The main objective of this study is to investigate the corrosion inhibition properties of Gardenia aqualla leaf extract on mild steel using weight determination loss method. The corrosion of mild steel was investigated at different concentrations of Gardenia aqualla at temperatures of 303, 313 and 323 K. G. aqualla inhibit corrosion rate of mild steel from 62.4 mm/yr to 6.5 mm/yr, 91.6 mm/yr to 16.6 mm/yr and 113.8 mm/yr to 28.4 mm/yr at 303, 313, and 323 K respectively. The optimum obtained yield in the inhibition efficiency is from 63.8% to 89.5%, 52.5% to 81.9% and 39% to 75% for the various temperatures respectively after an interval of 3 days being in contact in aqueous solution. Langmuir isotherm confirmed that physisorption occurred and it was found that inhibition occurred through adsorption of the constituents present in the leaf of G. aqualla obtained by phytochemical screening.


I studied selected wildlife on an undisturbed mesquite range, a mesquite-free range, and a mesquite range with clearings on the Santa Rita Experimental Range. I visually censused six mammals and four birds monthly from September 1976 to June 1978. I visually cen sused six lizards monthly from April to September 1977 and from April to June 1978. I counted pellets and scats every three months starting December 1976. I counted calls of doves and quail every two weeks from April to June, 1977 and 1978. The mesquite with clearings contained significantly more black-tailed jackrabbits, antelope, jackrabbits, gambel's quail, western whiptails, and all reptiles sighted than the mesquite-free range. The undisturbed mesquite contained significantly more black tailed and antelope jackrabbits, zebra-tailed lizards, western whiptails, and all reptiles sighted than the mesquite-free range. I counted significantly more lagomorph pellets on the mesquite areas than the mesquite-free range. I heard significantly more calls in the mesquite ranges. Creating clearings in mesquite is not detrimental to the selected wildlife I studied. Totally clearing mesquite from ranges is harmful to wildlife in some instance.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignant liver tumor. It is an aggressive disease with high mortality rate. In this study, we investigated a new prognosis-related gene index (PRGI) that can predict the survival and efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with HCC. RNA-seq data and clinical data of HCC samples were obtained from the cancer genome atlas and ICGC databases. Prognosis-related genes were obtained using log-rank tests and univariate Cox proportional hazards regression. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on the overall survival rate of patients with prognosis-related genes and multiple clinicopathological factors, and a nomogram was constructed. A PRGI was then constructed based on least absolute shrinkage and selection operator or multivariate Cox Iterative Regression. The possible correlation between PRGI and immune cell infiltration or immunotherapy efficacy was discussed. Eight genes were identified to construct the PRGI. PRGI can predict the infiltration of immune cells into the tumor microenvironment of HCC and the response to immunotherapy. PRGI can accurately predict the survival rate of patients with HCC, reflect the immune microenvironment, and predict the efficacy of immunotherapy.


Nurses interested in improving wound care are next week launching a society to further the practical and educational resources for staff working in this area.


A Marquardt, nonlinear, iterative inversion is applied to obtain the best-fit parameters for 7 spectral models of heterogeneities under NORSAR using the observed TCF (Transverse Coherence Functions) and ACF (Angular Coherence Functions) at NORSAR. The simplest model is a single-layer model with one power-law spectrum; the most complex model is a two-overlapped-layer model with two different power-law spectra specified by 6 unknown parameters. F-tests are performed for different pairs of models; the two-layer model with two different spectra is a significant improvement over the single layer, one spectrum model. The final results of nonlinear inversion agree with the Flatte-Wu spectral model for heterogeneities under NORSAR.


The complexity and dynamism of microservices pose significant challenges to system reliability, and thereby, automated troubleshooting is crucial. Effective root cause localization after anomaly detection is crucial for ensuring the reliability of microservice systems. However, two significant issues rest in existing approaches: (1) Microservices generate traces, system logs, and key performance indicators (KPIs), but existing approaches usually consider traces only, failing to understand the system fully as traces cannot depict all anomalies; (2) Troubleshooting microservices generally contains two main phases, i.e., anomaly detection and root cause localization. Existing studies regard these two phases as independent, ignoring their close correlation. Even worse, inaccurate detection results can deeply affect localization effectiveness. To overcome these limitations, we propose Eadro, the first end-to-end framework to integrate anomaly detection and root cause localization based on multi-source data for troubleshooting large-scale microservices. The key insights of Eadro are the anomaly manifestations on different data sources and the close connection between detection and localization. Thus, Eadro models intra-service behaviors and inter-service dependencies from traces, logs, and KPIs, all the while leveraging the shared knowledge of the two phases via multi-task learning. Experiments on two widely-used benchmark microservices demonstrate that Eadro outperforms state-of-the-art approaches by a large margin. The results also show the usefulness of integrating multi-source data. We also release our code and data to facilitate future research.


Historically governments have used art's universal language to achieve various goals, including political engagement through cultural enrichment. Employing nonprofit/public sector relationships for the arts presents myriad governance challenges, but always with the promise of intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. This chapter presents two cases to illustrate such collaborative relationships. Applying various nonprofit theories, stakeholder discussions and Sherry R. Arnstein's still relevant community engagement work to explore relationships between sectors in arts funding, the first involves the passage of a local tax to provide funding for arts education and arts organizations. The second illustrates an instrumental relationship between a local government and nonprofit to provide art programs to promote tolerance in an increasingly diverse community. Both cases present imperfect policies, but represent the continuation of an ancient practice wherein the arts are being used for more than arts' sake, but to serve a multitude of non-arts instrumental societal functions.


In Bangladesh pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E) is the second leading cause of maternal death and accounts for 24% death. The correct knowledge of primary health care providers (PHCs), who are the first contact point for antenatal care (ANC) clients, and reliable availability of drugs and equipment are important to prevent, detect and manage PE/E. We examined service provider's knowledge, facility capacity to perform certain activities for severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (SPE/E) services, ANC and PNC service provision, MNH logistics and infrastructure for providing MNH services. A total of 289 service providers including Physicians and other service providers (nurse, midwives and paramedics) were interviewed and facility inventory assessments were conducted in 134 facilities using a checklist. Written guideline or protocol for diagnosing and managing PE/E are pre-requisite for PE/E management were mostly not available. Only 13.4% of secondary facilities had printed guideline and no guideline available in primary facilities. Out of 20 secondary facilities, only 4 had the supply of magnesium sulphate (MgSO4), however primary facilities had no supply. Only four secondary facilities always used MgSO4 and none of the PHC facility used it. Physicians and other service providers had reasonably good knowledge on the signs and symptoms of PE/SPE/E but had poor knowledge on correct timing for introducing anti-hypertensives. Over half of physicians and 39% of other service providers knew when anti-hypertensive drugs should be initiated. Regarding loading doses of MgSO4, one third of physicians knew the loading and maintenance doses of MgSO4 and no PHC providers can mention this. Barriers to identify and manage of PE/E included lack of provider knowledge, lack of essential equipment and supplies, lack of MgSO4 and non-availability of guideline and clinical protocols at the health facilities. Ensuring the supply of essential drugs and equipment and improving knowledge and skills of PHC providers is pre-requisite to reduce morbidity and mortality due to PE/E.

Preeclampsia, intense preeclampsia, and eclampsia (PE/SPE/E) are hypertensive problems of pregnancy that make contributions drastically to worldwide maternal and perinatal mortality.1 Marked via high blood pressure (BP) and the presence of albumin in urine, preeclampsia is a chance aspect for the capacity improvement of intense preeclampsia or complete-blown eclampsia and should be monitored. control of SPE/E poses a challenge in low- and center-earnings countries due to a lack of basic supplies, medical expert shortages, limited talents of frontline providers, and structures challenges that result in delays in ladies receiving necessary remedy.2–four In Bangladesh, eclampsia-associated conditions are the second one leading direct cause of obstetric deaths and result in 24% of all maternal deaths. Over 1,000 girls die every yr in Bangladesh due to PE/SPE/E. As in many low- and center-income nations, maximum pregnant girls who broaden PE/SPE/E in Bangladesh do now not get diagnosed or treated. They either do not access the fitness machine in any respect, aren't screened properly, or do no longer get hold of well timed treatment because of delays in making the choice to searching for care,  being transported to acquire care, and in reality receiving the specified remedy at the care web site in which it's miles available.

In current years, worldwide efforts to reduce eclampsia-associated deaths have targeted on project moving, or enabling frontline medical experts to identify girls with PE/SPE/E and provoke control of the sickness.eight,9 Calcium supplementation is usually recommended for stopping preeclampsia when nutritional consumption of calcium is low, even as antihypertensive tablets may be important for women with PE. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) is recommended through the arena health corporation (WHO) to manage SPE/E among pregnant girls. In settings where administering a full MgSO4 regimen (which includes a "loading dose" accompanied with the aid of scheduled protection doses) is not viable, WHO guidelines include offering the initial MgSO4 loading dose (thru intramuscular injection and/or intravenous drip) and without delay moving the person to a better stage of care.10 To enforce this strategy, frontline medical examiners in low- and center-profits nations need to have get right of entry to to BP gauges, urine dipsticks, and MgSO4, and need to be trained to screen all pregnant girls >20 weeks of gestation for increased BP, urine albumin, and the presence of any chance symptoms. If SPE/E is recognized, the employees need to administer a MgSO4 loading dose and facilitate a well timed referral of the girl to a higher-level sanatorium.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the clinical features and prognostic factors of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with renal insufficiency (MM-RI).

METHODS
The clinical features, survival rates and prognostic factors were retrospectively analyzed for 897 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients at three hospital from January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012.

RESULTS
Among them, there were 177 cases (19.7%) of MM-RI patients. There were 125 males and 52 females with an average age of 59 years. And 28.2% (50/177) were over 65 years. The types were 17.2% (30/174) of immunoglobulin (Ig)D-λ and 27.6% (48/174) of light chain isotype. And the stages were 94.9% of DS stage III (167/176) and ISS stage III (166/175). Compared with MM patients with normal renal function (MM-RN), MM-RI group had a higher proportion of patients with IgD-λ and light chain isotype, more patients of DS and ISS stage III; elevated bone marrow plasma cells, white blood cells and uric acid; lower hemoglobin and platelet (all P < 0.05). After a median follow-up period of 24 (2-114) months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 28.0 months for MM-RI patients and 29.0 months for MM-RN patients. And the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.457). The estimated median overall survival (OS) was 44.0 months for MM-RI patients and 59.2 months for MM-RN patients. And the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.033). Log-rank univariate analysis showed that age, LDH, β2-MG, first-line treatment with or without bortezomib and previous transplantation or not were independent prognostic factors of MM patients.

CONCLUSIONS
MM-RI and MM-RN patients have different clinical features. Age, LDH, β2-MG, first-line treatment with or without bortezomib and previous transplantation or not are independent prognostic factors for newly diagnosed MM patients.


In the face of concerted actions to implement sustainable management of natural resources as a guarantee for a better future for all, measures most of the time are taken in circles where women are absent with the blurred notion that they do not constitute any threat to the environment. Even when they are considered as actors, they are treated as by-product or a tiny part of a programme. This article exposes the dynamics of resource access and exploitation in a rural milieu where masculinity is theoretically captioned as the main force in land tenure system. This work combined a range of qualitative methods in collecting data on the traditional gender dimensions in resource access and use patterns among the Upper Balongs of Cameroon. Discussion meetings were organised in the concerned villages where all the segments of the population (men, women, old and young) interacted in a participatory manner. Key informants were later singled out among the participants for in-depth interviews. Guided observation tours were carried out in resources specific locations within the community and in buffer zone of the Korup National Park. Data were analysed using the content analysis method where raw data were regrouped or matched into themes and sub themes. The data were subsequently retrieved for analysis and reporting. Due to its proximity to the Korup National Park and the Nguti Council Forest, conservation of natural resources here is regarded as a sensitive issue, considering the community's reliance on these resources for livelihood boosting. This sensitivity renders the notion of "local people" an unavoidable element in conservation rhetoric. This initiative is likely to be jeopardised as gender issues either are ignored or are only given cosmetic treatment. Due to the patriarchal structure of most African societies, community participation is usually taken to mean the involvement of a limited number of local institutions such as Chiefs, councillors, elites and natural resource management committees whose interests often conflict with other users, notably women. Consequently, specific gender roles are relegated to the background, blurring important data on resource access modalities, exploitation, use and commercialisation. This study therefore sought in-sights into who intervenes at the community level in natural resource exploitation and how the intervention is regulated. It was found out that NTFP areas are accessed by women. Though they do not access bush meat hunting grounds, they nevertheless command the commercialisation which is the final force that triggers hunting. Therefore, women should be considered in equal terms with men when it comes to sustainable  management of natural resources. Key words: NTFP, Women, Commercialisation, Household livelihoods, Resource management


This work employs Adult Polyglucosan Body Disease (APBD) models to explore the efficacy and mechanism of action of 144DG11, a new polyglucosan-reducing lead compound discovered by a high-throughput screen (HTS). APBD is an adult onset glycogen storage disorder (GSD) manifesting as a debilitating progressive axonopathic leukodystrophy. APBD is caused by glycogen branching enzyme (GBE) deficiency leading to poorly branched and insoluble glycogen inclusions, which precipitate as neuropathogenic polyglucosans (PG). 144DG11 led to prolonged survival and improved motor parameters in a GBE knockin (Gbeys/ys) APBD mouse model. Histopathologically, 144DG11 reduced PG and glycogen levels in brain, liver, heart, and peripheral nerve. Indirect calorimetry experiments revealed that 144DG11 increases carbohydrate burn at the expense of fat burn, suggesting metabolic mobilization of pathogenic PG. These results were also reflected at the cellular level by increased glycolytic, mitochondrial and total ATP production. Mechanistically, we show that the molecular target of 144DG11 is the lysosomal membrane protein LAMP1, whose interaction with the compound, similar to LAMP1 knockdown, enhanced autolysosomal degradation of glycogen and lysosomal acidification. Enhanced mitochondrial activity and lysosomal modifications were also the most pronounced effects of 144DG11 in APBD patient fibroblasts as discovered by image-based multiparametric phenotyping analysis and corroborated by proteomics. In summary, this work presents a broad mechanistic and target-based characterization of 144DG11 in in vivo and cell models of the prototypical GSD APBD. This investigation warrants development of 144DG11 into a safe and efficacious GSD therapy.


Background and Aim: Reduced augmented feedback leads to motor learning. However, it is unknown whether these findings can be applied in stroke patients who may have impaired internal feedback mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to determine if stroke-related brain damage affects the use of extrinsic feedback and if these patients benefit from practice with reduced frequency of knowledge of results. Materials and Methods: Participants were sixteen patients aged 45-65 years (mean: 57.56 ± 6.47 years) with middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke (under 6monthes). They were randomly assigned in two groups of 8. Group one received 100% knowledge of results (KR) and group two received 25% KR about their actual force. During 6 blocks of acquisition (48 trials), participants practiced a grip force production task with upper limb ipsilateral to the lesion. Then performed retention test on the next day without receiving KR. Accuracy and consistency were assessed over acquisition and retention and compared between groups. Results: A significant decrease in VE was found in the 25% group in acquisition (p: 0.004) and retention (p: 0.001). TE in the 25% group in acquisition phase was significant (p: 0.016) as well. There were no significant differences in these variables for the 100% group. Significant decrease of AE (p: 0.035), TE (0.039) and nearly significant decrease of VE (0.058) were found in the 100% group compared with the 25% group in acquisition. However, no significant difference between groups was found in retention. Conclusion: Although group received 25% KR was more consistent during practice, group received 100% KR was significantly more accurate and consistent at the end of the practice in acquisition. In retention test there were no significant differences between groups of feedback condition. As a conclusion in our study, individuals with stroke related brain damage benefit from 100% KR, in acquisition phase. Key Words: motor learning, augmented feedback, knowledge of results frequency, stroke


Background: Postmenopausal bleeding is a frequent finding accounting for 5-10% of women in gynaecology. About 10% of these patients have primary or secondary malignancy.  Aim: The histopathological patterns of endometrium, in postmenopausal women presenting with bleeding were studied along with the frequency of endometrial cancer.  Materials and Methods: It was both a prospective and retrospective, observational study carried out over a period of one and half year in tertiary care teaching hospital on 112 postmenopausal women ,above 40 year of age with history of one year of amenorrhoea without hormone replacement therapy. The samples were obtained by dilatation and curettage and endometrial pipelle procedure. Results and Discussion: Maximum patients belonged to age group of 46-50 year. The most common histopathological pattern observed was atrophic endometrium in 42(37.5%) patients followed by simple hyperplasia in 13(11.6%) and endometrial polyp in 7(6.25%) cases. Irregular shedding of endometrium was diagnosed in 8(7.14%). The maximum patients of endometrial carcinoma (5.35 %) were noted in 61-65 age groups. Inflammatory pathology was found in 4(3.56%) and atypical hyperplasia was seen a single case (0.89%). In 8 cases, the opinion could not be offered due to inadequacy of sample. Conclusion: As the incidence of malignancy in postmenopausal period remains sufficiently high, it requires immediate investigation in the form of endometrial sampling for early diagnosis, prompt treatment and vigilant follow up. Keywords:  Postmenopausal bleeding, Histopathology, Endometrial cancer.


54 patients with cirrhosis of the liver and relapsing esophageal bleeding received mesentericocaval dacron shunts between 1st January 1975 and 31st December 1979 and were followed up to the end of 1980. Patients were accepted for surgery under the following conditions: (1) liver function had to be compensated, (2) there had to be no signs and symptoms of hepatoportal encephalopathy, (3) there had to be no signs and symptoms of activity of cirrhosis of the liver, (4) liver volume had to be between 1 000 and 2 500 ml, (5) portal vein perfusion had to be 15-35%, (6) stenosis of liver arteries had to be excluded. Lethality during the hospital period and from hepatoportal encephalopathy was 7.4%, late lethality was 11%; this accounted for a 5-year survival rate of 70%. Residual perfusion of the portal vein could be demonstrated in many cases by intra- and postoperative measurements with different methods. The dacron prosthesis was implanted into the superior mesenteric vein in an acute angle (it had a diameter of 16 mm). The prosthesis was occluded by thrombosis in 3 out of the first 18 cases operated upon. This could be prevented in the following 36 patients by intra- and postoperative longterm heparinisation.


The neutral beam deposition model in the BEAMS3D code is validated against neutral beam attenuation data from Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X). A set of experimental discharges where the neutral beam injection system of W7-X was utilized were reconstructed. These discharges scanned the magnetic configurations and plasma densities of W7-X. The equilibrium reconstructions were performed using STELLOPT which calculates three-dimensional self-consistent ideal magnetohydrodynamic equilibria and kinetic profiles. These reconstructions leveraged new capabilities to incorporate electron cyclotron emission and x-ray imaging diagnostics in the STELLOPT code. The reconstructed equilibria and profiles served as inputs for BEAMS3D calculations of neutral beam deposition in W7-X. It is found that if reconstructed kinetic profiles are utilized, good agreement between measured and simulated beam attenuation is found. As deposition models provide initial conditions for fast-ion slowing down calculations, this work provides a first step towards validating our ability to predict fast ion confinement in stellarators.


Introduction: A new training strategy in many medical universities around the world, which has been considered by educational planners, is interprofessional education (IPE). The main aim is designing and implementing IPE, reinforcing teamwork and collaboration among the health team members. This study has been done aiming to explore effective factors in the designing and implementing IPE in health system of Iran from the perspective of faculty members. Methods: This qualitative study used content thematic analysis methodology. A purposive sampling was used and continued until the data were saturated. The participants were six faculty members with more than 5 years of teaching experience or educational activities in Educational Development Center (EDC) or Educational Development Office (EDO). Results: The four main themes emerged from the interviews were classified as follows: the structure of the educational system, economic issues, cultural atmosphere, and social conditions. They were all associated with some positive factors such as curriculum changes and reforms, design and implementation of the interprofessional education in various forms and some negative factors such as lack of physical structure appropriate for the IPE in the universities, promotion of culture of individualism and uni-professionalism, etc. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that in our country, the effect of educational, cultural, social and economic barriers on the development and implementation of IPE, and also, unfamiliarity of educational system with the various aspects of IPE, has made the implementing of these programs in the curricula of different professions of health sciences difficult.


Previous knowledge distillation (KD) methods for object detection mostly focus on feature imitation instead of mimicking the prediction logits due to its inefficiency in distilling the localization information. In this paper, we investigate whether logit mimicking always lags behind feature imitation. Towards this goal, we first present a novel localization distillation (LD) method which can efficiently transfer the localization knowledge from the teacher to the student. Second, we introduce the concept of valuable localization region that can aid to selectively distill the classification and localization knowledge for a certain region. Combining these two new components, for the first time, we show that logit mimicking can outperform feature imitation and the absence of localization distillation is a critical reason for why logit mimicking under-performs for years. The thorough studies exhibit the great potential of logit mimicking that can significantly alleviate the localization ambiguity, learn robust feature representation, and ease the training difficulty in the early stage. We also provide the theoretical connection between the proposed LD and the classification KD, that they share the equivalent optimization effect. Our distillation scheme is simple as well as effective and can be easily applied to both dense horizontal object detectors and rotated object detectors. Extensive experiments on the MS COCO, PASCAL VOC, and DOTA benchmarks demonstrate that our method can achieve considerable AP improvement without any sacrifice on the inference speed. Our source code and pretrained models are publicly available at https://github.com/HikariTJU/LD.


The purpose of the thesis is to identify the analogical changes which have occurred within a large body of data, and to reduce these changes to a small number of types. Equally importantly, certain conceivable types of change which do not occur will be specified. To this end, the thesis investigates the history of various types of alternation affecting the root vowels of verbs in the Low German, Dutch and Flemish dialects (using data collected from grammars of approximately 80 such dialects). Particular attention is paid to the levelling of alternations and the replacement of one alternation by another. The first three chapters deal with certain important preliminaries. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to the data, followed by a brief account of the methodology employed, and the aims of the thesis. Chapter 2 discusses markedness theory, and its relevance to analogical change. Chapter 3 deals with aspects of the historical phonology of the dialects, from Proto-Germanic onwards, which are important for the subsequent discussion of the alternations. The next three chapters are each devoted to one of the types of alternation. In chapter 4 the history of the ablaut alternations is examined, from Pre-OS to the modern dialects. Chapter 5 deals with the "ej-raising" and umlaut alternations; and chapter 6 traces the development of alternations in vowel length. In the final two chapters, conclusions are drawn from the preceding discussion. Chapter 7 briefly considers the characteristics of the different types of alternations, and the relationships between them. In chapter 8, an analysis of the analogical changes observed in the data is attempted. Within the two broad categories of interparadigmatic and intraparadigmatic change, various types of change are isolated, their characteristic features are identified, and their motivation is discussed.


In the Mediterranean basin, precipitation is expected to decline as a consequence of climate change. The response of a Quercus ilex forest in southern France to such a decline in water availability was studied using a 4-year throughfall exclusion experiment. Seasonal courses of sap flow and leaf water potential were obtained from 2004 to 2007 and used to characterize tree water relations in a control and a dry treatment. The experiment reduced the average precipitation input to the soil by 29%, and resulted in a 23% reduction in annual transpiration. Soil water potential was significantly lower in the dry treatment only during summer drought, but transpiration was reduced all year round even during well-watered periods. Despite a tight stomatal control over transpiration, whole-tree hydraulic conductance was found to be lower in the trees growing in the driest conditions. This reduction in water transport capacity was observed jointly with a reduction in leaf transpiring area. Canopy leaf area decreased by 18% in the dry treatment as a consequence of the throughfall exclusion, which was found to validate the ecohydrological equilibrium theory.


In less than a year, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will inherit the mantle of being the world's pre- eminent infrared observatory. JWST will carry with it an Aperture Masking Interferometer (AMI) as one of the supported operational modes of the Near-InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument. Aboard such a powerful platform, the AMI mode will deliver the most advanced and scientifically capable interferometer ever launched into space, exceeding anything that has gone before it by orders of magnitude in sensitivity. Here we present key aspects of the design and commissioning of this facility: data simulations (ami_sim), the extraction of interferometeric observables using two different approaches (IMPLANEIA and AMICAL), an updated view of AMI's expected performance, and our reference star vetting programs.


The study aims to determine the impact of canine-human relationships on dogs' susceptibility to stress during tests that evaluate a dog's suitability for canine-assisted therapy. Twenty-four dogs and their owners were included in the study. Dogs from all groups were most likely to manifest stress by nervous tail wagging/hugging, which could suggest that tail movements and the position of the tail are the key markers of emotional states in dogs. An analysis of pooled results revealed that dog-owner relationships influenced the animals' susceptibility to stress. These findings indicate that human-canine bonding plays an important role in dog behaviors. In this study, stress levels were higher in dogs that were less bonded with their owners. Apparently, dogs that have good contact with humans are better equipped to cope with stress than animals which are less reliant on their owners.


This article, which is grounded in qualitative interview data, takes as its starting point the contention that war crimes tribunals can aid reconciliation, and more specifically the claim made by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that its work is contributing to reconciliation in the region. Focusing on Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH), the first question that it seeks to answer is not whether the ICTY has positively impacted on reconciliation, but rather the more immediate question of whether reconciliation actually exists in BiH. Defining reconciliation as the restoration and repair of relationships and as the acknowledgement of war crimes and responsibility, it argues that there is no reconciliation in present-day BiH. There is only negative peace—an absence of conflict. The second crucial question that this article explores, therefore, is whether and how this negative peace can be developed into positive peace characterized by reconciliation. Emphasizing two critical obstacles to any reconciliation process in BiH, namely insufficient contact between interethnic groups and the existence of denial and competing truths, it identifies three important measures to address these. These are the abolition of the divisive "two schools under one roof" education system, the replacement of the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA) with a constitutional structure that encourages interethnic contact rather than separation, and the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC). On the issue of whether the ICTY can itself contribute to reconciliation in BiH, the article concludes that while retributive justice is an important mechanism in postconflict societies, the difficulties and challenges that the ICTY faces in BiH underscore the limitations of criminal trials and the imperative of a multifaceted approach to reconciliation combining different transitional justice elements.


for 2 h and then discharged to the ward. The bleeding from the ears lasted 3 h after recovery. A subsequent neurological examination did not reveal any focal deficits and her vital signs including blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, urine output and conscious state were normal. An ENT examination of her ears 5 days later showed congested tympanic membranes with a few vesicles. There was no evidence of tympanic membrane perforation. Although the cause of the bleeding from this patient's ears (otorrhagia) was not obvious, it is likely that it was due to the vigorous bag-valve-mask ventilation. The other diagnoses considered included bullous otitis haemorrhagica, a basal skull fracture, a bleeding diathesis and bilateral fractures of the mandibular condyles. Vigorous bag-valve-mask ventilation may increase venous pressure, leading to perforation of eardrums. The normal appearance of tympanic membranes may have been due to the delay in examination of her ears. I am unaware of any reports of intracranial bleeding manifested as bilateral otorrhagia. Bullous otitis haemorrhagica is a variant of acute otitis, either of viral or bacterial aetiology, usually presenting as bloody discharge but not frank bleeding [1]. This patient did not have a history of head injury or features suggestive of a fractured base of skull. Fractured mandibular condyles has been reported in an elderly patient who presented with bilateral otorrhagia [2]. Finally, this patient did not have a bleeding diathesis and although she was taking aspirin 75 mg daily, this seems an unlikely cause of the otorrhagia.


The main goal of the research described in this report was to evaluate countermeasures that agencies can use to reduce speeds as drivers enter rural communities located on high-speed roadways. The objectives of this study were as follows: Identify and summarize countermeasures used to manage speeds in transition zones; Demonstrate the effectiveness of countermeasures that are practical for high- to low-speed transition zones; Acquire additional information about countermeasures that may show promise but lack sufficient evidence of effectiveness; and Develop an application toolbox to assist small communities in selecting appropriate transition zones and effective countermeasures for entrances to small rural communities. The team solicited small communities that were interested in participating in the Phase II study and several communities were also recommended. The treatments evaluated were selected by carefully considering traffic-calming treatments that have been used effectively in other countries for small rural communities, as well as the information gained from the first phase of the project. The treatments evaluated are as follows: Transverse speed bars; Colored entrance treatment; Temporary island; Radar-activated speed limit sign; and Speed feedback sign. The toolbox publication and four focused tech briefs also cover the results of this work.


The necessity to maximize the learning success of the students as well as to produce professionals with the right skills to fulfil the market requirements, raises the question of closely following and assessing the learning paths of the students of Professional Schools. To solve at once problems and difficulties that arise during the learning process, we need to develop technologies and tools that allow the monitoring of those paths, if not in real time, at least periodically. Supported on a knowledge base of student features, also called a Student Model, a Student Assessment System must be able to produce diagnosis of student's learning paths. Given the wide range of students' learning experiences and behaviours, which implies a wide range of points and values in students' models, such a tool should have some sort of intelligence. Moreover, that tool must rely on a formal methodology for problem solving to estimate a measure of the quality-ofinformation that branches out from students' profiles, before trying to diagnose their learning problems. Indeed, this paper presents an approach to design a Diagnosis Module for a Student Assessment System, which is, in fact, a reasoner, in the sense that, presented with a new problem description (a student outline) it produces a solved problem, i.e., a diagnostic of the student learning state. We undertook the problem by selecting the attributes that are meaningful to produce a diagnosis, i.e., biographical, social, economical and cultural data, as well as skills so far achieved, which may drive, as constraints or invariants, the acquisition of new knowledge. Next, we selected the metrics that would allow us to infer the quality of the ongoing learning, i.e., the degree of expertise on the currently attended learning domains. To collect these indicators we used the Moodle e-Learning System. Both, attributes and metrics, make the student model. Finally, we designed a reasoner based on Artificial Intelligence techniques that rely on the Quality-of-Information quantification valuations to foster a Multi-Valued Extended Logic Programming language, a key element in order to produce diagnosis of the student learning paths. Confronted with a new case, i.e., a student model, the reasoner evaluates it in terms of its QI and outputs a diagnostic.


Some authors mention that it is not possible to detect early bone metastasis on plain radiography. In this work we use digital imaging processing to analyze three radiographs taken from a patient with bone metastasis discomfort on the right shoulder. The time period among the first and second radiography was approximately one month and between the first and the third one year. This procedure is a first approach in order to know if in this particular case it was possible to detect an early bone metastasis. The obtained results suggest that by carrying out a digital processing is possible to detect the metastasis since the radiography contains the information although visually it is not possible to observe it.


Beneficial nutrient management practices could increase maize yield via improving soil fertility. A study was conducted in the mid country wet zone of Sri Lanka (WM2b) on Typic Troporthents aiming to formulate a site specific fertilizer (SF) recommendation and to identify beneficial organic soil amendments (OA) to improve the fertility and productivity of soils for maize cultivation. The SF recommendation was developed using modified missing element technique. Incubated mixture of cattle manure and sawdust at 2:1 wet weight basis (CS-i) and biochar (BC) derived from sawdust were selected as OAs. Four treatments, (i) un-amended control (S), (ii) soil amended with SF (SSF), (iii) cattle manure-sawdust CS-i (2.2 Mg ha -1 ) with SF (CSi+SF) and (iv) biochar (1.1 Mg ha -1 ) with SF (BC+SF) were tested in the field for two consecutive growing seasons (Yala 2013 and Maha 2013/14) for maize. According to missing element technique, soil was deficient in K, Mg, P and Zn nutrients and resulted in 38%, 35%, 27% and 24% relative dry-matter reductions, respectively. Addition of OA+SF significantly improved soil organic carbon content compared to SSF. Green cob yield ranged from 7.9 to 16.5 Mg ha -1 in Yala and 5.4 to 12.4 Mg ha -1 in Maha increasing yield significantly in CS-i+SF, BC+SF and SSF over the un-amended control in both seasons. Soil fertility and maize yield were sustained or improved under combined application of site specific fertilizer and organic amendments. Moreover, cut down of K fertilizer is possible with application of BC and CS-i OAs. Hence, SF recommendation along with biochar or cattle manure-sawdust mixture OAs is a beneficial nutrient management practice for cultivating maize.


Coagulation and fibrinolytic systems have both been implicated in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis. D-dimer (DD) is a fibrin degradation product and can be used as a marker of fibrinolytic system activity. The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between serum D-dimer (DD) levels and clinical findings, pulmonary function test results, and stage of the disease in patients with sarcoidosis. Thirty-seven patients with newly diagnosed sarcoidosis were included in this prospective study. The relationship of DD levels with age, gender, smoking habits, complaints at the time of admission, treatment status and prognosis, findings on physical examination, laboratory testing, chest radiography, thoracic computed tomography, pulmonary function tests, and single-breath carbon monoxide diffusion capacity was evaluated. Of the 37 patients, 73% were females and the mean age was 46.14±11.02 years. DD positivity was noted in 12 patients (32.4%). It was observed that the DD levels increased with age, stage of the disease, and sedimentation rate. The patients with sarcoidosis who were under treatment due to chronic progressive cough and dyspnea were generally DD-positive. Further studies are warranted to confirm the possible use of DD as a marker in the decision making process for recommending initiation of treatment, and in the evaluation of the response to treatment in patients with sarcoidosis. Received: 23 / 10 / 2011 Accepted: 07 / 02 / 2012


In phylogeography or population genetic studies, evolutionary relationships among DNA haplotypes can be depicted either as a graph, called a 'network', with cycles (or 'loops'), or as a set of phylogenetic trees (i.e. connected graphs with no circuits), possibly with multifurcation(s) and/or ancestral haplotype(s) (both represented by collapsing zero-length branches). For example, several equally optimal trees inferred under the maximum parsimony (MP) criterion display alternative relationships among haplotypes (Fig. 5.1a, b). A strict consensus tree can be used to summarize this set of trees (Fig. 5.1c), but this approach discards much of the historical information. Indeed, a strict consensus tree is typically compatible with many more alternative trees than those used to build it: e.g. the consensus in Fig. 5.1c is compatible with 105 different strictly bifurcating topologies although only two haplotypic trees have been used to build it. Furthermore, the consensus tree cannot easily summarize branch length information (e.g. in Fig. 5.1, taxon 4 is at the tip of a 0 step-long or a 1 steplong branch in trees (a) and (b), respectively). On the contrary, a network graph allows display much of the information contained in the data in a single figure (Fig. 5.1d). Therefore, the major advantage of such graphs over traditional phylogenetic trees is the possibility of using cycles (loops) to represent either ambiguities in the data or genuine reticulate evolution (due to e.g. recombination or horizontal gene transfer). In parsimony networks, sampled and unsampled haplotypes (white circles and black dots, respectively, in Fig. 5.1d) are symbolized by nodes (vertices) that are connected by edges, where each edge represents a single nucleotide substitution. Unsampled haplotypes are inferred to connect sampled haplotypes when the latter are separated by more than a single substitution. The so-called 'degree' of a node corresponds to the number of edges to which it is connected (e.g. in Fig. 5.1d, haplotype 2 is a node of degree 4).


Introduction Climate change, in addition to increasing temperature, causes changes in the duration, intensity, form, and timing of rainfall in different parts of the Earth, which can cause droughts and floods. It also changes the volume, duration, and runoff duration, which will bring about many developments and changes in the water-resource management (Kamal and Massah Bavani, 2009). In order to reduce inconsistencies, studying the impacts of climate change on water resources is necessary. One of the most widely used models for these future studies is Atmosphere-ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) (Wilby and Harris, 2006). In general, most studies present a high degree of uncertainty as a result of using AOGCMs in the simulation of climate change and hydrology parameters. the outputs of simulated water-resource models under climate change could be relied on when the uncertainties are taken into account at all stages (Semenov and Stratonovitch, 2010). In order to innovate the research method, in this study 10 AOGCMs under three greenhouse gas emission scenarios (A1B, A2, and B1) were used in the simulated range of hydro-climatic variables through climatic models and downscaling methods in the Dez Oliya basin during 2040-2069. In Summary, when reviewing the range of hydro-climatic variable changes in the future period, it could be observed that the uncertainty of AOGCMs under all three emission scenarios is greater than the downscaling methods.


The transitioning of the disclosure of non-financial information from voluntary to mandatory reporting in the European Union also has emerging trends in the sustainability reporting field. This can be evidenced in various jurisdictions that more governmental bodies are exerting pressure for more corporate social responsibility to promote sustainable development. Similarly, the evidence that more Finnish companies are pursuing actions that facilitate the integration of sustainability issues to their business strategies, shows that there is a steadier progress of sustainability reporting and the gap in reporting between the leading and the lagging industry sector is also narrowing. However, with limited research on the state and future of sustainability reporting in the Finnish real estate sector, using semi-structured expert interviews with the futures wheel study method to capture and illustrate the findings, this study investigates the perspective of the real estate professionals on the impacts of three sustainability reporting phenomena; mandatory reporting, external assurance of sustainability information and the integrated reporting framework on corporate real estate investment and management strategies in the Finnish real estate markets.The study shows that the introduction of mandatory reporting would likely increase transparency and comparability that allows best business practices within the sector which require optimal resource, data and compliance risk management. In addition, the external assurance of sustainability information would increase stakeholder engagement and the reliability of data, as the integrated reporting framework has potential in communicating company strategies with a holistic view that would increase company brand value. However, the rise in sustainability data and information requires that it is readily available to enhance the efficiency of the real estate markets and its use by the providers to spark innovations.


The purpose of this study is to ascertain the role of neck surgery and radiation therapy for cervical lymph node metastasis in oropharyngeal cancer patients. We reviewed 217 previously untreated patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx who were treated at the Cancer Institute Hospital in Tokyo between 1971 and 1995. The N stage distribution was; N0: 83(38.2%), N1: 42(19.4%), N2a: 23(10.6%), N2b: 27(12.4%), N2c: 33(15.2%), and N3: 9(4.2%). A predominance of cervical node metastases in level II and III was revealed and there were no skip metastases outside of level II and III. The control rate of cervical metastasis for each N stage was; N0: 96.9%, N1: 90.0%, N2a: 76.5%, N2b: 62.5%, N2c: 50.0%, and N3: 0%. Definitive irradiation provided sufficient treatment for small nodes, when the primary tumor growth was well controlled by radiation therapy. Neck dissection was necessary for more advanced neck metastases. Selective limited neck dissection (level II and III) is recommended for N0 and N1 patients, and modified or classical RND is considered to be better for most cases with N2 and N3.


To regularly remove woody vegetation along the roadside of forest roads is an important part of the road maintenance, since the vegetation binds moisture in the road side and, thus, the removal makes the road drying faster with results in improved bearing capacity. Vegetation removal also makes it easier to upgrade the road by material recycling from the ditch and, moreover, the visibility along the road is maintained.
The aim of the study was to evaluate what type of chain flail is the best and most cost-effective for removal of different kind of woody vegetation along forest roadsides.
Time studies were made on two chain flails when removing woody vegetation in three different classes; easy-, middle- and heavy shrub removal. The studied flails were one light and rather simple flail named Optimal M160 and a heavier and more advanced flail named Slagkraft H210. The removal was made according to Holmen Skogs' specification and the quality of the cleaning was measured by objective belt inventory.
The productivity was higher with the heavy flail within all cleaning classes. The productivity of the heavy flail in the cleaning classes was; easy 16820 m2/h, middle 10498 m2/h and heavy 3669 m2/h and the corresponding numbers of the light flail was; easy 9439 m2/h, middle 6596 m2/h and heavy 2382 m2/h. According to the cost calculations the heavy flail had the lowest costs for all cleaning classes. However, calculated with the hourly wage that the entrepreneurs was paid during the time study the light flail were cheaper per m2 and per km cleaned road.
The heavy flail gave better quality of the performed work, since the stump height was lower and no residual trees remained after cleaning. The light flail was not adapted for heavy cleaning and left high stumps and residual trees at the heavier cleaning classes, even though some of the study units were recleaned to meet the specification.


This book is exactly what the title says it is, ie, a discussion of hemopoietic disorders from a biologic perspective. The uniqueness of the book relates to the emphasis placed by the authors on the use of the in vitro cell culture technique in describing normal and abnormal aspects of hemopoiesis. It is decidedly not the usual atlas of bone marrow abnormalities emphasizing morphologic (both light and electron microscopic photographs) and cytochemical descriptors. The absence of color plates underscores this difference. A small number of black-and-white photographs and line drawings accomplish the graphic needs of the text. The authors have aimed the book at two slightly disparate audiences. They want to provide clinicians with information about the experimental basis for the conditions they treat, emphasizing use of the in vitro cell culture technique. For researchers, they want to provide an outline of practical problems with which the clinician deals. They


The simulation speed of two‐dimensional hydrodynamic flood models is a limiting factor when catchments are large, a considerable number of simulations is required (e.g., exploratory modeling, Monte‐Carlo flood simulations, or predicting probabilistic flood maps), or when there is a need for real‐time flood emergency management. Rapid Flood Models (RFMs) that rely only on topographic depressions and the water balance equation have been successfully implemented to predict maximum urban flood inundation depths within seconds to a few minutes. However, the preprocessing step (identification of depressions and their attributes) and the postprocessing step (marking up possible flow paths of flood water in between flooded depressions) of RFMs is time consuming. In this study, we developed a new fast flood inundation model based on the cellular automata (CA) approach. The new model does not require the preprocessing and postprocessing steps of RFMs and therefore can provide more simulation speed. The performance of our new model, referred to as Cellular Automata fast flood evaluation (CA‐ffé), was compared to two well‐known hydrodynamic flood models (HEC‐RAS and TUFLOW) in 20 simulation experiments conducted in five different urban subcatchments. CA‐ffé predicted maximum inundation depth with reasonable accuracy in a matter of seconds to a few minutes for a single rainfall event simulation. The CA‐ffé model performed exceptionally well in areas with low‐lying depressions. However, in areas where floodwaters had higher momentum and velocity, the model usually was not able to estimate inundation depths calculated by HEC‐RAS or TUFLOW. CA‐ffé's key drawback is also its inability to represent the temporal evolution of flooding and flow velocities. Nevertheless, its ability to provide spatial flood extents and depths in a fraction of the time compared to its hydrodynamic counterparts is a significant advancement toward exploratory approaches for water systems planning, model‐based predictive control, and real‐time flood management.


Native-place associations have played an indispensable role in the global migration of ethnic Chinese. Although there has been growing attention to their political role in advancing the Chinese state's interests, few studies have looked into how they are organized and how they operate vis-à-vis the state. This article focuses on post-handover Hong Kong, where native-place associations, despite their long presence, are still growing in number and sophistication after the 1997 handover. It posits that native-place associations there are forming a "cultural nexus" through which the Chinese state fosters political mobilization in support of its interests and policies. Based on an original set of event and biographical data, it shows that native-place associations are consolidating into a massive network connected by power-seeking elites. It also demonstrates how these associations seek to renew the significance of native-place and national identities. The findings point to how native-place associations may serve as a powerful cultural space for the Chinese state to project its influence offshore.


Background. In vitro, soluble MHC (sMHC) antigens modulate and induce apoptosis in alloreactive and antigen-specific T cells, demonstrating their potency to regulate T cell-mediated immune responses. However, their efficacy to regulate immunological responses in vivo remains unclear. Here, we report that repetitive intraperitoneal injection of recombinant Lewis rat-derived MHC class I antigens in Dark Agouti (DA) rats modulates alloreactivity. Methods. RT1.Al (Lewis derived) genes were cloned into mammalian expression vectors, and RT1.Aa (DA derived) genes were used to transfect a rat myeloma cell line. RT1.Al molecules were injected intraperitoneally in DA recipients that subsequently underwent transplantation with Lewis-derived cardiac allografts. Results. Soluble class I antigens were secreted by the transfected cells and were shown to be heterodimeric, peptide-loaded, and conformationally folded. Injection of donor-derived soluble MHC significantly reduced the ability of recipient animals to mount a cytotoxic T-cell response to donor-derived tissue. More interestingly, this treatment significantly prolonged donor-graft survival and allowed 60% of treated animals to develop graft tolerance (>120 days), when donor sMHC were combined with a single subtherapeutic dosage of cyclosporine. Thymectomy of recipient animals before transplantation did not interfere with induction of peripheral tolerance. Conclusions. Donor-derived sMHC are potential tolerogens for down-regulating the cytotoxic T-cell response of animals that undergo transplantation. Thus, these data provide for the first time a rationale for the application of directly injected sMHC in vivo to down-regulate immunological responses and aid the induction of graft tolerance.


This article explores the need for and current state of the science base in public health practice. In addition, it discusses how the National Public Health Performance Standards Program will help build the science base in the future and how this can have a positive effect on public health practice and community health status.


A planar optical concentrator comprising a periodic multilayered isotropic dielectric material backed by a metallic surface-relief grating was theoretically examined for silicon photovoltaics. The concentrator was optimized using a differential evolution algorithm for solar-spectrum-integrated power-flux density. Further optimization was carried out for tolerance to variations in the incidence angle, spatial dimensions, and dielectric properties. The average electron-hole pair density in a silicon solar cell can be doubled, and the material costs substantially diminished by this concentrator, whose efficacy is due to the excitation of waveguide modes and multiple surface-plasmon-polariton waves in a broad spectral regime.


Recent federal health financing and health care delivery programs have increased access to alcohol and other drug abuse treatment programs for low-income women, and have provided intervention and prevention services for their children and families. The Village South Families in Transition (FIT) in Miami, Florida, implemented a residential treatment program for women and their children that aims to decrease alcohol and other drug use, reduce reliance on social and health welfare systems, improve functioning in specific life-skill and vocational areas, improve parenting techniques and maternal/child relations, and provide intervention and prevention services for the clients' children in a safe and supportive environment. Program implementation required resolutions to numerous barriers, including securing a facility for women and children; recruiting, hiring and training of staff; establishing and maintaining community linkages; treatment considerations; balancing treatment versus evaluation/research; and critical decisions faced by treatment staff as they modify client-centered programs to incorporate gender-specific and family-centered programs.


Living organisms are major sources of new biologically active molecules for the pharmaceutical, animal health and agrochemical industries. The screening of microbes, plants and animals for biologically active compounds has been a critical part of new drug discovery and development throughout this century. For example, about 13 500 naturally occurring antibiotics are known. Of these, 5500 are produced by actinomycetes, while about 3300 are produced by higher plants and about 90 are in current medical use (Berdy, 1989). These natural products serve not only as drugs in their own right, but they may also serve as structural models for the creation of synthetic analogues, and as models in structure-activity studies (e.g. Quinn et al., 1993). There is an urgent need to discover new biologically active molecules as the rate of discovery of new 'lead' compounds has decreased steadily over the past few decades (cf. Omura, 1992). The microalgae are one exciting source of such new leads.


Summary IEEE 802.16j is an amendment to the IEEE 802.16 broadband wireless access standard to enable the operation of multi-hop relay stations (RS). It aims to enhance the coverage, per user throughput and system capacity of IEEE 802.16e. There are three handover techniques supported within the IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.16j – Hard Handover (HHO), Fast Base Station Switching (FBSS) and Macro Diversity Handover (MDHO). This paper presents evaluations and comparisons over the performance of these handover techniques. The effect of the mobile station speed on the handover techniques' performance is also studied. The performance metric is the overall average downlink spectral efficiency which depends on the downlink carrier to interference and noise ratio (CINR). Results show that MDHO outperforms FBSS and HHO. Furthermore, as the MS speed increases, the FBSS is slightly better than HHO.


S. aureus may cause severe infections and frequently colonizes the nose. Nasal carriage of S. aureus increases 3-fold the risk of invasive S. aureus infection. S. aureus is also commonly found in the gut microbiota of infants and young children. ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus can colonize both the anterior nares and the gastrointestinal tract. However, colonization at these sites in the same individuals has not been studied, and the traits that facilitate colonization and persistence at these sites have not been compared. Samples from the nostrils and feces collected on 9 occasions from 3 days to 3 years of age in 65 infants were cultured; 54 samples yielded S. aureus. The numbers of nasal and fecal S. aureus strains increased rapidly during the first weeks and were similar at 1 month of age (>40% of infants colonized). Thereafter, nasal carriage declined, while fecal carriage remained high during the first year of life. Individual strains were identified, and their colonization patterns were related to their carriage of genes encoding adhesins and superantigenic toxins. Strains retrieved from both the nose and gut (n = 44) of an infant were 4.5 times more likely to colonize long term (≥3 weeks at both sites) than strains found only in the rectum/feces (n = 56) or only in the nose (n = 32) (P ≤ 0.001). Gut colonization was significantly associated with carriage of the fnbA gene, and long-term colonization at either site was associated with carriage of fnbA and fnbB. In summary, gut colonization by S. aureus was more common than nasal carriage by S. aureus in the studied infants. Gut strains may provide a reservoir for invasive disease in vulnerable individuals. Fibronectin-binding adhesins and other virulence factors may facilitate commensal colonization and confer pathogenic potential. IMPORTANCE S. aureus may cause severe infections and frequently colonizes the nose. Nasal carriage of S. aureus increases 3-fold the risk of invasive S. aureus infection. S. aureus is also commonly found in the gut microbiota of infants and young children. However, the relationships between the adhesins and other virulence factors of S. aureus strains and its abilities to colonize the nostrils and gut of infants are not well understood. Our study explores the simultaneous colonization by S. aureus of the nasal and intestinal tracts of newborn infants through 3 years of follow-up. We identify bacterial virulence traits that appear to facilitate persistent colonization of the nose and gut by S. aureus. This expands our current knowledge of the interplay between bacterial commensalism and pathogenicity. Moreover, it may contribute to the development of targeted strategies for combating S. aureus infection.


Introduction: Tobacco use has been identified as the leading cause of the preventable death worldwide and estimates that it currently causes 5.4 million deaths/year. In fact, India is suffering a phase of tobacco epidemic. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the awareness regarding pictorial warning on tobacco packets and its effect on cessation among tobacco users. Materials and Methods: A study was conducted among 200 patients having tobacco habit, attending the outpatient department of Public Health Dentistry, KGMU, Lucknow. A self-structured questionnaire was made in English and Hindi language, pertaining to demographic details, type of tobacco products used, frequency, duration of tobacco habits, and awareness regarding pictorial warning. Results: Use of multiple tobacco habits was most prevalent 61 (30.5%) across all age groups, majority 185 (92.5%) of subjects had seen the tobacco warnings, and 113 (56.5%) participants had seen both types of warning (pictorial and written warning). One hundred and ten (55%) of subjects said that warning should be on both sides. Eighty-two (41%) study participants had never tried to quit tobacco habits, 43 (21.5%) of participants tried to quit tobacco habits because of peer pressure and 75 (37.5%) subjects said that after seeing a warning on tobacco packets, they will think to quit tobacco habit. Conclusion: Majority of study participants have observed the warnings on tobacco packets and most of them believe that they could recognize and understand warnings. The study participants believe that warnings on tobacco packets create alertness about various deleterious effects of all tobacco habits and help in dropping or give up these habits. Pictographic warnings were more effective than text warnings.


ABSTRACT The Upland Goose (Chloephaga picta) is a ground-nesting bird that has suffered a precipitous population decline in the last 60 years. We monitored Upland Goose nests with camera traps in Santa Cruz province, Argentina, to study nest disturbances that could reduce reproductive success. We studied female behavior following nest disturbance by predators, livestock, or humans and compared it with situations when females leaving the nests voluntarily. At least 34% of nests were depredated, 92% of them by culpeo (Pseudalopex culpaeus) and gray (Pseudalopex griseus) foxes; only 29% of the monitored nests were successful. Livestock sniffled, licked, and nuzzled the incubating female and the nest contents, and 2 nests were trampled. Off-bout duration was affected by the identity of the intruder. The lengths of predator and human off-bouts were similar and higher than those of foraging and livestock off-bouts. To boost reproductive success, we recommend livestock exclusions and predator control on nesting areas to discourage fox predation. Nests monitoring protocols should include as few and widely spaced visits as possible, restricted to a few people. Given the ecological similarities between the Upland Goose and congeners, including the critically endangered Ruddy-headed Goose (Chloephaga rubidiceps), we extend these recommendations to all Chloephaga spp. breeding areas.


The agent systems can register, deregister and search the information of agent and services. Amount of the agent systems and the information according to agent and service are existed. The differences of the information specification make not easy to the relevancy about them. Thus, we propose the agent service system (ASS) to find the relevancy among the agents information and to manage them. The ASS can provide the various services to the other multi-agent systems or general systems that may be not the agent platform.


Aim of the study The CD30L ligand is a membrane-associated glycoprotein expressed by activated CD4+Th cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and B lymphocytes. It binds to the CD30 receptor carried on activated and helper Th cells, inducing the immune response and apoptosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the level of sCD30L in the serum of patients at diagnosis of ovarian cancer and at relapse and to assess the potential association of this ligand with selected clinico-pathologic factors. Material and methods We studied 69 patients with ovarian cancer allocated to two groups: A – ovarian cancer at diagnosis, B – relapse of ovarian cancer and active growth of the tumor. Results We found high levels of sCD30L in ovarian cancer patients. Levels at relapse (21.48 ng/ml) were significantly higher than at diagnosis (11.81 ng/ml). Poor response to first-line chemotherapy was accompanied by higher levels of sCD30L and by several other findings: resistance to platinum analogs was common, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was needed, relapse and death during two-year follow-up were frequent. Conclusions Our present study might initially suggest that elevated concentration of sCD30L can be an important finding prognosticating a poor prognosis and is associated with platinum resistant and refractory cases of ovarian cancer. However, studies are needed on larger groups of patients.


The Jimmo Settlement is about the erroneous, but pervasively used, "improvement standard" of the past 30 years. In essence, Medicare beneficiaries were being denied skilled services if they did not have the capacity to improve, or more clinically described as "lack of restoration potential." The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has a webpage clarifying this misconception and about the Jimmo Settlement; it contains links that shed light on this issue. The link, https://www.cms.gov/Center/Special-Topic/Jimmo-Center.html, is the official CMS webpage about the Jimmo Settlement and has information for the case manager to peruse.


Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is the most important food and energy crop worldwide. In the present study, an efficient Agrobacterium mediated transformation and regeneration system for sugarcane cultivar SPF-234 was established. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains EHA101and LBA4404 using vector pIG121 Hm, having GUS, HPTII and NPTII genes were used. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and histochemical assays confirmed the GUS gene expression. A 620 bp fragment from GUS positive plants was amplified. The GUS expressing putative transformants were 35% of the total plants formed under 30 minute immersion time and 72 hr of incubation period. The co-cultivation media having 60 μM acetosyringone produced 66% GUS expressing plants for LBA4404 and 58% for EHA101. The maximum average number of directly produced shoot (59.5%) from leaf explant was in M6 media having 1.00 mg/l 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 2.5 mg/l Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). A significant decrease (17%) was observed when auxin (NAA) concentration was increased to 4.0 mg/l. The best response of shoot elongation was observed in SE4 media having equal concentration (2.00 mg/l) of both kinetin and BAP. Increased concentrations of kinetin significantly decreased shoot elongation of the subject cultivar. Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 performed better for genetic transformation of the said sugarcane cultivar.This quick and less expensive transformation and direct regeneration system could be exploited for sugarcane on commercial scale in general, and for this elite cultivar in particular.


Wavefield reconstruction inversion (WRI) formulates a PDE-constrained optimization problem to reduce cycle skipping in full-waveform inversion (FWI). WRI is often implemented by solving for the frequency-domain representation of the wavefield using the finite-difference method. The approach requires matrix inversions and affords limited flexibility to accommodate irregular model geometries. On the other hand, the physics-informed neural network (PINN) uses the underlying physical laws as loss functions to train the neural network (NN) to provide flexible continuous functional approximations of the solutions without matrix inversions. By including a data-constrained term in the loss function, the trained NN can reconstruct a wavefield that simultaneously fits the recorded data and satisfies the Helmholtz equation for a given initial velocity model. Using the predicted wavefields, we rely on a small-size NN to predict the velocity using the reconstructed wavefield. In this velocity prediction NN, spatial coordinates are used as input data to the network, and the scattered Helmholtz equation is used to define the loss function. After we train this network, we are able to predict the velocity in the domain of interest. We develop this PINN-based WRI method and demonstrate its potential using a part of the Sigsbee2A model and a modified Marmousi model. The results show that the PINN-based WRI is able to invert for a reasonable velocity with very limited iterations and frequencies, which can be used in a subsequent FWI application.


Serum was necessary for optimal phagocytosis of Aspergillus fumigatus spores by human leukocytes, and its opsonic capacity was greatly diminished by heat inactivation (56 C, 30 min). A germination assay, described in this report, was developed to study the fate of phagocytized spores. After incubation for 3 hr with normal leukocytes and serum, spores ingested by peripheral blood neutrophils and monocytes remained viable. Since we had previously found that myeloperoxidase (MPO), a lysosomal enzyme of human neutrophils and monocytes, exerted fungicidal activity against Candida albicans when combined with H2O2 and chloride or iodide, the effects of these substances on A. fumigatus spores were examined. Spore viability was not impaired by MPO alone, H2O2 alone, or KI alone, but high concentrations of KI and H2O2 in combination caused marked inhibition of subsequent germination. MPO imparted fungicidal activity to concentrations of KI and H2O2 that lacked any effect in its absence. NaCl, in combination with MPO and H2O2, was far less effective than the iodide salt against A. fumigatus. The relative ineffectiveness of chloride in this system could underly the apparent inability of human neutrophils to kill ingested A. fumigatus spores, despite their competence to kill C. albicans.


Abstract : The integration of new technologies has always been important to the military. The longbow, rifled muskets, and armored fighting vehicles are all examples of technological innovations that found their way into the military. However, history has proven that new technology alone seldom has dramatic effects on battlefield effectiveness. Changes in doctrine, organization, and training must accompany the new technology in order to exploit its full capabilities. Today the Army is looking at ways to integrate information age, or digital technologies into our fighting force. In particular, the area of battle command is seen as holding great promise for digitization. Unfortunately, the Army is implementing its new battle command technology without considering changes to its planning and decision making doctrine. This monograph addresses the compatibility of the Army's Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) with information age technology. The analysis focuses on decision making theory, current digitization concepts and projects, and performance feedback from the field. The overall conclusions of this analysis are that the Army should upgrade certain portions of its decision making process to make it more compatible with digital information systems and contemporary decision making theory. This upgraded MDMP focuses on the commander's vision and uses it as a controlling idea to guide the planning process. This controlling idea along with a modified Commander's Critical Information Requirements (CCIR) clearly defines the commander's implicit and explicit information needs and sets the conditions for staff and subordinate initiative.


This study aims to investigate the ultraviolet (UV) absorption property of palm fiber and to reveal the mechanism underlying its UV-shielding behavior. The UV spectra of various solvent extracts of palm fiber were investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV spectra were used to analyze the treated palm fiber, 100% α-cellulose, and raw palm fiber. The UV absorbances of palm, bamboo, and ramie fibers and their lignin extracts were comparatively investigated. The results showed that lignin is the main contributor to the UV absorption property of palm fiber. UV spectroscopy of the solvent extracts showed that a dioxane solution exhibited an excellent extraction capacity. The analysis of the FTIR and UV spectra of treated palm fiber, 100% α-cellulose, and raw palm fiber confirmed that there was a strong correlation between the UV absorption property and the chemical components. The results showed that the palm fiber exhibited superior UV absorption properties and that the lignin content noticeably affected the UV absorption degree.


We introduce MatRiCT+, a practical private blockchain payment protocol based on "post-quantum" lattice assumptions. MatRiCT+ builds on MatRiCT due to Esgin et al. (ACM CCS'19) and, in general, follows the Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT) approach used in Monero, the largest privacy-preserving cryptocurrency. In terms of the practical aspects, MatRiCT+ has 2-18× shorter proofs (depending on the number of input accounts, M) and runs 3-11× faster (for a typical transaction) in comparison to MatRiCT. A significant advantage of MatRiCT+ is that the proof length's dependence on M is very minimal (only O(logM)), while MatRiCT has a proof length linear in M. To support its efficiency, we devise several novel techniques in our design of MatRiCT+ to achieve compact lattice-based zeroknowledge proof systems, exploiting the algebraic properties of power-of-2 cyclotomic rings commonly used in practical latticebased cryptography. Along the way, we design a family of "optimal" challenge spaces, using a technique we call partition-and-sample, with minimal $\ell_{1}$-norm and invertible challenge differences (with overwhelming probability), while supporting highly-splitting power-of-2 cyclotomic rings. We believe all these results to be widely applicable and of independent interest.


We examined the stomach contents of juvenile Lophius litulon, which were collected monthly in the coastal waters of Kori, Korea from January to December, 1996. L. litulon was a bottom feeding carnivore which mainly consumed fish, euphausiids, sagittoids, and shrimp. Its diet also included small quantities of copepods amphipods, and stomatopods. It showed distinct ontogenetic changes in feeding habits. Small individuals (1-2 cm SL) mainly preyed on sagittoids and euphausiids. However, individuals eve, 3 cm SL mainly preyed on fish and shrimp.


It is today accepted that matrix factorization models allow a high quality of rating prediction in recommender systems.
However, a major drawback of matrix factorization is its static nature that results in a progressive declining of the accuracy of the predictions after each factorization. This is due to the fact that the new obtained ratings are not taken into account until a new factorization is computed, which can not be done very often because of the high cost of matrix factorization.
In this paper, aiming at improving the accuracy of recommender systems, we propose a cluster-based matrix factorization technique that enables online integration of new ratings. Thus, we significantly enhance the obtained predictions between two matrix factorizations. The experiments we did on a large dataset demonstrated the efficiency of our approach. Furthermore, we devise an experimental protocol that allows for identifying the optimal number of ratings to take into account for factorization. This contributes as a practical solution addressing the tradeoff between taking into account more ratings into factorization for better quality, versus missing fewer ratings during factorization.


This Economic Commentary estimates trend PCE inflation and a Phillips curve with time-varying parameters while allowing for trend inflation to affect the frequency at which firms change prices. Since the beginning of 2021, trend PCE inflation has risen well above the FOMC's 2 percent long-term inflation target, and the most recent estimate of trend inflation in 2022:Q4 is 3.4 percent. With the increase in trend inflation, the Phillips curve slope has risen above its pre-pandemic level. At the same time, the relationship between current inflation and inflation expectations has strengthened. Together, these results imply that even though a slowing economy would help to bring down inflation through the steeper slope of the Phillips curve, high short-term inflation expectations could put upward pressure on inflation to a larger extent than they had prior to the pandemic.


The paper discusses how anxieties and insecurities resulting from an assumed imperative of authenticity affect the process of reflexivity in feminist research. Drawing on the feminist poststructuralist inspired nature of her research; the author centres her analysis on her experience as a woman doing research focusing on women within a geospatial context of emotional and cultural familiarity. The paper is organised in six sections; after a general introduction, the first section discusses how reflexivity is used by feminist researchers as an authenticity tool with the aim of 'being truthful' to the commitment of exploring people's lives, particularly women's realities. The second section provides a brief description of the nature and objectives of her research. In sections three, four and five, the author reflects on the authenticity/genuineness concerns generated by her geographical positionality, her theoretical positionality and her locus of d(enunciation) and how these affected her thought and production process. This is followed by a closing reflection in the last section, where the author assesses the how reflexivity helped her accomplish authenticity in her own research.


This paper presents a comprehensive dimensional validation methodology, known as datum transformation analysis (DTA). The DTA approach utilizes 3D non-contact (3DNC) measurement to obtain a full part dimensional representation at all critical matching interfaces of a part assembly to the vehicle. Next, a part measurement re-alignment process is applied to identify new positions for the assembly datum locators that optimize the overall product quality at these matching interfaces. Next, datum locations are adjusted at the component level (at the same physical location as the corresponding assembly) to improve mean conformance of the assembly dimensions. The adjustments to the datum locators at the component level are not necessarily made to improve component quality, but rather to optimize final part assembly. This DTA methodology is demonstrated using an automotive headlamp assembly. In this case study, the authors identify tooling rework moves using DTA to increase the percent of critical assembly dimensions whose mean values are within ±0.25 millimeters from 20% to 90%.


Gene editing technologies are fast becoming a reality, so much so that the Australian Academy of Science is calling for a national discussion around how to best manage it. Scientists are on the cusp of being able to wipe out or reduce the population of species which cause environmental damage or carry huge public health risks. But bio-ethics experts say Australia needs to tighten its biohazard regulations before this new technology is fully embraced.


We investigate the role of parasite-mediated sexual selection in the divergence of two species of Lake Victoria cichlids. Pundamilia pundamilia and Pundamilia nyererei represent a common pattern of male nuptial colour divergence between haplochromine sister species: metallic grey–blue in P. pundamilia and bright yellow and red in P. nyererei. Female mating preferences for different male colours maintain the genetic and phenotypic differentiation of the two species in clear water. Previous work indicated that the red coloration of P. nyererei males, which is subject to directional sexual selection, may be a carotenoid-dependent signal of parasite infestation rate. In the present study, we find a parallel result for P. pundamilia: bright blue males are infected with fewer species of parasites. We also find that parasite infestation rates differ quantitatively between the two species in a way that is consistent with species differences in diet and microhabitat. We conclude that parasite-mediated sexual selection may have contributed to the divergence of female mating preferences between P. pundamilia and P. nyererei, and may currently strengthen reproductive isolation between these species. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 94, 53–60.


Abstract: Earthworm assemblages are usually spatio-temporally structured in mosaics of patches with different species composition. We re-analysed results of past research carried out in Eastern Colombia to explore how interspecific competition accounts for this pattern. In three sown pastures and three native savannas, density data matrices were obtained from spatially explicit samplings at several successive dates, and spatio-temporal patterns of species assemblages were described through partial triadic analyses and geostatistics. This first analysis detected assemblage patchiness in the six plots at spatial scales ranging from 6 to 33 m. Species richness ranged from 5 to 6 species per plot. Null models were further used to analyse niche overlap and morphometric distribution patterns at two different scales, i.e. at the 'plot level' and the 'patch level'. Seasonal and vertical niche overlaps were higher than expected by chance at both scales, indicating high environmental constraints on assemblage membership. Within-patch overlaps were lower than plot-scale overlaps. Biometric niche overlap was random at the plot level and was weakly lower than that expected by chance in patches. Body weight was significantly overdispersed and constant whatever the scale, while body length and diameter showed a similar trend within patches. These results suggest that earthworms form distinct assemblages within patches, mainly driven by deterministic responses to competition: ecologically similar species avoid competition through spatial segregation, whereas a minimal level of ecological segregation is required to allow co-existence in a given patch.


In this article, we propose a cross-pollination of two prominent lines of educational thought: open education (OE) and threshold concepts (TCs). Open education has gained an increased profile through the growing popularity of open educational resources (OER) and massive online open courses (MOOCs). Educators who create or make use of such resources, or employ related open educational practices (OEP), are often suggested to have a transformative impact in educational settings. In recent years, educational research has increasingly discussed learning as a process of attaining or crossing certain conceptual thresholds, which involve such a significant shift that the learner eventually achieves a different and deeper understanding of core disciplinary knowledge, even a new identity. Of the eight characteristics of TCs identified in the core literature of this theory, we consider that three in particular offer the maximum potential for understanding the evolution of teachers towards the open educator identity: transformative, troublesome and liminal. This work presents a theoretical framework that includes the transformative impact on identity in the process of becoming an open educator, the troublesomeness inherent in this evolution and the liminal space through which the evolving teachers progress. It is argued that a focus on the development of open educator identity aligns with current reflective approaches to working on teachers' professional identity, and at the same time supports a focus on teachers' commitment to a democratic approach to education, which is necessary in neoliberal times.


It is possible to discuss the propagation of an electronic current through certain layered nanostructures modelling them as a collection of random one-dimensional interfaces, through which a coherent signal can be transmitted or reflected while being scattered at each interface. We present a simple model in which a persistent random walk (the `t-r' model in one dimension) is used as a representation of the propagation of a signal in a medium with such random interfaces. In this model all the possible paths through the system leading to transmission or reflection can be enumerated in an expansion in the number of loops described by the path. This expansion allows us to conduct a statistical analysis of the length of the paths for different geometries and boundary conditions and to understand their scaling with the size of the system. By tuning the parameters of the model it is possible to interpolate smoothly between the ballistic and the diffusive regimes of propagation. An extension of this model to higher dimensions is presented. We show Monte Carlo simulations that support the theoretical results obtained.


The development in the labour market, unemployment, the lack of job opportunities and the adjoining migration of the population with all the consequences are still more topical questions. The endangered groups of people are women, people with low qualification and the young people including the graduates from secondary schools and universities. The situation in the South-Bohemian Region is in comparison with the whole Czech Republic more convenient. One of the reasons is also the better opportunity to work in the cross-country regions in Austria. The Czech citizens use this opportunity not only for the financial reasons (although these reasons are the most evident) but also for the reason of getting new experience. From the Austrian side the influx of foreign workers from one point of view is convenient (cheap labour force, seasonal labour in agriculture and forestry), but from the other point of view there is fear from raised competition and mainly after the entrance of the Czech Republic to the EU.


The transmembrane diffusion of hydrophobic antimicrobial agents, e.g. lincomycin and clindamycin, was examined in Bacteroides fragilis which is sensitive to these agents. The results showed that these agents penetrate efficiently through the outer membrane. Cell surface hydrophobicity measured by the partition assay between water and p-xylene revealed that the cell surface of B. fragilis is more hydrophobic than that of Salmonella typhimurium or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore, treatment with low concentrations of surfactant caused cell lysis. These results suggest that the cell surface hydrophobicity in B. fragilis plays an important role in the efficient transmembrane penetration of hydrophobic compounds. This efficiency explains the susceptibility of B. fragilis to hydrophobic antimicrobial agents.


Many areas of the US recently endured a severe drought and management strategies to cope with the lack of forage production varied. A multi-period mathematical model is presented that estimates the outcomes of two common producer responses to changes in precipitation, partial liquidation and purchasing hay, given fluctuating cattle prices over a long term planning horizon. Results were further summarized with regression analysis and selected elasticities were calculated to reflect the sensitivity of outcomes to variability in precipitation and livestock prices. Although little impact was seen from utilizing additional hay as a strategy during drought, producers who follow this strategy are in a position to market more animals immediately post drought in general, resulting in better long run financial outcomes. Elasticity estimates suggest that profitability is more sensitive to variability in prices but that optimal choices of management strategies are more sensitive to variability in precipitation.


Spin pumping is a widely recognized method to generate the spin current in the spintronics, which is acknowledged as a fundamentally dynamic process equivalent to the spin-transfer torque. In this work, we theoretically verify that the oscillating spin current can be pumped from the microwave-motivated breathing skyrmion. The skyrmion spin pumping can be excited by a relatively low frequency compared with the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and the current density is larger than the ordinary FMR spin pumping. Based on the skyrmion spin pumping, we build a high reading-speed racetrack memory model whose reading speed is an order of magnitude higher than the SOT (spin-orbit torque) /STT (spin-transfer torque) skyrmion racetrack. Our work explored the spin pumping phenomenon in the skyrmion, and it may contribute to the applications of the skyrmion-based device.


Visible light is considered one of the foremost exciting areas of communication science and industry, gaining prominence over data broadcast and radiance instantaneously using low-cost light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Though, the high speed characteristics of this network are restricted by the truncated bandwidth of the LED. Therefore, amazing efficient, advanced modulation and demodulation schemes are considered for establishing high data rates in VLC. Carrierless amplitude-phase (CAP) modulation is such an attractive and effective modulation that it is gaining a good position due to its high efficiency and practical implementation. But multi-path scattering factors, noise factors, vigorous jamming and low sensitivity can have a significant impact on the performance of CAP-VLC systems. To overcome this problem, this paper examines the implementation of the CAP-VLC system based on the High Speed Feed Forward Neural Network, which operates on the principle of Extreme Learning Machines. The experiment was carried out by new simulated datasets used to train cap demodulators and parameters such as accuracy, retrieval, accurate bit error ratio (BER), noise ratio (SNR). Also the proposed learning based CAP-VLC systems has shown better performance such as 92.4% accuracy at various conditions, increase in BER by 40% and 50% of reduction of noise respectively.


A real-time 1024/spl times/1024 image processor for digital motion camera systems is described. The application-specific IC (ASIC) corrects dark current and white imbalance pixelwise, and performs a color interpolation over nine lines of images from a miniaturized camera head housing a single charge-coupled device (CCD). A color space transformation is implemented to achieve true-color motion images with frame rates up to 30 frames/s. Additional features include a focus and illumination criteria calculation and a megapixel-to-PAL scan conversion. The chip area is 49 mm/sup 2/, and it was fabricated in a single-poly three-layer-metal 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS process. The device is packaged in a 208-pin ceramic quad flat package (CQFP), and dissipates 278 mW at 2.5 V.


Stepwise progression from adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) to lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma (LPA) was proposed by various scholars. Interstitial tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and various potential chemokines involved in the progression from AIS/MIA to LPA were hypothesized. In the present study, immunohistochemistry or immunofluorescent double staining was used to detect the expression of the TAMs marker cluster of differentiation (CD) 68, tumor-derived colony-stimulating factor (CSF)-1, interleukin (IL)-6, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, E-cadherin and Snail in lung adenocarcinoma specimens, including AIS/MIA, LPA and other types. It was observed that infiltrating TAMs were negatively associated with the prognosis of patients, and that the infiltration degree of interstitial TAMs was higher in LPA than that in AIS/MIA. In addition, E-cadherin, Snail and MMP-2 expression were significantly correlated with the infiltration degree of TAMs. Survival analysis revealed that co-expression of CD68, CSF-1 and IL-6 was an independent prognostic factor. Stratified analysis demonstrated that, in AIS/MIA patients, there was a statistically significant difference between the number of TAMs (TAMs ≤25 and TAMs >25) in the CD68+CSF-1+IL-6+ group compared with other groups (including CD68+CSF-1-IL-6-, CD68+CSF-1+IL-6-, CD68+CSF-1-IL-6+ and CD68- groups). By contrast, in patients with TAMs >25 and in patients with positive CD68, CSF-1 and IL-6 expression, the survival rates were not significantly different between AIS/MIA and LPA. These results suggested that co-expression of TAMs marker CD68, CSF-1 and IL-6 may be a valuable independent prognostic predictor in lung adenocarcinoma. TAMs may facilitate AIS/MIA progression to LPA, which may be closely associated with the induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.


The synthesis and optical properties of polymers bearing the repeating unit of terfluorene and various organosilicon groups were investigated. Polymers with high molecular weight and good solubility could be obtained by Suzuki coupling polymerization from silylene-containing fluorene-based dibromo monomers and 9,9-dihexylfluorene-2,7-bis(trimethyleneborate). From UV spectra of polymers bearing acyclic silylene bridge, the organosilicon units not only interrupted a π-conjugation but also contributed to an electronic communication between connected fluorenes. The emission maximum wavelengths (ca. 400 nm) blue-shifted when compared with that of polyfluorene (418 nm) and the fluorescence quantum yields were considerably high (>0.82) in the CHCl₃ solution. On the other hand, rather broad emission was observed at 480 nm and the fluorescence quantum yield was quite low (0.004) in the solution-state PL spectrum of tetraphenylsilole-containing polymer. The polymer emitted visible green light in the spin-coated film. The fluorescence peak intensity at 486 nm gradually decreased when the film was illuminated with the UV light of 359 nm in air. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4786-4794, 2007