. Four per cent of patients were lost to follow-up and 30 patients died secondarily. The actuarial survival rate was 52% at 5 years and 33% at 10 years, actuarial survival rate without valvular complication was 41% at 5 years and 19% at 10 years but the functional results remained good with over 90% of patients in functional class I or II at the end of follow-up.


Dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) over a commercial Al2O3 catalyst was studied in an isothermal integral fixed bed reactor. The experiments were performed on the temperature interval 513-613 K, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 0.9-2.1h, pressures between 0.1 and 1.0 MPa. The effect of different operation conditions on the dehydration of methanol was investigated in a laboratory scale experiment. A new intrinsic kinetics equation based on the mechanism of Langmuir-Hinshelwood dissociation adsorption was developed for the dehydration reaction by fitting the expressions to the experimental data. An activation energy of 67.21 kJ/mol was obtained for the catalyst with the best performance. Statistic test showed that this new intrinsic kinetics equation was acceptable. Keywords—catalyst, dimethyl ether, intrinsic kinetics, methanol


ABSTRACT Conservation of vegetative organs, as leaves and stalks, is essential to achieve high maize production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of leaf area maintenance due to fungicides spraying on stalk integrity, its chemical composition and grain yield. The experiment was conducted in Uberlândia - MG, during the second season of 2016. The experiment design was a randomized complete block with six replications and six treatments, representing combinations of fungicides belonging to carboxamide, strobilurin, triazole, and dithiocarbamate chemical groups, and the check treatment (without fungicides). The assessed traits were leaf green area, wet and dry stalk density, stalk breaking strength and height, stalk lignin and cellulose percentage, stalk dry matter, stalk lignin and cellulose content per hectare and grain yield. Treatments containing fungicides, especially the ones containing carboxamide, resulted in higher leaf green area and stalk density. Application of fungicides also increased stalk breaking strength and height; however, no effect was observed on stalk lignin and cellulose percentage. Grain yield, stalk dry matter production, and stalk lignin and cellulose contents per hectare were enhanced by fungicide application, with higher improvements in plants treated with carboxamide. Application of fungicides, mainly when combined with carboxamides, promotes higher maintenance of leaf green area, which leads to improved stalk integrity, higher grain yield, and higher straw production.


Polarized internal gas targets are important tools in spin-physics experiments at par-
ticle accelerators. For many experiments it is imperative to get the highest possible
target density. Research in recent decades, however, led only to marginal increase of
the intensity of atomic beam sources (ABS), which constitute the main factor in in-
creasing the target density. The main problem, hindering further improvement, is the
complexity of the processes in the ABS, which prevents a complete description of all ef-
fects. A particularly big challenge is the description of the change in flow regime from
laminar to molecular during the formation of the atomic beam by the nozzle. Now,
with ever increasing computer power, it becomes possible to simulate all the processes
in a complete ABS and to use algorithms to optimize the device.
The present thesis summarizes the important effects in polarized internal gas targets
and describes the implementation of a new computer program, which was interfaced
with an optimization algorithm. The program is based on OpenFOAM 1.7.1 and uses
the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to simulate the gas flow. Besides a
generic interface for magnetic fields which act on the magnetic moments of the atoms,
many important effects like recombination and spin-exchange collisions are included
in the program. Furthermore, a generic framework for optimization is implemented.
It can be used to optimize very different problems with different optimization algo-
rithms. Currently, Adaptive Simulated Annealing (ASA) is implemented together with
the capability to handle the optimization of an ABS. All parts of the program were
tested and results are provided. Although the execution time of a simulation run is
still very long, the new program might become a valuable tool for simulating and op-
timizing polarized internal gas targets. This will lead to better statistics in experiments
and will enable certain new experiments.


Digital transformation (Dx) is increasingly becoming a key enabler in oil and gas industry to reduce costs, make faster and better decisions and increase productivity. The difference between leading the next innovation wave or being left behind may depend on how proficiently we embrace digital enablers, and how quickly we can test, prototype and scale these digital solutions to create value for the business.
 Digital technologies are not new to Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). In fact, the company has a track record of testing and adopting a wide range of new technology and integrated organisational capabilities to improve its business performance. Significant investments have been made into instrumenting its fields, including the IT infrastructure, Real-Time Operations, Exception Based Surveillance, Collaborative Work Environment (CWE), Smart Fields, NIBRAS, data management, analytics trials, to name a few. Yet consensus that Dx has significant further upside across PDO, led to the initiation of an asset-led pilot to digitally transform an existing PDO South Field – "S". The focus of the pilot was to identify new Dx opportunities while leveraging on existing PDO investments into digitalization, leading to quantified improvement in business performance of field –S. The project workscope was based on the outcome of an Opportunity Framing Event (OFE), in which a total of 27 opportunities were identified and ranked in terms of business value vs. feasibility or cost of implementation (Figure 1). Technical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), asset field - surface, sub-surface, data management teams and other relevant support functions participated in the OFE so that business improvement synergies could be identified across the multiple disciplines in an integrated fashion.
 Following an agile approach, 5 Valuestreams (VS) were selected for Minimum Viable Product (MVP) implementation, in phase 1 of the pilot. Focus of this paper, however, is to elaborate further only one of the 5 VSs i.e. use of machine learning for "Evergreen Production Forecast for Field Development Plan (FDP) optimization and Locate the Remaining Oil (LTRO)".


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between the blood glucose variability and microalbuminuria (MAU) in type 2 diabetic patients with well-controlled glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and the influencing factors of blood glucose variability.

METHODS
One hundred and seventy-six type 2 diabetic patients with HbA1c under 6.5% and 48 subjects with normal glucose regulation were monitored using the continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS). The mean blood glucose (MBG) and mean amplitude of glucose excursions (MAGE) were analyzed.

RESULTS
(1) The MBG and MAGE levels of type 2 diabetic patients were (7.0+/-0.9) and (3.8+/-2.5) mmol/L respectively, both higher than those of the subjects with normal glucose regulation [(5.4+/-0.6) and (2.0+/-0.7) mmol/L respectively, both P<0.01]. (2) The incidence ratio of MAU of the patients with ascended MAGE level was 18.7%, significantly higher of those with normal MAGE (7.1%, P<0.05). (3) The MAGE level was positively correlated with age, duration of diabetes, and systolic blood pressure, and negatively correlated with glomerular filtration rate and the levels of fasting and postprandial C-peptide. Multivariant regression analyses indicated that duration of diabetes and the level of postprandial C-peptide 30 min after meal were the independent influential factors of MAGE. (4) In the type 2 diabetic patients, the MAGE of the MAU group was higher than that of the non-MAU group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analyses indicated that diastolic blood pressure and MAGE were the risk factors of MAU (OR=1.201 and 1.357, both P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
In well-controlled patients with type 2 diabetes, blood glucose variability is one of the risk factors for MAU, duration of diabetes and early stage of insulin secretion function are the main factors influencing glycemic variability.


On 18th December 2010, Arab Spring began in Tunisia, when citizens of Tunisia organized a revolution for removing dictatorship government. This wave of revolution covered Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria. Arab countries experienced increased insurgencies against the government. Huge businesses were affected indirectly and directly across the globe, specifically, UK. Consequently, transformational changes took place. Most of the firms found themselves lacking a contingency plan. This research aims to determine the factors that have led to increased investment in the London property market. Furthermore, it also determines the level of investment done in the United Kingdom, undertaken by migrants from Arab countries that were affected by political unrest. Keywords : Arab Spring, Revolution, Economy, Real Estate, Migrants


We studied the electromagnetic behavior of cut-wire pair structure, which is considered as a magnetic metamaterial for designing the left-handed material. It was found that the lattice constant of cut-wire pair structure provides subtle effects not only on the electric resonance but also on the magnetic one. In addition, we also investigated on how this affects the left-handed behavior of combined structures of cut-wire pair and continuous wire. These structures were designed, fabricated, and measured in the microwave frequency regime.


Genetic vaccination depends at least in part on the adjuvant properties of plasmids, properties that have been ascribed to unmethylated CpG dinucleotides in bacterial DNA. Because dendritic cells (DC) participate in the T cell priming that occurs during genetic vaccination, we reasoned that CpG-containing DNA might activate DC. Thus, we assessed the effects of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN) on Langerhans cell (LC)-like murine fetal skin-derived DC (FSDDC) in vitro and on LC in vivo. Treatment with CpG ODN as well as LPS induced FSDDC maturation, manifested by decreased E-cadherin-mediated adhesion, up-regulation of MHC class II and costimulator molecule expression, and acquisition of enhanced accessory cell activity. In contrast to LPS, CpG ODN stimulated FSDDC to produce large amounts of IL-12 but only small amounts of IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Injection of CpG ODN into murine dermis also led to enhanced expression of MHC class II and CD86 Ag by LC in overlying epidermis and intracytoplasmic IL-12 accumulation in a subpopulation of activated LC. We conclude that immunostimulatory CpG ODN stimulate DC in vitro and in vivo. Bacterial DNA-based vaccines may preferentially elicit Th1-predominant immune responses because they activate and mobilize DC and induce them to produce large amounts of IL-12.


Tire states can be estimated by measuring the tire contact patch shape as it varies with vertical load, longitudinal and lateral slip, and so on. In this study, a miniature triaxial accelerometer is used to measure the centripetal accelerations at the tire inner liner. A tire state estimator (TSE) algorithm is developed to transform the measured accelerations to actual tire states, in this case vertical load. The approach used for the TSE is the extended Kalman filter (EKF), but an additional peak detection algorithm is used to synchronize the simulation model with the measurement signal before applying the EKF. The simulation model used in the EKF is an empirical model that describes the basic shape of the centripetal acceleration signal. The applicability of the estimator is assessed by considering the accuracy and robustness for several tire operating conditions: vertical load, velocity, inflation pressure, sideslip, camber, and braking. It is concluded that the TSE exhibits accurate vertical load estimation even in cases of varying load and velocity. Further, it is concluded that the vertical load estimation is robust for (pure) camber changes and (pure) longitudinal force disturbances. For relatively high lateral forces as result of sideslip, the estimation error is larger. The current estimator appears to be not robust for inflation pressure changes, but this can be solved by adding an inflation pressure sensor. Similarly, extension of the estimator to estimate lateral force by adding a second accelerometer not only provides an additional state but also adds the possibility of improving the vertical load estimation. Finally, it is demonstrated that the TSE is able to perform in real time and shows fast convergence capabilities for cases in which the initial vertical load and/or sensor position are unknown or when moving away from situations in which the signal-to-noise ratio is poor.


Abstract. Optical properties of chromophoric (CDOM) and fluorescent dissolved organic
matter (FDOM) were characterized in the Nordic Seas including the West
Spitsbergen Shelf during June–July 2013, 2014, and 2015. The CDOM absorption
coefficient at 350 nm, aCDOM(350) showed significant interannual
variation (T test, p < 0.00001). In 2013, the highest average
aCDOM(350) values
(aCDOM(350) = 0.30 ± 0.12 m−1) were observed due
to the influence of cold and low-salinity water from the Sørkapp Current (SC) in
the southern part of the West Spitsbergen Shelf. In 2014, aCDOM(350)
values were significantly lower (T test, p < 0.00001) than in 2013
(average aCDOM(350) = 0.14 ± 0.06 m−1), which was
associated with the dominance of warm and saline Atlantic Water (AW) in the
region, while in 2015 intermediate CDOM absorption (average
aCDOM(350) = 0.19 ± 0.05 m−1) was observed.
In situ measurements of three FDOM components revealed that
fluorescence intensity of protein-like FDOM dominated in the surface layer of
the
Nordic Seas. Concentrations of marine and terrestrial humic-like DOM were
very low and distribution of those components was generally vertically
homogenous in the upper ocean (0–100 m). Fluorescence of terrestrial and
marine humic-like DOM decreased in surface waters (0–15 m) near the
sea ice edge due to dilution of oceanic waters by sea ice meltwater. The
vertical distribution of protein-like FDOM was characterized by a prominent
subsurface maximum that matched the subsurface chlorophyll a maximum and
was observed across the study area. The highest protein-like FDOM
fluorescence was observed in the Norwegian Sea in the core of warm AW. There
was a significant relationship between the protein-like fluorescence and
chlorophyll a fluorescence (R2 = 0.65, p < 0.0001,
n = 24 490), which suggests that phytoplankton was the primary source
of protein-like DOM in the Nordic Seas and West Spitsbergen Shelf waters.
Observed variability in selected spectral indices (spectral slope
coefficient, S300–600, carbon-specific CDOM absorption
coefficient at 254 and 350 nm, SUVA254, aCDOM*(350)) and
the nonlinear relationship between CDOM absorption and the spectral slope
coefficient also indicate a dominant marine (autochthonous) source of CDOM
and FDOM in the study area. Further, our data suggest that
aCDOM(350) cannot be used to predict dissolved organic carbon
(DOC) concentrations in the study region; however the slope coefficient
(S300–600) shows some promise in being used.


Since independence, land became the key signifier for tackling the unfinished business of the decolonization process in Zimbabwe, notably by rectifying the racially based land injustices of the past through land distribution. Although a burgeoning number of studies have been undertaken on the land reform programme, few have had a distinctively focuses on rural youths in seeking to identify, examine and access the effects of the products on youth development. This research makes a contribution to filling this lacuna by offering an empirically-rich study of land redistribution in one particular district in Zimbabwe, namely Makoni district. This entails a focus on youth on A1 resettlement farms in Tableland resettlement in Makoni district. More so empowerment theory in this paper influences the views that land reform is a driver for rural youth development. 'Mixed method approach which include questionnaires, in-depth interviews and observations were made. Findings indicate that land reform has offered rural youth with economic opportunities as they are acquiring assets through agriculture production. However lack of documents of land ownership still affects rural youths as they got limited access to financial credits thereby limiting their capacity of production and assets accumulation. For rural youths to fully benefits from land reform the study recommends that a serious intervention by the state should occur coupled with the revitalization of the programme and their important role in agriculture


Thymocytes, in contrast to peripheral T cells, were unable to generate significant numbers of anti-self-TNBS cytotoxic T cells in primary in vitro cultures. The addition to such cultures of syngeneic 1000 rad irradiated lymph node or spleen cells from mice sensitized 6 or 7 days previously with trinitrochlorobenzene (TNCB) permitted the development of an anti-self-TNBS cytotoxic T cell response. This effect was shown to be T-dependent since it was largely abolished by anti-Thy 1 plus complement and was present in nylon-wool column purified T cells.
 The lymph node cells act as specific helper cells in that a) they must be restimulated in vitro by the priming antigen and b) they do not take part in the lytic phase of the response. The specificity of the helper effect is further indicated a) by the lack of help from nonsensitized lymph node cells and b) by absence of an enhanced helper effect for thymic anti-allogeneic or anti-allogeneic-TNBS responses in the presence of specific T helper cells for the anti-self-TNBS response.
 Analysis of the thymocyte subpopulation able to provide precursor cells was approached by separating thymocytes into a "medullary-like" minor, peanut-lectin-agglutinable (PNA-) fraction and a "cortical-like" major, peanut-lectin-agglutinable (PNA+) fraction. It was found that the PNA- fraction was enriched in thymocytes able to mount an autonomous anti-self-TNBS cytotoxic response, whereas the PNA+ population was totally unable to generate anti-self-TNBS effector cells in the absence of helper cells. The presence of helper cells from TNCB-painted mice permitted differentiation of anti-self-TNBS cytotoxic precursor cells from the PNA+ thymocyte cultures and enhanced the level of cytotoxic cells generated in PNA- thymocyte cultures.


Young people with little 'social or health capital' may be more likely to take up hazardous consumption and shun investments in human capital, raising their likelihood of a 'rags to rags' sequence. First, diminishing marginal utility could raise the marginal benefit of hazardous consumption and the cost of investment. But poor youths may also have lower expectations of future success, independent of the choices they make. Lower expectations of success could reduce the future cost of hazardous consumption and benefit of investment. We test the effect of expectations on decisions to smoke, drink hazardously, exercise, and complete high school, using a longitudinal study of youth in New Zealand. We find that 15-year-olds' expectations of success predict the subsequent onset of smoking, lack of exercise, and failure to complete high school, but not hazardous drinking. While some of the influence of expectations can be explained by low social and health capital, IQ, and other factors, expectations retain a direct effect on smoking and exercise once these other factors are controlled for. JEL classification: 112, 12, D12, D90


It has been suggested that a deregulated cell cycle control contributes to the development of human malignancies due to the loss of critical antiproliferative mechanisms. The cell cycle is controlled at two checkpoints, one at the G1-S and another at the G2-M transition. Several genes including the structurally related p21WAF/CIP1 gene, the downstream mediator of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, and the p27Kip1 gene have been identified as inducers of cell cycle arrest at the G1 checkpoint when substantial DNA damage has occurred to avoid further replication of the altered genome. Recently, a heat stable 27 kDa protein, the transcript of the p27Kip1 gene, has been identified and was suggested to substantially participate in cell cycle control at the G1 checkpoint. Previous investigations have correlated decreased expression of the p27Kip1 protein with an increased biological aggressiveness of breast and small cell lung cancer. However, the molecular-genetic analysis of a variety of human malignancies including prostate cancer failed to identify any alteration at the p27Kip1 gene locus, therefore suggesting a loss of p27Kip1 protein expression to result from post-transcriptional/post-translational events or from so far unknown regulatory mechanisms. So far, bladder cancer specimens have neither been investigated for p27Kip1 alterations on the DNA level, nor has the result of molecular genetic analysis been correlated with an immunohistochemically detected expression of the gene product, the p27Kip1 protein. The present study is the first to describe p27Kip1 gene alterations on the DNA level in 3 of 42 muscle invasive bladder cancer specimens. In contrast, loss of p27Kip1 protein expression was observed in 14 of 42 (33%) tumors. According to the previously reported observation in a variety of human malignancies, in bladder cancer loss of p27Kip1 protein expression seems to result from post-transcriptional or post-translational events.


BACKGROUND
Thyroid Na+/I- symporter (NIS) is thought to play an important role in iodide uptake in thyrocytes. We hypothesize that there is correlation between the expression of NIS protein in the normal and diseased thyroid tissues and their clinical thyroid scintigraphy.

METHODS
Twenty-seven patients, aged from 21 to 81, were studied from the surgical department of a tertiary referral center. Ten patients were with papillary carcinoma, 5 with follicular carcinoma, 5 with follicular adenoma, 5 with nodular goiter and 2 with Graves' disease. All the carcinoma patients underwent total thyroidectomy while others had lobectomy or subtotal thyroidectomy. The thyroid tissue sections prepared for study were stained with polyclonal hNIS antibody (SS Chiang, Ohio).

RESULTS
Most of the nodular goiters were negatively stained except 2 samples that showed weak signal focally. All cases with follicular adenoma or follicular carcinoma were negative for NIS expression, while some with papillary carcinoma were stained positive at sporadic follicles with weak signal. The thyroid tissue of Graves' disease was stained positive for NIS expression.

CONCLUSIONS
Thyroid tissues with hypofunctioning nodules displayed significantly reduced or undetectable level of NIS expression. It correlated well with pre-operative thyroid scans.


This research aims to develop a method that is capable and reliable for identifying significant regions in Genome-Wide Association Study based on Spline regression. We evaluate the optimal parameters in the Splines by smoothing and tuning p-values obtained from two methods, Sequence Kernel Association Test using normal weight (SKAT normal weight) and Generalized Higher Criticism (GHC) for testing SNP-set. False positive (FP) and True positive (TP) rates were evaluated under different genetic models for disease with significance thresholds adjusted for multiple hypothesis testing based on the permutation method. The simulated data used in this research are constructed from a control data set in a study of Crohn's disease which is repeated 1,500 replicates for studies of size 3,000 cases and 3,000 controls. The simulation result shows that the optimal parameter in the Splines on the p-value of SKAT normal weight and GHC under the one disease SNP model simulation are at the degree of freedom 1,000. GHC is shown to be preferable in terms of comparing FP and TP rates but it is disadvantageous compared to SKAT in terms of computational burden time. Finally, the optimal parameter of both methods was applied to real data on Crohn's disease. Both methods found the important regions of genes NOD2 which are strongly associated with the development and the importance of gene NOD2 which causes Crohn's disease.


The transportation industry is crucial to the realization of a smart city. However, the current growth in vehicle numbers is not being matched by an increase in road capacity. Congestion may boost the number of accidents, harm economic growth, and result in higher gas emissions. Currently, traffic congestion is seen as a severe threat to urban life. Suffering as a result of increased car traffic, insufficient infrastructure, and inefficient traffic management has exceeded the tolerance limit. Since route decisions are typically made in a short amount of time, the visualization of the data must be presented in a highly conceivable way. Also, the data generated by the transportation system face difficulties in processing and sometimes lack effective usage in certain fields. Hence, to overcome the challenges in computer vision, a novel computer vision-based traffic management system is proposed by integrating a wireless sensor network (WSN) and visual analytics framework. This research aimed to analyze average message delivery, average latency, average access, average energy consumption, and network performance. Wireless sensors are used in the study to collect road metrics, quantify them, and then rank them for entry. For optimization of the traffic data, improved phase timing optimization (IPTO) was used. The whole experimentation was carried out in a virtual environment. It was observed from the experimental results that the proposed approach outperformed other existing approaches.


Purpose: p21 protein is an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases, which may be able to arrest the cell cycle at the G1 phase by inhibiting DNA replication through the interaction with proliferating cell nuclear antigen. From experimental studies, p21 has been considered a tumor suppressor gene. Herein, the effects of p21 on the development, stage, grade, recurrence, progression and patient's survival in human bladder cancers were evaluated. Materials and Methods: The mRNA expression levels of p21 were examined in 149 tumor specimens obtained from patients with primary bladder cancer and in 18 normal bladder mucosae using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: p21 was significantly expressed in human bladder tumor tissues at high levels (7.11±0.69pg/ml), but was not expressed in the normal bladder mucosae. Compared with invasive bladder cancer (5.03±0.95), the p21 expression levels were significantly enhanced in superficial bladder cancer (7.96±0.88pg/ml) (p=0.0250); whereas, the grade was not related to the expression of p21. The levels of p21 expression were enhanced in non-recurred (9.33±1.38) and non-progressed (8.13±0.86) compared with recurred (6.03±0.75) and progressed (3.67±0.52) patients (each p<0.05). The level of p21 expression was significantly correlated with the disease free survival in patients the bladder cancers. Conclusions: The enhanced expression of p21 is strongly associated with the development of bladder cancer. Moreover, increased expressions of p21 are also positively associated with the low rate of recurrence and progression of bladder cancer. Conversely, an enhanced expression of p21 provides a survival benefit for patients with bladder cancer. These results suggest that p21 might be useful as a marker in assessing tumor diagnosis, recurrence, progression and the survival in human bladder cancer patients. (Korean J Urol 2006;47:1149-1154) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏


A book of this nature is always a challenge to a reviewer to find out just how comprehensive it really is. My first few hours of using this book were taken up with attempts to think of relatively obscure terms or concepts in sedimentary geology and then looking for them within the 821 pages of text. Overall I was reasonably satisfied that the subject area was well covered, although I was disappointed that neither 'jokhul-haup' nor 'sandur' seemed to have a mention when I reviewed the glacial sections, and when looking more broadly, the terms 'palustrine', 'strandplain' and 'chenier ridge' also appeared to be absent. At first I thought that there were more omissions, as I could not find terms like 'dropstone' and 'adhesion ripple' in the index, but it transpired that the index was at fault here and mention of these topics was to be found buried in articles. It was perhaps a little unfair of me to be deliberately looking for faults from the outset, but this approach did give me an insight into the organisation of the encyclopedia and an indication of how useful it might be to the casual (or indeed, intensive) user. I was not wholly impressed with what I found.

The book is organized into approximately 250 topics about which an …


Abstract For a given d-dimensional distribution function (df) H we introduce the class of dependence measures μ(H, Q) = −E{n H(Z1, . . . , Zd)}, where the random vector (Z1, . . . , Zd) has df Q which has the same marginal dfs as H. If both H and Q are max-stable dfs, we show that for a df F in the max-domain of attraction of H, this dependence measure explains the extremal dependence exhibited by F. Moreover, we prove that μ(H, Q) is the limit of the probability that the maxima of a random sample from F is marginally dominated by some random vector with df in the max-domain of attraction of Q. We show a similar result for the complete domination of the sample maxima which leads to another measure of dependence denoted by λ(Q, H). In the literature λ(H, H), with H a max-stable df, has been studied in the context of records, multiple maxima, concomitants of order statistics and concurrence probabilities. It turns out that both μ(H, Q) and λ(Q, H) are closely related. If H is max-stable we derive useful representations for both μ(H, Q) and λ(Q, H). Our applications include equivalent conditions for H to be a product df and F to have asymptotically independent components.


The saturable reactor insulation epoxy resin is subjected to exponential decay pulse voltage under normal operating conditions. It is of great importance to study the partial discharge (PD) mechanism of epoxy resin under exponential decay pulse and sinusoidal voltages for optimal insulation design. Thus, the difference in the PD behaviours under the exponential decay pulse and sinusoidal voltages is revealed in this study for the first time, and the PD characteristics of the two types of voltages are compared and analysed at 25 and 110°C. Compared to the results for sinusoidal voltage, a higher amplitude, lower repetitive PD inception voltage peak (RPDIV) and fewer PDs are obtained under an exponential decay pulse voltage. Additionally, for the same type of voltage, the RPDIV is lower, the PD magnitude is higher and the number of PDs is smaller at 110°C than those at 25°C. The experimental results can provide a new reference for the insulation redesign of a saturable reactor under an exponential decay pulse voltage.


Abstract
MitraClip is an attractive and less invasive alternative to mitral valve surgery in serve mitral regurgitation in patients with moderate or severe risk for operation. It has been described to be effective and safe in functional as well as in degenerative mitral regurgitation. We report a case of MitraClip procedure with the pull out of the anterior leaflet during the intervention. The patient underwent cardiopulmonary support and surgical intervention with a good outcome. With this report, we illustrated the etiology and management of this complication.


Sandy is the 2015 winner of the Johnson and Johnson Teacher of The Year award. I never thought I would be the academic reiterating the words "Back in my day.....", but yes, I have reached that age. Academic teaching has changed dramatically in the last 16 years that I have been lecturing. I clearly remember my first exposure to the "other side"where I no longer was a student, but suddenly a pharmacy staff member. I started my first day as a technician, all wide eyed, young, energetic and keen to learn. Lorraine Osman (yes, our Madam Editor) held me captive and I have never had a dull moment since. Thirty-two years on and I'm still here, maybe not as young or wide eyed, but certainly ready to match the youth with new challenges.


Recently research in opinions summarization focuses on rating expressions by aspects and/or sentiments they carry. To extract aspects of an expression, most studies require a predefined list of aspects or at least the number of aspects. Instead of extracting aspects, we rate expressions by aspect similarity recognition (ASR), which evaluates whether two expressions share at least one aspect. This subtask relaxes the limitation of predefining aspects and makes our opinions summarization applicable in domain adaptation. For the ASR subtask, we propose an attention-cell LSTM model, which integrates attention signals into the LSTM gates. According to the experimental results, the attention-cell LSTM works efficiently for learning latent aspects between two sentences in both settings of in-domain and cross-domain. In addition, the proposed extractive summarization method using ASR shows significant improvements over baselines on the Opinosis corpus.


The electroluminescence yield was studied for xenon gas as a function of the electric field in the scintillation region, for room temperature using a gas proportional scintillation counter. A large area avalanche photodiode was used for the readout of the VUV secondary scintillation produced in the gas, together with the 5.9-keV x-rays directly absorbed in the photodiode. Using the latter as a reference for the number of charge carriers produced by the scintillation pulse, it was possible to determine the number of VUV photons impinging the photodiode. This way, a scintillation amplification parameter of 140 photons/kV was obtained. The attained results are in good agreement with those predicted, for room temperature, by Monte Carlo simulation and Boltzmann calculations, as well as with those obtained for saturated xenon vapour, at cryogenic temperatures, and are about a factor of two higher than former results measured at room temperature.


Background: Adverse reactions to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly observed, particularly among patients with chronic urticaria or asthma. The identification of a safe and reliable alternative is a frequent problem in clinical practice. Our aim was to investigate the clinical tolerability of etoricoxib, a new selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, in a group of patients with well-established NSAID hypersensitivity. Methods: We assessed 31 adults (21 women and 10 men) who reported one or more adverse reactions to NSAIDs, manifested as cutaneous, respiratory or anaphylactic symptoms. Sixteen of them reported reactions to a single NSAID (single reactors) and 15 to more than one NSAID (multiple reactors); the most frequently involved drug was acetylsalicylic acid. First, each patient underwent allergologic tests (skin and/or oral challenge tests) with culprit NSAIDs and then tolerability tests with increasing doses of etoricoxib up to 120 mg. All challenges were performed under single-blind, placebo-controlled conditions. Results: NSAID hypersensitivity was diagnosed in all 31 patients: 3 displayed positive results to pyrazolone skin tests and the other 28 to challenges with culprit NSAIDs. None reacted to either placebos or etoricoxib. Conclusions: Etoricoxib seems to be a safe alternative for patients with well-demonstrated NSAID hypersensitivity.


Professor C. A. Mace, the psychologist, once wrote: 'It is difficult … to present and defend any sort of behaviourism whatever without committing oneself to nonsense.' I shall illustrate this thesis. I shall comment on the writings of some psychologists. This is relevant to my topic; for psychologists' expositions of behaviourism contain much more philosophy than science, and the inconsistencies which permeate their versions of behaviourism reappear in the works of eminent philosophers. My quotation from Mace comes from a paper defending what he calls 'analytical behaviourism'; which he distinguishes from 'methodological behaviourism' and 'metaphysical behaviourism'. According to Mace, analytical behaviourism does not question the truth of our everyday statements about a person's mind or states of consciousness; what it claims is that such statements 'turn out to be, on analysis, statements about the behaviour of material things', that is, about a person's 'bodily acts, bodily states, bodily dispositions, bodily "states of readiness" to act in various ways'. The father of behaviourism, J. B. Watson, rarely says anything suggesting this doctrine. As he presents it, behaviourism is both a methodological principle and a metaphysical theory.


We explore in this paper a new KNN algorithm, called the SQUARE algorithm, for searching spatial objects on road networks. Recent works in the literature discussed the necessity to support object updates for promising location-based services. Among them, the decoupling spatial search algorithms, which separate the handle of the network traversal and the object lookup, has been recognized as the most effective approach to cut the maintenance overhead from updates. However, the queue-based network traversal needs to be performed from scratch for each KNN query until the KNN objects are exactly identified, indicating that the query complexity is in proportion to the number of visited network nodes. The query efficiency is concerned for online LBS applications since they only allow lightweight operations for minimizing the query latency. To improve the query scalability while supporting data updates, SQUARE constructs the network index similar to the way used in decoupling models, and meanwhile exploit the coupling idea to maintain the KNN information relative to hot regions in the network index. The hot region denotes the area with frequent queries discovered in the query history. Inspired from the prevalently observed 80-20 rule, SQUARE can maximize the query throughput by returning KNN results in the quasi-constant time for 80% queries that are roughly issued within 20% area (hot regions). As validated in our experimental results, SQUARE outperforms previous works and achieves the significant performance improvement without sacrifice on the maintenance overhead for object updates.


This article discusses specifically single slit Fraunhofer diffraction in light diffraction.Generally,in Fraunhofer diffraction,with the changing of the hole's shape,the diffraction facula will change radically.Thus,there are many articles discuss Fraunhofer diffraction based on different shape of the hole.whereas,in this article,using the Kirchoff diffraction theory,the relative diffraction intensity formulas of Fraunhofer diffraction through two different shaped holes(rectangular and circular) have been derived,and it simulated the pattern and the intensity distribution using Mathematica.Throughout the simulation,it summarized the inherent law between the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern,the relative position change of two holes,and the size change of the two holes.


A mini scale helicopter poses complex dynamics and is difficult to control. Compared to its full size counterparts, the model of mini scale helicopter exhibits not only increased sensitivity to control inputs and disturbances, but also higher bandwidth of its dynamics. The transition dynamics between modes can be formulated as a hybrid system. This paper investigates safety analysis of a helicopter model during modes transition using timed automata hybrid systems approach. The investigation is limited to hover and cruise modes in the helicopter model.


Moving object detection is the basic step for the analysis of video. It is the monitoring of the behavior, activities or other changing information and aims at background subtraction to locate the object position in video frame. A fast and accurate moving object detection technique is important to detect, recognize and track objects over a sequence of images. This research area has been studied for decades; many techniques have been reported and applied on different video surveillance applications. However, there are still some unsolved problems need to be addressed due to multiple objects present in the scene, whereby we wish to determine the position of the same object across time. These types of tasks require not only good initial object detection but reliable body part segmentation as well. Thresholding has found to be a well-known technique for background subtraction such that pixels labelled corresponds to object and 0 to background. Thresholding is further divide into the global and local thresholding techniques.


Introduction: Spill response procedures are an important aspect of laboratories where infectious materials are handled. The decades-old conventional method of spill cleanup uses paper towels to cover the spill. It requires 2 staff and involves a considerable amount of bending and squatting and being able to balance in those positions while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). In this article, we describe a method that simplifies spill cleanup and compares it to the conventional method. The simplified method can be easily conducted by 1 person, takes about half the time, generates less waste, and reduces the amount of time spent in contaminated areas. Objective: The objective is to describe a modified, simple method of spill cleanup. Methods: A mock spill was created and a spill response initiated per the institution's procedure. The simplified procedure uses a pail filled with decontaminant and a household mop dripping with the decontaminant. Mopping is done from the noncontaminated area toward the contaminated area so the spill does not spread. Mopping is done more than once, and all the materials used, including the mop(s), are disposed as biohazardous material. Results: The simplified spill cleanup process described here can be performed by just one person and does not require bending and squatting while wearing PPE. The kit is very simple, consisting of a pail and a mop, which are common household tools familiar to most people. Conclusion: The mop-and-pail methodology is simple, requires only one staff member, generates less biological waste, and requires less training and practice while effectively cleaning the spill.


Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease. Steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1), a transcription factor, is essential for the activation of multiple steroidogenic genes for estrogen biosynthesis in endometriosis-derived stromal cells. Objective: Unravel the mechanism for differential SF-1 expression in endometrial and endometriotic stromal cells. DESIGN: We identified a novel CpG island in the SF-1 gene, which spans from exon II to intron III. We evaluated the methylation status of this CpG island. PATIENTS: Eutopic endometrium from disease-free participants (n = 8) and the walls of cystic endometriosis lesions of the ovaries (n = 8). None of the patients had received any preoperative hormonal therapy. Stromal cells were isolated from these 2 types of tissues. Results: SF-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in endometriotic stromal cells were significantly higher than those in endometrial stromal cells. Bisulfite sequencing showed strikingly increased methylation in endometriotic cells compared with endometrial cells (P < .001). A strong correlation between mRNA levels and percentage methylation of the exon II/intron III are observed. Specifically, the Pearson correlation coefficient was .98 (P < .001) for this association. Conclusions: We demonstrated that methylation of a coding exon/intron sequence in the SF-1 gene positively regulated its expression in endometriosis, whereas its hypomethylation in normal endometrium was associated with drastically lower SF-1 levels.


Abstract In the years between World War I and World War II in the United States, public and religious educators engaged in an extended struggle to define the appropriate nature of character education for American youth. Within a post-war culture agonizing over the sanctions of moral living in the wake of mass violence and vanishing certitudes, a group of conservative educators sought to shore up traditional values through the construction of morality codes defining the characteristics of the "good American." At the same time, a group of liberal progressive educators set forth a vigorous critique of these popular character education programs. This article analyzes the nature of this liberal critique by looking at one leading liberal spokesperson, George Albert Coe. Coe taught at Union Theological Seminary and Teachers College, Columbia University, and used his platform in these institutions to forge a model of character education derived from the combined influences of liberal Protestantism and Deweyan progressive education. Coe posited a two-pronged vision for American moral education rooted in the need for both procedural democracy (collaborative moral decision making) and a democratic social order. Utilizing this vision of the "democracy of God," Coe demonstrated the inadequacies of code-based models, pointing in particular to the anachronism of traditional virtues in a world of social interdependence, the misguided individualism of the virtues, and the indoctrinatory nature of conservative programs. He proposed that youth be allowed to participate in moral experimentation, adopting ideals through scientific testing rather than unthinking allegiance to authoritative commands. Expanding the meaning of morality to include social as well as personal righteousness, he also made character education a vehicle of social justice. In the end, I contend that Coe's democratic model of character education, because of its scientific epistemological hegemony and devaluing of tradition, actually failed to promote a truly democratic character.


Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is one of the most exact and powerful method to study protein biophysics and biochemistry. However, its use is still limited by its high requirement of computational power. To solve this problem, several special-purpose computers have been built. The most successful machines are GRAPE family [1], GRAPE-2A, MD-GRAPE, and MDM. Especially, MDM [2] with 78 teraflops is still keeping the fastest computer in the world since 2000. Based on these success, we have started a project to build a special-purpose computer with petaflops performance, 'Protein Explorer'. It will become the first petaflops machine in the world. The scientific targets are the prediction of affinity of (mutated) proteins and simulations of huge biomolecules to clarify its functions and mechanisms. The petaflops dedicated machine will give great contributions to bioscience.


This paper presents a wideband fractal antenna and compares two efficient rectifier topologies suitable for 2.45 GHz band. The combined fractal antenna and the rectifiers may be used for ambient RF energy harvesting from wireless LAN/Wi-Fi. The proposed fractal antenna covers the most frequently encountered frequency bands which are located around 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.4 GHz and 2.45 GHz corresponding to standards like GSM/DCS, UMTS, ISM and WLAN respectively. The return loss of the proposed antenna is below −10 dB and its gain is 4 dBi between 2.40–2.47 GHz. Two different Greinacher voltage tripler rectifier circuits were designed to compare the RF to DC conversion efficiency and power handling capability of the rectifying circuit structures. Up to 60% power efficiency was achieved with the proposed rectifiers at 2.45 GHz.


Spatial variability of material properties is inherent in both natural soil deposits and earth structures, yet it is often ignored during geotechnical design. With the objective of developing novel methods for assessing the effects of soil variability on groundwater flow, this study presents a stochastic finite element model of seepage through a flood defense embankment with randomly heterogeneous material properties. Stochastic modeling is undertaken by means of a Monte Carlo simulation which involves a large number of finite element analyses, each with randomly varied porosity at element level, which leads to a corresponding random variation of both permeability and water retention properties across the embankment domain. This provides a statistical distribution of responses, such as total flow rate and time to reach steady state, instead of a single deterministic result as in conventional studies of seepage through unsaturated heterogeneous soils. As the degree of heterogeneity increases, water tends to flow along the most permeable paths inside the soil mass, resulting in an irregular shape of the predicted wetting fronts and pore pressure contours. The mean and standard deviation of the computed quantities strongly depend on the statistics of the input porosity field. Simulations are also conducted to compare the statistical variation of flow rate with and without dependency of the water retention curve on porosity. With recent growth in computer speed, stochastic finite element models based on the Monte Carlo approach can become a powerful design tool, especially if a quantitative assessment of geotechnical risks is required. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The effect of fertigation regimes on wheat grown in sandy soil was tested in two field experiments in Egypt. The aim of the study was to determine the vulnerability of wheat to extreme weather event under climate change scenarios. Eight fertigation treatments, in addition to farmer irrigation were tested. Two climate change sce- narios obtained from Hadley climate change model were incorporated in CropSyst model to assess wheat yield responses to fertigation regimes under these scenarios. The results showed that the highest yield and the highest water use efficiency (WUE) was obtained under irrigation application using 1.2 and 0.8 of Etc, respectively, with fertigation application in 80% of application time in both growing seasons. The cali- bration of CropSyst model confirmed that the model is able to mimic the growth of wheat and predicted grain, biological yield, and WUE with high degree of accuracy. The highest yield reduction and the lowest WUE under the tested climate change scenarios were obtained from farmer irrigation. It can be concluded that irrigating wheat grown in sandy soil with an amount of either 1.0 or 0.8 of ETc with fertiga- tion application in 80% of application time is recommended to enhance growth and yield, and to reduce wheat's damage caused by extreme climate change.


This study examines teacher (n = 268) and parent (n = 206) self-reported perceptions of educational news coverage, and how the coverage affects them. Overall, the participants reported a perception that news coverage of teachers, schools, the education system, and standardised testing was generally negative in tone. Participants reported typically feeling demoralised by negative stories and inspired by positive stories. A high importance was placed upon the public perception of education by participants. However, trust in the media reporting of educational issues was low. An exception to this general pattern of findings was that participants did not place as much importance upon the public perception of standardised testing and reported being less affected by negative or positive stories on that topic compared to the other educational aspects. This research is one of the few studies to investigate the potential emotional impact news coverage of education can have upon media consumers.


China is one of the major centers of origin of Vitis species. To date, more than 38 species and varieties have been reported to originate in China among 70 known species. In the past 20 years, researchers have focused on resistance to main fungal diseases of Vitis species native to China. The results indicate that there are differences in resistance to the diseases among these species and clones. However, the Chinese wild species V. pseudoreticulata ?Baihe-35-1? holds higher resistance to disease traits than the other wild species. Chinese Vitis species have many advantages over V. vinifera such as possessing many resistant genes to fungal diseases as well as good flavor. Species V. davidii, V. quinquangularis and V. amurensis have better economic traits than other species and are used as wine materials directly in southeast, southwest and northeast China; Moreover, they also easily hybridize with V. vinifera. Thus, it is possible to transfer fungal disease-resistant genes into V. vinifera through crossing for developing new disease-resistant grape varieties. At present, we are interested in studying how Chinese wild grapes sense fungal diseases stress using the Chinese wild V. pseudoreticulata accession ?Baihe-35-1?. The goals are to identify key components that can potentially be engineered for improvement of European grapes that encounter pathogen stresses. In the future, our goal aims to understand the host defense mechanism and identify key genes in resistant Chinese wild Vitis germplasm to provide valuable information and foundational resources for breeding of highly resistant cultivars.


Abstract A robust feedback controller design to suppress flutter-type chaotic vibrations in baffled heat exchanger tubes is presented. The vibrations are the result of the fluid dynamic forces on the tube which behave as a negative damping element. A consequence of these vibrations is that the heat exchanger tubes impact with the baffle plates thereby reducing the service life of the heat exchanger. To eliminate the resulting tube impacts, a feedback control strategy is proposed. The heat exchanger tube and the fluid dynamic forces acting on the tube are modeled with linear delayed differential equations. Due to the presence of the delay, these equations do not have a rational realization. The feedback controller is realized using a frequency domain loop shaping approach which is well suited for systems with transcendental transfer functions. The control effector is a magnetic force transducer that acts on the heat exchanger tube. The design strategy is based upon the premise that stabilizing the linear instability about the undeformed tube position will preclude the formation of the nonlinear chaotic vibrations that arise from impacting. The feedback controller is shown to provide robust stability and performance over a large flow velocity regime


In a retrospective study of our cases of recurrent paralysis of the facial nerve of tumoural and non-tumoural origin, a tumour-like lesion of the intra-temporal course of the facial nerve, mimicking facial nerve schwannoma, was found and investigated in 4 cases. This was defined as, pseudotumoral hypertrophic neuritis of the facial nerve. The picture was one of recurrent acute facial palsy with incomplete recovery and imaging of a benign tumour. It was different from the well-known recurrent neuritis, hypertrophic neuropathy and perineuroma. A portion of the intra-temporal course of the nerve with concurrent dilatation of the osseous walls was diagnosed pre-operatively as facial nerve schwannoma. The pathological picture showed inflammatory hypertrophy which was not a schwannoma but was likely of viral origin, with degeneration-regeneration of fibres and new connective tissue. Resection of the involved portion of the facial nerve and autologous graft in two cases was performed, decompression with biopsy in the other two. No recurrence of new episodes of paralysis after surgery was observed.


Introduction We conducted a qualitative study to inform the design of a proposed community-wide campaign to promote increased physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income Hmong families. Methods We held eight focus groups with parents of children aged 5 to 14 years and with youths aged 11 to 14 years, interviews with key informants in several Hmong communities, and interviews with professionals who conducted physical activity and nutrition activities in these communities. Sessions were tape-recorded and transcribed. We organized data using ATLAS.ti software and then analyzed the content. Results Findings suggest that physically active lifestyles and dietary patterns emphasizing fresh foods including fruits and vegetables are valued in the Hmong culture and perceived as essential to good health. Barriers to a healthy lifestyle include limited access to safe spaces, time for adequate physical activity, access to land to grow fresh produce, and time for home preparation of food. Low incomes and marketing of unhealthy foods, particularly to children, are also problematic. Information on the healthy aspects of both traditional foods and American foods is needed in accessible formats and delivered through media and trusted community sources. Conclusion Like other Asian groups, the majority of Hmong are first-generation immigrants. An increase in nutrition-related chronic diseases can be prevented by encouraging and reinforcing the maintenance of traditional eating patterns and active lifestyles.


A new learning system called a statistical self-organizing learning system (SSOLS), combining functional-link neural networks, statistical hypothesis testing, and self-organization of a number of enhancement nodes, is introduced for remote sensing applications. Its structure consists of two stages, a mapping stage and a learning stage. The input training vectors are initially mapped to the enhancement vectors in the mapping stage by multiplying with a random matrix, followed by pointwise nonlinear transformations. Starting with only one enhancement node, the enhancement layer incrementally adds an extra node in each iteration. The optimum dimension of the enhancement layer is determined by using an efficient leave-one-out cross-validation method. In this way, the number of enhancement nodes is also learned automatically. A t-test algorithm can also be applied to the mapping stage to mitigate the effect of overfitting and to further reduce the number of enhancement nodes required, resulting in a more compact network. In the learning stage, both the input vectors and the enhancement vectors are fed into a least squares learning module to obtain the estimated output vectors. This is made possible by choosing the output layer linear. In addition, several SSOLSs can be trained independently in parallel to form a consensual SSOLS, whose final output is a linear combination of the outputs of each SSOLS module. The SSOLS is simple, fast to compute, and suitable for remote sensing applications, especially with hyperspectral image data of high dimensionality.


A case of conjunctival lymphoma belonging to the MALT tissue is reported hereby. It is very uncommon in the literature, but special tools are needed to recognize this conjunctival involvement: Frozen sections of tissue to perform immunocytochemical studies. Investigations of the other lymphoid tissue, to assess the localized feature of the conjunctival disease.


This study addresses the standpoint of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi about the importance of holistic Islamic view towards living sustainably. Nowadays, human beings are less aware of the environmental destruction that increasingly causing harm to all. The problem arises from people's abandonment in manifesting the infinite meaning of Allah's attributes (al-Asma' al-Husna) in daily practice. In fact, Allah the Most Merciful has fulfilled all the needs of His creatures to the very least. However, we do not take into account the importance of implementing the meaning of al-Asma' al-Husna to make any progress in all aspects of life. Therefore, Said Nursi was a leading Muslim scholar of the 20th century who strived to give greater understanding and explanation to the importance of manifestation of the God's Divine Name for the people towards creating awareness of environmental sustainability. This article focuses on the values and ethics related to environmental sustainability from the Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's perspective in Risale-i Nur. Therefore, the researchers have read the Risale-i Nur inductively to capture Said Nursi's thought on environmental sustainability. In conclusion, the results of the study found that a good understanding towards (i) the purpose of Allah's creation, (ii) the meaning of al-Asma' al-Husna and its manifestation, (iii) and the importance of ethics or behaviour towards creatures, can help maintain environmental sustainability and survival of biodiversity.


The heterotaxic syndromes may manifest as complex disorders with multiple anomalies, which have been described in the polysplenia/asplenia syndromes, or as a single isolated anomaly. Clinically insignificant anomalies may be incidentally discovered and should be recognized. Early diagnosis in the prenatal and neonatal periods allows for early intervention and correction, particularly of cardiac anomalies. Chest radiography, sonography, CT, radionuclide imaging, and MR imaging are useful diagnostic tools in evaluating these patients.


Surging interests exist in double‐atom catalysts (DACs), which not only inherit the advantages of single‐atom catalysts (SACs) (e.g., ultimate atomic utilization, high activity, and selectivity) but also overcome the drawbacks of SACs (e.g., low loading and isolated active site). The design of DACs, however, remains cost‐prohibitive for both experimental and computational studies, due to their huge design space. Herein, by means of density functional theory (DFT) and topological information‐based machine‐learning (ML) algorithms, we present a data‐driven high‐throughput design principle to evaluate the stability and activity of 16 767 DACs for oxygen evolution (OER) and oxygen reduction (ORR) reactions. The rational design reveals 511 types of DACs with OER activity superior to IrO2 (110), 855 types of DACs with ORR activity superior to Pt (111), and 248 bifunctional DACs with high catalytic performance for both OER and ORR. An intrinsic descriptor is revealed to correlate the catalytic activity of a DAC with the electronic structures of the DAC and its bonding carbon surface structure. This data‐driven high‐throughput approach not only yields remarkable prediction precision (>0.926 R‐squared) but also enables a notable 144 000‐fold reduction of screening time compared with pure DFT calculations, holding promise to drastically accelerate the design of high‐performance DACs.


School-based interventions are considered a promising effort to prevent the occurrence of mental disorders in adolescents. This systematic review focuses on school-based prevention interventions on depression and anxiety disorders utilizing an RCT design, starting from the year 2000. Based on an online search (PubMed, Scirus, OVID, ISI) and bibliographic findings in the eligible articles, 28 studies providing information were reviewed. The search process ended on 2 May 2011. The majority of interventions turn out to be effective, both for depression (65%) and anxiety (73%). However, the obtained overall mean effect sizes calculated from the most utilized questionnaires can be considered rather small (CDI: -0.12; RCMAS: -0.29). The majority of the reviewed school-based interventions shows effectiveness in reducing or preventing mental disorders in adolescents. However, effect size computation revealed only small-scale effectiveness. Future studies have to consider the impact of program implementation variations.


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

Adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) with gene-modified T cells is emerging as a highly promising strategy for the treatment of many types of cancer. Therapies associated with the induction of anti-tumor immunity, such as the administration of vaccines or the ex-vivo expansion of patient-derived TILs, have historically had limited success. This lack of efficacy is almost certainly brought about as a consequence of thymic selection, leading to a paucity of T cells, and T cell receptors, in the circulating repertoire, with a sufficient degree of sensitivity towards tumor-associated antigens. An alternative approach, which has generated promising results, relies on the adoptive transfer of patient-derived T cells that have been first modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). Nevertheless, a lack of tumor-specific antibody targets limits the wider applicability of CAR T cells.

To overcome these issues we have developed a strategy that involves the transfer of T cells expressing engineered TCRs with optimised affinity for a defined tumor antigen. Since TCRs recognize peptide antigens presented on the cell surface in complex with human leukocyte antigen (HLA), they give access to the large pool of intracellular proteins. Furthermore, the use of TCRs means that the natural interaction between a T cell and the corresponding antigen presenting cell is preserved. Importantly, for any given antigen, engineered TCRs require individual optimization, to ensure the appropriate balance between potency and specificity.

Recent and emerging clinical data using engineered TCRs for ACT are beginning to corroborate promising pre-clinical findings, with evidence of both potent and durable responses in vivo. However, experiences have also highlighted the dangers of this approach. The main risks associated with TCR adoptive therapy are target presentation on healthy tissue and TCR cross-reactivity to a look-alike peptide. Understanding these risks and ensuring comprehensive and robust safety testing mechanisms are in place is pivotal to mitigate these risks.

Citation Format: Bent Jakobsen. Fine-tuning T cell receptors for adoptive T cell therapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2802. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2802


The president's role as chief executive depends on the quality and tenure of political appointees who assist with the constitutional charge to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." This study explores the determinants of the duration of political appointee service. Using an agency theory framework, we propose that appointee tenure depends on financial incentives, executive-legislative conflict, solidary, and material benefits offered by the president, as well as implicit incentives that differ across presidential administrations. Using Office of Personnel Management records from January 1982 through August 2003, we employ multivariate survival analysis to confirm most aspects of the theory. The results imply that the most important determinants of political appointee tenure are financial and the difficulty of public administrative service. However, the president can affect exit propensities at the margins by manipulating rewards and implicit incentives that promote loyalty to public service and the administration.


Providing meaningful activities for persons with dementia in institutional care settings challenges many activity staff. Horticultural therapy (HT), is one approach to addressing this challenge. HT involves the use of plant materials to achieve measurable treatment goals with special populations. The current exploratory study investigated differential responses of persons with dementia to three types of HT activities: cooking, crafts, and planting. We conducted HT activities three times per week at an adult day service (ADS) program over a nine-week period. Observational data for each participant were collected during HT and more traditional ADS activities at five-minute intervals using a modified Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) technique. Predominant behavior and affect of each timeframe were recorded for participants. High levels of positive affect and engagement were observed during all of the categories of HT activities, but no significant differences were found between the three categories of HT activities. While levels of engagement in the presented HT and traditional activities were similar, the percentage of time spent doing nothing was lower during HT than traditional activities. Affect was more positive during HT than traditional activities. The current study lends support to the value of HT activities for participants with dementia regardless of the HT modality employed.