Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease mediated by autoantibodies against the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) at the neuromuscular junction. MG symptoms are characterized by muscle weaknesses. The thymus of MG patients is very often abnormal and possesses all the characteristics of tertiary lymphoid organs such as neoangiogenesis processes, overexpression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and infiltration of B lymphocytes leading to ectopic germinal center (GC) development. We previously demonstrated that injections of mice with polyinosinic–polycytidylic acid [Poly(I:C)], a synthetic double-stranded RNA mimicking viral infection, induce thymic changes and trigger MG symptoms. Upon Poly(I:C) injections, we observed increased thymic expressions of α-AChR, interferon-β and chemokines such as CXCL13 and CCL21 leading to B-cell recruitment. However, these changes were only transient. In order to develop an experimental MG model associated with thymic GCs, we used Poly(I:C) in the classical experimental autoimmune MG model induced by immunizations with purified AChR emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant. We observed that Poly(I:C) strongly favored the development of MG as almost all mice displayed MG symptoms. Nevertheless, we did not observe any ectopic GC development. We next challenged mice with Poly(I:C) together with other toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists known to be involved in GC development and that are overexpressed in MG thymuses. Imiquimod and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides that activate TLR7 and TLR9, respectively, did not induce thymic changes. In contrast, lipopolysaccharide that activates TLR4 potentiated Poly(I:C) effects and induced a significant expression of CXCL13 mRNA in the thymus associated with a higher recruitment of B cells that induced over time thymic B-lymphoid structures. Altogether, these data suggest that tertiary lymphoid genesis in MG thymus could result from a combined activation of TLR signaling pathways.


Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation characterized by partial or total loss of epidermal melanocytes. Many therapeutic modalities have been proposed for its treatment. In cases of stable vitiligo surgical treatments are preferred. Grafting by epidermal scraping is a variant of micrografts by punch technique. It is a new, simple and low cost technique, with high rates of repigmentation. The objective of this report is to demonstrate the authors' experience with this technique and discuss the results in an initial series of two cases (three lesions)


The investigation of urinary reaction in cases of mental disorder has revealed a condition of acidity which must be associated with a depression of the respiratory compensatory mechanism of the acid-base equilibrium of the organism.

In conclusion we would express our indebtedness to the Director of the Laboratory, Dr. F. Golla, for his close association and interest in this work, and to Dr. G. F. Barham, Medical Superintendent of Claybury Mental Hospital, for his interest and permission to use the clinical material available.


ABSTRACT Purpose: Marital dissatisfaction and conflict often increase for couples after the birth of a child and are evident in fewer positive family interactions and more negative family interactions. Because exercise is known to increase positive emotions and decrease negative emotions, the current study examined the extent to which higher levels of mothers' exercise during the postpartum period were related to more positive and fewer negative emotion-expressive behaviors with their infants' fathers. Method: Mothers' (N = 46; M = 8 months postpartum) positive and negative expressive behaviors were coded during couples' discussions of current conflict and positive family experiences. Mothers self-reported their leisure-time exercise behavior. Results: First-time mothers and mothers with higher levels of leisure-time exercise behavior displayed higher levels of positive expressive behaviors during couples' discussions. Conclusions: Exercise may be associated with increased positive emotion and, in turn, can have great potential to improve family relationships during the postpartum period when marital stress normatively increases, particularly for mothers with more than 1 child. Future longitudinal studies are needed to understand exercise patterns across the postpartum period to identify the most effective timing and optimal level of exercise that lead to more positive expressive behaviors.


Immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoretic analyses, including absorption tests, were used to determine the heterogeneity of antigens in bull spermatozoa and reproductive fluids and to characterize antisera against these antigens. Antisera were produced against bull seminal plasma, seminal vesicle fluid, cauda epididymal plasma, blood serum, washed ejaculated spermatozoa, washed cauda epididymal spermatozoa and sperm fractions. Four sperm-specific antigens were detected. One antigen was located in the sperm head, one in the sperm tail and two others were common to both the head and tail. The tailspecific antigen was detected only after mechanical rupture of washed spermatozoa. The major antigens of spermatozoa are localized in the cell membrane and acrosome. Apparently, sperm antigens were present in cauda epididymal plasma and seminal plasma. These antigens may have been released by physiologically normal spermatozoa or they may represent end products of sperm dissolution within the epididymis and vas deferens. Their presence makes immunological analyses of reproduc¬ tive fluids difficult. Cauda epididymal plasma and seminal vesicle fluid shared at least two antigens not present in blood serum. These antigens in cauda epididy¬ mal plasma coated the sperm cell and probably were secreted by the caput epididymidis. Coating antigens were more tightly bound to ejacu¬ lated spermatozoa than to spermatozoa from the cauda epididymidis.


This study is intended to generate an application tools (CASE tools) that allows a software developer to create a modeling system design using Unified Modeling Language (UML), especially in making use case, activity or class diagrams more quickly and easily. The tools developed will also facilitate developers in doing UML modeling by accessing the network through a web-based internet application. With the web-based applications, the users require only a browser and an internet connection to use this application. This application also helps developers to understand of how to make UML diagrams correctly and good. In this research traditional methods Scrum model is used. Scrum method is Agile methods that is a process to cultivate software easily and can be developed in accordance with the development of information technology. Scrum is using empirical methods or in other words every stage in it involves inspection and adaptation.


Spectral lines of Oe and Be stars present DACs or SACs In this paper we study the N V line profiles of a sample of 20 Oe stars (from O4 to O7 spectral subtype). Using the model given by Danezis et al. (2003, 2005a,b) we found that the line shapes are very complex and that they can be fitted by a multi-component N V region. In the sample the region may be divided into two to five subregions which show different kinematical and physical parameters. We give the kinematical parameters of subregions where the N V resonance lines (λλ 1238.81, 1242.804 Å) are formed.


Many fast motion estimation algorithms have been proposed in order to facilitate the real-time application of H.264 standard. Due to the need of developing the High Performance Video Codec (HVC), this is the time for us to review the best available fast group of algorithms and add novelty into it to make the deployment for future standards, such as the H.265. In this paper, we propose a scheme-based motion estimation algorithm which is able to describe the characteristic of block motion activities through the information of motion vector prediction from the previous frame. With the aid of this information, different search strategies can be carried out. Also, this algorithm is able to skip and save unnecessary motion search of small block types. Experimental results shows that the proposed algorithm is able to speed up the motion estimation time for almost 1.8 times compared to EPZS, but with a similar RD performance.


Social networking protects mental health during a crisis. Prior contact with social organizations, friends, and non-friend neighbors may be associated with better trajectories of loneliness, depression and subjective memory during COVID-19. Regression analysis was conducted using longitudinal data from a representative sample of n = 3105 US adults aged ≥55 in April–October 2020. Latent profile analysis was also conducted. Prior contact with friends (B = −0.075, p < 0.001), neighbors (B = −0.048, p = 0.007), and social organizations (B = −0.073, p < 0.001) predicted for better mental health during COVID-19. Three profiles were identified: Profile 1 had the best outcomes, with prior contact with social organizations (B = −0.052, p = 0.044) predicting decreasing loneliness. For Profile 2, prior 'meeting' contact with friends predicted decreasing loneliness (B = −0.075, p < 0.001) and better subjective memory (B = −0.130, p = 0.011). Conversely, prior contact with neighbors (B = −0.165, p = 0.010) predicted worsening loneliness among Profile 3. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a differential impact on the mental health trajectories of aging adults with social ties of different strengths. Stronger neighborhood networks are important to mitigate poor mental health outcomes among vulnerable older adults during a crisis. Older adults who are living alone and had relied on non-friend neighbors for social connectedness require additional community supports. Policy interventions are required to mitigate the mental health impact of future pandemics.


Pig peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs) stimulated with mitogens ex vivo can show significant animal-to-animal variation lead to difficulty in interpreting responses in an out-bred animal species. Mixed-cell populations were stimulated ex vivo with 2.5 μg/ml Con A or 2.5 ng/ml PMA plus 250 ng/ml ionomycin (PMAi; (LPCMs only)) or media alone for 72 hours. Supernatants were then tested for cytokine production using a Bioplex assay for porcine IFNα, IFNγ, IL-10, and IL-12. Unstimulated PBMCs had significant levels of IL-10 and the median value for this group decreased in the presence of Con A. Con A did, however, induce production of IFNα and IFNγ, but not IL-12 in this cell population. In contrast, unstimulated and Con A-stimulated LPMCs produced negligible IL-10, IFNα, IFNγ, and the majority of animals' LPMCs showed negligible IL-12 production in response to Con A. In contrast, LPMCs stimulated with PMAi produced IFNγ suggesting cytokine production is mitogen–specific response. When we tracked animal-specific responses, we observed that discrete subsets of animal's PBMCs responded to Con A with significantly increased or decreased IL-10 production relative to unstimulated cells. Further, in the LPMCs, some cells produced no IL-12 in response to Con A but showed augmented production in response to PMAi, while others showed production of IL-12 in response to Con A but no response to PMAi. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the PBMCs were a mixture of CD3+ T cells>CD21+ B cells>CD172+ myeloid cells whereas the LPMCs consisted of mainly Cytotoxic T cells and Natural Killer cells. The percentage of CD8α+CD4+ antigen-experienced T cells was greater in the LPMCs relative to the PBMCs. As expected in an out-bred species, animal-specific differences in cytokine production in response to stimulants exist and may confound interpretation of results unless tracked individually.


BACKGROUND
Infants of obese women are at a high risk for development of obesity. Prenatal interventions targeting gestational weight gain among obese women have not demonstrated consistent benefits for infant growth trajectories.

METHODS
To better understand why such programs may not influence infant growth, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 mothers who participated in a prenatal nutrition intervention for women with BMI 30 kg/m2 or greater, and with 19 clinicians (13 pediatric, 6 obstetrical). Interviews were transcribed and coded with themes emerging inductively from the data, using a grounded theory approach.

RESULTS
Mothers were interviewed a mean of 18 months postpartum and reported successful postnatal maintenance of behaviors that were relevant to the family food environment (Theme 1). Ambivalence around the importance of postnatal behavior maintenance (Theme 2) and enhanced postnatal healthcare (Theme 3) emerged as explanations for the failure of prenatal interventions to influence child growth. Mothers acknowledged their importance as role models for their children's behavior, but they often believed that body habitus was beyond their control. Though mothers attributed prenatal behavior change, in part, to additional support during pregnancy, clinicians had hesitations about providing children of obese parents with additional services postnatally. Both mothers and clinicians perceived a lack of interest or concern about infant growth during pediatric visits (Theme 4).

CONCLUSIONS
Prenatal interventions may better influence childhood growth if paired with improved communication regarding long-term modifiable risks for children. The healthcare community should clarify a package of enhanced preventive services for children with increased risk of developing obesity.


In this work we propose a new discretization method for the Laplace–Beltrami operator defined on point‐based surfaces. In contrast to the existing point‐based discretization techniques, our approach does not rely on any triangle mesh structure, turning out truly mesh‐free. Based on a combination of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and an optimization procedure to estimate area elements, our discretization method results in accurate solutions while still being robust when facing abrupt changes in the density of points. Moreover, the proposed scheme results in numerically stable discrete operators. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is brought to bear in many practical applications. In particular, we use the eigenstructure of the discrete operator for filtering and shape segmentation. Point‐based surface deformation is another application that can be easily carried out from the proposed discretization method.


A few years ago, crucial graphene oxide (GO) features such as the carbon/oxygen ratio, number of layers, and lateral size were scarcely investigated and, thus, their impact on the overall optical biosensing performance was almost unknown. Nowadays valuable insights about these features are well documented in the literature, whereas others remain controversial. Moreover, most of the biosensing systems based on GO were amenable to operating as colloidal suspensions. Currently, the literature reports conceptually new approaches obviating the need of GO colloidal suspensions, enabling the integration of GO onto a solid phase and leading to their application in new biosensing devices. Furthermore, most GO‐based biosensing devices exploit photoluminescent signals. However, further progress is also achieved in powerful label‐free optical techniques exploiting GO in biosensing, particularly using optical fibers, surface plasmon resonance, and surface enhanced Raman scattering. Herein, a critical overview on these topics is offered, highlighting the key role of the physicochemical properties of GO. New challenges and opportunities in this exciting field are also highlighted.


Based on the improvement of recent virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) Head Mounted Display (HMD), there have been attempts to adopt VR and AR in various fields. Since VR and AR could provide more immersive experimental environments and stimuli than 2D settings in a cost-efficient way, psychological and cognitive researchers are particularly interested in using these platforms. However, there is still an entry barrier for researchers who are not familiar with Unity programming, and current VR/AR HMDs could also cause unexpected errors during the experiment. Therefore, we developed a Unity library that can be adopted in various experiments universally and assist researchers in developing their own. Our library provides functions related to trial assignment and results saving. That way, researchers can easily implement the essential functions of their psychological experiments. We also made a function that enables proceeding with the experiment from a specific trial point to handle unexpected errors caused by HMD tracking loss issues during the experiment. We expect our library could invite researchers from various disciplines and help them acquire valuable insights in VR/AR environments.


Sensor-based weed mapping in arable fields is a key element for site-specific herbicide management strategies. In this study, we investigated the generation of application maps based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle imagery and present a site-specific herbicide application using those maps. Field trials for site-specific herbicide applications and multi-temporal image flights were carried out in maize (Zea mays L.) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) in southern Germany. Real-time kinematic Global Positioning System precision planting information provided the input for determining plant rows in the geocoded aerial images. Vegetation indices combined with generated plant height data were used to detect the patches containing creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.) and curled dock (Rumex crispus L.). The computed weed maps showed the presence or absence of the aforementioned weeds on the fields, clustered to 9 m × 9 m grid cells. The precision of the correct classification varied from 96% in maize to 80% in the last sugar beet treatment. The computational underestimation of manual mapped C. arvense and R. cripus patches varied from 1% to 10% respectively. Overall, the developed algorithm performed well, identifying tall perennial weeds for the computation of large-scale herbicide application maps.


Ni3Si compound is one of the excellent high temperature structural materials, because it possesses the attributes of high melting point, high strength, low density, excellent oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures, and magnificent corrosion resistance in acid environments, particularly sulfuric acid solutions, while the application of this compound is limited due to poor ductility at ambient temperatures and lack of fabricability at high temperatures. The incorporation of a ductile phase into the intermetallic materials has become an attractive means to modify the ductility. In this paper Ni-Ni3Si hypoeutectic in situ composites are obtained by Bridgman directional solidification technology. Microstructure of the Ni- Ni3Si hypoeutectic in situ composites are regular lamellar eutectic structure at the lower solidification rates, whereas eutectic cells or dendrites can be found with the increase of the solidification rate, due to the increase of the composition undercooling. Moreover, the directional solidification mechanism was investigated as well.


In this paper, we are interested in the problem of detecting breakpoints in piecewise stationary autoregressive (AR) processes. For short time series, stationarity assumption is common. However, for longer time series, this assumption is often unrealistic. Besides, many naturally occurring phenomena cannot be modelled as stationary processes. Therefore modelling stochastic time series under nonstationary assumption is often appealing, and finnds its application in many areas, such as speech processing, biomedical signal processing, and seismology to name a few.


Performance of an anaerobic reactor in treating atrazine bearing wastewater using a mixed anaerobic microbial culture having high acetoclastic methanogen population was evaluated in batch and semi-continuous mode of operation. At an initial atrazine concentration of 5.0 mg/I, atrazine reduction of 30.2% after 5 days and 64% after 50 days were observed in semi continuous and batch mode of operation respectively. Carbonaceous material removal measured as chemical oxygen demand (COD) was more than 90% in both the cases. Initial COD ws 305±7 mg/1. Experimental results showed that atrazine degradation was better in presence of dextrose than that of sodium acetate. Percentage of methane in biogas was more in acetate fed reactor than dextrose fed reactor.


The onset of metastases dramatically changes the prognosis of prostate cancer patients, determining increased morbidity and a drastic fall in survival expectancy. Bone is a common site of metastases in few types of cancer, and it represents the most frequent metastatic site in prostate cancer. Of note, the prevalence of tumor relapse to the bone appears to be increasing over the years, likely due to a longer overall survival of prostate cancer patients. Bone tropism represents an intriguing challenge for researchers also because the preference of prostate cancer cells for the bone is the result of a sequential series of targetable molecular events. Many factors have been associated with the peculiar ability of prostate cancer cells to migrate in bone marrow and to determine mixed osteoblastic/osteolytic lesions. As anticipated by the success of current targeted therapy aimed to block bone resorption, a better understanding of molecular affinity between prostate cancer and bone microenvironment will permit us to cure bone metastasis and to improve prognosis of prostate cancer patients.


The enantiomeric composition of benoxaprofen [(RS)-2-(P-chlorophenyl)-alpha-methyl-5-benzoxazoleacetic acid] in plasma and urine was determined after oral administration of both the racemic mixture and the (R)-(-)-enantiomer to normal human volunteers. Resolution of the diastereomeric amides, formed by the reaction of the enantiomers with (S)-(-)-apha-methylbenzylamine, was accomplished by gas chromatography. The (R)-(-1)-enantiomer of the parent drug was stereoselectively inverted to its (S)-(+) isomer in humans.


Purpose This retrospective audit aimed to evaluate the impact of combined iStent® Inject (iSI) and phacoemulsification on medication number in Australians with open-angle glaucoma. Secondary outcomes included intraocular pressure (IOP), best-corrected visual acuity, refraction and visual fields. Patients and Methods Patients with glaucoma that received combined iSI and phacoemulsification by the same surgeon between 1 February 2016 and 1 February 2018 were audited for postoperative medication number, pressures after 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks and 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, visual acuity, refraction and visual fields. These parameters were compared to baseline levels and with those from a separate cohort of patients without glaucoma that received standalone phacoemulsification. Results Forty-one patients (63 eyes) received the combined procedure. Thirty-four patients (59 eyes) received standalone phacoemulsification. Four weeks after receiving combined iSI and phacoemulsification the mean medication number was significantly reduced by 1.3 (p < 0.001) for those on medication at baseline and by 0.5 (p = 0.002) overall. Mean IOP was significantly reduced from baseline after 6 months (–16%; p = 0.012; n = 35) and 12 months (–29%; p = 0.004; n = 16). Patients receiving standalone phacoemulsification had short-term reductions in IOP at 4 weeks (–8%; p < 0.001; n = 57) and 6 months (–16%; p < 0.001; n = 32). These patients without glaucoma had lower pressures overall compared to those with glaucoma that received the combined procedure (p = 0.019). There were no differences in final visual acuity or refractive outcomes between groups. Conclusion This audit suggests that iSI and phacoemulsification are at least as effective in controlling IOP as medical therapy. It may have an important role in reducing the medication burden in Australians with cataract and glaucoma. This study is one of the first to confirm refractive stability in concomitant iSI and phacoemulsification.


With the coming of the era of big data, people are more concerned about data privacy. On the one hand, the users are more eager for fresh and low-latency search results than ever before. On the other hand, they do not want to open the search criteria. To this end, this paper proposes a scalable distributed private stream search system, in which the search criteria is hidden by homomorphic encryption technique with three buffers. Most importantly, the system adopts shared-nothing architecture to support the horizontal scalability, and partitions the stream into segments to achieve parallel query and bitmap index-based storage. Experimental results show the effectiveness and efficiency of our method on private stream search.


The trajectories of single particles in a simple Lennard-Jones (12-6) liquid show no regularities that facilitate an intuitively meaningful description. An analysis of the statistics of quasi-oscillations of the cartesian coordinates and of successive right-angle turns of the trajectories is attempted. Simple stochastic processes based on these characteristics lead to reasonable approximations to the self-diffusion constant. Other features discussed include fluctuations in kinetic, potential and total energy, the shape of the local potential field and the curvature of the trajectories.


The rapid development of literature in MI education (Islamic Elementary Education) became one of the strategies to face the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Society 5.0. One way to make literary learning affective in current conditions is the use of digital media. This study aims to determine the level of understanding of literary learning through the use of digital media at the 4th grade of MI Najmul Huda Kemloko. This research refers to a descriptive research method by using a qualitative approach. The data collecting technique is used in this qualitative research. The data analysis is inductive based on the facts finding which found in the field.. Data collecting techniques were made by interviewing, observing documenting. Data analysis techniques were carried out based on the miles and Huberman models which include data reduction, presentation, and conclusion. The results of the study are as follows: (1) digital media is used to develop the literary enthusiasm of students at MI Najmul Huda Kemloko, (2) digital media provides opportunities for students to publish literature.


Recent directives of the Chinese government specify property rights and income distribution for factors of production. The study as to how these factors are allotted appropriate shares of business income is becoming essential to the establishment of the China's modern enterprise system. When the manager is regarded as one of the factors of production, how one measures the value-added becomes a component of the income distribution system of the business. This paper surveys traditional views of the manager as a human capital, and offers an alternative suggestion for the measurement of the human capital of the manager which can more accurately reflect the reality of the operation of the business.


Characterizing the elastic properties of soft materials through bulge testing relies on accurate measurement of deformation, which is experimentally challenging. To avoid measuring deformation, we propose a hydrodynamic bulge test for characterizing the material properties of thick, pre-stressed elastic sheets via their fluid–structure interaction with a steady viscous fluid flow. Specifically, the hydrodynamic bulge test relies on a pressure drop measurement across a rectangular microchannel with a deformable top wall. We develop a mathematical model using first-order shear deformation theory of plates with stretching and the lubrication approximation for the Newtonian fluid flow. Specifically, a relationship is derived between the imposed flowrate and the total pressure drop. Then, this relationship is inverted numerically to yield estimates of the Young's modulus (given the Poisson ratio) if the pressure drop is measured (given the steady flowrate). Direct numerical simulations of two-way-coupled fluid–structure interaction are carried out in ansys to determine the cross-sectional membrane deformation and the hydrodynamic pressure distribution. Taking the simulations as "ground truth," a hydrodynamic bulge test is performed using the simulation data to ascertain the accuracy and the validity of the proposed methodology for estimating material properties. An error propagation analysis is performed via Monte Carlo simulation to characterize the susceptibility of the hydrodynamic bulge test estimates to noise. We find that, while a hydrodynamic bulge test is less accurate in characterizing material properties, it is less susceptible to noise, in the input (measured) variable, than a hydrostatic bulge test.


For the first time in thirty years of ever stronger intellectual property policies, a transnational coalition of Internet users was able to kill two US anti-piracy bills that were backed by some of the most politically connected and economically powerful interests in US politics. Combining insights from the literatures on social movements, networks, and Internet activism, I analyze the structure for social mobilization, the form of the coalition, the role of framing, and the use of technology contributing to its success. The literature on social movements and contentious politics addresses situations of threats or grievances that lead actors to mobilize for collective action. In this case, Goliath's latest gambit to ratchet up intellectual property standards threatened David's use of the Internet. This time David beat Goliath.


On August 10, 1982, the Office of Health Maintenance Organizations (OHMO) notified Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (KFHP), One Kaiser Plaza, Oakland, California 94612, that North Central Connecticut Health Maintenance Organization (NCC/HMO), 99 Ash Street, East Hartford, Connecticut 06101, a federally qualified health maintenance organization (HMO), had successfully reestablished compliance with its assurances to the Secretary that it (1) maintain a fiscally sound operation, (2) maintain satisfactory administrative and managerial arrangements, and (3) obtain the required contractual provisions with health professionals providing basic health services to its members. The reestablishment of compliance took effect on July 1, 1982, and was based primarily on the completion of an agreement between NCC/HMO and KFHP under which KFHP assumed the operation of NCC/HMO. This notice also reports a name change for NCC/HMO to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Connecticut, Inc. (KFHPC).


This paper describes an approach for the semi-automatic learning object metadata markup of course's Web pages and their posterior extraction into SCORM packages. This is identified as the first step to recycle course's Web pages with the full potential of the semantic Web. The key issue of this approach is to avoid as much as possible manual metadata markup. To achieve this goal, the process of automatic metadata markup is provided with: (i) an ontology of course descriptions in OWL that basically provides a sound specification of the diverse elements in a course and (ii) context information explicitly set up by linguistics rules. A prototype implementation has been developed in Java for Spanish course's Web pages


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying John Cunningham Virus (JCV) serological reagents into class II (special controls). The Agency is classifying the device into class II (special controls) in order to provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device.


Teaching Biomedical Instrumentation Systems has been a difficult task due to the high cost of equipment. This has been most acute for undergraduate programs. With the introduction of computers and object-oriented programming in teaching laboratories it is now possible to simulate and emulate these systems easily and economically. The authors describe an undergraduate engineering course in biomedical instrumentation where object-oriented programming is used. The course explains, develops, simulates, and emulates basic biomedical instrumentation systems such as Biopotential Amplifiers, Cardiovascular Measurement Systems, and Respiratory Measurement Systems.<<ETX>>


Objective To find out the worker's occupational hygienic situation and the influence on the worker's health and to put forward relevant prophylactico-therapeutic measures in the process of indoor decoration.Methods According to the monitor method of harmful factors in operational site,benzene,toluene,xylene,formaldehyde,dust and noise were analyzed,and the questionnaire survey and medical examination were conducted among the workers.Results The occupational environment which the workers were engaged in indoor decoration were not ideal,each kind of harmful factors all went beyond the national health limiting value.Contacting harmful risk factors for long time,workers produced corresponding clinical symptoms.Conclusion The most main reason,caused to surpass the national health limiting value,is the quality of decoration material.Using the qualified and environmental protection products in indoor decoration,simultaneously strengthening health education,improving self-protection consciousness,and wearing the corresponding protective devices can safeguard the indoor decoration worker's occupational environment.


Abstract Traffic flows in cities, especially in city centres, are intensive and uneven, moreover, registered noise levels exceed allowable limits. Noise levels have been measured at K. Mindaugo ave. and Birstono street crossing in Kaunas and data of automated traffic flow registration equipment have been used. A constant reduction of noise level from the beginning till the end of the green light has been identified ‐ "hot starts" generated noise dominates. To make estimates of noise and traffic flow interdependency, mathematical statistical models have been applied. Parameter distribution patterns have been analysed, prediction models have been composed.


The effects of chemical reaction and radiation on a steady two-dimensional flow of a viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid near an isothermal vertical stretching sheet, in the presence of viscous dissipation and heat generation are studied. The governing equations are transformed by using similarity transformation and the resultant dimensionless equations are solved numerically using the Runge – Kutta fourth order method with shooting technique. The effects of various governing parameters on the velocity, temperature, concentration, skinfriction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are computed and discussed in detail. Comparison of the obtained numerical results is made with previously published results. It is found that, the velocity and concentration decreases with increasing the Schmidt number (Sc), chemical reaction parameter (Kr), and the velocity as well as temperature decreases with increasing the radiation parameter (F), while the velocity as well as temperature increases with increasing the heat generation parameter (Q).


We present a particle filter-based target tracking algorithm for FLIR imagery. A dual foreground and background model is proposed for target representation which supports robust and accurate target tracking and size estimation. A novel online feature selection technique is introduced that is able to adoptively select the optimal feature to maximize the tracking confidence. Moreover, a coupled particle filtering approach is developed for joint target tracking and feature selection in an unified Bayesian estimation framework. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can accurately track poorly-visible targets in FLIR imagery even with strong ego-motion. The tracking performance is improved when compared to the tracker with a foreground-based target model and without online feature selection.


The limited regeneration capacity of the adult central nervous system (CNS) requires strategies to improve recovery of patients. In this context, the interaction of endogenous as well as transplanted stem cells with their environment is crucial. An understanding of the molecular mechanisms could help to improve regeneration by targeted manipulation. In the course of reactive gliosis, astrocytes upregulate Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and start, in many cases, to proliferate. Beside GFAP, subpopulations of these astroglial cells coexpress neural progenitor markers like Nestin. Although cells express these markers, the proportion of cells that eventually give rise to neurons is limited in many cases in vivo compared to the situation in vitro. In the first section, we present the characteristics of endogenous progenitor-like cells and discuss the differences in their neurogenic potential in vitro and in vivo. As the environment plays an important role for survival, proliferation, migration, and other processes, the second section of the review describes changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM), a complex network that contains numerous signaling molecules. It appears that signals in the damaged CNS lead to an activation and de-differentiation of astrocytes, but do not effectively promote neuronal differentiation of these cells. Factors that influence stem cells during development are upregulated in the damaged brain as part of an environment resembling a stem cell niche. We give a general description of the ECM composition, with focus on stem cell-associated factors like the glycoprotein Tenascin-C (TN-C). Stem cell transplantation is considered as potential treatment strategy. Interaction of transplanted stem cells with the host environment is critical for the outcome of stem cell-based therapies. Possible mechanisms involving the ECM by which transplanted stem cells might improve recovery are discussed in the last section.


From 1978 to 1985, 2,465 male bus drivers in the three major cities in Denmark were followed with regard to hospital admission due to myocardial infarction (MI) and death due to ischemic heart disease (IHD). In all 2,045 (83%) of these men responded in 1978 to a questionnaire on psychosocial well-being and work conditions. The respondents did not differ from the nonrespondents regarding hospital admissions and death in the follow-up period (1978-1984). Sixty-two cases of MI were registered among the 2,045 bus drivers in 1978-1984. On this basis relative risk for MI was calculated with a multiple regression model for independent variables regarding psychosocial well-being and work conditions. High work load (driving in heavy traffic) was significantly associated with the occurrence of MI. Of the psychosocial factors "no social contact with colleagues" and "increased work pace" were also significantly associated with the occurrence of MI. Smoking habits tended to be associated with the occurrence of MI, while stress symptoms and job dissatisfaction did not. The mental burden on bus drivers working in heavy traffic seems a possible explanation for the findings.


On January 16, 2018, a 76-year-old male patient was admitted due to "upper abdominal pain and discomfort for over 1 week". The patient presented with mild jaundice, no rigor and hyperpyrexia. Laboratory tests: glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT): 578U/L; alkaline phosphatase (ALP): 149U/L; Total bilirubin: 25.20umol/L; Indirect bilirubin: 20.10umol/L, CA125:8.39U/ ml, CA199:12.99U/ml. Imaging examination: abdominal enhancement MR & MRCP: nodular abnormal signal lesion about 1.7 × 1.1cm was observed in the left hepatic duct near the hepatis porta, and enhancement was observed in the enhanced scan; the upstream intrahepatic bile duct in the left lobe of the liver was significantly expanded. Intraoperative findings: The patient underwent left hemi hepatectomy & cholecystectomy. During the operation, there was free tumor embolus at the broken end of left hepatic duct. It was decided to perform common bile duct exploration. The upper segment of common bile duct was incised and removed the tumor. T-tube drainage was left in place after performing the choledochoscopy. Postoperative pathology: (left half liver and contents of bile duct cavity) intraductal papillary neoplasm, high grade, with total lesion area of about 1.1 × 0.7cm. Liver resection margin, gallbladder neck lymph node (1) and "Group 12" lymph node (3) showed no tumor. The patient was followed up for over 1 year after the surgery, without obvious abnormality (Figure 1).


A clinical trial was carried out to compare the efficacy of topical calcipotriol (0.005%) and topical corticosteroid (betamethasone 0.1%) in the treatment of plaque type psoriasis. The study was conducted from January 2012 to August 2012 and patients of plaque type psoriasis attending outpatient department of Dermatology and Venereology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka were the study population. Patients were divided into two groups, group A was treated with topical calcipotriol (0.005%) ointment and group B with topical corticosteroid (betamethasone 0.1%) ointment. The mean baseline PASI score was 6.7 ±4.5 and after 8 weeks, the mean PASI score was 2.0 ±1.4 for group A and mean baseline PASI score was 5.5 ±4.2 and after 8 weeks, the mean PASI score was 2.5 ±1.4 for group B. There was statistically significant reduction in PASI score from base line after 8 weeks of treatment in both treatment groups (p < 0.001). After 8th week of treatment moderate response was 11(73.3%) in group A and 9(60%) in group B. Very good response was 4 (26.7%) in group B and 2 (13.3%) in group A and minimal response of treatment occurs equally 2 (13.3%) in group A and group B. In the light of the findings of the study we conclude that each of the treatment of calcipotriol(0.005%) and betamethasone (0.1%) is individually effective. Further multicenter, randomized, double-blind study should be conducted with large sample size. Medicine Today 2014 Vol.26(2): 88-94


A screw-retained prosthesis is frequently used as an implant prosthesis. However, the superstructure is screwed to its abutments, stress is produced in bone around the implant or in the superstructure, and if incompatibility exists between them, the stress becomes larger. The objective of this study was to evaluate the stress buffer function of the IMC (intramobile connector) on a screw retained superstructure with vertical incompatibility. Two specimens were prepared for this experiment: In the 1 st specimen, three IMZ implants were embedded perpendicularly to the upper surface of the PMMA block in a straight line. In the 2 nd specimen, three implants were embedded in the same way as the 1 st but one terminal implant inclined 10 degrees mesially to the longitudinal axes of other implants. Strain produced on the block surface around each implant was measured with a strain gauge, because a torque wrench was screwed to the superstructure with vertical incompatibility (50μm, 100μm) to abutments. The dimensional compensation function of IMC was marked with 50μm incompatibility, but its function was decreased, and moreover IMC was permanently distorted with 100μm incompatibility. The effect of IMC in specimen 1 was similar to specimen 2. The incompatibility condition produced strain with IMC was less than that without IMC. Strain tended to be larger in the central implant.


The Faddeev–Yakubovsky equations in configuration space are applied to the study of the four-body system αΛΛΞ comprising three distinct particles. We use the OBE-simulating potential of the NSC97 model for the ΛΞ and ΛΛ interactions. For the Ξα and Λα interactions we use phenomenological potentials. The Faddeev–Yakubovsky equations for the system and its subsystems are numerically solved in s-wave approach by the cluster reduction method. We evaluate the binding energy of the hypothetical multi-strangeness nucleus . We find that the existence of the ground state of this nucleus depends strongly on the behavior of the Ξα potential at small distances. In particular, for a Woods–Saxon type potential having no repulsive core, the system can be bound.


The thermal degradation of poly(n-butyl methacrylate-co-alkyl acrylate) was compared with ultrasonic degradation. For this purpose, different compositions of poly (n-butyl methacrylate-co-methyl acrylate) (PBMAMA) and a particular composition of poly(n-butyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate) (PBMAEA) and poly(n-butyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate) (PBMABA) were synthesized and characterized. The thermal degradation of polymers shows that the poly(alkyl acrylates) degrade in a single stage by random chain scission and poly(n-butyl methacrylate) degrades in two stages. The number of stages of thermal degradation of copolymers was same as the majority component of the copolymer. The activation energy corresponding to random chain scission increased and then decreased with an increase of n-butyl methacrylate fraction in copolymer. The effect of methyl acrylate content, alkyl acrylate substituent, and solvents on the ultrasonic degradation of these copolymers was investigated. A continuous distribution kinetics model was used to determine the degradation rate coefficients. The degradation rate coefficient of PBMAMA varied nonlinearly with n-butyl methacrylate content. The degradation of poly (n-butyl methacrylate-co-alkyl acrylate) followed the order: PBMAMA < PBMAEA < PBMABA. The variation in the degradation rate constant with composition of the copolymer was discussed in relation to the competing effects of the stretching of the polymer in solution and the electron displacement in the main chain. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers


This article examines the intersection of intellectual property and complexity theory. Complexity focuses on systems comprised of a large number of interacting components. It explores the rules governing their behavior and development, and is currently used to analyze and explain a range of human, social, economic and natural phenomena. Its interdisciplinary insights apply to a host of systems and networks: from biological and ecological systems, through the social system, to the internet and other communication networks. Intellectual property is a natural candidate for applying complexity analysis. Its subject matters interact to create networks that abide by the rules governing complex systems. Cultural works protected by copyright, trademark protected brands, as well as patent protected technologies are all linked through members of society, in a manner which forms two-sided networks susceptible to complexity analysis. Among others, these networks obey the laws of innovation diffusion, social influence, and herd behavior. Moreover, the paradigms of "incentive" and "reward" that lie at the heart of traditional IP theory are directed towards the social system, itself a non-linear, complex system. Concentrating on complexity as a social phenomenon this article demonstrates how specific notions of complexity can illuminate particular norms and dilemmas in the various branches of intellectual property: from patent's non-obviousness requirement, through trademark dilution doctrine, to the puzzle of copyright and television formats. The article further argues that complexity does not merely provide new tools for solving old problems, but offers a new prism for framing such problems, and can also shed new light on the traditional meta-narratives of IP. It concludes that a complexity perspective can enrich IP discourse with a non-reductionist theoretical outlook, and may bring intellectual property theory and doctrine closer to real-world settings.


Objectives: Plasticity of neural synapses is known to be involved in the complications in bipolar disorder (BD) patients. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a role in synaptic plasticity and memory. Even though elevated MMP-9 levels are reported in neuropsychiatric disorders, there is limited data about MMP-9 gene polymorphism in BD. The objectives of the study was to investigate genotype frequency and allele frequency of MMP-9 genetic variant (rs 17576) in BD and its association with disease severity. Materials and Methods: Eighty BD cases and 80 controls were recruited in the study. MMP-9 genotyping and allele frequency and plasma MMP-9 levels were analyzed in both the groups. Hamilton depression rating scale and Young's Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) were used to evaluate severity of BD. Results: The genotype and minor allele (G allele) frequency were not significant between BD and controls. MMP-9 levels were significantly increased in BD patients with AG (P < 0.001) and GG (P = 0.022) genotypes compared to controls. BD patients with GG genotype (P = 0.038, OR: 3.26 (1.16–9.09), and G (mutant) allele (P = 0.013, OR 2.03(1.18–3.48) confer increased risk of depressive symptoms. MMP-9 was positively correlated with YMRS scale (r = 0.227, P = 0.043) in BD. Conclusion: MMP-9 gene polymorphism (rs 17576) is linked with depressive symptoms in BD.


Background: The incidence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is rising, yet patient survival rates following conventional treatment remain abysmal. A unique feature of PDAC is the presence of a prominent tumor stroma with a dense network of fibrotic material and abundant inflammatory immune infiltrate. Bone marrow derived myeloid cells of both monocytic and granulocytic origin, including tumor associated macrophages (TAM) and neutrophils (TAN) respectively, are the most prevalent immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of PDAC. PDAC tumors co-opt chemokine signaling pathways to attract myeloid cells from the bone marrow to the TME where they suppress anti-tumor immune responses, support tumor progression, and confer resistance to therapy. In a previous clinical study, we demonstrated that targeted blockade of CCR2+ TAM with a small molecule CCR2 inhibitor (PF-04136309) nearly doubled responses to the FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy regimen in patients with locally advanced PDAC. Here, we show that tumor infiltrating CXCR2+ TAN compensate for TAM depletion in response to CCR2 blockade, so we hypothesized that dual targeting of both CCR2+ TAM and CXCR2+ TAN would further enhance chemotherapy efficacy for treating PDAC. Methods: Human blood, bone marrow, and tumor samples were acquired under an IRB approved protocol. PDAC cell lines (KCKO or KP) derived from spontaneous tumors were subcutaneously or orthotopically implanted into C57BL/6 mice. Tumor bearing mice were randomized and treated with vehicle, FOLFIRINOX, CCR2i (PF-04136309 or RS504393), CXCR2i (SB225002), CCR2i+CXCR2i, CCR2i+FOLFIRINOX, CXCR2i+FOLFIRINOX, or CCR2i+CXCR2i+FOLFIRINOX. Mice were sacrificed at fixed time points for tissue collection or followed for survival. Resected tissues were snap frozen for RNA extraction to perform qRT-PCR, fixed in formalin for histological staining and immunohistochemistry, or digested into single cell suspensions for flow cytometry analysis. Results: The prevalence of peripheral blood and bone marrow CXCR2+ TAN is prognostic in patients with PDAC. Tumors expressed elevated levels of the ELR+ chemokines including CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL5, and CXCL8 and were infiltrated with significantly more CXCR2+ TAN compared to normal pancreas. Tumor expression of the ELR+ chemokines correlated with tumor infiltrating TAN and their levels were prognostic in human disease. Analysis of longitudinally paired tumor biopsies from patients treated with PF-04136309 had significantly increased levels of CXCR2+ TAN (p Conclusions: The ELR+ CXC/CXCR2 chemokine pathway plays a key role in PDAC tumor progression and CXCR2+ TAN compensation is observed with depletion of TAM in response to CCR2 blockade. Duel targeting of CCR2+ TAM and CXCR2+ TAN prevents myeloid plasticity to single agent therapy and further enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy. Thus, further studies exploring complementary immune targeting strategies are warranted in PDAC. Citation Format: Booyeon J. Han, Tim M. Nywening, Brian A. Belt, Jian Ye, William G. Hawkins, David G. DeNardo, David C. Linehan. CXCR2 blockade reduces granulocytic myeloid cell compensation in response to macrophage targeted therapy and further enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2017 Oct 1-4; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2018;6(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B56.


The paper presents a methodology for concurrently optimizing an IC fabrication process and a standard cell library in order to maximize overall yield. The approach uses the Concurrent Subspace Optimization (CSSO) algorithm, which has been developed for general coupled, multidisciplinary optimization problems. An example is provided showing the application of the algorithm to optimizing a mixed analog/digital library on a CMOS process.


A Cm planar photonic material (two-dimensional) including the mirror reflection symmetry is explored where in the Dirac cones appeared at the high-symmetry points of the Brillouin zone boundary. By implementing the specific perturbation on the photonic crystal (PC), topological transition can make a bridge between the trivial PC (ordinary insulator) and the topological insulator including zero and non-zero spin Chern number (Cs), respectively. The perturbation can be realized through the rotation of the Cm photonic crystal around the nonzero angle to its initial position. Therefore, breaking the mirror symmetry of the unit cell leads to mismatch of the symmetry planes of the lattice. This modification results in the directional band gap & band inversion which is the signature of the topological transitions. The mentioned PC would be suitable for examination of the unidirectional transport of light at the topological interfaces.


Satellite based voice communication services today are typically provided by communication centers interconnecting ground based communication facilities with suitably equipped aircrafts. These communication services are either based on a radio operator relaying the radio calls or by connecting the call automatically to phone lines through a telephone gateway. Calls from ground parties to aircraft typically use telephone numbers on a private telephone network in order to reach the appropriate air-to-ground relay station, which in turn patches the call into the radio call to the aircraft, or v ia a dispatcher in a communication center. Common for these satellite based services is the fact that only a single aircraft is addressed. Further, there is no relation between boundaries controlled by Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), or any other responsible agency and the coverage of a satellite beam. This is a clear disadvantage over conventional Air Traffic Management (ATM) voice communications performed via VHF radio. Situational awareness is key for the decision making process of controllers and pilots in the next generation airspace system (NEXTGEN). In VHF radio communications this awareness is automatically provided by the shared-media nature of the air waves, thus allowing commands from controllers and the corresponding read-back from pilots to be received by all listeners on a particular frequency simultaneously (propagation delay of the radio signal not considered). In addition, today's sector boundaries (horizontal and vertical) are based on traffic patterns and thus are in accordance with the major air traffic routes, where it never happens, that a single sector requires a handover between two different radio channels (i.e. different physical frequencies). We describe mechanisms that allow combining aircrafts to virtual sector groups independent of satellite beam coverage and introduce communication services by considering technical issues of satellite based communications. Aspects of NEXTGEN are addressed such as capacity, performance, and global coverage. ANSPs, FAA, Eurocontrol, and industry are working together to define IP as the next generation common network layer for voice and data communications. EUROCAE Working Group 67 (WG-67) has recently completed its recommendation documents [1], which are now ready to become ICAO recommendations. To ensure interoperability at the application layer, open standards, a center piece of the internet protocol suite, have been agreed upon by consensus. In addition we elaborate an optimization concept for satellite communication that is in the context of the WG-67 definitions. It takes into account the available data-rate, channel access methods, different end-to-end delay, and more. A translation and optimization entity between the different technologies is introduced providing the WG-67 interface definitions on the ground side and an optimized air-to-ground interface as Link Gateway (LGW). The LGW provides the key communication capabilities to both ends, the ground based voice communications network and the aircraft and handles the interface to the data-link layer (L2) capabilities provided by the data-link via the Ground Earth Station (GES). This allows designing voice communication application services independent of the underlying transport technology. For instance changing or extending the interface at the GES would not affect the Voice Communication System (VCS) or aircraft application, only changes at the LGW are necessary. Another service entity, the Sector Floor Control (SFC) performs floor control and if applicable requests appropriate resources from the GES via the LGW. Finally, we discuss the benefits of future ATM data-link concepts as well as the benefits of integration in a multi-link environment.


All cyanobacteria contain carboxysomes, RuBisCO-encapsulating bacterial microcompartments that function as prokaryotic organelles. The two carboxysome types, alpha and beta, differ fundamentally in components, assembly, and species distribution. Alpha carboxysomes share a highly-conserved gene organization, with evidence of horizontal gene transfer from chemoautotrophic proteobacteria to the picocyanobacteria, and seem to co-assemble shells concomitantly with aggregation of cargo enzymes. In contrast, beta carboxysomes assemble an enzymatic core first, with an encapsulation peptide playing a critical role in formation of the surrounding shell. Based on similarities in assembly, and phylogenetic analysis of the pentameric shell protein conserved across all bacterial microcompartments, beta carboxysomes appear to be more closely related to the microcompartments of heterotrophic bacteria (metabolosomes) than to alpha carboxysomes, which appear deeply divergent. Beta carboxysomes can be found in the basal cyanobacterial clades that diverged before the ancestor of the chloroplast and have recently been shown to be able to encapsulate functional RuBisCO enzymes resurrected from ancestrally-reconstructed sequences, consistent with an ancient origin. Alpha and beta carboxysomes are not only distinct units of evolution, but are now emerging as genetic/metabolic modules for synthetic biology; heterologous expression and redesign of both the shell and the enzymatic core have recently been achieved.


We carry out an exploratory weak gravitational lensing analysis on a combined Very Large Array and Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network radio data set: a deep (3.3 μJy beam−1 rms noise) 1.4 GHz image of the Hubble Deep Field-North. We measure the shear estimator distribution at this radio sensitivity for the first time, finding a similar distribution to that of optical shear estimators for Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys data in this field. We examine the residual systematics in shear estimation for the radio data and give cosmological constraints from radio–optical shear cross-correlation functions. We emphasize the utility of cross-correlating shear estimators from radio and optical data in order to reduce the impact of systematics. Unexpectedly, we find no evidence of correlation between optical and radio intrinsic ellipticities of matched objects; this result improves the properties of optical–radio lensing cross-correlations. We explore the ellipticity distribution of the radio counterparts to optical sources statistically, confirming the lack of correlation; as a result, we suggest a connected statistical approach to radio shear measurements.


Oocyte IVM is a long process during which oocytes acquire their ability to support the stages of development in a stepwise manner, ultimately reaching activation of the embryonic genome. The overall success of this process can be affected by factors such as hormonal treatment for ovarian stimulation. Thus, the current study aims to evaluate the possible effects of the ovarian stimulatory protocols on the goat oocyte quality and IVM rate. Adult and cyclic Caninde goats were heat-synchronized by means of intravaginal sponges impregnated with 60 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP, Progespon, Syntex, Buenos Aires, Argentina) inserted for 11 days coupled with a luteolytic injection of 50 μg cloprostenol (Ciosin, Coopers, Sao Paulo, Brazil) in the 8th day of treatment. The ovarian stimulation was carried out using one of the following protocols: a) standard multi-doses (MD) with 120 mg pFSH (Folltropin-V, Vetrepharm, Canada) distributed in five injections (30/30; 20/20; 20 mg) at 12 h intervals (n = 18); b) three- doses (TD) with 120 mg pFSH administered in three injections (60; 40; 20 mg) at 24 h intervals (n = 17); c) one shot (OD) of 70 mg pFSH plus 200 IU of eCG (Novormon, Syntex) administered 36 h before sponge removal (n = 17). In MD andTD groups, the pFSH injections started in Day 8 of progestagen treatment. The follicles were aspirated just after the sponge removal using laparoscopic oocyte recovery (LOR). This procedure was performed with a 22-gauge needle and a vacuum pump at 30 mmHg. The collection medium was TCM-199 supplemented with HEPES (10 mM), heparin (20 IU mL-1), and gentamicin sulfate (40 μg mL-1). COCs were classified as grade I, II, III, or IV based on visual criteria (Baldassarre H et al. 2003 Theriogenology 56, 831-839). Good quality oocytes (grade I and II) were incubated in TCM-199 supplemented with cysteamine (100 μM), EGF (10 ng mL-1) and gentamicin sulfate (40 μgm L-1) at 38.5°C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 in air for 24 h. Oocyte maturation was assessed by the visualization of first polar body under inverted microscope. Data were expressed as percentages and analyzed using the Fischer's exact test. No statistical differences among hormonal treatments (P > 0.05) were observed for the percentage of the good quality oocytes, with 70.4 ± 3.0% of COCs graded in I and II. The IVM rate inTD (31.4%) was statistically lower than MD (31.4% v. 46.5%, P = 0.04) group. However, no significant differences (P = 0.89) were observed between OD (45.2%) and MD groups. Thus, current results indicate that oocyte production for IVM can be facilitated using ovarian stimulation with the one shot FSH/eCG regime without affecting meiotic competence. In summary, OD and MD treatments can be used for oocyte IVM in an embryo production programme in Caninde goats. This study was supported by the following Brazilian agencies: FINEP, CNPq, FUNCAP, and CAPES.


As large parts of Eastern Europe are joining the European Union the centre of the EU is shifting towards the East. One of the large questions concerning the development of Eastern Europe is the level of competence and knowledge that is needed to accomplish prosperity. Companies do however face different challenges when transferring this knowledge to their subsidiaries. These problems arise because of the complexity that is a part of this process. We believe that these challenges can be eased through a company's knowledge transfer process; therefore we wanted to study the knowledge transfer process to an Eastern European country.


This paper builds on a growing literature that takes into account the fact that firms in an industry may be interdependent with regard to their corporate reputations, thus sharing a �reputation commons.� We argue that the theory of public goods can help us to understand the interdependencies that link corporate reputations and to frame the contexts and requirements for collective action that they induce. In particular, we suggest that more and more frequently these interdependencies make industry reputation a �weak link� public good. We show that this raises new challenges for the strategic management of industry reputation by communities of firms. The discussion of these challenges is based on the case study of the collective action of the European chlorine companies towards restoring their reputation after being accused of not being safe, and on a model of the production of reputation by companies.


In further investigations on the evolutive trends of the epidemiologic streptococcal process, an extensive epidemiological survey was carried out in prescholar and school communities in the town of Bucharest with a view to applying efficient antiepidemic measures able to limit primary streptococcal infections and prevent late, redoubtable complications. In 1980, in Bucharest, morbidity from scarlet fever was at its lowest level (92.7 per 100,000) during the last 31 years; it was in general benign, affecting especially in the month of March the 5-9 years age group (623.9 per 100,000) and the 1-4 years age group (529.4 per 100,000). The trailing evolution of a scarlet fever focus in a prescholar community suggested the hypothesis of the potentiation of the induction of streptococcal toxigenesis under the influence of intercurrent vital infections, especially measles. There were no deaths from scarlet fever. Laboratory investigations for the active detection and treatment of anginas, of carriers at risk, totalled 52101 tests; of these 4478 (8.59%) were positive for group "A" streptococci. In the prescholar communities surveyed no poststreptococcal complications were reported (acute articular rheumatism and glomerulonephritis). In 1980, there were 63 cases of acute articular rheumatism (code 250) in the 0-18 year-old group. The results suggest the need of continued epidemiological survey of streptococcal infections in children with a view to improving the health status of the population.


One of the most voluminous epics of world literature, the "Shahnama" (or "Book of Kings") narrates the history of the ancient kings of Iran, from their mythical beginnings to the Arab conquest in 651 A.D. Although illustrated copies of the poem were commissioned by numerous Iranian kings, the "Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp" (reigned 1524-1576) is arguably the most important and beautifully-illustrated version ever produced. It was created by two generations of the most renowned early-16th-century artists at the royal atelier in Tabriz, the first capital of the Safavid dynasty. Characterized by calligraphy, painting, and illuminations of exquisite quality and artistic originality, the volume is considered one of the highest achievements in the arts of the book. After its creation, the "Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp" travelled through several royal collections until it was broken up and dispersed in the 20th century. Now, for the first time, all 258 illuminated pages of this famous volume are reproduced in colour and close to their original size in this sumptuous publication.


We present a 17-year-old Japanese male high school student, who had applied steroid ointment for atopic dermatitis, with fingernail onychomycosis due to Trichophyton tonsurans. He was found positive for T. tonsurans infection based on hairbrush culture performed due to an epidemic of T. tonsurans infection in his judo club. The hairbrush culture method is very important in screening for this infection, and dermatologists should examine the entire body of athletes who are found positive using this method. For the diagnosis of T. tonsurans infection, other than the skin and hair, the nails should also be checked by dermoscopy because the fingernail may be the origin of this fungus.


This research finished the development and implementation of a novel and durable, higher voltage, and lower temperature dependant weigh-in-motion (WIM) sensor that was begun under an earlier research project. These better sensors will require fewer lane closings and replacements than the existing sensors. They will also aid the departments of transportation to better identify those vehicles which use the nation's major highways and do not comply with the current weight restrictions that are placed on larger vehicles. The primary focus of the research was to create a full-scale WIM sensor that is less temperature dependent and more durable than traditional WIM sensors. Traditionally, the data collected from the sensor may be utilized in two ways. The first is by using static vehicle effects on the sensor, which corresponds to the weight of the vehicle; these data can be used for enforcement of the vehicle legal weight limits. The second is by using the dynamic loading of the sensor, which relates to the actual loading that the roadway is experiencing; these data will be useful to engineers who must design the roadway as well as plan for repair schedules. However, there is a growing trend to broaden the use of WIM data and use the data to the fullest extent. Instead of just using WIM data to screen commercial vehicles or for pavement design, there is a new recognition that good data can be useful for bridge structural analysis, safety analysis, traffic control and operations, freight management and operations, facility planning and programming, and standards and policy enforcement as per the recent report "Effective Use of Weigh-in-Motion Data, the Netherlands Case Study" (FHWA October 2007). In lieu of this development, the need for better sensors to provide good data is more important today than ever before.


The purpose of the present study was to examine the seasonal variation in freezing damage in free-range rooster sperm. Over a period of 1 year, heterospermic semen samples were collected weekly by massage from the roosters of 14 Spanish chicken breeds, all housed under natural photoperiod and climatic conditions. All samples were frozen in straws using DMA as a cryoprotectant, placing them first in nitrogen vapour and then plunging them into liquid nitrogen. No seasonal effects on fresh sperm quality were found. Neither did season affect the percentage of viable frozen-thawed spermatozoa nor the percentage with an intact acrosome. However, the collection season influenced (p < 0.05) most frozen-thawed sperm motility values. The percentage of immotile frozen-thawed spermatozoa was lower (p < 0.05) in spring-collected sperm than in summer- or autumn-collected samples. The percentage of spermatozoa showing progressive motility was higher in spring-collected sperm compared with winter-, summer- or autumn-collected samples (p < 0.05). The curvilinear velocity (VCL), straight-line velocity (VSL) and average path velocity (VAP) values of spring-collected sperm were also higher (p < 0.05). In conclusion, spring would appear to be the best season for collecting and freezing the semen of free-range Mediterranean chicken breeds.


The Jackson Laboratory Repository serves as a centralized facility for the development, rederivation, distribution and cryopreservation of mouse models of human biology and disease. Hundreds of new strains are added annually to one of the largest collections of characterized mouse strains available to the international biomedical research community. This poster features a wide range of models ideally suited to studies related to cellular cancers, solid tumors, and conditional/inducible cancer-associated gene expression. To highlight transplantation/engraftment and "humanized" mouse research, several mouse lines with improved engraftment and specialized human cell colonization are described. Such animals complement our NSG (NOD.Cg- Prkdc scid Il2rg tm1Wjl ) and NRG (NOD.Cg- Rag1 tm1Mom Il2rg tm1Wjl ) mice as ideal tools for engraftment with a wide range of malignant or non-malignant human or mouse tissues or cell lines. Several of the NSG or NRG models are combined with human HLA genes, including: Tg(HLA-DRB1)31Dmz, Tg(HLA-DRA,HLA-DRB1*0401)39-2Kito, Tg(HLA-DRA*0101,HLA-DRB1*0101)1Dmz, Tg(HLA-A/H2-D/B2M)1Dvs and Tg(HLA-A2.1)1Enge. NSG is also combined with transgenes expressing human cytokines such as Tg(CMV-IL3,CSF2,KITLG)1Eav and Tg(PGK1-KITLG*220)441Daw. Several new knockout and floxed strains carry genes associated with tumor suppression. Septin 4 ( Sept4 )-null mice exhibit an increased incidence of hematopoietic malignancies. Tip30 (or Htatip2 ) knockout mice develop carcinoma and/or sarcoma in a variety of tissues. Floxed genes associated with tumor suppression include Ets2 and Fbxw7 . Ets2 (E26 avian leukemia oncogene 2) functions in tumor repressive and tumor supportive roles in different types of cancer and epithelial tumor microenvironments. The ubiquitin ligase, Fbwx7 , is involved in targeting the cell cycle regulators c-Myc and NOTCH1 for proteasomal degradation. Other recent additions include the Cre/Tet-Off microRNA ( Mir21 and Mir155 ) strains under the control of the widely expressed ROSA26 promoter. In this Cre/Tet-Off system, combination with a tissue-specific Cre expressing strain removes a STOP cassette allowing overexpression of the microRNA; doxycycline (dox) administration turns off expression. Overexpression of either mir-21 LSL-Tetoff or mir-155 LSltTa results in lymphomas, inhibition of expression results in tumor regression. Also notable are two transgenes expressing a tetO-MYC (myelocytomatosis oncogene) and a tetO-Tag (SV40 large T antigen). In double transgenic mice, TetO-MYC; Cebpb-tTA (liver-specific), withdrawal from dox results in invasive metastatic liver tumors. The c-Myc-EFGP mice have a fluorescent reporter knocked into the Myc oncogene; PR Cre knockin mice express Cre recombinase in progesterone expressing cells and may be useful for studying progesterone-responsive cells/tissues. The Tet2 f/f mouse provides a conditional (floxed) allele of the Tet2 oncogene for the creation of tissue-specific mutants. TET2 is associated with myeloid malignancies in humans. The Jackson Laboratory Repository maintains a searchable online resource to find mice (JAX® Mice database: www.jaxmice.jax.org/query ). Anyone wishing to donate their mouse strains for cryopreservation/distribution may submit them using our online submission form ( www.jax.org/donate-a-mouse ). The Jackson Laboratory Repository is supported through our NCI designated Cancer Center and other NIH mechanisms, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Ellison Medical Foundation and several private charitable foundations. Please stop by for a detailed list of recently added mouse strains for cancer research. Also visit our cancer research resources website at: www.jaxmice.jax.org/cancer . Citation Format: Alicia Valenzuela, Cathleen M. Lutz, Stephen F. Rockwood, Michael Sasner, Leah Rae Donahue. Mouse models for cancer research available from The Jackson Laboratory Repository. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: The Translational Impact of Model Organisms in Cancer; Nov 5-8, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2014;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B43.


The paper evaluates the effective incentives in terms of level of protection in cotton production under different scenarios for the period 1990-91 to 2004-05 in Pakistan. Secondary data from different official sources were used to derive the necessary indicators used in the analysis. NPC and NRP were measured at official and shadow exchange rates. The objective of the paper is to examine the incentive structure prevailing in cotton production of Pakistan through analysis of the level of protection. The results indicate that on average cotton was neither protected nor disprotected substantially at the prevailing exchange rates under an exportable scenario with the exception of few years, whereas overall protection to cotton producers has been negative under exportable and importable scenarios with a shadow exchange rate.


Summary

Volatile compounds of fresh and dried kaffir lime leaves were analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Fifty-four volatile compounds were identified in fresh kaffir lime leaf with citronellal being the most abundant, followed by l-linalool, hexanal, sabinene and β-citronellol. Aroma active compounds were determined by gas chromatography–olfactory (GC–O). Thirty-seven aroma active compounds were reported along with their odour descriptions and Log3 FD. On the basis of high values of their Log3 FD and odour characteristics together with odour activity value (OAV), the concentrations of selected eleven key odourants were compared between fresh and dried samples. Three drying temperatures at 50, 60 and 70 °C for 6 h were applied for hot air-drying. The concentrations of most compounds in 50 °C dried samples were not much different from those in fresh samples. Drying at 60 and 70 °C brought substantial losses of some key odourants. However, concentrations of citronellal and l-linalool, as key aroma compounds of kaffir lime leaves, in 60 and 70 °C dried kaffir lime leaves were not significantly different.


In this work, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing's (OFDM) principles, implementation design or high-level system architecture and application were reviewed. The condition for orthogonality, frequency spacing between consecutive subcarriers (called frequency spacing) was established analytically with practical instance highlighted. The review also covers Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) which serves as a bank of demodulators while Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) serves as a bank of modulators in an OFDM system, advancement in OFDM, Quadrature modulation types (Binary Phase Shift Keying, 4-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, 8-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, and 64-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation QAM) and spectrum efficiency was also covered. Several technologies that use OFDM were mentioned but attention was given to its usage in Wireless LAN 802.11a.


The action of the forearm is to transfer force and torque across the elbow and wrist, resulting in axial rotation at the distal and proximal radioulnar joints, called pronation and supination. Pronation and supination are important functions as they allow many kinds of activities of daily living. Three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis of pronation and supination is essential for a better understating of the biomechanics of the forearm to describe the physiological range of motion and optimize clinical options for disorders of the forearm. Although numerous in vitro studies have contributed to gain insights into the forearm pronation and supination, in vivo investigations are still limited. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) motion of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) during forearm pronation and supination was analyzed in vivo using biplanar radiography and 3D models of the ulna and radius. Twelve healthy subjects (6 men and 6 women) were recruited for the study. Each subject's right forearm (dominant hand) underwent a computed tomography (CT) scan to create 3D surface models of the ulna and radius. Each subject was imaged using a calibrated biplanar radiographic system at 90° pronation, 45° pronation, neutral, 45° supination, and 90° supination while the elbow was in extension or flexion. The 3D positions of the radius and ulna were obtained using a 2D-to-3D image registration method. The relative translations of the radius in the radioulnar, dorsopalmar, and proximodistal directions and the relative rotations of the radius about the radioulnar, dorsopalmar, and proximodistal axes were evaluated with respect to the ulna during pronation and supination. In general, the radius translated towards the ulnar side throughout forearm rotation, and moved towards the palmar side as pronation increased and moved dorsally as supination increased, and was positioned proximally during pronation and distally during supination. The rotation of the radius was dominant about the proximodistal axis. These kinematic variables were affected by elbow position and sex of the subject. The current findings regarding the 3D kinematics of the DRUJ during forearm pronation and supination may contribute to further understanding of the physiological biomechanics of the upper limb.


This paper describes the Electrically Switched Ion Exchange (ESIX) separation technology being developed as an alternative to ion exchange for removing radionuclides from high-level waste. Progress in FY 1997 for specific applications of ESIX is also outlined. The ESIX technology, which combines ion exchange and electrochemistry, is geared toward producing electroactive films that are highly selective, regenerable, and long lasting. During the process, ion uptake and elution can be controlled directly by modulating the potential of an ion exchange film that has been electrochemically deposited onto a high surface area electrode. This method adds little sodium to the waste stream and minimizes the secondary wastes associated with traditional ion exchange techniques. Development of the ESIX process is well underway for cesium removal using ferrocyanides as the electroactive films. Films having selectivity for perrhenate (a pertechnetate surrogate) over nitrate also have been deposited and tested. Based on the ferrocyanide film capacity, stability, rate of uptake, and selectivity shown during performance testing, it appears possible to retain a consistent rate of removal and elute cesium into the same elution solution over several load/unload cycles. In batch experiments, metal hexacyanoferrate films showed high selectivities for cesium in concentrated sodium solutions. Cesium uptake was unaffected by Na/Cs molar ratios of up to 2 x 10{sup 4} , and reached equilibrium within 18 hours. During engineering design tests using 60 pores per inch, high surface area nickel electrodes, nickel ferrocyanide films displayed continued durability. losing less than 20% of their capacity after 1500 load/unload cycles. Bench-scale flow system studies showed no change in capacity or performance of the ESIX films at a flow rate up to 13 BV/h, the maximum flow rate tested, and breakthrough curves further supported once-through waste processing. 9 refs., 24 figs.


Due to economic and political marginalisation, the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) are today the most under-developed areas of Kenya. The pastoral inhabitants of these lands have both the right and the ability to maintain a decent livelihood but have been denied an appropriate and effective development policy for decades. The current drought-related crisis has put their plight into the international spotlight, and now is the time for the Kenyan government to deliver on its long-promised development agenda.


Hannah Arendt once described "dark times" as characterized by "'credibility gaps' and 'invisible government,' by speech that does not disclose what is but sweeps it under the carpet, by exhortations, moral and otherwise, that, under the pretext of up-holding old truths, degrade all truth to meaningless triviality." This paper argues that as Western democracies experience condi-tions that echo Arendt's twentieth century assessment - among these are the death of truth, the decline of civility, and the dearth of authenticity in the public sphere - Arendt's work helps us better understand two sources of this modern crisis. First is the blurring of truth and opinion in contemporary political discourse; second is the blurring of the public and private realms made possible by the coercive intermediation of the social. An acute danger of these circumstances is the lure of demagogues and extreme ideologies when the words and deeds of the public realm - either because they are not believed, or because they have been reduced to mere image-making - increasingly lack meaning, integrity, and spontaneity. A second danger is the erosion of faith in the free press (and with it our common world and basic facts) when the press itself, reacting to its own sense of darkness, undermines its role of truthteller by assuming the role of political actor. In the end I suggest that underlying these several acute issues of democracy lies a more basic tension in the public sphere centered on an Arendtian notion of "freedom of opinion."


CONTEXT
Upper limb ischemia is not as common as lower limb ischemia but may cause severe impairment or disability if it is misdiagnosed.

CASE REPORT
A case of a woman with cleidocranial dysostosis resulting in upper right limb ischemia is presented. This uncommon condition is an exceedingly rare cause of vascular compression that gives rise to thrombosis of the axillary-subclavian arteries. Only two cases have previously been reported.


99Tc is one of the most abundant radiotoxic isotopes in used nuclear fuel with a high fission yield and a long half-life. Effective removal of pertechnetate (TcO4-) from an aqueous solution is important for nuclear waste separation and remediation. Herein, we report a series of facilely obtained benzene-linked guanidiniums that could precipitate TcO4- and its nonradioactive surrogate ReO4- from a high-concentration acidic solution through self-assembly crystallization. The resulting perrhenate and pertechnetate solids exhibit exceptionally low aqueous solubility. The benzene-linked guanidiniums hold one of the highest TcO4- removal capacities (1279 mg g-1) among previously reported materials and possess a removal percentage of 59% for ReO4- in the presence of Cl- over 50 times. The crystallization mechanism was clearly illustrated by the single-crystal structures and density functional theory calculations, indicating that TcO4- is captured through a charge-assisted hydrogen bonding interaction and stabilized by π-π stacking layers. In addition, the removal process is easily recycled and no toxic organic reagents are introduced. This work provides a green approach to preliminarily separate TcO4- from high-level nuclear wastes.


Introduction: The vast majority of epithelial ovarian malignancies present as biologically aggressive, metastatic tumors. High incidence of recurrence following standard platinum-based therapy indicates an urgent need for new treatment strategies in advanced disease. We and others have shown that the immediate-early gene NR4A1/Nur77 (TR3) is linked with malignant tumors and is a potential novel target for therapy. Nucleus-to-mitochondria translocation of TR3, leading to cytochrome C release, is an important mechanism of pro-apoptotic chemotherapeutic agents, including cisplatin, in ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, two distinct chemical classes of compound that activate TR3 by direct binding induce anti-tumor effects in certain cancer cell lines: C-DIM (an analog of diindoylmethane, a metabolite of the indole-3-carbinol chemopreventive agent found in cruciferous vegetables) and the fungal metabolite, cytosporone B (CsnB). Both classes are known to activate TR3-dependent transcription (transactivation) of pro-apoptotic genes, while CsnB also exclusively stimulates TR3 expression and cytoplasmic translocation. Objective: We hypothesized that targeted activation of TR3 will be an effective therapeutic strategy in ovarian cancer cells resistant to established cisplatin chemotherapy. To test this hypothesis, we determined the anti-tumor effects of C-DIM and CsnB in preclinical models of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer. Methods: The isogenic cell line pairs, OVCAR-8 and cisplatin-resistant NCI/ADR-Res, and A2780 parental (A2780PAR) and cisplatin-resistant A2780CP20 cells, were treated with C-DIM, CsnB or 0.1% DMSO as vehicle control. Sulforhodamine B colorimetric assays were used to assess cell growth and cytotoxicity in vitro. Western Blot and immunofluorescence assays were used to measure apoptotic markers (cleaved PARP, cleaved caspase 3 and cytochrome C release). TR3 DNA binding was measured by a luciferase reporter plasmid containing 3 copies of its consensus response element (NurRE). Results: C-DIM and CsnB reduced cell growth in all cell lines tested in a concentration-dependent manner. CsnB induced approximately 2-fold more potent effects than C-DIM (IC50 concentrations ranging from 20-25μM to 40-50μM, respectively). Strikingly, there were no statistically significant differences in IC50 concentrations for either drug in cisplatin-resistant cells compared to their respective isogenic counterpart. Consistent with their growth-inhibitory effects, both compounds induced p21 expression. C-DIM and CsnB treatment induced apoptosis, although different mechanisms likely underlie these effects. While both compounds stimulated TR3 transactivation, only CsnB also induced nucleus-to-mitochondrial translocation of TR3, accompanied by cytochrome C release. Conclusions: These studies highlight the potential of targeted activation of TR3, particularly by CsnB-like drugs, as a novel therapeutic strategy in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer.

Citation Format: Andrew J. Wilson, Jeanette Saskowski, Dineo Khabele. Preclinical testing of TR3 activators in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research: From Concept to Clinic; Sep 18-21, 2013; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2013;19(19 Suppl):Abstract nr B46.


In young patients episodes of amaurosis fugax usually correspond to processes not related with atherosclerosis of the extracranial vessels such as migraine, cardiac embolism, vasospasm, vasculitis, oral contraceptives or hematologic disease. In 11% of the cases, however, no cause can be found. These idiopathic cases generally have a benign course and their frequency decreases spontaneously allowing them to be described as benign amaurosis fugax. We describe four cases of amaurosis fugax in which no responsible cause was found despite extensive clinical, laboratory ultrasonographic and angiographic studies. The episodes progressively remitted. In these cases of benign amaurosis fugax the risk of a permanent deficit is exceptional and treatment is not necessary.


It is accepted that the roots of modern horror go back through the literary Gothic to old English poetry (in e.g. "Beowulf"), the medieval Romance, and Renaissance drama. This paper will focus on the Renaissance, and in particular on the black villain. Aaron in Titus Andronicus, Eleazar in Lust's Dominion, Mulymumen in All's Lost by Lust, and Raymond in The Rebellion are four of the major black villains of the period. They have been studied from the perspective of modern understandings of racial stereotypes but not of racism as based in fear. This paper will deal with the black Renaissance villain and his relationship to the literary terms 'horror' and 'terror'.In the modern art lexicon of horror, Noel Coward defines it as characterized by the existence of monsters that are both fearsome and impure, i.e. they are threatening and they violate sanctioned cultural categories in some way. From this point of view, the construction of black men as monsters becomes cognitively definable rather than simply a racial slur. A major focus will therefore be on how their threatening character as villains is gradually exposed as having connections to their blackness, a blackness which violates the expected color of human skin in an all-white society.This paper will also go back to Ann Radcliffe's article "On the Supernatural in Poetry" from 1826 and thus to the beginnings of modern horror criticism. She argued that horror is specific and defined while terror is ambiguous and fostered in the imagination. This theoretical perspective makes it possible to see a clear pattern in the Renaissance plays and trace a clear transition from where the black villain is associated with terror in the play to the point where he becomes seen as both the source and main object of horror.


The study was designed to portray the resource use efficiency of polycarp production in Morang district of Nepal during December 2017 to April 2018. Total of 30 commercial and 30 subsistence farmers were selected for primary data collection. Cobb-Douglas non-linear regression function was used to determine inputs that affect productivity. Empirical results illustrated the enterprise to be profitable as indicated by Benefit Cost Ratio, 1.87 in commercial and 1.33 in subsistence farms. The income of commercial farms was significantly higher (NRs. 76.94/kg) than subsistent farms (p<0.01). Estimates suggested feed and labor to be reduced; proper use of lime, fertilizer, other cost and pond rent to be increased. Therefore, the fishery enterprise is in the stage of higher potentiality to increase its production in the study area.


Somatostatin released from the capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerves mediates analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects via the somatostatin sst4 receptor without endocrine actions. Therefore, sst4 is considered to be a novel target for drug development in pain including chronic neuropathy, which is an emerging unmet medical need. Here, we examined the in silico binding, the sst4-linked G-protein activation on stable receptor expressing cells (1 nM to 10 μM), and the effects of our novel pyrrolo-pyrimidine molecules in mouse inflammatory and neuropathic pain models. All four of the tested compounds (C1–C4) bind to the same binding site of the sst4 receptor with similar interaction energy to high-affinity reference sst4 agonists, and they all induce G-protein activation. C1 is the more efficacious (γ-GTP-binding: 218.2% ± 36.5%) and most potent (EC50: 37 nM) ligand. In vivo testing of the actions of orally administered C1 and C2 (500 µg/kg) showed that only C1 decreased the resiniferatoxin-induced acute neurogenic inflammatory thermal allodynia and mechanical hyperalgesia significantly. Meanwhile, both of them remarkably reduced partial sciatic nerve ligation-induced chronic neuropathic mechanical hyperalgesia after a single oral administration of the 500 µg/kg dose. These orally active novel sst4 agonists exert potent anti-hyperalgesic effect in a chronic neuropathy model, and therefore, they can open promising drug developmental perspectives.


While studies have investigated changes in brain connectivity following diet and weight loss, it has not yet been explored whether baseline brain connectivity can be used to predict weight loss during diet or to identify individual subjects for which a particular diet may be effective. The following study uses Connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM), a data-driven analysis approach for producing predictive models of individual brain-behavior relationships from brain connectivity data using cross-validation, to help identify individual participants who will lose weight after an 8-week low calorie diet. 16 Healthy OB subjects (10F/6M, age 44.4±8 years, BMI 32.7±2) and 9 T2DM subjects (5F/4M, age 48±9, BMI 33.9±2) underwent functional MRI (fMRI) during a hyperglycemic-euglycemic clamp. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) brain activity was assessed while subjects viewed food (high-calorie, low-calorie) pictures and non-food images. The study was repeated after 8 weeks of a reduced calorie diet. CPM was applied to BOLD activity during hyperglycemia and euglycemia. Analyses show that models built on individual subject brain connectivity matrices averaged between hyperglycemia and euglycemia before an 8-week low calorie diet are able to predict 50.2% and 53.4% of the variance in BMI and weight loss (kg), respectively (p Disclosure D. Groskreutz: None. W. Lam: None. C. Lacadie: None. A. Elshafie: None. J.J. Hwang: None. D. Seo: None. M. Savoye: None. R. Sinha: None. T. Constable: None. R. Sherwin: Other Relationship; Self; ICON plc., IQVIA, MannKind Corporation. R. Belfort-DeAguiar: Research Support; Self; Silver Palate Kitchens, Inc. Funding National Institutes of Health


We estimate the effect of Medicaid expansion on the adult uninsurance rate in states that did not expand Medicaid in 2014. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), we estimate this effect the treatment effect on the controls (ETC) by re-weighting expansion regions to approximately balance the covariates from non-expansion regions using an extension of the stable balancing weights objective function (Zubizarreta (2015)). We contribute to the balancing weights literature by accounting for hierarchical data structure and covariate measurement error when calculating our weights, and to the synthetic controls literature (see, e.g. Abadie, Diamond and Hainmueller (2010)) by outlining a set of assumptions that identifies the ETC using time-series cross-sectional data. We estimate that Medicaid expansion would have changed the uninsurance rate by -2.33 (-3.49, -1.16) percentage points. These results are smaller in absolute magnitude than existing estimates of the treatment effect on the treated (ETT), though may not be directly comparable due to the study design, target population, and level of analysis. Regardless, we caution against making inferences about the ETC using estimates of the ETT, and emphasize the need to directly estimate the appropriate counterfactual when they are the quantity of interest.


In this article the author addresses two basic questions found at the intersection of ethics and qualitative research methodology: Why are some people reluctant to share their stories? and Are there some people whose stories ought not to be heard? Focusing on imprisoned sexual offenders, the author argues that the establishment of trust in the research relationship is essential to creating safe places for people living with "problem experiences" to tell their stories. He also argues that however repugnant, the stories of society's worst offenders must be heard if we as a society are to better understand their actions and protect ourselves.