Background IL-23 may be implicated in spondylitis. A substantial number of pts with spondylitis and peripheral joint involvement were enrolled in PSUMMIT. Objectives We evaluated the efficacy of SC UST 45/90 mg in a subgroup of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) pts with physician diagnosed spondylitis and peripheral joint involvement through wk108, from PSUMMIT 1. Methods Adult PsA patients (n=615) with active disease (≥5 SJC and ≥5 TJC;CRP≥0.3mg/dL) despite DMARD and/or NSAIDs were randomized to UST45mg, 90mg, or PBO at wks 0, 4, and q12wks. Pts treated with prior anti-TNF agents were excluded. Stable concomitant MTX was permitted but not mandated. At wk16, pts with <5% improvement in TJC & SJC entered blinded early escape (PBO→UST45mg; UST45mg→90mg; 90mg→90mg). PBO pts subsequently crossed over to UST45mg at wk24. Pts received q12w dosing to wk88, with final efficacy evaluation at wk100 and safety assessment at wk108. Pts with spondylitis and peripheral joint involvement as their primary arthritis presentation of PsA also had BASDAI assessments at wks12 and 24. Results 186 randomized pts (70 PBO, 116 UST combined) had spondylitis with peripheral joint involvement at baseline (30% of overall population); mean baseline characteristics were similar to the overall population (age 45.6yrs, weight 82.8kg, PsA duration 6.3yrs, SJC/TJC 14.3/24.1, HAQ-DI 1.3; BASDAI 6.5, and 26% were HLAB27 positive. Mean baseline scores among pts with dactylitis (n=100), enthesitis (148), and skin disease (147) were 8.3, 5.6, and PASI 14.2, respectively. At wk24, greater proportions of combined UST45/90mg treated pts had improvements in dactylitis/enthesitis measurements, HAQ-DI and ACR20/50/70 responses than PBO (Table). Clinical improvements were generally maintained through wk100. A significantly higher proportion of UST-treated pts achieved BASDAI20/50/70 responses vs. PBO at wk24 (54.1%/27.9%/14.4% vs. 26.2%/13.1%/0.0%). Peripheral structural damage assessed by total vdH-S mean change from baseline also showed improvement in the UST groups vs PBO at wk24. Of the 135 patients with ≥3% BSA involvement and spondylitis with peripheral arthritis at baseline, PASI75 responses were also maintained through wk100. During the PBO-controlled period, the proportion of pts with AEs were comparable between the PBO and combined UST-treated groups (AEs 32.9% vs 24.1%; SAEs 1.4% vs 0.9%; discontinuations due to AEs 2.9% vs 0.9%; serious infections 14.3% vs 7.8%). Through 2yrs, safety observations were consistent with the overall PsA population. Conclusions In this post-hoc subgroup analysis, UST significantly improved signs and symptoms, and demonstrated improvements in BASDAI and peripheral radiographic progression compared with PBO through wk24; efficacy was maintained through wk100. UST was well-tolerated and demonstrated a safety profile similar to that observed in the overall PsA study population. Disclosure of Interest A. Kavanaugh Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Janssen, and UCB., L. Puig Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Leo-Pharma, Merck/Schering-Plough, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz, and VBL., A. Gottlieb Grant/research support from: Amgen, AbbVie, Celgene, Coronado, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Levia, Merck, and Pfizer., Consultant for: AbbVie, Actelion, Akros, Amgen, Astellas, Bristol Myers Squibb, Canfite, Catabasis, Celegene, CSL Behring Biotherapies for Life, Coronado, Dermipsor, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Incyte, Janssen, Karyopharm, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi Aventix, UCB, Vertex, and Xenoport., C. Ritchlin Grant/research support from: Amgen, Janssen, and UCB., Consultant for: AbbVie, Amgen, Janssen, Regeneron, Roche, and UCB., Y. You Employee of: Janssen R&D, LLC., Y. Wang Employee of: Janssen R&D, LLC., A. Mendelsohn Employee of: Janssen R&D, LLC., M. Song Employee of: Janssen R&D, LLC., P. Rahman Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Janssen, Pfizer, and Novartis., I. McInnes Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, Janssen, Pfizer, Roche, Merck/Schering-Plough, and UCB.


Rare and potent monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) circumsporozoite protein (CSP) on infective sporozoites (SPZ) preferentially bind the PfCSP junctional tetrapeptide NPDP or NVDP minor repeats while cross-reacting with NANP central repeats in vitro. The extent to which each of these epitopes is required for protection in vivo is unknown. Here, we assessed whether junction-, minor repeat- and central repeat-preferring human mAbs (CIS43, L9 and 317 respectively) bound and protected against in vivo challenge with transgenic P. berghei (Pb) SPZ expressing either PfCSP with the junction and minor repeats knocked out (KO), or PbCSP with the junction and minor repeats knocked in (KI). In vivo protection studies showed that the junction and minor repeats are necessary and sufficient for CIS43 and L9 to neutralize KO and KI SPZ, respectively. In contrast, 317 required major repeats for in vivo protection. These data establish that human mAbs can prevent malaria infection by targeting three different protective epitopes (NPDP, NVDP, NANP) in the PfCSP repeat region. This report will inform vaccine development and the use of mAbs to passively prevent malaria.


BACKGROUND
Long term cyclophosfamide combinated steroids therapy improves renal survival in patients with Proliferate Lupus Nephritis, with considerable toxic effects. In lately years MMF, a immune suppressor used in transplant, seems to be effective in selected cases of Lupus Nephritis.

METHODS
We will describe six patients with Lupus Nephritis class IV and V (OMS Classification), that what different causes they must be treated with MMF like rescue drug. This stabilizes the renal function, controls LES activity and allows reductions or end of corticoids.

RESULTS
In tree cases we achievement total remission, two show partial remission and we had a fail because plaquetopenia and severe leucopenia with serious sepsis to give rise to neumopaty; this patient broke off the treatment. One presented Zoster Herpes that was treated with Aciclovir and temporary treatment break off.

CONCLUSION
MMF was effective to get remission in NL and maintain inactive LES, so it must to be considering as rescue therapy, or maintenance treatment after cyclosphosfamide induction. In patients where fertility is important must be considering like elective drug. Is necessary long time patients follow up to asses' effectiveness in renal survival, like cyclophosfamide.


We study the geometry of surfaces which are in equilibrium for a (constant coefficient) parametric elliptic functional with a volume constraint. We consider the first and second variations and the exceptional set of the Gauss map for such surfaces. The equilibrium surfaces of revolution (anisotropic Delaunay surfaces) are also discussed as is an anisotropic version of the Willmore functional.


Abstract In August 2014, Toledo, Ohio, experienced a dangerous algae bloom that led to a citywide water ban. News media coverage of the incident was widespread, as was social media conversation. Opinion leadership has been linked to news media agenda setting, and social media users are capable of generating considerable social influence within the sphere of their social networks. To better understand the dynamics of the conversation—especially as it pertained to agriculture—both during and after the water ban, the researchers used a social media analysis platform to identify high-influence Twitter users who participated in water-quality discussions about the Toledo water ban. Narrowing the search to agriculture-related discussion, the researchers revealed a dearth of agriculture-related content and also identified three categories of Twitter users in the conversation, including news sources, activists, and agriculture advocates. The researchers also found that Ohio users in post-ban discussions tended to be more influential than those who participated during the water ban. Identifying these users allows practitioners to monitor influential accounts for emerging issues and to engage with authoritative users in their geographic regions. The researchers also recommend that agriculture advocates exercise restraint in publicly speaking out about the industry's involvement in environmental issues.


Micro-data from the 2009 Vietnam census indicate that lone mothers represent 11.0% of all women aged 15 to 49 living with at least one of their children (≤17 years old). Results from logistic regression models show that school enrollment and attainment levels are lower for children of lone mothers than for children living with two parents. This negative effect is observed for children of never married, divorced or separated, and widowed lone mothers as well as for children of women currently married to a migrant not residing in the household provided they are not head of household. This disadvantage may be explained by reduced availability of human, material, and financial resources; restricted agency of the mother; and long-term socioeconomic and demographic processes shaping family relations and migration.


The discussion about parent and teacher's role in the handicapped child empower, is limited only for the sight-impaired child, hearing impaired child, and the autism. This case is discussed based on the researcher's experience and the result ofthe research shows that parent and teacher role is very strategy in reaching the goal in the handicapped child's empowerment in social adjustment and independent life. Handicapped child's empowerment will be effective and efficient if parent and teacher becomes pioneer in changing from negative attitude to positive attitude to the handicapped child. In fact negative attitude in the society first appears from the parent of the handicapped child: Experience shows that parent who has no experience with his/herhandicapped child, in general will be shocked, hide the child, also deny the child! the child existantion guessing that the child has no potention, so that will delay the child's progress. The effort to realize parent and teacher positive' attitude, in order, to empower the handicapped child can reach optimally so the research and socializing education services for the handicapped child must be intensive. Multi discipline cooperation, for example with the psycholog, or the paedagog, therapy expert and the other expert who concern to the handicapped child. Trough the increasing cooperation'" with the 'other side." hoping learning process and empower for the handicapped child (especially the sight impaired child, the hearing impaired child and the autism) will be deve)opsamewith the individual ,child potention.


In recent years, a number of program complexity metrics have been developed to measure various characteristics of computer programs [1, 3]. Included among these metrics are Zolnowski's composite measure of program complexity [4, 5] and McCade's cyclomatic measure of program complexity [2]. The present paper examines these two metrics and attempts to measure their correlation with a third metric assigned by the program's author. This metric has been called the psychological complexity or the intuitive complexity of a program.


A new primary standard for generation of vacuum pressures between 9 × 10−4 Pa and 103 Pa has been completed at the Ulusal Metroloji Enstitüsü (UME). It is based on the static expansion method, whereby the range is extended to lower pressures by multiple expansions. The apparatus consists of six vessels that provide a pressure reduction by a factor of about 10−6 in the main calibration vessel after a three-step expansion. Seventeen platinum resistance thermometers are mounted on the vessels to determine the correction due to temperature effects. The whole apparatus is built using the UHV technique and can be baked up to 400 °C. The expanded (k = 2) relative uncertainties of pressures, generated by this new standard, range from 2.1 × 10−3 at 9 × 10−4 Pa to 9.5 × 10−4 at 103 Pa.


The frequency-dependent complex impedance of some alkali borosilicate glasses ( mol%) was measured from 5 Hz to 500 kHz in the temperature range between 250 and C. The results show that the conductivity increases with increasing temperature over two linear parts characterized by two different activation energies. It is also shown that the temperature and frequency dependence of the electric modulus give a single relaxation peak. The temperature full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of increases with increase in alkali ion content while the frequency FWHM of remains unchanged with temperature. The frequency dependence of the AC conductivity in such glasses is found to obey Jonscher's relation. The temperature dependence of both the DC conductivity and the hopping rate , are the same within experimental error.


Abstract Two E. coli tRNAIle sequences were compared against those of 36 other E. coli tRNAs. tRNAIle 1 was found to bear high similarity with tRNAVal 1 (E = 1.11 x 10-18) while tRNAIle 2 had the greatest match ( E = 3 .4 0 x 10-19) with tRNALysl (E is the expected number of such matches, per search, based on coincidence). These matches, which we consider to represent homologies, extend from base 7 to base 67 in the former and base 7 to the end (76) in the latter pair. These results coupled wim otners on tne lower activity ot isoleucine in reactions postulated to be important in primitive protein synthesis (i.e. esterification reactions and non-enzymatic activation by ATP [1-3]) lead us to propose that isoleucine was included among the proteinaceous amino acids, and received its anticodonic assignment, relatively late in evolution through mutation of tRNAs previously employed for other amino acids.


Abstract Svetlozarite, previously described as a new member of the mordenite group of zeolites, is reinterpreted as a multiply twinned and highly faulted dachiardite. X-ray diffraction study and transmission electron microscopy revealed (001) twins and (100) stacking faults. The former are attributed at least mainly to the insertion of a b glide plane between dachiardite sheets at each twin interface, which preserves the 5-ring linkages between the sheets. The latter are associated with loss of the C face-centring relation, and are attributed to replacement of shared 5-rings by linked 4-rings in the dachiardite sheets. Further study is needed to determine whether the structural faults in the dachiardite structures are chemically controlled.


Contemporary treatments for spinal cord arteriovenous shunts are only based on clinicians' treatment experiences and expertise due to its rarity. We reviewed the clinical course of the largest multi-cantered cohort to evaluate the efficacy and deficiency of contemporary interventional treatments for spinal cord arteriovenous shunts. The clinical features, treatment results and clinical outcomes of 463 spinal cord arteriovenous shunts patients were retrospectively assessed. The main outcome was the neurological deterioration that was evaluated based on the modified Aminoff and Logue scale. According to post-treatment DSA, complete obliteration was defined as disappearance of the intradural lesion, whereas partial obliteration was defined as any residual intradural lesion remaining visible and was further categorized as shunt-reduction obliteration (the nidus or shunt points was reduced) or palliative obliteration (only obliterated aneurysms or feeders). Cure rate was 40.6% for whole cohort, 58.5% after microsurgery, and 26.4% after embolization. The curative resection was associated with non-metameric lesions, lesions with a maximum diameter < 3 cm and lesions without anterior sulcal artery supply. The curative embolization was associated with fistula-type lesions, non-metameric lesions, and main drainage diameter < 1.5 mm. Permanent treatment-related neurological deficits rate was 11.2% for the whole cohort, 16.1% after microsurgery, and 5.6% after embolization. The pre-treatment clinical deterioration rate was 32.5%/year, which decreased to 9.3%/year after clinical interventions. After partial treatment, the long-term acute and gradual deterioration rate were 5.3%/year and 3.6%/year, respectively. The acute deteriorations were associated with metameric lesions, craniocervical lesions, lesions with a maximum diameter ≥2 cm and residual aneurysm. Residual aneurysm was the only predictor of acute deterioration for non-metameric spinal cord arteriovenous shunts. The gradual deteriorations were associated with palliative obliteration, absence of pre-treatment acute deterioration and intact main drainage. Although clinical risks of spinal cord arteriovenous shunts were reduced after clinical interventions, contemporary treatments for spinal cord arteriovenous shunt remains associated with considerable risks and incomplete efficacy. Individualized treatment plans should be adopted according to the angioarchitectural features and major clinical risks of specific lesions. There is a higher opportunity for complete obliteration for lesions with simple angioarchitecture. However, regarding most of spinal cord arteriovenous shunts with complex vascular anatomy, partial treatment is the only choice. For these patients, palliative obliteration targeting the aneurysms is recommended for reducing hemorrhagic risk, whereas shunt-reduction obliteration is necessary for non-haemorrhagic myelopathy. Contemporary treatment is ineffective in reducing hemorrhagic risk of incurable metameric spinal cord arteriovenous shunts.


Colchicine suppresses the development of carrageenan-induced edema in the rat with a minimum effective oral dose of 6.0 mg/kg. The slope of the dose-response regression line for colchicine differs significantly from that of indomethacin and phenylbutazone. Based on the dosages required to achieve a 50% suppression of this inflammation, colchicine is 0.6 and 1.5 times as potent as indomethacin and phenylbutazone, respectively. In the reversed passive Arthus reaction in the rat, the suppressive activity of colchicine is at least 50 times that of indomethacin and 100 times that of phenylbutazone. The possible significance of these results with regard to the unique effectiveness of colchicine in the treatment of gout is discussed.


Many consumers of psychiatric services are parents, making these services the opportunistic point for supporting consumers' children. While evidence suggests that assisting such children improves their mental health, there is a large gulf between what psychiatric services should (or could) provide and what they do in practice. This paper summarizes the constraining barriers and issues for the psychiatric workforce according to: (1) policy and management; (2) interagency collaboration; (3) worker attitude,skill and knowledge; (4) the parent-consumer; and (5) the consumer's family, including children. Potential solutions are presented, with a particular focus on the hierarchical nature of these barriers. Recommendations are made, including organizational audits to identify the most pressing barriers that impede family sensitive practice.


Abstract 1093 The high-level accumulation of β globin in mature erythrocytes requires a correspondingly high level of its encoding mRNA in terminally differentiating erythroid progenitors. We recently identified two RNA-binding proteins–AUF1 and YB1–that appear to regulate levels of β-globin mRNA in these cells by assembling a cytoplasm-restricted RNA-protein 9β-complex9 on its 39UTR. The function of the β-complex was predicted by in vitro analyses mapping it to a cis -acting determinant of β-globin mRNA stability, and subsequently validated by in vivo siRNA studies demonstrating that simultaneous knockdown of AUF1 and YB1 ablated the β-complex and coordinately reduced the accumulation of β-globin mRNA in K562 cells. Although both AUF1 and YB1 are ubiquitously expressed, studies in cultured cells and in Epo-induced CD34+ primary cells indicated that their β-globin mRNA-specific regulatory properties are restricted to erythroid cells during later stages of terminal differentiation. Based upon these observations, we reasoned that AUF1 and YB1 undergo erythroid and differentiation stage-restricted alterations that permit their assembly into the mRNA-regulatory β-complex. Our analyses of AUF1 focused on three structural isoforms, observed in K562 cells, resulting from alternative pre-mRNA processing events that retain or exclude exon 7. GST-AUF1 fusion isoforms that retain exon 7 fail to bind the β-globin 39UTR in vitro , while related isoforms that exclude exon 7 bind the 39UTR with high efficiency. These results, which implicate the importance of exon 7 exclusion to AUF1 function, were subsequently validated in intact K562 cells using an AUF1 isotype-specific siRNA knockdown strategy. In these in vivo experiments, a reduction in exon 7-excluded AUF1 effected a two-fold decrease in steady-state β-globin mRNA, while similar reductions in exon 7-retained AUF1 isoforms had no measurable effect. The isotype-specific mRNA-binding characteristics of AUF1 may be particularly important during terminal differentiation: Epo-induced CD34+ cells display an increase in exon 7-excluded AUF1, paralleling their capacity to assemble a regulatory β-complex in vitro . Among several possible mechanisms, we asked whether the isoform-specific function of AUF1 might relate to the unusually high number (20) of phosphorylation-capable residues encoded by exon 7. In vitro analyses were fully consistent with this possibility, demonstrating that the β-globin mRNA-binding activity of exon 7- retained AUF1 could be restored by prior dephosphorylation. These experiments suggest that post-transcriptional regulation of β-globin mRNA during erythroid differentiation is likely to be effected by alternative splicing of AUF1 pre-mRNA that eliminates phosphorylation-active exon 7 amino-acids in the translated protein. Based upon these results, we reasoned that related post-translational processes might similarly regulate the β-globin mRNA-binding specificity of YB1. Our analyses focused on a specific residue (Ser102) that is a known target for regulatory phosphorylation and can be experimentally identified using a Ser102 phospho-specific YB1 antibody. In in vitro studies with K562 cytoplasmic extract, which contains both phospho- and dephospho- forms of YB1, we observed that only dephospho-YB1 adheres to the β-globin 39UTR; likewise, in in vivo studies of CD34+ cells we noted a substantial increase in the ratio of dephospho:phospho-YB1 following Epo induction. Both experiments indicate the likely importance of this post-translational process to the function of YB1 during terminal differentiation. Confirmatory studies are currently being conducted in vivo using an epitope-tagged YB1 containing a position 102 Ser->Ala substitution. Collectively, our analyses indicate that the β-globin mRNA-binding specificities of AUF1 and YB1–and, hence, their corresponding regulatory activities–are determined by post-transcriptional and -translational events. This work suggests mechanisms through which erythroid progenitors can maintain dynamic regulatory control during an interval when transcriptional processes are beginning to silence, and identifies new pathways that can be therapeutically targeted in patients with congenital disorders of β-globin gene expression. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Introduction to the Internet of Things (IoT) The IoT refers to the paradigm of physical and virtual "things" that communicate and collaborate over the Internet, with or without human intervention. The spectra of things that may be connected within the IoT ranges from complex machines, such as aircraft and cars, to everyday appliances, such as consumer refrigerators, and very simple devices such as humidity sensors. The emphasis of the IoT is on services, which represent the primary driver for interconnecting things. Examples of IoT services include micro-climate monitoring of homes, asset tracking during transportation, and, on a larger scale, controlling the power consumption of all the refrigerators in a country depending on the load. Current and forecast market evaluations (such as Cisco's forecast of a $14.4 trillion global IoT market by 2022 [1]) show that the IoT has a huge revenue potential, to be shared between operators, service providers, hardware vendors, and testing-solutions vendors. Thus, it is not surprising that the IoT is currently one of the hottest topics in the telecommunications world, endorsed by both industry and academia. A term closely related, but not identical to IoT is machine-to-machine (M2M) communications , or, in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) terminology, machine-type-communications (MTC). M2M communications refer to the concept in which machines (i.e., standalone devices) communicate with a remote server without human intervention. "M2M can be considered as the plumbing of IoT" [2] or, more formally stated, M2M communications are the key enabler of IoT services. A natural question that arises is how well the existing networking solutions and technologies can serve as the basis for M2M communications and, more broadly, IoT services and, when they cannot support them, how to design other, suitable connectivity solutions. These questions have in recent years instigated a significant body of research and development by industry, standardization bodies, and academia. The general conclusion is that the existing technologies, in their present form, cannot efficiently support M2M communications. The reason is that existing communication systems, particularly in the wireless domain, are designed to efficiently support human-type communications (HTC), such as web browsing, voice calls, and video streaming, where high data rates are essential but the volume of users that simultaneously require service is far beyond the expected number of interconnected devices.


Inoculation with strains of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased dry weight of maize root and shoot from 84.8 to 187.1% and 56.3 to 145.8% respectively over the uninoculated control. The plant height, per cent root colonization, population of AM fungal spores and mycorrhizal dependency of maize at 60 days after sowing (DAS) as influenced by different AM strains ranged from 47.26 to 87.33, cm plant−1, 63.66 to 92.66%, 439.66 to 583.00 spores 100 g−1 soil and 161.73 to 277.13% per cent in maize, respectively. Phenotypic and genotypic variations in response to AMF colonization is found between plant culti-vars, genotypes, ecotypes, with respect to nutri-ent acquisition and growth. In general Glomus ACP-1 strain caused maximum value of all the parameters. The maximum shoot fresh & dry weight, root dry weight, spore population, root colonization, mycorrhizal dependency in maize crop was observed due to Glomus ACP-1 strain which was statistically at par with Glomus ACP-2.


This paper describes a user centred-design method in which the "voice of the disabled customer" can be translated into product requirements in a form that designers and manufacturers can use. Wheelchairs were chosen as the product for study. The methods emerged from surveys of wheelchair designers, prescribers (physiotherapists and occupational therapists), rehabilitation engineers, users and carers on their views on wheelchair design, assessment, prescription and use. The user-centred method for products for disabled people comprises a set of 11 phases including: Preliminary Strategic Planning, Approaching the Users, Investigating the Problem, Product Planning, Concept Design, Prototyping and Testing and Verification.


Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) levels in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), dry AMD, and also in healthy controls. Settings and Design: This study was conducted at Department of Ophthalmology, and the study design was a prospective study. Patients and Methods: Forty-eight patients with wet AMD, 51 patients with dry AMD, and 50 controls were included in the study. All patients were naive to both previous lutein or zeaxanthin administration and any previous intravitreal injections. Fundus reflectance (VISUCAM 500, reflectance of a single 460 nm wavelength) was used to measure the MPOD levels. Three groups were compared regarding age, gender, serum lutein, and zeaxanthin concentrations as well as MPOD levels. Results: Serum lutein and zeaxanthin levels were significantly higher in control group when compared with wet AMD (Group 1) and dry AMD (Group 2) (P = 0.001 and P< 0.001, respectively). Mean MPOD was found to be similar in all of the three study subgroups (P = 0.630). However, maximum MPOD was significantly higher in control group when compared with Group 1 and 2 (P = 0.003). There was no correlation between serum lutein or zeaxanthin concentrations and mean MPOD levels (P = 0.815, r = 0.014 and P = 0.461, r = 0.043, respectively), but there was a weak correlation between serum zeaxanthin concentration and maximum MPOD level (P = 0.042, r = 0.124). Maximum MPOD level was found to be correlated with the level of AMD (Group 1, 2, and 3; r = 0.184, P = 0.041). Conclusion: Maximum MPOD level was found to be lower in patients with AMD when compared with control cases. Mean MPOD and maximum MPOD levels were similar in wet and dry AMD Groups. These results can be applied clinically keeping in mind that MPOD measurements with one wavelength reflectometry may not be completely reliable.


Wynn Werner is a founding director and the current president of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). He is also the longtime administrator of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, founded and directed by Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad. As sister associations, IAYT and NAMA have a growing working relationship in support of each other and our complementary missions. This year, IAYT will be presenting a series on Yoga therapy for Ayurvedic practitioners at NAMA's annual conference in October in Albuquerque. We have also worked together on improving the nuts and bolts of membership service.John Kepner, executive director of IAYT, visited the Ayurvedic Institute to interview Wynn about the challenges of building a professional organization and the development of training standards for Ayurvedic practitioners, to see what insights and inspiration the experiences of NAMA might provide for IAYT and the development of our own field.


provide strong correlates for CTC counts. CONCLUSIONS: Post validation in larger cohorts, radiomic corelates of liquid biopsy parameters such as CTC counts may provide surrogates for assessment of the likelihood of recurrence and metas-tasis in PC. With the widespread applicability of arti fi cial intelligence in healthcare, diverse information about tumor behavior based on its ge- notype and phenotype decoded via imaging, may predict treatment failures earlier than with conventional methods. classi retrospective biobank (MGB) base review PCa (LHRH) triplicate T variability for categorical concordance. estimation


A retrospective study of 90 patients suffering from laryngeal carcinoma who were surgically treated in the Department of Otolaryngology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland, has been performed. In 26 patients metastases in regional lymph nodes has been found. Various clinical, histopathological and kariometric factors have been subject to analysis. The artificial neural networks techniques have been used for prediction of presence of metastases in lymph nodes. The artificial neural networks exhibit an ability to generalize, i.e. they can learn from exemplary sets of data. Therefore the patients data have been divided at random into two sets forming a learning set (70 patients) and a test set (20 patients). A series of simulations have been carried out, using networks of various architectures and experimentally selected learning parameters, giving the prediction results between 71% and 96% of correct recognitions. The best prediction results have been achieved for the network of triple layer perceptron type including 6 neurons in the hidden layer. The evaluation of factors related to the presence of metastases in lymph nodes has been also carried out using logistic regression method for several groups of patients including various numbers of cases. The data sets of the remaining patients have been used for testing the reliability of that statistical method, giving between 56% and 64% of correct recognitions. Therefore the possibilities of prediction of metastases presence in lymph nodes are better for the artificial neural networks method (up to 96% of correct classifications) i.m. comparison to the logistic regression method (only up to 64% of correct classifications for the same data sets).


Large ultra-low background liquid xenon detectors have recently emerged as a promising technology that can push the neutrinoless double beta decay search to unprecedented sensitivity. Since it began operation, EXO-200 has completed one of the most sensitive searches for 0νββ decay of 136Xe using its first two years of data. After an unexpected interruption, due to underground incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), EXO-200 has started its Phase-II running in April 2016 with upgrades to its front-end electronics and Rn suppression system. In this article, we report the performance data of upgraded EXO-200 detector and the projected sensitivity for its Phase-II running. nEXO is a next-generation tonne-scale experiment building on the success of EXO-200. This 5 tonne LXe detector will be capable of probing Majorana neutrino mass in the inverted mass hierarchy region. The status of the nEXO experiment will be discussed in the article.


Summary. From experiments with anti-androgens, it can be concluded which processes in the sex differentiation of dogs are androgen\x=req-\ dependent and which are not. In contrast to rats but as in rabbits, retrogression of the Wolffian ducts can be induced in the treated members of this species compared to their controls, but retrogression of the M\l=u"\llerianducts is uninfluenced in both treated and control animals. From this, it is concluded that the latter process is not androgen-dependent.


58 Abstract Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an established industrial host for production of recombinant proteins, fuels and chemicals. To enable stable integration of multiple marker-free overexpression cassettes in the genome of S. cerevisiae, we have developed a vector toolkit EasyClone-MarkerFree. The integration of linearized expression cassettes into defined genomic loci is facilitated by CRISPR/Cas9. Cas9 is recruited to the chromosomal location by specific guide RNAs (gRNAs) expressed from a set of gRNA helper vectors. Using our genome engineering vector suite, single and triple insertions are obtained with 90–100% and 60–70% targeting efficiency, respectively. We demonstrate application of the vector toolkit by constructing a haploid laboratory strain (CEN.PK113-7D) and a diploid industrial strain (Ethanol Red) for production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid, where we tested three different acetyl-CoA supply strategies, requiring overexpression of three to six genes each. Among the tested strategies was a bacterial cytosolic pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, which was integrated into the genome in a single transformation. The publicly available EasyClone-MarkerFree vector suite allows for facile and highly standardized genome engineering, and should be of particular interest to researchers working on yeast chassis with limited markers available.


Recognizing code-switched speech is challenging for Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for a variety of reasons, including the lack of code-switched training data. Recently, we showed that monolingual ASR systems fine-tuned on code-switched data deteriorate in performance on monolingual speech recognition, which is not desirable as ASR systems deployed in multilingual scenarios should recognize both monolingual and code-switched speech with high accuracy. Our experiments indicated that this loss in performance could be mitigated by using certain strategies for fine-tuning and regularization, leading to improvements in both monolingual and code-switched ASR. In this work, we present further improvements over our previous work by using domain adversarial learning to train task agnostic models. We evaluate the classification accuracy of an adversarial discriminator and show that it can learn shared layer parameters that are task agnostic. We train end-to-end ASR systems starting with a pooled model that uses monolingual and code-switched data along with the adversarial discriminator. Our proposed technique leads to reductions in Word Error Rates (WER) in monolingual and code-switched test sets across three language pairs.


'Biopower' has been the building block to address human beings as global mass with liberal government practices. The sovereign power continuously categorizes the population between 'political life' and the 'other' mute bearers of 'bare life'. To ensure human security to all, threats to human security have been broadened beyond the realm of military security. Equitable health and development, therefore, should constitute a central goal of human security. Global health has always been economic opportunity and security -sensitive to United States .Genomics can explain the complex interactions of genetic and environmental factors in health and disease .The post-genome biology have been characterized by higher stakes, lower threshold and proven capabilities. If the dual-use Genomics is left without vigil and intervention by global governance since its very take-off, it may usher in an era of catastrophe, much more disastrous than that of genetic engineering. The cause of 'war against terror' has transformed biomedical research into a subset of weapons development. The military -industrial elites have been so powerful that opportunities for a counter veiling power has been precluded. The intrinsic nature of knowledge and its ever extending horizons have engendered the planetary arena.


Diabetes is not only a disease but also responsible for occurring different kinds of diseases such as heart attack, kidney disease, blindness and renal failure. With respect to Bangladesh, Diabetes is a deadly, disabling and cost disease whose risk is increasing at alarming rate. The diagnosis of diabetes is a vital and tedious task. The detection of diabetes from some important risk factors is a multi-layered problem. Initially 400 diabetes and non-diabetes patients' data is collected from different diagnostic centre and data is pre-processed. After pre-processing data is clustered using K-means clustering algorithm for identifying relevant and non-relevant data to diabetes. Next significant frequent patterns are discovered using AprioriTid shown in Table 1 and Decision Tree algorithm shown in Table 2. Finally implement a system to predict diabetes which is easier, cost reducible and time saveable.


Background The link of low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and high proteinuria to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality is well known. However, its link to mortality due to other causes is less clear. Methods We studied 367,932 adults (20–93 years old) in the Korean Heart Study (baseline between 1996–2004 and follow-up until 2011) and assessed the associations of creatinine-based eGFR and dipstick proteinuria with mortality due to CVD (1,608 cases), cancer (4,035 cases), and other (non-CVD/non-cancer) causes (3,152 cases) after adjusting for potential confounders. Results Although cancer was overall the most common cause of mortality, in participants with chronic kidney disease (CKD), non-CVD/non-cancer mortality accounted for approximately half of cause of death (47.0%for eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73m2 and 54.3% for proteinuria ≥1+). Lower eGFR (<60 vs. ≥60 ml/min/1.73m2) was significantly associated with mortality due to CVD (adjusted hazard ratio 1.49 [95% CI, 1.24–1.78]) and non-CVD/non-cancer causes (1.78 [1.54–2.05]). The risk of cancer mortality only reached significance at eGFR <45 ml/min/1.73m2 when eGFR 45–59 ml/min/1.73m2 was set as a reference (1.62 [1.10–2.39]). High proteinuria (dipstick ≥1+ vs. negative/trace) was consistently associated with mortality due to CVD (1.93 [1.66–2.25]), cancer (1.49 [1.32–1.68]), and other causes (2.19 [1.96–2.45]). Examining finer mortality causes, low eGFR and high proteinuria were commonly associated with mortality due to coronary heart disease, any infectious disease, diabetes, and renal failure. In addition, proteinuria was also related to death from stroke, cancers of stomach, liver, pancreas, and lung, myeloma, pneumonia, and viral hepatitis. Conclusion Low eGFR was associated with CVD and non-CVD/non-cancer mortality, whereas higher proteinuria was consistently related to mortality due to CVD, cancer, and other causes. These findings suggest the need for multidisciplinary prevention and management strategies in individuals with CKD, particularly when proteinuria is present.


Monocyte recruitment and invasion play critical roles in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. The reduction in monocyte adhesion and infiltration is thought to exert antiatherosclerotic effects. Curcumin, demethoxycurcumin (DMC), and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) are the major active components of curcuminoids and exhibit several biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, and hypocholesterolemic activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the antiatherogenic effects and mechanisms of curcuminoids during monocyte to macrophage differentiation. The results showed that curcumin, DMC, and BDMC (20 μM) suppressed matrix invasion from 100.0 ± 5.0% to 24.8 ± 1.4%, 26.6 ± 2.9%, and 33.7 ± 1.7%, respectively, during PMA-induced THP-1 differentiation. We found that curcuminoids significantly reduced PMA-induced CD11b and MMP-9 expression by THP-1 cells. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by PMA (126.7 ± 2.1%) was markedly attenuated by curcumin, DMC, and BDMC to 99.5 ± 7.8%, 87.8 ± 8.2%, and 89.8 ± 7.6%, respectively, resulting in the down-regulation of CD11b and MMP-9 expression. We demonstrated that curcuminoids inhibited NADPH oxidase through the down-regulation of NOX2 expression and the reduction of p47phox membrane translocation. Moreover, we found involvement of PKCδ in the PMA-induced NOX2, CD11b, and MMP-9 mRNA expression. Curcumin, DMC, and BDMC decreased the active form of PKCδ protein stimulated by PMA in THP-1 cells. Overall, our results reveal that curcuminoids suppress matrix invasion through the inhibition of the PKCδ/NADPH oxidase/ROS signaling pathway during monocyte-macrophage differentiation.


Since antiquity, antibacterial agents have been a blessing in the fight against diversified bacterial infections saving millions of lives. However, despite efforts to combat infections caused by multiple drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA), infections due to MDRSA is still on the rise and remain a significant public health burden globally. Currently, effective antibiotics to address this urgent need are limited, warranting the search for new compounds using the medicinal approach to discover antimicrobial therapies. Here, we investigated the bactericidal effect of cold macerated 70% ethanolic stem bark extract of Khaya senegalensis (KS) on twenty MDRSA isolates, using the agar well-diffusion and micro-broth dilution techniques. The test organisms were challenged with two-fold dilution concentrations of extract,100 to 6.25 mg/mL and 50 to 0.02 mg/mL for the agar well-diffusion and micro-broth dilution assays, respectively. Our work showed that the ethanolic extract from KS inhibited all the tested organisms with appreciable inhibition zones ranging from 18.3 ± 0.6 to 8.3 ± 0.6 mm in a dose-dependent manner compared to Ciprofloxacin (15 μg/mL) 15.3 ± 0.6 to 19.0 ± 0.0 mm. Also, the extract showed promising activity against the MDRSA strains with very low minimum bactericidal concentrations of 0.39 to 1.56mg/mL. Further studies on phytochemical screening and bioassay-guided fractionation of extract from KS to isolate the bioactive compounds are ongoing.


This paper presents how to design and fabricate the gravure offset printing system for enhancement of register precision. Factors of precision error are caused by imprecision of gravure plate, deformation of substrate, printing quality change due to the change of ink viscosity, Imprecision of printing machine, and so on. This study suggests concept design of gravure offset printing system which is able to minimize or remove these error factors.


Metabolic complications of Type-1 diabetes mellitus are a significant source of morbidity and mortality. Nicotinamide treatment has been reported to reverse pancreatic beta cell damage and used to prevent Type-1 diabetes mellitus. The effects of nicotinamide on fasting blood glucose, serum C-peptide and brain tryptophan have not been fully investigated. The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of nicotinamide on fasting blood glucose, serum C-peptide and brain tryptophan levels in Streptozotocin (STZ)induced diabetic rats. Type-1 diabetes was induced by intra-peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (55mg/kg) using Sprague-Dawley rats. After 2 days, the rats were divided into diabetic control and nicotinamide-treatment group. Nicotinamide was orally administered at daily doses of 375mg/kg and 500mg/kg for a period of 4 weeks, while another group of rats without this treatment served as control. The diabetic control group showed significant (p < 0.05) increase in fasting blood glucose, but a decrease in serum C–Peptide and brain tryptophan levels compared with the control. Treatments with 375mg/kg and 500mg/kg nicotinamide showed a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose, but an increase in serum C-peptide and brain tryptophan levels compared with diabetic control. Data of the study indicate that nicotinamide may prevent diabetic complications by alleviating its metabolic symptoms of hyperglycemia and polyphagia, which may ameliorates pancreatic islet cell damage in diabetic rats.


ABSTRACT The overall concern with ILO Convention 169 is often listed as the dual challenge of promoting its ratification and enhancing effective implementation. This article offers a critical appraisal of the dual challenge by unpacking calls for clarity, guidance and implementation, while exploring the underlying politics of negotiation, interpretation and institutional boundaries potentially undermining the role of the Convention as an instrument of social justice. On the one hand, three decades of implementation have demonstrated the value of international frameworks and standards in helping frame national rights debates. On the other hand, there is a constant risk of lowering the bar and ultimately perpetuating the very inequalities the Convention was set-up to challenge. If indigenous peoples have long employed a 'cuckoo effect' relying on the nesting, reporting and filing of representations by others, this article identifies policy and institutional points of leverage to strengthen engagement with indigenous peoples in the ILO world of work.


OBJECTIVE
Silver has become a global treatment option with the US Food and Drug Administration providing marketing clearance for many silver-impregnated wound dressings and topical agents. However, the increased use of silver-based products across medical disciplines has raised questions concerning the development of acute silver resistance. In this study, the efficacy of previously identified silver-resistant clinical bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae) against a variety of commercially available silver-based wound dressings was further investigated.

METHOD
To further explore the clinical significance of these isolates, multiple time-course and repeat-challenge assays were conducted with nine dressings using a panel of silver-resistant and silver-sensitive microorganisms. Silver-impregnated dressings were ranked by silver species, quantity of silver and overall efficacy.

RESULTS
Both silver-resistant strains were largely unaffected and exhibited phenotypic resistance even when exposed to the high silver concentrations found in commercially available wound dressings. In stark contrast, the majority of the dressings were able to maintain a high degree of efficacy over the course of 72 hours and during repeated bacterial challenges against silver-sensitive microorganisms.

CONCLUSION
Our findings provide additional evidence that clinically significant silver-resistance has emerged in the clinical setting. Such resistant microbes are capable of sustained silver resistance against a wide variety of silver adjuvants. These findings suggest that the further development and dissemination of these resistance mechanisms could significantly impact current practices in wound healing.


This article focuses on which variables predict instant messenger (IM) use. A model was tested with a sample of 329 undergraduate participants. Results indicated a strong link between internet self-efficacy and perceived usefulness of IM. Subsequently, one's attitude toward using IM was impacted by the perceived usefulness of IM. Also, a peer groups' subjective norm about IM accurately predicted their intention to use IM. However, intention did not predict IM use for users, and attitude toward using IM did not predict intention to use IM for either group. Finally, the data were judged to be inconsistent with the model.


The process by which societies adapt to increasing knowledge about the mental and physical capacities of animals and the ways in which they are affected by human activities has been described as a journey. Different countries and regions are at various stages of this journey, and will take a unique path, depending on their specific social and cultural dynamics. However, all participants are unified by an increasing awareness of, and concern for, animal welfare. This journey has been characterised by a number of landmark events, one of which was the release of the Five Freedoms concept. Although aspirational and abstract, as it did not outline specific practical goals, nonetheless this concept became a catalyst for moving animal welfare thinking in a new direction, and set up a number of important targets for research. This eventually led to a key shift in thinking from a focus on biological functioning and resources, to ways of assessing welfare outcomes in terms of animals' experiences, i.e. their affective states. Behaviour science played an important role in the interpretation of animals' affective experiences, receiving compelling support from parallel studies in affective neuroscience. An important aspect of our understanding of animal welfare is that affective states can be negative or positive. Enabling animals to perform specific behaviours at key times when they are needed is central to the achievement of positive affective states. Another important event has been the development of practical ways to shift the spectrum of affective states towards a positive balance and their incorporation into welfare codes and regulations. The recent focus on positive affective states does not mean that negative experiences should be given less attention. In fact, in those countries that are at the early stages of the journey, improving function and productivity may be the most effective way to promote some important aspects of animal welfare. For example, alleviating pain is a useful entry point. Finally, it is important that the pace of the journey, in terms of public awareness and shifts in understanding, be supported by high-quality science that is rigorously assessed and validated in its practical application to the management of animal welfare.


According to the hygiene hypothesis, sensing bacteria in the gut is imperative to switching the immune system from Th2 to Th1, thus reducing potential for an asthma-like phenotype developing in the lungs. In the gut toll-like receptors 2 and 4 (TLR2, TLR4) are critical for sensing Gram positive and negative bacteria, respectively. Previous data indicate in the first two weeks of life when the immune system switch generally occurs and a microbial repertoire is established, these two receptors are significantly upregulated. This project's hypothesis is TLR2 and 4 are critical for microbial sensing in the gut, thus C57BL/6 mice deficient in TLR2, TLR4, or both (double knockout) should have a more asthmatic phenotype. Interestingly, after inducing asthma with cockroach antigen (CRA) in a specific pathogen-free environment, the TLR2-/-/4-/- treated with CRA had a significant increase in serum IgE compared to the C57BL/6 treated with CRA, while the TLR4-/- had increased IL-13 mRNA levels compared to the C57BL/6 treated with CRA. This indicates the lack of interplay of TLR2 and 4 may play a role in maintaining a Th2 phenotype in the lungs; consequently preventing the immune switch to a Th1 phenotype.
 Research supported by the Strategic Program for Asthma Research


Objectives To determine whether the receipt of chemotherapy among terminally ill cancer patients months before death was associated with patients' subsequent intensive medical care and place of death. Design Secondary analysis of a prospective, multi-institution, longitudinal study of patients with advanced cancer. Setting Eight outpatient oncology clinics in the United States. Participants 386 adult patients with metastatic cancers refractory to at least one chemotherapy regimen, whom physicians identified as terminally ill at study enrollment and who subsequently died. Main outcome measures Primary outcomes: intensive medical care (cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, or both) in the last week of life and patients' place of death (for example, intensive care unit). Secondary outcomes: survival, late hospice referrals (≤1 week before death), and dying in preferred place of death. Results 216 (56%) of 386 terminally ill cancer patients were receiving palliative chemotherapy at study enrollment, a median of 4.0 months before death. After propensity score weighted adjustment, use of chemotherapy at enrollment was associated with higher rates of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, or both in the last week of life (14% v 2%; adjusted risk difference 10.5%, 95% confidence interval 5.0% to 15.5%) and late hospice referrals (54% v 37%; 13.6%, 3.6% to 23.6%) but no difference in survival (hazard ratio 1.11, 95% confidence interval 0.90 to 1.38). Patients receiving palliative chemotherapy were more likely to die in an intensive care unit (11% v 2%; adjusted risk difference 6.1%, 1.1% to 11.1%) and less likely to die at home (47% v 66%; −10.8%, −1.0% to −20.6%), compared with those who were not. Patients receiving palliative chemotherapy were also less likely to die in their preferred place, compared with those who were not (65% v 80%; adjusted risk difference −9.4%, −0.8% to −18.1%). Conclusions The use of chemotherapy in terminally ill cancer patients in the last months of life was associated with an increased risk of undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation or both and of dying in an intensive care unit. Future research should determine the mechanisms by which palliative chemotherapy affects end of life outcomes and patients' attainment of their goals.


The aim of this research is an interdisciplinary study. Having recourse to concepts and tools developed by social sciences, we would revisit the Athenian liturgical system and intend, more particularly, to interpret several aspects of this institution in the light of modern oblative theories. The paper starts with a survey of the liturgical organisation (λeιτουργίαι) in classical Athens. We focus on two distinct forms of this state public state assumed by wealthy citizens: the trierarchy and the choregy. We then confront this ancient argument to modern gift notions and pinpoint several interesting features. The liturgical object covers a double investment in terms of time and money about a precise activity, with only a few space of freedom. We then observe the existence of three types of actors within the liturgical system. On the giver's side, there are the liturgists characterised by affluence and political activity. They constitute a reduced part of the population and show contrasted attitudes toward their duty. On the recipient's side, we surprisingly find the gods as well as, more obviously, the citizens (globally but also, to some extent, individually). The gift relationship does not appear in its classical interpersonal form. Moreover, we distinguish two kinds of return gift according to their certainty level. The liturgical system is finally examined with regard to its impact on social cohesion. Beyond the limits of the confrontation, the socio-anthropological perspective reveals its relevance to highlight the main features of the Athenian liturgical system.


Abstract One of the greatest challenges for ecologists this century will be restoring forests on degraded tropical lands. This restoration will require understanding complex processes that shape successional pathways, including interactions between trees and other plants. Shrub species often quickly invade disturbed tropical lands, yet little is known about whether they facilitate or inhibit subsequent tree recruitment and growth. We examined how shrubs and other vegetation (e.g., vines, grasses, herbs) affect tree recruitment, survival, and growth during the first 6 years of forest succession in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The study was undertaken in two recently logged exotic softwood plantations. We studied the successional trajectories in two recently logged areas that varied in their initial densities of trees and shrubs. Analyses suggested tree seedling presence and density were not strongly related to shrub density or height during succession. Tree sapling presence and density were positively significantly related to shrub density and height. We found little response in the tree community to experimental shrub removal, and although removal of all nontree vegetation temporarily enhanced tree growth, the effect disappeared after 2 years. Some early‐successional trees benefited from reduced competition, whereas some mid‐successional trees benefited from the presence of other vegetation. Some specific tree species responded strongly to vegetation removal. We interpret our findings in light of designing manipulations promoting forest restoration for biodiversity conservation and conclude with four tentative guidelines: (1) manage at the species level, not the community level; (2) increase facilitation for seedlings, reduce competition for saplings; (3) be cautious of assumptions about plant interactions; and (4) be adaptable and creative with new strategies when manipulations fail.


The occurrences of rare earth elements (REE) have been determined using Laser Ablation Inductive Couple Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) method from greenschist facies rock in Bantimala Complex, South Sulawesi. Greenschist facies rocks occur as a product of low grade metamorphism along with HP metamorphic rock, including eclogite and blueschist facies rocks. Major element result show that the greenschist facies rocks were derived from various affinities, ranging from mid oceanic ridge basalt to upper continental crust which has an intermediate to basic composition. They were also enriched in rock with intermediate composition, particularly quartz-epidote chlorite schist whereas other rocks which have a more basic affinity show relatively low content of REE. All the greenschist facies rocks were characterized by a moderate irregular REE pattern with some variation showing LREE enrichment except those from albite actinolite schist. Generally, the ∑REEs+Y ranges from 9 – 786 ppm with average of 173 ppm. The LREE was much concentrated than the HREE except for albite actinolite schist by a factor of 2.36 – 6.27, which suggested that the LREE content in greenschist facies rocks were derived from intermediate rock composition rather than basaltic composition. It is shown from the study that REE were relatively immobile during low grade metamorphism.


Introduction Lymphatic mapping for identification and subsequent removal of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is an established procedure in breast cancer and cutaneous melanoma to minimize the extent of surgery (and thus, associated morbidity), simplify histopathological processing and subsequently provide prognostic information and help choose the optimal patient management. Established methods for SLN mapping include visual identification of nodal staining after peritumoral injection of a (blue) dye or the use of lymphoscintigraphy with technetium-labelled nanocolloid. In experienced hands, success rates for both methods exceed 95 %, nonetheless in some patients they fail despite correct application and imaging techniques. Potential reasons for false-negative SLN detection rates –beyond poor tracer injection technique or imaging of the wrong nodal basin- include inadequate pathologic examination of the SLN or complete replacement of the SLN with neoplastic disease, causing the injected tracer to completely bypass the infiltrated node 1. Beyond colloid particles, the more specific receptor-targeting small molecule [99mTc]Tilmanocept has recently been approved for scintigraphic SLN detection. Tilmanocept, or mannosyl diethylene-triamine-pentaacetate (DTPA) dextran, has a small molecular size of approximately 7 nm and works via specific binding to the mannose receptor (CD206) 2. The mannose receptor is particularly overexpressed on macrophages and dendritic precursor cells within lymph nodes, thus uptake in lymph nodes is not dependent on particle size 2, 3. In pilot studies scintigraphic SLN detection with [99mTc]Tilmanocept was superior to dye staining 4. Given its beneficial properties, [99mTc]Tilmanocept might offer advantages over the alternatively used radiocolloids. We present four cases of [99mTc]Tilmanocept application after inconclusive or unsuccessful attempts of SLN detection using [99mTc]nanocolloid lymphoscintigraphy.


Facial expression recognition is influenced by factors exogenous to the expression itself, including targets' group membership and facial structure. The current work represents an attempt to understand the combined influence of such factors. Across two experiments, the authors found that the effects of facial structure on expression recognition (Shared Signal—style effects) are influenced by ingroup/outgroup status. Perceivers showed elevated influence of facial structure on expression recognition for outgroup relative to ingroup faces, especially when the ingroup/outgroup status of the target faces was salient. This work is a novel example of how target group memberships can moderate the well-replicated influence of facial structure on expression recognition.


The intensity of cortisol metabolism was studied under conditions of perfusion of the liver in situ by solutions containing cortisol in different concentrations; in this case metabolism coursed chiefly in the direction of cortisone formation. With the increase of cortisol concentration in the inflowing perusate there was also a rise in the intensity of its metabolism in the hepatic tissue. In anaphylactic alteration of hepatic tissue the intensity of cortisol transformation into cortisone decreased, this pointing to disturbances of cortisol oxidation. Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is also acccompanied by a reduction in the intensity of cortisol metabolism.


It is a known fact that plants are widely used in pharmaceutical and food industries due to their biological importance. Among the plant parts, leaves, stems, roots and bark are being widely studied for their biological properties. However, flowers are almost neglected and are not much probed for their importance. In this study, the methanolic and aqueous extracts of 25 commonly available flowers belonging to 16 different families from the state of Tamil Nadu are probed for their antioxidant property and their phytochemical constituents respectively. Methanolic crude extracts of the flowers at the concentrations of 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000µg/ml were studied against DPPH to know their antioxidant potential. The presence or absence of phytochemicals like cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, phlobatannins, saponins, steroids, tannins and terpenoids was detected. The flowers of Couroupita guianensis and Gerbera sp. recorded EC50 values of <200 µg/ml. However, the flower of Gomphrena globosa has not recorded any value even at the concentration of 1000 µg/ml. Among the phytochemicals, flavonoid was recorded from almost all the floral extracts except that of Gomphrena globosa. Phlobatannins and Steroids were not recorded in any of the floral extracts studied. As few flowers showed the presence of either flavonoid and tannin or flavonoid and saponin, they may better exploited for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.


Background In most hospital pharmacies, patient drug dispensing is done by pharmacy technicians (PT) under the supervision of a pharmacist. However, PT do not always have all the required knowledge and skills to perform high-quality dispensing. Purpose Designing and implementing an appropriate training programme for PT to gain all required skills for optimal drug dispensing. Material and methods The training programme named ACCOMPA-VP was designed using the ADDIE-M method (Analyse, Design, Development, implementation, evaluation and maintenance) combined with the PROFFIteROLE method.1 The analyse step included four parts (needs, audience, resources and constraints) to describe the existing context and identify patients and PT needs and expectations. It led to the design and development of our adult training programme, combining theory (medical prescription reviewing and patient counselling) and practice (situational exercises according to the PROFFIteROLE method). This training programme has been assessed all along the process. First, the PT skills development was evaluated by the percentage of acquired knowledge and a qualitative analysis of correct answers from each medication order. Then, PT were asked to estimate their self-confidence in performimg optimal drug dispensing. Finally, the quality of the programme was assessed by a PT anonymous survey and a collective feedback. Results First, a significant improvement in theoretical knowledge (74% to 82% of acquired knowledge, p=0.006) and a decrease in inappropriate counsel;ing (21% to 6%) were observed for all PT (n=9). Second, within 6 months of practice, PT self-confidence throughout the dispensation process was enhanced leading them to gain the abilities to achieve appropriate drug dispensing, especially when it comes to counselling the patient. Finally, all PT felt more comfortable with drug dispensing to patients. They declared having more interactions with the patients and were more likely to detect drug interaction or medication misuse. They assigned a global average grade of 7.7/10, including relational, educational and organisational evaluation. Conclusion The ACCOMPA-VP training programme permitted the development and reinforcement of PT skills to perform a high-quality dispensation. To maintain the acquired skills, new training sessions will be implemented. Finally, assessment of patients; satisfaction is warranted to demonstrate the overall training benefits. Reference and/or Acknowledgements 1. http://pharmacie.univ-lille2.fr/innovations-pedagogiques/enseignements-hybrides/pratique-officinale.html (Accessed: 9 October 2017). No conflict of interest


In order to evaluate appropriate management strategies, the life history and demography of the baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens) was examined from speared samples and commercial catches at the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Ages were estimated from sections of sagittal otoliths, validated by oxytetracycline labelling of fish recaptured after a minimum of 12 months at liberty. Male C. rubescens (n = 147; 373–639 mm) ranged from ages 5 to 20 years, and females (n = 354; 226–610 mm) ranged from 2 to 13 years. The population underwent a transition in dominance from females to males at age 11–12 years and 500–550 mm total length. Gonad development was seasonal and spawning was evident from spring to summer (September–January), with evidence of aggregation behaviour. Indirect estimates of the annual instantaneous rate of natural mortality (M) ranged from 0.05 to 0.58 and total mortality (Z), ranged from 0.21 to 0.56, rendering stock assessment highly uncertain. The limited geographic range, slow growth, long potential life span, protogynous sex change, aggregative spawning and high discard mortality rates render C. rubescens susceptible to overfishing. In order to manage this mobile species successfully, marine protected areas must continue to be supplemented by strict catch controls in fished areas.


Background: This article seeks to examine ethical dilemmas and clientelism in the allocation of low-cost houses using 10 selected villages under the jurisdiction of the Greater Giyani Local Municipality area as units of analysis. The hypothesis of the initial research was that political parties in control of government machinery employ low-cost houses as electioneering instruments. Aim: The aim of the article therefore is to investigate the extent to which clientelism and clientelistic strategies such as vote buying are pertinent to the housing provision. Setting: The research was guided by this question: what are the features of clientelism and their extent to the provision of low-cost houses at the Greater Giyani Local Municipality area? Methods: Mixed methods approach was used to solicit primary data in relation to clientelism and vote buying in the provision of low-cost houses. Results: The findings as presented in the article suggest that clientelism and vote buying are used in the allocation of low-cost houses but not to a larger extent as assumed. The findings therefore are not presenting a crystal clear picture regarding the manifestation of clientelism and vote buying specifically in relation to low-cost housing allocation. Conclusion: The article makes a significant contribution to the discourse on housing allocation in general and low-cost houses in particular, especially given the fact that it is located within clientelism and the strategies used in electioneering. The article further contributes to the discipline of Public Administration, Public Policy and to some extent politics. Studies in these areas fail to give attention to issues of public policy, ethics and clientelism. Municipalities and other housing provision authorities stand to benefit from the findings and the recommendations thereof. The article has the potential to shape legislative frameworks and procedures through which low-cost houses are allocated.


BACKGROUND
Root trunk length (RTL) plays an important role in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of periodontitis. The aim of this retrospective pilot study was to evaluate the RTL of first maxillary premolar and to study the correlation with age and sex in this value.

METHODS
The sample included 110 cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images comprising 220 maxillaries first premolars from systemically healthy patients aged between 18 and 70 years. The tooth length (TL), root length (RL) and root trunk length (RTL) were measured (dependent variables). Age and sex were considered as independent variables.

RESULTS
No statistically significant correlation was found between the RTL and the TL. Longer RL and longer RTL were observed in younger patients than older subjects only in the left maxillary premolars. On the other hand, the sex of the patients had no effect on either of the dependent variables. The single rooted maxillary premolars were more frequent (relative to those with two roots) in woman and in elderly patients.

CONCLUSIONS
A correlation between the age and the RTL and RL has been found but only in left premolars. Sex seemed to have only a slight correlation on the frequency of single-rooted teeth of the right side of the mouth. Further studies should be addressed to clarify the significance of the asymmetries observed in the present study between the two sides of the mouth with the aim of deepening the knowledge and understanding of the different variables that could be correlated with the RTL.


Grass is a highly desirable substrate for anaerobic digestion because of its higher biodegradability and biogas/methane yield. It contains a large amount of organic matter, which can be digested anaerobically to produce biogas. Anaerobic co-digestion of grass, cow manure and sludge was studied under mesophilic conditions for 65 days. Experiments were performed on a feed ratio of grass/manure 5, 10, 15, 20, 25%, respectively. During the experiments the volume and concentration of biogas and methane were recorded daily. The maximum cumulative biogas and methane yield was obtained as 331.75 mLbiogas/gVS and 206.64 mLCH4/gVS for 25% ratio. Also, the results of the experiments were tested on the three different kinetics model which are the first order kinetic model, modified Gompertz model and Logistics model. As a result of the study, it was found that by using grass waste 1.2.109 kWh/year electricity may be produced and 1.106 tons/year CO2 greenhouse gas emission may be reduced.


A simplified method for obtaining the response of linear and nonlinear systems, without knowledge of the roots of the system characteristic equation, is described. The solutions are given as time series representing the values of the response at equally spaced instants of time. Initial conditions are introduced easily through the use of the Laplace transform. It is shown that the Laplace transform of a linear system may be approximated by a z-transform, allowing the time series to be obtained by synthetic division. Two examples for linear constant coefficient systems are worked out including the solution of a third-order system and a firstorder differential equation. The results are compared with the exact solutions obtained by analytic means. The same methods are then extended to the solution of timevarying, nonlinear, and time-lag systems. An example of each type is worked out in detail to illustrate the wide applicability of the technique. A discussion of error considerations is included.


Patentability and novelty search is an essential part of any patent application. It ensures that the idea that should be patented has not already been registered anywhere else in the world. However, this task is complicated by the large number of documents and the fact that they are written in many different languages. In this paper we survey four approaches that will help to automate the task and share the insights we have gained through our participation in the CLEF-IP Workshop 2013.


Bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) refers to a specific gaze abnormality of bilateral adduction deficits, often accompanied by dissociated abducting nystagmus, caused by medial longitudinal fasciculus lesions usually due to multiple sclerosis or stroke. We report a 63-year-old man with clinical features of Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS), consisting of ataxia, areflexia, and external ophthalmoplegia which mimicked bilateral-INO without an identifiable central lesion. Although bilateral adduction deficits are usually caused by central lesions, peripheral nervous damage by MFS is needed to be considered. Korean Neurol Assoc 36(2):100-102,


Well productivity can be significantly affected by damage to the near well-bore area caused during drilling in the reservoir section of a well. Historically, the use of perforated completions allowed for penetration of the producing formation beyond the damaged area but the recent trend towards non-perforated completions has resulted in an increased emphasis on damage minimisation. This, in turn, has increased the importance of evaluating drilling fluids and completion techniques used from a reservoir damage perspective. The suitability of a drilling or completion fluid for use in a particular reservoir can, and should, be determined using the measurement of return permeability or some other indication of formation damage. A major factor which limits this practice is that no industry standard equipment or methodology exists for this type of testing and differences in results obtained at different times or in different laboratories cannot be reliably compared. Repeatability and reproducibility of the tests conducted have not been widely established. In order to address these problems, a recommended practice for formation damage testing has been developed which covers all aspects of the test methodology from core selection and preparation to the writing of the final report and interpretation of the results. By standardising on equipment and methodology, it has been possible to establish the degree of variation which can be expected when the same samples are tested in the same way in different laboratories. Further testing in which selected parameters have been varied has also given an indication of the degree to which the setting of these variables affects the final result. It is hoped that this recommended practice will now gain acceptance throughout the industry and that the process of evaluating fluids for formation damage potential will become simpler and more efficient through the greater use and validity of comparisons between data from different sources.


Treatment of intermediate-level waste (ILW) generated as a by-product from nuclear power in the UK requires a long-term strategy to safely dispose of the waste. Encapsulation of ILW in a cement matrix is the current UK methodology, followed by storing the waste for potentially thousands of years in geological disposal facilities (GDFs). Understanding of the cement phase assemblage is key to predicting how these cements will behave in the long term. Thermodynamic modelling of cement hydrate phases is a powerful tool which can be used to predict the effects of cement hydration. This thesis investigates the quality of thermodynamic modelling to predict stable phase assemblages of blast furnace slag-Portland cement (BFS-PC) cements, representing UK nuclear industry practice, under conditions that are expected during the storage of encapsulated ILW.

Three BFS-PC ratios (1:1, 3:1 and 9:1) were tested at different curing ages to determine the degree of hydration of the precursor materials to use as input parameters for thermodynamic modelling. Characterisation of the phase assemblages were compared to the thermodynamic modelling results to assess the robustness of the modelling approach. A solid solution model for C(-A)-S-H was used to explicitly incorporate aluminium into the C-S-H phase to more accurately portray the chemical structure in the BFS-PC system. Thermodynamic modelling was capable of accurately simulating the change in phase assemblage as curing time increased. Variation of precursor materials was effectively modelled.

Temperature fluctuations are expected to occur within the GDF once the waste is stored within it. BFS-PC samples were cured for one year at 35 °C followed by periods of curing at 50 °C, 60 °C and 80 °C. Major phase changes were not observed until the curing temperature reached 60 °C, whereby hemicarbonate and ettringite destabilised. At a curing temperature of 80 °C, the sulphate and carbonate AFm and AFt phases were not observed in cement phase assemblages, however siliceous hydrogarnet was present. Two thermodynamic modelling approaches were used to simulate the effects of temperature change. It was determined that the thermodynamic simulation should not contain siliceous hydrogarnet when simulating BFS-PC hydration up to 60 °C but should contain siliceous hydrogarnet for higher temperatures.

The Pitzer model used as a means to produce activity coefficients, was compared with the generalised dominant electrolyte activity model, Truesdell-Jones, to assess whether modelling of cement phases may be improved. A large ion-interaction parameter database was required to use the Pitzer model for simulating cement hydration. Solubility studies of cement phases and cement pore solution data were used as a means to compare the activity coefficient models. The more complex nature of the Pitzer model caused the simulations to require runtimes up to 18 times more than the Truesdell-Jones method. The pore solution of the BFS-PC systems was compared with the predictions from the activity coefficient models, which determined that the Pitzer model provided minimal improvement over the Truesdell-Jones method. However, the Pitzer model proved more effective for simulating higher concentration systems, therefore, the Pitzer model may be required in future modelling projects when simulating concentrated groundwater interactions with the cement wasteforms.


A novel method has been developed for the analysis of zearalenone in maize products by vortex-assisted ionic-liquid-based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with HPLC and fluorescence detection. Maize samples were extracted with methanol/water (80:20, v/v) and the extraction solution was then used as the dispersive solvent in the microextraction procedure. The analyte was rapidly transmitted to a small volume of ionic liquid and was determined by HPLC. Various parameters affecting the recovery of the mycotoxin were investigated, such as the type and volume of the extraction solvent, the type and volume of the dispersive solvent, the pH of the aqueous phase, the salt addition, and the time of vortex and centrifugation. Under the optimal experimental conditions, a good linearity of the analyte was obtained in the range of 1.0-1000.0 μg/L with the correlation coefficient of 0.9998. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) and quantification (S/N = 10) were 0.3 and 1.0 μg/kg, and the mean recoveries ranged from 83.5 to 94.9%, with a relative standard deviation less than 5.0%. The proposed method was demonstrated to be simple, cheap, quick, and highly selective and was successfully applied to the determination of zearalenone in maize products.


We present an update on the analysis of cross-counter time-delay histograms with 5 μs bins as recorded since late 2015 in the Princess Sirindhorn Neutron Monitor, an 18NM64 (with 18 counter tubes in a continuous row) at 2560 m altitude in Doi Inthanon, Thailand. A cross-counter relative leader fraction Li j can be defined as the fraction of pulses measured in counter number i that are uncorrelated in time with the most recent pulse in counter j. For low tube separation, Li j rapidly increases with increasing tube separation |i− j|, as expected from the spatial spreading of neutrons produced by the same atmospheric secondary particle inside the neutron monitor. At high tube separation, Li j increases slowly with increasing tube separation and remains different from unity, which we interpret as due to multiple atmospheric secondaries arriving in rapid succession after originating from the same primary cosmic ray. We study temporal variations of the cross-counter relative leader fraction at large tube separation (|i− j|> 6, or roughly more than 3 m) and analyze the possible contribution of atmospheric effects to the data.


Terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is the largest carbon flux entering the biosphere from the atmosphere, which serves as a key driver of global carbon cycle and provides essential matter and energy for life on land. However, terrestrial GPP variability is still poorly understood and difficult to predict, especially at the annual scale. As a major internal climate oscillation, El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences global climate patterns and thus may strongly alter interannual terrestrial GPP variation. Using a remote sensing‐driven ecosystem model with long‐term satellite and climate data, we comprehensively examined the impacts of ENSO on global GPP dynamics from 1982 to 2016, focusing on lag effects of ENSO and their spatial heterogeneity. We found a clear seasonal lag effect of previous‐year ENSO indices on current‐year global GPP variability. The composite Oceanic Niño Index in the previous‐year's August‐October showed the strongest correlation with global annual GPP (R = −0.51, p < 0.01). Spatially, 20.1% and 11.7% of vegetated land area showed significant negative and positive correlations with the ENSO cycle, respectively. ENSO effects on annual GPP exhibited diverse seasonal evolutions, and the timings of peak ENSO influences were heterogeneous across the globe. Annual GPP from TRENDY land surface model ensemble did not capture the major lag effects of ENSO identified in the satellite‐derived GPP and top‐down‐based land sink. Despite the complexity of the climate system, our efforts linking ENSO with global GPP dynamics provide a simple framework to understand and project climatic influences on the terrestrial carbon cycle.


The U.S. State Department has regulated international defense trade brokering activities involving the United States since 1997. The brokering rules are widely viewed as inscrutable and elastic, even to the most seasoned practitioners. And though the State Department has long promised much needed regulatory clarification, little has been forthcoming. Meanwhile, in May 2011, the State Department entered into a consent agreement with global defense giant, BAE Systems plc, to settle alleged brokering violations. The settlement, which is record breaking both in terms of penalties and the volume of misconduct alleged, has sent shock waves throughout the defense industry. But while the settlement documents raise numerous interpretive questions about the brokering rules, they provide scant, if any, meaningful guidance. This article examines the BAE case and its implications for parties subject to the U.S. defense brokering rules.


Summary: The lymphotoxin (LT) system is part of the tumor necrosis factor family and is required for lymph node development. It has provided a wonderful tool for the dissection of processes critical not only for lymphoid organ development but also the maintenance of the adult immune architecture and the formation of ectopic organized lymphoid tissues in chronically inflamed sites. A soluble lymphotoxin‐β receptor‐immunoglobulin (LTβR‐Ig) fusion protein can block this pathway and is currently being tested in the treatment of autoimmune disease. This review focuses on the immunological consequences of combined LT and LIGHT inhibition with LTβR‐Ig administration as distinct from the developmental biology.


Background Proficiency in safely converting between opioids is an important skill for doctors and nurses working in palliative care. Rigorous opioid conversion training is rare (Webster, Bremner, Oosenbrug et al., 2017; Spitz, Moore, Papaleontiou et al., 2011), representing potentially widespread unmet educational needs. Aims Following several drug incidents at our hospice, we aimed to design an educational intervention to facilitate sustained learning of opioid conversion skills. It was intended to be resource-efficient to administer and transferable to community, hospice and hospital settings. The initial target audience was registered nurses (RNs) and junior doctors at a single hospice. Methods Fifteen clinically relevant questions were formulated to assess baseline ability in opioid dose conversion, calculation of appropriate breakthrough requirements and background dose amendment. A symmetrical final assessment was written using different dose integers. A workbook was written to constructively align with the assessments and evolved following small pilots, incorporating feedback. After a didactic introduction, each section included a calculation example and five self-marked practice questions (41 in total), with increasing complexity. Participants attempted the 32-page workbook after sitting the baseline assessment and before completing the final assessment. Interval reassessment was undertaken to evaluate learning durability. Results 39 hospice staff have completed the programme to date (26 RNs, 13 doctors). The overall mean baseline test score was 3.3/15 (range 0/15 – 10/15, RN mean 2.8/15, doctor mean 4.2/15). After completion of the workbook, 38 of 39 participants scored 15/15 (mean 14.6/15). The mean score at interval reassessment of 14 RNs (mean six months after workbook completion) was 14.8/15 (range 14/15 – 15/15). Opioid-related patient safety incidents also decreased following workbook introduction. Conclusions The workbook is an effective educational intervention that significantly improves opioid conversion ability and is sustained six months after completing the training. We plan to introduce the evolving workbook at a local hospital and seven other hospice sites over the next eight months.


The effect of gravity modulation on long-wavelength disturbances at the free surface of a surfactant-covered thin liquid layer is analysed. The surfactants are assumed to be insoluble so that variations in their concentration along the free surface produce Marangoni flows in the underlying liquid. Lubrication theory is applied to obtain nonlinear partial differential equations that describe the behaviour of the free surface height and surfactant concentration, and the stability of these equations to small-amplitude disturbances is examined by applying Floquet theory. It is found that long-wavelength disturbances are destabilized by gravity modulation when surfactants are present, whereas such disturbances are stable when surfactants are absent. Results from additional calculations indicate that the instability becomes more difficult to excite as the Marangoni forces, body forces, capillary forces and surfactant diffusivity increase, and becomes easier to excite as the van der Waals forces increase.


Stand-up comedy is a kind of entertainment which presents the art and speech competence. As a single performer on the stage without any supporting properties and partners, a comic is permitted to express any utterances and strived for making audiences laugh. So, language aspect is the most important element of this art in the form of utterances. Based on the theory that language both expresses and embodies cultural identity, concerning stand-up comedy a question then emerged; How are language and culture related by comics' utterances? This study aims to describe the content and the way of the utterances expressed by comics in stand-up comedy; to reveal how language and culture are closely related. The data were collected from videos of Indonesian Stand-Up Comedy season 4 of the three winner comic performances. Through collecting, analyzing, presenting and interpreting the data as the steps of qualitative method employed, the finding shows that content of the utterances expressed by the comics represent their own culture included ethnicity and community which are related to the problem dealing with their social life. While, the way they express the utterances shows that there are striking differences among the three comics in uttering the sounds, words, sentences and gimmick. The content differences identify their cultural and social background. Stand-up comedy art reveals how the language closely related to the culture. Keywords: comic, culture, language, language identity, stand-up comedy


Background

The reform of public hospitals' payment system (RPHPS) is the focus of medical reform in China. The current medical personnel payment system was formulated under a framework including the whole public sector, and this cannot meet the demands of necessary reform. In 2017, the government piloted the RPHPS to raise the pay of medical personnel and mobilize their work enthusiasm. Here, we examine whether the RPHPS provides a way to influence the pay of medical personnel and examine the factors determining this pay.
Methods

This study used data from a cross-sectional survey of 699 public hospitals across 21 provinces of China in 2017, the China Public Hospitals Pay Reform Survey. We used a coarsened exact matching method and hierarchical linear analysis to enhance the comparability between groups. A total of 178,622 medical personnel were included in our study.
Results

We found that the RPHPS was significantly associated with total annual pay and annual performance pay. Those who worked in the treatment group had significantly higher total annual pay and annual performance pay than those in the control group. The pay of medical personnel was strongly associated with the average salary of an urban worker and the hospital type, and their gender, age, education status, work characteristics, position, professional titles, seniority in years and departments.
Conclusion

There was a strong relationship between the implementation of the RPHPS and the pay of medical personnel. From a policymaker perspective, this shows that there may be value in further promoting the development of the payment system in public hospitals. The government should scale up the piloted areas for RPHPS and increase the total salary and the total performance-based wage-control level of public hospitals to reflect the value of the technical and labor services provided by medical personnel.


— The monographic revision of North Korean ants is provided fist time in the World literature. This work was based on the investigation of very rich material collected by Polish and Hungarian entomologists in North Korea in 1959–1990. The collections are kept in the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, in the Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, and in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. In total, these unique collections include more than 70 thousand specimens collected in almost all regions of North Korea. Altogether, 99 ant species from 35 genera and 7 subfamilies, including 6 newly described species and 35 new to North Korea have been found; 17 species have been excluded from the list of the North Korean fauna. The monograph includes review of species, taxonomic and zoogeographical analysis of the Korean myrmecofauna, and the comparison of this fauna with that of the adjacent regions of Eastern Asia. A key for determination of all taxa of North Korean ants is also provided.


The story of how Harold Irving Ewen and Edward Mills Purcell detected the first spectral line ever observed in radio astronomy, in 1951, has been told for general audiences by Robert Buderi (1996). The present article has a different purpose. The technical roots of Ewen and Purcell's achievement reveal much about the way science often depends upon "borrowed" technologies, which were not developed with the needs of science in mind. The design and construction of the equipment is described in detail. As Ewen's photographs, records, and recollections show, he and Purcell had access to an unusual combination of scientific knowledge, engineering know-how, critical hardware, and technical assistance at Harvard, in 1950 and 1951. This combination gave them a competitive edge over similar research groups in Holland and Australia, who were also striving to detect the hydrogen line, and who succeeded only weeks after the Harvard researchers did. The story also shows that Ewen and Purcell did their groundbreaking scientific work in the "small-science" style that prevailed before World War II, while receiving substantial indirect help from one of the first big-science projects at Harvard.


Santarosa B.P., Lourenço M.L.G., Dantas G.N., Ulian C.M.V., Heckler M.C.T., Sudano M.J., Gonçalves R.C. & Chiacchio S.B. 2016. Electrocardiographic parameters of the American Miniature Horse: influence of age and sex. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira 36(6):551-558. Departamento de Clínica Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Distrito de Rubião Júnior s/n, Botucatu, SP 18618-970, Brazil. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com The veterinary cardiology has growing importance in equine medicine. There are studies of standardization of electrocardiographic parameters of many races, according to their stature and ability. However, no studies are in the literature with the American Miniature Horse. To evaluate the electrocardiogram (ECG) tracing configuration of this breed at rest and to verify the influence of age and sex on ECG parameters, 203 horses including 143 females and 60 males were divided into four age groups (foals, yearlings, adults and elderly). Electrocardiographic parameters were performed by computerized electrocardiogram (TEB), and the parameters were evaluated in six leads of frontal plane (Lead I, II, III, aVR, aVL and aVF) and base-apex (BA). Heart rates (HR) decreased with increasing age were higher in males than in females. Sinus tachycardia followed by sinus arrhythmia was dominant in both sexes. The cardiac axis was higher in males and ranged between 120° and 150° for foals, 30° and 60° for yearlings and adults, and 60° and 90° for the elderly. The P wave was bifid in several animals. The P-wave amplitude and T-wave duration from lead II and BA were larger in males than in females. The majority of the animals exhibited ST segment depression and a negative T-wave. The most common QRS complex morphology was Qr. Differences were observed between the electrocardiographic tracings of males and females, and age influenced the ECG parameters. Therefore, this study established the ECG patterns for the American Miniature Horse breed and could be used to determine the influence of age and sex on several of the studied variables.