There is a growing body of knowledge that addresses physical, attitudinal, and environmental barriers to the leisure lifestyle of people with disabilities in inclusive leisure settings. However, little is known about the meaning of disability, the social contexts in which those meanings occur, and how those meanings influence inclusion, specifically for youth with and without disabilities. This study was undertaken to explore the meaning of disability expressed bysouth with and without disabilities in social contexts, particularly leisure contexts. Using qualitative methodology, a sample of middle and high school students who had been participants in Paralympic Day in the Schools (PDIS) program were selected to be interviewed to ascertain the perceptions of youth with and without disabilities. The initial study by Wilhite, Devine, & Goldenberg (1999) with these research participants yielded several examples that supported the notion of disability as a social construct. Those examples raised questions about the role of the social construction of disability in influencing the interactions between youth with and without disabilities in various inclusive contexts, including leisure. Thus, a second analysis ofthe data was undertaken using analytic induction and a social construction foundation. Results revealed phenomena that suggested that the notion of disability held positive and negative meanings for youth with and without disabilities, depending on the social context. For example, the meaning of disability in social contexts where there was competition (e.g., active recreation activities) appeared to take on a negative connotation as opposed to social contexts where there was no obvious competition (e.g., family gatherings). Two hypotheses were formed to generalize the meanings of disability and social contexts under which the meanings were present. Two social contexts (i.e., familiarity and matched abilities) emerged as being conditions when positive meanings of disability were always present. Negative meanings of disability were always present in three different social contexts, namely, casual contact, unmatched abilities, and inaccessible environments. In addition, behaviors, objects, and language were identified across contexts as ways to express the meaning of disability. Positive meanings of disability can be promoted by leisure service professionals by promoting social acceptance and offering leisure options that showcase the abilities of youth with disabilities. Recommendations to leisure service professionals to address negative meanings of disability include promoting personal contact, considering the differing abilities, and modeling behavior that reflects acceptance between youth with and without disabilities.


BACKGROUND
Self-management is a key element in regaining and maintaining health. However, during hospitalization it becomes less obvious. Patient self-administration of medication during hospitalization is suggested to be beneficial to patient satisfaction, adherence to pharmacotherapy, and self-care competence.

OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to examine the prevalence of self-administration of medication during hospitalization, and possible contributing factors.

DESIGN AND SETTING
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 12 Belgian hospitals from February 2015 until June 2015.

PARTICIPANTS
Data were collected on all hospitalized patients at 57 wards, based in 12 hospitals.

DATA COLLECTION
A structured questionnaire at ward level and patient level on medication management, self-administration of medication, and rationale for prohibiting or allowing patients to self-administer their medication was conducted in consultation with the head nurse.

RESULTS
Of the 1,269 patients participating in this study, 22% self-administered at least one medicine during hospitalization and 13.8% self-administered at least 50% of their total amount of medication. In the opinion of the head nurse, 40.9% of the hospitalized patients would have been able to self-administer their medication during hospitalization. Only a few wards had an available procedure and screening tool to assess the competence of the patients to self-administer their medication. This did not affect the prevalence of self-administration. Self-administration occurred significantly more at surgical short-stay wards, compared to other wards. The self-administering patients were on average younger and female and had a lower number of different medications per day before and during hospitalization. These patients had a good health status and were independent to mildly dependent on nurses on the ward. Related factors were used to provide a multivariate logistic regression model.

CONCLUSIONS
Sometimes self-administration of medication was allowed. According to the surveyed nurses, however, more patients would be able to self-administer their medication during hospitalization. There seems to be a lack of procedures and screening tools to assess the competence or appropriateness of patients to self-administer their medication.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
This study provides new knowledge about the prevalence of self-administration of medication, contributing factors, the types of self-administered medications, and the organization of self-administration of medication on different wards.


A substation is an essential part of an electric system. It is where important functions such as transforming voltage from high to low take place. Substation monitoring has become a necessity for the next generation power grid. The information collected in an electric substation about the state of its components and the flow of electricity will give the electrical utility provider a clearer view and more control over that substation. A wireless sensor network, with its sink able to communicate with the utility's control system, constitutes an attractive technology to be deployed in a substation in order to collect the needed information. However, intelligent management of this data, to allow the detection of faults and to prolong the sensor nodes' lifetime, is yet to be provided and can be introduced with the use of a multi-agent system. That is why in this paper an agent-based algorithm is proposed to achieve these goals. Simulation results show improved performances, in terms of the nodes' energy consumption and the number of sent messages in the network, compared to a value reporting approach where each detected information is directly sent to the sink without any processing.


From 1975 to 1984, 292 patients with gastric cancer were treated according to a prospective and standardized surgical protocol. This series included 195 men and 97 women, with an average age of 62.5 +/- 11 years (SD). In 20 patients (6.8%) surgery was not performed and 99 were considered unresectable at laparotomy. Gastric resection was performed in 173 (63.3%) (distal subtotal gastrectomy in 94 and total gastrectomy in 79). Operative mortality for subtotal gastrectomy was 3.1% and 6.3% for total gastrectomy. Early gastric cancer was found in 21 patients (none presented lymph node metastases). The cancer invaded the muscular layer in 18 (31% with lymph node metastases) and reached beyond the muscular layer in 134 patients (60.8% with lymph node metastases). The five year actuarial survival was 0% in patients who did not undergo gastric resection, 35.5% for those patients with tumor invading the serosal layer or beyond who were resected, 56.5% for those with invasion up to the muscular layer and 91.8% for patients with early gastric cancer. For those patients who underwent a curative resection, actuarial five year survival was 81%.


Day-service, commuting service for elderly people requiring care at home, is one healthcare option in Japan. To date, however, there exist no studies that have examined the effects of day-service use on health outcomes in Japan. The objective of the present longitudinal study was to determine whether there is an association between day-service use and various physical and mental health outcomes in elderly people requiring care. The subjects were 61 elderly persons who required between 25 and 49 min of assistance per day and used long-term care insurance. Measurements included demographic characteristics, activities of daily living, frequency of day-service use, body weight, height, grip strength, thigh muscle volume, degree of depression (Geriatric Depression Scale), the mini-mental state examination, and serum albumin and blood hemoglobin levels in the baseline and follow-up surveys two years later. In the day-service user group, the mean changes in serum albumin concentrations using day-service once, twice and three < or = times/week were -0.2, -0.3, and 0 g/dl, respectively, and the mean changes in blood hemoglobin were -0.7, -0.5, and 0.2 g/dl, respectively. The two-year change in serum albumin concentrations was less (p = 0.024) in subjects using day-service "three < or = times" (0 g/dl) than "twice" (-0.3 g/dl). The two-year change in blood hemoglobin was also less (p = 0.043) in subjects using day-service "three < or = times" (0.2 g/dl) than "twice" (-0.5 g/dl). The present study has shown that frequent use of day-service is useful in maintaining general nutritional status in elderly people.


Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most common causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in China. The older standard treatment regimen for chronic hepatitis C was the pegylated interferon-alfa plus ribavirin(PR). Now newer oral medications called direct antiviral agents (DAAs) has been gradually changed to PR-based DAAs and interferon-free, oral DAAs; making chronic hepatitis C a curable disease. This article intends to expound the advantages and disadvantages of PR-based therapy and provide reference for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.


Right and left heart hemodynamics were studied in 12 patients with mitral valvular disease and atrial fibrillation before and immediately after external direct-current countershock resulting in restoration of normal sinus rhythm. The change of rhythm was accompanied by the following hemodynamic variations in the majority of cases: Systolic and mean pressures in the right and left ventricles and in the pulmonary and brachial arteries were not systematically altered, with a tendency, however, to a decrease in ejection pressures in the right heart and increase in the left heart. Mean right atrial and right ventricular end-diastolic pressures as well as left ventricular end-diastolic pressure decreased significantly. The behavior of the mean left atrial pressure appeared to be influenced by the degree of mitral valvular disease. Cardiac output and index and stroke volume and index increased; pulmonary vascular and systemic resistances decreased. The stroke work of the ventricles also increased in the majority...


A dielectric test cavity was designed and tested to measure the microwave dielectric properties of ultrapure sapphire at cryogenic temperatures. Measurements were performed by placing a large cylindrical crystal of sapphire in a Nb superconducting cavity operating in the TE01 mode at 1.865 GHz. The dielectric constant, heat capacity, and loss tangent were all calculated using experimental data and RF modeling software. The motivation for these measurements was to determine if such a sapphire could be used as a dielectric lens to focus the magnetic field onto a sample wafer in a high field wafer test cavity. The measured properties have been used to finalize the design of the wafer test cavity.


In the present survey, some progress in the stochastic dynamics and fractional optimal control of quasi integrable Hamiltonian systems with fractional derivative damping is reviewed. First, the stochastic averaging method for quasi integrable Hamiltonian systems with fractional derivative damping under various random excitations is briefly introduced. Then, the stochastic stability, stochastic bifurcation, first passage time and reliability, and stochastic fractional optimal control of the systems studied by using the stochastic averaging method are summarized. The focus is placed on the effects of fractional derivative order on the dynamics and control of the systems. Finally, some possible extensions are pointed out.


Poration of bacterial membranes by antimicrobial peptides such as magainin 2 is a significant activity performed by innate immune systems. Pore formation by soluble forms of amyloid proteins such as islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is implicated in cell death in amyloidoses. Similarities in structure and poration activity of these two systems suggest a commonality of mechanism. Here, we investigate and compare the mechanisms by which these peptides induce membrane leakage and bacterial cell death through the measurement of liposome leakage kinetics and bacterial growth inhibition. For both systems, leakage occurs through the nucleation-dependent formation of stable membrane pores. Remarkably, we observe IAPP and magainin 2 to be fully cross-cooperative in the induction of leakage and inhibition of bacterial growth. The effects are dramatic, with mixtures of these peptides showing activities >100-fold greater than simple sums of the activities of individual peptides. Direct protein–protein interactions cannot be the origin of cooperativity, as IAPP and its enantiomer D-IAPP are equally cross-cooperative. We conclude that IAPP and magainin 2 induce membrane leakage and cytotoxicity through a shared, cross-cooperative, tension-induced poration mechanism.


There are two licensed meningococcal capsular B vaccines. Both contain recombinant factor H binding protein (FHbp), which can bind to host complement factor H (FH). The limitations of these vaccines include a lack of protection against some meningococcal strains and the potential to elicit autoantibodies to FH. We immunized infant macaques with a native outer membrane vesicle (NOMV) vaccine with genetically attenuated endotoxin and overproduced mutant FHbp with low binding to FH. The NOMV-FHbp vaccine stimulated higher levels of protective serum antibodies than a licensed meningococcal group B vaccine against five of six genetically diverse meningococcal strains tested. Two of 13 macaques immunized with the licensed vaccine, which contains FHbp that binds macaque FH, but 0 of 17 macaques given NOMV-FHbp or the negative control developed serum anti-FH autoantibodies Thus, in a relevant nonhuman primate model, the NOMV-FHbp vaccine elicited greater protective antibodies than the licensed vaccine and may pose less of a risk of anti-FH autoantibody. ABSTRACT MenB-4C (Bexsero; GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals) is a licensed meningococcal vaccine for capsular B strains. The vaccine contains detergent-extracted outer membrane vesicles (dOMV) and three recombinant proteins, of which one is factor H binding protein (FHbp). In previous studies, overexpression of FHbp in native OMV (NOMV) with genetically attenuated endotoxin (LpxL1) and/or by the use of mutant FHbp antigens with low factor H (FH) binding increased serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) responses. In this study, we immunized 13 infant macaques with 2 doses of NOMV with overexpressed mutant (R41S) FHbp with low binding to macaque FH (NOMV-FHbp). Control macaques received MenB-4C (n = 13) or aluminum hydroxide adjuvant alone (n = 4). NOMV-FHbp elicited a 2-fold higher IgG anti-FHbp geometric mean titer (GMT) than MenB-4C (P = 0.003), and the anti-FHbp repertoire inhibited binding of FH to FHbp, whereas anti-FHbp antibodies to MenB-4C enhanced FH binding. MenB-4C elicited a 10-fold higher GMT against strain NZ98/254, which was used to prepare the dOMV component, whereas NOMV-FHbp elicited an 8-fold higher GMT against strain H44/76, which was the parent of the mutant NOMV-FHbp vaccine strain. Against four strains with PorA mismatched to both of the vaccines and different FHbp sequence variants, NOMV-FHbp elicited 6- to 14-fold higher SBA GMTs than MenB-4C (P ≤ 0.0002). Two of 13 macaques immunized with MenB-4C but 0 of 17 macaques immunized with NOMV-FHbp or adjuvant developed serum anti-FH autoantibodies (P = 0.18). Thus, the mutant NOMV-FHbp approach has the potential to elicit higher and broader SBA responses than a licensed group B vaccine that contains wild-type FHbp that binds FH. The mutant NOMV-FHbp also might pose less of a risk of eliciting anti-FH autoantibodies. IMPORTANCE There are two licensed meningococcal capsular B vaccines. Both contain recombinant factor H binding protein (FHbp), which can bind to host complement factor H (FH). The limitations of these vaccines include a lack of protection against some meningococcal strains and the potential to elicit autoantibodies to FH. We immunized infant macaques with a native outer membrane vesicle (NOMV) vaccine with genetically attenuated endotoxin and overproduced mutant FHbp with low binding to FH. The NOMV-FHbp vaccine stimulated higher levels of protective serum antibodies than a licensed meningococcal group B vaccine against five of six genetically diverse meningococcal strains tested. Two of 13 macaques immunized with the licensed vaccine, which contains FHbp that binds macaque FH, but 0 of 17 macaques given NOMV-FHbp or the negative control developed serum anti-FH autoantibodies Thus, in a relevant nonhuman primate model, the NOMV-FHbp vaccine elicited greater protective antibodies than the licensed vaccine and may pose less of a risk of anti-FH autoantibody.


Drug-metabolizing enzymes (DME) in tumors are capable of biotransforming a variety of xenobiotics, including antineoplastics, resulting in either their activation or detoxification. Many studies have reported the presence of DME in tumors; however, heterogeneous detection methodology and patient cohorts have not generated consistent, firm data. Nevertheless, various gene therapy approaches and oral prodrugs have been devised, taking advantage of tumoral DME. With the need to target and individualize anticancer therapies, tumoral processes such as drug metabolism must be considered as both a potential mechanism of resistance to therapy and a potential means of achieving optimal therapy. This review discusses cytotoxic drug metabolism by tumors, through addressing the classes of the individual DME, their relevant substrates, and their distribution in specific malignancies. The limitations of preclinical models relative to the clinical setting and lack of data on the changes of DME with disease progression and host response will be discussed. The therapeutic implications of tumoral drug metabolism will be addressed-in particular, the role of DME in predicting therapeutic response, the activation of prodrugs, and the potential for modulation of their activity for gain are considered, with relevant clinical examples. The contribution of tumoral drug metabolism to cancer therapy can only be truly ascertained through large-scale prospective studies and supported by new technologies for tumor sampling and genetic analysis such as microarrays. Only then can efforts be concentrated in the design of better prodrugs or combination therapy to improve drug efficacy and individualize therapy.


In coated conductors (CC), the quality of the interface between the superconducting layer and the substrate is an important parameter especially for fault current limiter applications. Indeed, it influences the propagation velocity of the normal zone along the CC. We present a new way to measure the thermal conductance of the interface between two electrically isolated layers. The top layer is heated by an ac current and its temperature oscillation is recorded. A simple thermal model consisting of a heater, a substrate, and a thermal bath, all coupled by thermal conductances, was developed to simulate the temperature oscillation and to extract the interface thermal conductance. This model predicts that in a certain frequency range, the oscillation of the temperature is strongly influenced by the thermal conductance of the interface. Measurements performed on CC, produced by Theva, are well fitted by our model assuming a thermal conductance of 320 W/cm2 K. This value is confirmed by measurements performed using a dc technique. We also present measurements on another coated conductor (produced by Superpower) having a different architecture, i.e., different interfaces between the superconducting layer and the substrate. These results are the only available values of the thermal conductance of the ReBCO/interface in coated conductors.


The book provides an empirical case study as to how the macro political dynamics lead to the micro cost management changes in the public organisations. It draws on Dillard et al.'s (2004) version of institutional theory. Empirical data come from three months' ethnographic fieldwork in an Egyptian electricity and energy (E&E) company, MEEDCO, triangulated with various secondary sources of data on macro political dynamics. The book highlights the necessity of seeing cost management change, especially in the politically sensitive public utilities in less developed countries, as an institutional political change that brings together the wider political objectives of the state and the narrower economic objectives of the firms. Cost management is political and operates as an instrument of neoliberal reform. In an empirical sense, this means that E&E production and distribution in Egypt has been, historically, managed at three distinct but interrelated levels: the political level, the field level and the organisational level. Hence, a set of apparently non-political management accounting technologies, especially ERP and performance-based budgeting, became a set of political tools.


Signal parameters estimation is an important prerequisite for assessment of power quality (PQ) indices. Nowadays, large amounts of measured data need to be automatically processed for appropriate and useful data mining in PQ. Especially, modern wind generators are often seen as sources of PQ disturbances, which should be constantly supervised. The authors propose an application of modified singular value decomposition (SVD) method for signal parameters estimation. Results of the proposed method are compared with broadly used Fourier Transform. A mechanical model of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) operating in various conditions was chosen as a source of disturbed signals. Research results verify the usefulness of SVD based method. Additionally, the dependence between operating mode of a DFIG and generated disturbance parameters was observed.


On March 1, 1970, the Customs Agreement of 1910 between the governments of Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and the Republic of South Africa was terminated because it could no longer comply with the demands of changed circumstances. Since the participating countries wished to maintain the free interchange of goods between them and to apply the same tariffs and trade regulations to goods imported from outside the common customs area, a new agreement came into force. This agreement was designed ""to ensure the continued economic development of the customs union area as a whole, and to ensure in particular that these arrangements encourage the development of the less advanced members of the customs union and the diversification of their economies, and afford to all parties equitable benefits arising from trade among themselves and with other countries.""1) To what extent was the new agreement able to satisfy these aims? As a general background to this question, it is appropriate first to discuss the factors conducive or detrimental to a customs union in Southern Africa and the main provisions of the Agreement of 1910.


In this thesis, the capability of AGATA to measure the rare competitive double-gamma decay has been studied with a detailed simulation. This consists in a rare process, in which an excited state of a nucleus decays emitting two gamma rays despite the emission of a single photon is allowed. From a theoretical standpoint, the decay is correctly described as a second order process in perturbative QED.
The measurement, would not only return more detailed physical information, namely on the energy and angular distributions of the photons, but also test the capabilities of the advanced gamma-ray spectrometer AGATA. The main challenge that the measurement faces is the suppression of Compton events without relying on timing properties due to the resolution limitations of germanium detectors. The thesis is focused on assessing whether the good energy resolution and spatial reconstruction properties of the detector, together with a strict event selection and optimization, can overcome the difficulties of such measurement.
The emission of single and double-gamma photons has been simulated and optimal values of the algorithms were found for this specific measurement. The performance of the tracking was characterized and a further event selection was performed. While the measurement of the competitive double-gamma decay has proved itself challenging from an experimental standpoint, the current work only represents a starting point and a statement of the current capabilities. In fact, while the tracking algorithm showed a good performance with its optimal parameters, the need for a specific algorithm is argued in this thesis. In that sense, the community is working towards new tracking algorithms based on a different statistical approach. Since the array is in continuous development and improvement by the AGATA community, many progresses are expected as the research proceeds and many of them will likely be of crucial importance for the measurement of the competitive double-gamma decay. At last, a preliminary analysis of data taking with AGATA and a 137Cs source was performed. The background activity as well as the neutron damage correction and the stability of the calibration over time during the time span of the experiment have been discussed. While the analysis is only preliminary, a final comparison between the experimental data and the simulation has been performed.


Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) describe several problems relevant to many fields of applied sciences, and their discrete counterparts typically involve the solution of sparse linear systems. In this context, we focus on the analysis of the computational aspects related to the solution of large and sparse linear systems with HPC solvers, by considering the performances of direct and iterative solvers in terms of computational efficiency, scalability, and numerical accuracy. Our aim is to identify the main criteria to support application-domain specialists in the selection of the most suitable solvers, according to the application requirements and available resources. To this end, we discuss how the numerical solver is affected by the regular/irregular discretisation of the input domain, the discretisation of the input PDE with piecewise linear or polynomial basis functions, which generally result in a higher/lower sparsity of the coefficient matrix, and the choice of different initial conditions, which are associated with linear systems with multiple right-hand side terms. Finally, our analysis is independent of the characteristics of the underlying computational architectures, and provides a methodological approach that can be applied to different classes of PDEs or with approximation problems.


Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in litigation regarding the education of students With autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Because of the complexity of ASD and the costs of litigation related to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, ASD has become a high-stakes issue for parents and school districts. The purpose of this article is to extrapolate principles from the ASD litigation to provide guidelines to assist Individualized Education Program teams in developing appropriate special education programs for students With ASD.


The paper deals with a comparison between two different methods in generating sub-optimal solutions to the Hopfield-Tank TSP (traveling salesman problem) neural algorithm. Namely, the Hopfield-Tank TSP neural algorithm has been applied in the paper to the linear ship's route, that is cycle voyage modeling, which means here finding the optimal visiting order of a given set of ports in such way as to minimize the total sailing distance and implicitly total linear ship's traveling costs. The methods being implemented here into Hopfield-Tank TSP neural structure and computationally compared are: the brute force method and the fast insertion heuristic.


It was observed that the Tarebia granifera plays a significant role in the control of a Biomphalaria peregrina population introduced in a permanent water body. The densities of this planorbid, which had reached high levels, were notably reduced by two important events: an increase of the water level due to heavy rains, and the introduction of the competitor, whose effectiveness had been tested in a different habitat. Knowledge on the ecology and biology of the competitor and the host in permanent water bodies helped to elaborate the measures of control which led to the reduction of the host densities while those of the competitor increased.


Today, people's expectations of cars have changed because they travel more frequently and take much longer trips in their automobiles. Therefore, auto manufacturers have come to realize that comfort properties of automobiles should be improved in addition to their mechanical, technical and aesthetical properties. This study aimed to investigate the thermophysiological properties of the automotive upholstery woven fabrics produced with different blend ratios of flame resistant meta-aramid and wool yarns. For this purpose, twenty-eight automotive upholstery woven fabric samples were produced using two different weaving patterns and different blend ratios of flame resistant meta-aramid and wool yarns. Thermophysiological properties of the samples such as water vapor permeabilities, air permeabilities and thermal conductivities were measured, and their burning behaviours were tested according to the standards. The results obtained in this study were assessed by means of statistical methods, and the results of the statistical analysis showed that blending ratios of flame resistant meta-aramid and wool fiber had statistically significant effects on both the thermo-physiological properties and burning behaviours of automotive upholstery fabrics. This study showed that the thermal comfort values of the automotive upholstery fabrics of different meta-aramid/wool blend ratios were very close to one another. In addition, the air permeability values of these fabrics were increased with the increase of the meta-aramid content in the blend. The blends containing 25% meta-aramid fiber exhibited the highest increases in air permeability values of the fabrics. Besides, the blend of 25% meta-aramid and 75% wool fiber was found to be the optimal blending ratio in terms of the total burning time after the removal of the ignition source. Therefore, it can be concluded that thermo-physiological comfort properties and burning behaviours of automotive upholstery fabrics can be improved by using the blends with different meta-aramid contents, depending on desired fire performance levels and thermophysical properties.


C-type lectins dectin-1 and dectin-2 on dendritic cells elicit protective immunity against fungal infections through induction of TH1 and TH-17 cellular responses. Fungal recognition by dectin-1 on human dendritic cells engages the CARD9-Bcl10Malt1 module to activate NF-kB. Here we demonstrate that Malt1 recruitment is pivotal to TH-17 immunity by selective activation of NF-kB subunit c-Rel, which induces expression of TH-17-polarizing cytokines IL-1b and IL-23p19. Malt1 inhibition abrogates c-Rel activation and TH-17 immunity to Candida species. We found that Malt1-mediated activation of cRel is similarly essential to induction of TH-17-polarizing cytokines by dectin-2. Whereas dectin-1 activates all NF-kB subunits, dectin-2 selectively activates c-Rel, signifying a specialized TH-17-enhancing function for dectin-2 in anti-fungal immunity by human dendritic cells. Thus, dectin-1 and dectin-2 control adaptive TH-17 immunity to fungi via Malt1-dependent activation of c-Rel. Citation: Gringhuis SI, Wevers BA, Kaptein TM, van Capel TMM, Theelen B, et al. (2011) Selective C-Rel Activation via Malt1 Controls Anti-Fungal TH-17 Immunity by Dectin-1 and Dectin-2. PLoS Pathog 7(1): e1001259. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001259 Editor: Bruce S. Klein, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States of America Received September 20, 2010; Accepted December 14, 2010; Published January 20, 2011 Copyright: 2011 Gringhuis et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NGI 40-41009-98-8057 to SIG.; VICI 918.10.619 to TBHG). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com (SIG); email@example.com (TBHG)


This article assesses the impact of discontinuous work histories on young women's occupational mobility in Germany, Sweden and the US. Women with continuous work histories are compared with those with gaps due to family leave, unemployment, or other reasons. The German Life History Study, the Swedish Level of Living Survey and the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are used to estimate Cox regression models of the transition rate to downward or upward occupational mobility. The results indicate that US women face increased downward mobility with increasing duration of both family leave and unemployment. German women with unemployment experience are also more likely to encounter downward mobility, but no such relationship is found for family leave. In Sweden, family leave experience reduces the chances of upward mobility. Results question the human capital approach, according to which skills should deteriorate at the same rate independent of the reason for the leave.


In this article, we introduce a new class of generalized polynomials, ascribed to the new families of generating functions and identities concerning Lagrange, Hermite, Miller-Lee, and Laguerre polynomials and of their associated forms. It is shown that the proposed method allows the derivation of sum rules involving products of generalized polynomials and addition theorems. We develop a point of view based on generating relations, exploited in the past, to study some aspects of the theory of special functions. The possibility of extending the results to include generating functions involving products of Lagrange-based unified Apostol-type and other polynomials is finally analyzed.


Basic components of the conventional prosthodontic diagnostic set-up workflow include dental cast models, full-mouth two-dimensional digital photographs, as well as selected intra- and extra-oral radiographs. This set-up provides a limited two-dimen-sional representation of the maxillofacial region and fails to depict the patient in full three dimensions, thereby limiting diagnosis and treatment planning. Novel three-dimensional (3D) imaging technologies such as digital intra-oral scanning and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) are becoming increasingly available in the dental office. However, these technologies are limited in capturing the dentition and alveolar bone due to little regard to the soft tissue profile. Facial scanning is a rapidly evolving technol-ogy with a wide range of applications in the fields of biomedical engineering, industrial design and 3D animations. In dental medicine, the technology has its roots in orthodontics and orthognathic surgery and provides the basis for comprehensive 3D mapping of the face for treatment planning and follow-up purposes. Recently, there has been increasing interest in applying facial scanning technology in prosthodontics and implant dentistry. The aim of this review is to shed some light on the evolution of facial scanning technology and to demonstrate the scanning principles, while providing some perspective on potential applications in prosthetic dentistry. An attempt is also made to discuss the accuracy and limitations of this novel technology, and to examine future trends.


Phosphatidylinositol (PI) liposomes at 40 μM increased tissue plasminogen activator (t‐PA) biosynthesis by human fetal lung fibroblasts IMR‐90 (FLF), after 5 days of incubation by 7.4 ± 1.4 times of the control level. Other phospholipid liposomes, such as phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), had no effect on t‐PA biosynthesis by FLF. The induction of t‐PA biosynthesis by PI liposomes was inhibited by specific inhibitors of phosphoinositide pathway: gentamycin and lithium chloride. Thus, gentamycin inhibited the effect of PI liposomes on t‐PA biosynthesis by 76% (P < 0.001), while it had no effect on control FLF. Likewise, lithium chloride inhibited t‐PA biosynthesis of both PI‐treated and control FLF by >84%. The induction of t‐PA biosynthesis by PI liposomes was dependent on RNA transcription and independent of DNA biosynthesis.


We report time-resolved measurements of frequency modulations of intense laser pulses interacting with clustered gas jets. The results are consistent with recent observations of intense laser self-focusing in these jets


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that alters the body's metabolism to burn fats in preference to carbohydrates. The use of fats as a primary energy source leads to a state of ketosis and the accumulation of ketone bodies in the blood. KetoCal (Nutricia North America, Gaithersburg, MD) is a nutritionally complete, commercially available 4:1 (fat: carbohydrate + protein) ketogenic formula that is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for the management of pediatric epilepsy. Diet-induced changes to brain homeostasis as a result of ketosis have shown potential as an alternative treatment for other neurological diseases including malignant gliomas. We previously showed that Bio-Serv F3666 (Frenchtown, NJ), a rodent KD with a fat to carbohydrate + protein ratio of 6:1, potentiates the activity of both radiation and temozolomide (TMZ) therapy. We studied the efficacy of KetoCal as an adjuvant treatment for malignant glioma in combination with radiation or TMZ.

GL261-luc cells expressing luciferase were stereotactically implanted into the right frontal lobe of albino C57BL/6 mice (NCI, Frederick, MD). Following intracranial implantation, animals were fed standard rodent chow (SD) and were randomized to treatment groups on day 3 (SD vs KetoCal with and without radiation or TMZ) based on bioluminescent signal (IVIS® Spectrum, Caliper Life Sciences, Hopkinton, MA). Blood levels of β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) and glucose were measured using a Keto-Site reflectance meter (GDS Technologies, Elkhart, IN) and HemoCue Glucose System (HemoCue AB, Angelholm, Sweden). βHB and glucose levels were checked one and two weeks following the initiation of diet treatment. Mice were maintained on a 12 hour light/dark cycle and KetoCal or SD was available ad libitum.

Animals fed KetoCal had elevated levels of βHB (p=0.0173), decreased levels of glucose (p=0.0224) and increased median survival of approximately 6 days relative to animals on SD. To determine if KetoCal enhanced the effect of radiation; mice received 2 × 4 Gy whole brain radiation in combination with SD or KetoCal. Irradiated animals fed SD had a median survival of 44.5 days, while irradiated animals maintained on KetoCal demonstrated a complete loss of bioluminescence, suggesting the absence of viable tumor cells. These animals have been followed for >170 days with no visible signs of recurrent tumor (p=0.0061). Animals fed KetoCal in combination with TMZ (5×50mg/kg) had a median survival of 37 days compared to 28 days for animals treated with TMZ and maintained on SD (p=0.0043).

In summary, the 4:1 fat: carbohydrate + protein ratio in KetoCal appears to provide a higher anti-tumor effect than a 6:1 formulation when used in addition to radiation or TMZ. The effect is particularly pronounced when used in combination with radiation. This suggests that cellular metabolic alterations brought about through changes in the diet may be useful for the treatment of human malignant gliomas.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 624. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-624


OBJECTIVES
The essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree oil) and its components have antimicrobial activity against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi and viruses. The mechanism(s) by which Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCTC 10662 maintains a decreased susceptibility to tea tree oil and components was investigated.

RESULTS
Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid enhanced the antimicrobial activity of tea tree oil and terpinen-4-ol against stationary phase P. aeruginosa while polymyxin B nonapeptide enhanced the activity of tea tree oil and gamma-terpinene. Pre-treatment with the protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone increased the susceptibility of exponential phase cells to sub-inhibitory concentrations of tea tree oil, terpinen-4-ol and gamma-terpinene, indicating that intrinsic tolerance to tea tree oil and components is substantially energy dependent.

CONCLUSIONS
Increased tolerance to tea tree oil in P. aeruginosa is directly related to the barrier and energy functions of the outer membrane, and may involve efflux systems.


OBJECTIVE
We investigated the clinical and radiological advantages of unilateral laminectomy in posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) procedure comparing with bilateral laminectomy, under the same procedural condition including bilateral instrumentation and insertion of two cages, in patients with degenerative lumbar disease with unilateral leg symptoms.

METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed 124 consecutive cases of PLIF via unilateral or bilateral approach between January 2006 and April 2010. In 80 cases (bilateral group), two cages were inserted via bilateral laminectomy, and in 44 cases (unilateral group), via unilateral laminectomy. The average follow-up duration was 29.5 months. The clinical outcomes were evaluated with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI). The fusion rates and disc space heights were determined by dynamic standing radiographs and/or computed tomography. Operative times, intra-operative and post-operative blood losses and hospitalization periods were also evaluated.

RESULTS
In clinical evaluation, the VAS and ODI scores showed excellent outcomes in both groups. There were no significant differences in term of fusion rate, but the perioperative blood loss and the operative time of the unilateral group were lower than that of the bilateral group.

CONCLUSION
Unilateral laminectomy can minimize the operative time and perioperative blood loss in PLIF procedure. However, the different preoperative disc height between two groups is a limitation of this study. Despite this limitation, solid fusion and satisfactory symptomatic improvement could be achieved uniquely by our surgical method. This surgical method can be an alternative surgical technique in patients with unilateral leg pain.


In coastal and low-lying vulnerable delta cities, such as the Rotterdam Metropolitan region and Metropolitan Manila, there has been an increase in vulnerability of urban flooding and water quality problems. New approaches address the current and future effects of climate change and increase urban quality, reduce vulnerability and increase water quality. New arrangements for international cooperation are set up in order to address these problems in the project 'IWASTO' ('to correct and to prevent') where several organisations from the Philippines and The Netherlands join forces to rehabilitate rivers and introduce new innovations for water quality monitoring and waste collection using the 'Research Design and Manufacaturing (RDM)' approach. One of the concrete results from this RDM approach in 2016 is the development and implementation of the 'Longganisa', a waste collection tool that was designed by a Dutch- Philippine team. In addition, the waterquality was measured and mapped with innovating methods using apps in order to locate and prioritize highly polluted areas. In the near future measures will be implemented to rehabilitate the rivers in Manila and a knowledge exchange forum will be set up to share the best management practices on international scale in countries as Indonesia, India and China.


Urban forests provide a range of ecological, social, and aesthetic benefits to urban communities. Additionally, urban reforestation projects can help cities become more resilient to the effects of climate change. This article explores the impacts that California's Global Warming Solutions Act (A.B. 32) will have on the management of the state's urban forests. The Act will likely cause conflicts between private landowners and urban forest managers, who may have very different goals for the ways in which trees should be managed. However, the Act provides planners the unique opportunity to introduce resources that are more resilient to climate change and resources that will provide more benefits to traditionally underserved communities.


Background: Antigen "N" is a high-frequency antigen of the MNS blood groups and carried on glycophorin B that is resistant to enzymatic cleavage by trypsin, and provides differential diagnosis of its antibody specificity to N being present of glycophorin A. Naturally occurring IgM antibodies to N are known to be clinically insignificant, as against the IgG counterpart with clinical relevance. Aim: Auto-anti-"N" association with the bladder cancer was explored for its clinical significance as well as its interference in grouping anomaly. Materials and Methods: A warm environment was created while blood sampling for the laboratory work up as the patient had a high-titer auto-cold agglutinin causing spontaneous hemagglutination. The antibody was tested by standard serological methods with the red cell, antisera, and enzymes prepared in house or obtained commercially. Results: The case was admitted to hospital with high fever and hematuria; he was diagnosed with malaria and bladder cancer. He required transfusions in the face of severe anemia. His blood sample posed problems in compatibility tests due to autoantibody present. Serological workup revealed its specificity as anti-"N." Conclusion: Auto-anti-"N" as a cause of severe anemia could not be attributed to, for concurrent malarial infection. However, its presence may have some association with the underlying malignant condition.


The synthetic cytokine (Synthokine) SC-55494 is a high-affinity interleukin-3 (IL-3) receptor ligand that stimulates greater in vitro multilineage hematopoietic activity than native IL-3, while inducing no significant increase in inflammatory activity relative to native IL-3. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vivo hematopoietic response of rhesus monkeys receiving Synthokine after radiation-induced marrow aplasia. Administration schedule and dose of Synthokine were evaluated. All animals were total-body irradiated (TBI) with 700 cGy 60Co gamma radiation on day 0. Beginning on day 1, cohorts of animals (n = 5) received Synthokine subcutaneously (SC) twice daily with 25 micrograms/kg/d or 100 micrograms/kg/d for 23 days or 100 micrograms/kg/d for 14 days. Control animals (n = 9) received human serum albumin SC once daily at 15 micrograms/kg/d for 23 days. Complete blood counts were monitored for 60 days postirradiation and the durations of neutropenia (NEUT; absolute neutrophil count [ANC] < 500/microL) and thrombocytopenia (THROM; platelet count < 20,000/microL) were assessed. Synthokine significantly (P < .05) reduced the duration of THROM versus the HSA-treated animals regardless of dose or protocol length. The most striking reduction was obtained in the animals receiving 100 micrograms/kg/d for 23 days (THROM = 3.5 v 12.5 days in HSA control animals). Although the duration of NEUT was not significantly altered, the depth of the nadir was significantly lessened in all animal cohorts treated with Synthokine regardless of dose versus schedule length. Bone marrow progenitor cell cultures indicated a beneficial effect of Synthokine on the recovery of granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units that was significantly higher at day 24 post-TBI in both cohorts treated at 25 and 100 micrograms/kg/d for 23 days relative to the control animals. Plasma pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated in both normal and irradiated animals. Pharmacokinetic analysis performed in irradiated animals after 1 week of treatment suggests an effect of repetitive Synthokine schedule and/or TBI on distribution and/or elimination of Synthokine. These data show that the Synthokine, SC55 94, administered therapeutically post-TBI, significantly enhanced platelet recovery and modulated neutrophil nadir and may be clinically useful in the treatment of the myeloablated host.


Polarization of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to classic pro-inflammatory M1 or alternatively activated M2 types plays an important role in establishing tumor microenvironment and determining therapeutic responses. It has become increasingly clear that M2 macrophages contribute to tumor progression by producing anti-inflammatory cytokines and suppressing anti-tumor immunity. AXL receptor tyrosine kinase has recently emerged as a dual therapeutic target in oncology, due to its function in tumor growth, survival and metastasis, as well as immunosuppressive activity. AXL and its ligand Gas6 are both involved in attenuating anti-tumor immune response through modulation of TAM polarization. Thus, targeting the AXL signaling pathway is expected to promote a pro-inflammatory tumor microenvironment, in addition to direct inhibition of tumor growth. SLC-391, a selective small molecule inhibitor for AXL, displays high potency against numerous cancer cell lines through inhibition of AXL/PI3K/AKT-dependent cell proliferation and survival in vitro. Additionally, this compound was also found to alter the cytokine profile expressed in THP1-derived M2 macrophages, including upregulating pro-inflammatory CXCL10 and downregulating anti-inflammatory IL-10. Noticeably, the expression level of AXL was significantly upregulated in THP1-derived macrophages in presence of tumor cell-conditioned medium, which indicated the involvement of AXL in M2 polarization, and therefore strengthening the notion of AXL as a dual therapeutic target. In a co-culture system consisting of THP1-derived macrophages and A549 non-small cell lung cancer cells, SLC-391 targeted AXL activity in both cell types for overall tumor cell suppression through direct and macrophage-mediated inhibition. This observation is supported by inhibition of tumor growth and the increased ratio of M1/M2-polarized TAMs from mice treated with SLC-391 in a CT-26 murine colon carcinoma syngeneic model, considering CT26 cells are not sensitive to SLC-391 in cell-based proliferation assay. In summary, in addition to direct inhibition of tumor cells, SLC-391 also appears to promote anti-tumor immunity through modulation of M2 to M1 transition. Citation Format: Shenshen Lai, Qin Xu, Jun Yan, Hong Zhang, Zaihui Zhang. AXL inhibitor promotes anti-tumor immunity through modulation of macrophage polarization [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3853.


The possibility of the same large-aperture KrF laser driver to amplify simultaneously both nanosecond pulses for thermonuclear target implosion and picosecond ones for fuel ignition is discussed relative to KrF-based Fusion Test Facility. In this way experiments were performed at hybrid Ti:Sapphire/KrF GARPUN-MTW facility on amplification of subpicosecond pulses. 2-TW, 330-fs pulses were produced with beam divergence 20 μrad in direct double-pass amplification scheme. Peak power as high as 30–40 TW can be achieved in 50-fs pulses, being combined with long pulses (of a few ns to 100 ns) of ∼1 GW power.


In experiential psychotherapy three modes of experiencing are managed in parallel--experiencing in the domain of explicit knowing, experiencing in implicit knowing, and experiencing in the zone of emergent formation where the other two meet. Gendlin (1996) argued that therapy is a "process that centrally involves experience before it becomes one of a set of defined 'packages' and again afterword when it dips back into the prepackaged zone at the edge of experiencing" (p. 4). In Gendlin's terms, the "edge" is where the prepackaged and packaged zones meet. Encounter at the edge, what we call edge sensing, is dwelling in the meeting point between what is known explicitly and what is known in an implicit bodied way. This encounter extends to dyadic encounter at the interpersonal edge in the therapeutic relationship. Edge sensing is an intrasubjective and intersubjective process crucial for the moving forward process of change.


The global success of the film KONY 2012 by Invisible Children, Inc., manifests far greater magical powers than those of Joseph Kony and his ruthless Lord's Resistance Army, which it portrays. The most prominent feature of the Invisible Children lobby is the making and constant remaking of a master narrative that depoliticizes and dehistoricizes a murky reality of globalized war into an essentialized black-and-white story. The magic of such a digestible storyline, with Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony as a global poster boy for evil personified, not only plays into the hands of the oppressive Ugandan government but has also become handy for the US armed forces as they seek to increase their presence on the African continent. As the US-led war on terror is renewed and expanded, Invisible Children's humanitarian slogan, "Stop at nothing", has proven to be exceptionally selective, manifesting the occult economy of global activism that calls for military interventions.


Thank you for reading fundamentals of ayurvedic medicine. As you may know, people have look numerous times for their chosen readings like this fundamentals of ayurvedic medicine, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they cope with some harmful virus inside their computer. fundamentals of ayurvedic medicine is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our digital library spans in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the fundamentals of ayurvedic medicine is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the acute diarrheal disease cholera, is able to thrive in diverse habitats such as natural water bodies and inside human hosts. To ensure their survival, these bacteria rely on chemosensory pathways to sense and respond to changing environmental conditions. These pathways constitute a highly sophisticated cellular control system in Bacteria and Archaea. Reflecting the complex life cycle of V. cholerae, this organism has three different chemosensory pathways that together contain over 50 proteins expressed under different environmental conditions. Only one of them is known to control motility, while the function of the other two remains to be discovered. Here, we provide an overview of the chemosensory systems in V. cholerae and the advances toward understanding their structure and function.


The electrical resistivity and flexural strength of plastic composites reinforced with pineapple leaf particles (PCPLP) is presented. PCPLP were produced using different plastic materials; Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP), and different plastic-pineapple leaf particle ratios; 50:50 and 70:30. The PCPLP were tested and evaluated with respect to electrical resistivity and flexural strength according to ASTM D257 and D790, respectively. The results indicate that PCPLP made from PP exhibits better electrical resistance than PE, which may be attributed to the better frequency insulation behaviour of PP. PCPLP using the higher ratio of 70:30 also exhibited better electrical resistance than the lower 50:50 ratio. Cellulose materials inherently influence the electrical resistance of plastic composites, due to their natural propensity to absorb moisture. The PCPLP produced using a ratio of 50:50 for both PP and PE composites exhibited better MOE results than the 70:30 composites, however the converse is true with respect to the MOR. MOE of PCPLP was increased with increasing pineapple leaf particles content due to the greater matrix stiffness of this natural particle with respect to plastic matrix. However, high percentage of filler particles in the matrix (70:30 ratio) has reduced the toughness in the composite structure due to the lost of physical contact between high accumulated particles.


Design and measurements of a high-contrast millijoule regenerative amplifier are presented. Coupled with a preamplifier and saturable absorber, the amplifier and subsequent compressor produce 3.7 mJ, 33 fs pulses with nanosecond ASE contrast of 10-11.


Oviducts of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) were examined histologically for the presence of stored sperm. Two regions containing sperm were identified, one at the junction of the posterior uterus and the vagina (UVJ) and the other at the junction of the tube and isthmus (TIJ). In these areas, sperm were found in the lumina of oviductal glands. The glands in these areas of the oviduct are diffuse and shallow and appear to allow better access to sperm than glands located elsewhere. Histochemically, the glands of the UVJ reacted weakly for carbohydrates and proteins, whereas those of the TIJ reacted strongly for these same two components, secretions of which are associated with sperm storage structures in other reptiles. Sperm were not in contact with the glandular epithelium, and glands at the UVJ contained more sperm than those at the TIJ. Oviductal sperm storage was observed not only in recently mated females but in all females possessing uterine eggs as well as all females known to be associated with a nest. We conclude that female alligators are capable of storing sperm in their oviductal glands, but not from one year to the next.


Seminal analysis was performed within 2 months of orchiectomy on 97 patients with clinical Stage I malignant testicular teratoma managed by surveillance following orchiectomy. Relapse of malignant disease occurred in 28% of 47 patients with a sperm count less than 10 X 10(6)/ml and in 32% of 50 patients with a sperm count greater than or equal to 10 X 10(6)/ml. Of 11 patients with azoospermia, 4 relapsed and 1 developed contralateral testicular germ cell tumour. Of 35 patients with malignant teratoma undifferentiated the relapse rate was 68% in 16 patients with a sperm count less than 10 X 10(6)/ml and 42% in 19 patients with a sperm count greater than or equal to 10 X 10(6)/ml. It was concluded that sperm count analysis is non-contributory in estimating the risk of relapse in clinical Stage I teratoma.


Scholars in inter-disciplinary fields like the Digital Humanities are increasingly interested in semantic annotation of specialized corpora. Yet, under-resourced languages, imperfect or noisily structured data, and user-specific classification tasks make it difficult to meet their needs using off-the-shelf models. Manual annotation of large corpora from scratch, meanwhile, can be prohibitively expensive. Thus, we propose an active learning solution for named entity recognition, attempting to maximize a custom model's improvement per additional unit of manual annotation. Our system robustly handles any domain or user-defined label set and requires no external resources, enabling quality named entity recognition for Humanities corpora where such resources are not available. Evaluating on typologically disparate languages and datasets, we reduce required annotation by 20-60% and greatly outperform a competitive active learning baseline.


Objective: To explore the difference of liver inflammation and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and to investigate the relationship between hepatic pathology and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Methods: 57 patients with chronic HCV infection and 346 patients with chronic HBV infection who were hospitalized at Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from January 2012 to September 2016 were enrolled. In chronic HBV infection, including 88 cases whose ALT were more than two times of upper limited of normal (ALT≥2×ULN) and 258 cases whose ALT were less than two times of upper limited of normal (ALT < 2×ULN).All the patients were underwent liver biopsy. Chronic HBV infection (ALT≥2×ULN and ALT < 2×ULN) and chronic HCV infection were compared respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using a Univariate χ²-test and Mann-Whitney U test for comparison. Correlations between variables were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation. Results: In chronic HBV infection group, 169 cases (48.8%) had inflammation grade≥2 (G≥2), 98 cases (28.3%) had fibrosis stage≥2 (S≥2), 81 cases (23.4%) with G≥2 and S≥2.In the ALT < 2×ULN group, there were 109 cases (42.2%) with G≥2, 62 cases (24%) with S≥2, 49 cases (19%) with G≥2 and S≥2. In the ALT≥2×ULN group, 60 cases (68.2%) with G≥2, 35 cases (39.8%) with S≥2, 31 cases (35.2%) with G≥2 and S≥2. The grade of inflammation and fibrosis have significantly different between ALT≥2×ULN group and ALT < 2×ULN group (χ² = 17.66, χ² = 8.06, P < 0.01). In chronic HCV infection group, 47 cases (82.5%) with G≥2, 20 cases (35.1%) with S≥2, 20 cases (35.1%) with G≥2 and S≥2. ALT had no correlation with inflammation and fibrosis (P > 0.05). The grade of inflammation was significantly different between chronic HCV infection and chronic HBV infection whose ALT < 2×ULN (χ² = 30.19, P < 0.01) but the fibrosis have no difference (χ² = 2.96, P > 0.05). Compared with chronic HBV infection whose ALT≥2×ULN, both inflammation and fibrosis had no significantly different (χ² = 3.65, χ² = 0.32, P > 0.05 respectively). Conclusion: In chronic HBV infection whose ALT < 2×ULN, about 30%-40% liver tissue with significant necroinflammation and /or fibrosis. About 80% chronic HCV infection with significant necroinflammation, and the grade of inflammation has no correlation with ALT. The grade of inflammation has significantly different between chronic HCV infection group and chronic HBV infection group whose ALT < 2×ULN.


The causes and features of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are considered. It is noted that the crisis, which caused a recession in the world and national economies, has significantly affected all countries. The decline in world production is expected at 3.0%. The causes of the current crisis are significantly different from those observed during the financial crises of 1997-1998 and 2008-2009. The first two crises began with the exacerbation of problems in financial markets (foreign exchange and derivatives markets). The current crisis has arisen in the process of bans on social and personal communication, reduction of domestic consumption, temporary closure of most small and medium businesses, micro-businesses, most of which may not take their jobs after the recession.The main feature of this crisis is a very high level of uncertainty about its duration and the strength of the shock that countries around the world will face. Manifestations of the crisis at the global level are the reduction of international trade and the accumulation of fixed capital, the rapid growth of budget deficits, the reduction of employment, the closure of borders. In Ukraine, the crisis is also accompanied by an increase in the state budget deficit, contraction of economic activity, which manifested itself in falling production rates, reduced domestic demand and consumption, the risk of rising inflation and hryvnia devaluation, rising unemployment.To overcome the effects of the corona crisis, governments have developed and are implementing fiscal and monetary programs. An analysis of the programs of Central and Eastern European countries that have successfully reformed their economies and Ukraine has shown that they are common in their approaches and measures proposed in the field of fiscal and monetary policy. In particular, it is the establishment of tax preferences, the provision of state guarantees, credit support for small and medium-sized businesses, stimulating domestic demand by increasing money supply, using repo operations, refinancing tier two banks, easing capital buffer requirements.The implementation of these programs, according to IMF forecasts, gives a chance for V-shaped growth of the world economy. At the same time, the great uncertainty of the duration of the pandemic and recession may level expectations.Increasing the budget deficit in Ukraine to 7.5%, problems with sources of coverage and expansion of money supply through the resumption of bank refinancing operations by the National Bank exposes the country to the risks of provoking inflation and devaluation. Other risks also remain relevant for Ukraine, namely: escalation of the military conflict in the east of the country; reduction of grain and fruit and vegetable crops in Ukraine due to unfavorable weather conditions; increasing volatility in world food prices in the light of global climate change; strengthening protectionism in the world.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the preventive effect of urapidil, an alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist, on hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling.

METHODS
Twenty-one male Sprague-Drawley rats were randomly allocated into three groups: control group, hypoxic group and hypoxic plus urapidil group. The animal model of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension was established by exposing the rats to normobaric hypoxic condition for three weeks, and the rats of hypoxic plus urapidil group were treated with urapidil 10 mg/kg before and after hypoxic processing. The right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle plus septum (LV + S) of rat were weighed respectively, and the RV/(LV + S) was calculated. The wall thickness(WT) and wall area(WA) of pulmonary arterioles wall were measured by a computerized image analyzer, and the index of wall thickness of rats pulmonary arterioles-the percentages of the wall thickness in the external diameter (WT%) and the wall area in the total vascular area (WA%) were calculated.

RESULTS
In the hypoxic group, RV/(LV + S), WT% and WA% were (33.06 +/- 1.74)%, (25.15 +/- 1.47)% and (73.88 +/- 2.93)% respectively, while in the control group, they were (23.21 +/- 2.31)%, (13.55 +/- 1.60)% and (48.23 +/- 4.43)%, the difference between the two groups was significant (P < 0.01). In the hypoxic plus urapidil group, they were (26.63 +/- 1.44)%, (14.57 +/- 2.27)% and (52.68 +/- 3.98)%, being remarkably decreased as compared with those in the hypoxic group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Urapidil can prevent hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.


Five patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the appendix are reported. All patients presented with symptoms resembling those of acute appendicitis or periappendicular abscess. In none of them was malignancy suspected prior to operation. It is advisable that every patient above 50 years of age presenting with symptoms of appendicitis undergo laparotomy, thus enabling a better exploration of the cecal region. If an appendiceal mass is present and frozen section shows malignancy, a right hemicolectomy should be performed. The prognosis of adenocarcinoma of the appendix is dismal as most patients present with an advanced stage of the disease.


Composite electrodes for supercapacitors have been obtained, consisting of a matrix of highly dispersed carbon materials: microcrystalline graphite and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, also a filler of nanoparticles of nickel hydroxide. Β-Co (OH) 2 and β-Ni (OH) 2 nanopowders were obtained by chemical deposition from solution. To create the electrodes, a polyvinylidene fluoride polymer in the form of a powder was used as a bonding material. The main technological stages of the manufacture of electrodes were determined, the parameters of the obtained structures were measured by the method of cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge. For the manufacture of carbon electrodes, the optimal ratios of highly dispersed carbon materials, a binder polymer and a solvent have been determined to create mechanically strong layers with high conductivity and capacity. The technique of creating capacitor structures and measuring the capacitance of the obtained electrochemical capacitors has been worked out. Capacitors made of highly dispersed carbon materials showed typical rectangular curves of cyclic voltammetry and a linear decay-rise of the galvanostatic charge-discharge dependences. Typical values of specific capacity ~ 50 F / g were obtained. Composite electrodes made of nickel hydroxide nanoparticles in a carbon matrix demonstrated an increase in capacitance to ~ 180 F / g. It is shown that composite electrodes are promising for creating capacitors with a high specific capacity.


The cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and injection process is a thermal recovery process consisting of three main stages: steam injection, steam soak and production of the heated oil. Before a stimulated well is put into production, a soak period is required to allow the injected steam to heat the oil around the wellbore and reduce its viscosity so that it will become more susceptible to flow. In actual operations, the soak period could vary from days to weeks, or even months. Prolonged soak period causes the well productivity to decline because of the continuous heat loss to the formation. On the other hand, insufficient soak period prevents effective transfer of the heat from the wet steam into the formation. For this reason, it is desirable to determine the optimal soak period that will maximize oil production and net profit during cyclic steam injection. The injection period at the beginning of the cycle, as well as its ensuing production period is also investigated to verify which stage in the CSS process is most influential in assuring higher recovery.
 In this study, a thermal, numerical reservoir oil simulator is utilized to evaluate the effect of varying the injection volume, soak period and production period with a view to improving crude oil recovery in Ratqa-North Kuwait Lower Fars Heavy Oil (LFHO) reservoir. Further economic studies are then pursued to determine the effectiveness of cyclic steam injection operations whilst maintaining a safe operational environment ensuring cap-rock integrity and also avoiding localized pockets of higher pressure and temperature (heaving).
 The key findings from this study was that the maximum injection period (60 days), minimum soak period (5 days) and minimum production period (90 days) are required for every cycle, in order to maximize recovery and optimize the cost.


Low alloy steels are extensively used in pressure boundary components of nuclear power plants. The structural integrity of the components made of low alloy steels can be evaluated by the procedure of flaw evaluation provided by Section XI of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. According to the Code, the range of stress intensity factor ΔK can be used to determine the fatigue crack growth rates of the material. However, it has been reported that crack closure behavior also strongly influence the fatigue crack growth rate under strong compressive load cycles.
 This paper discusses the relation between ΔK and the fatigue crack growth rate for cracks in low alloy steels exposed to air. Compressive-tensile cyclic loadings were applied to center-notched plates to obtain the fatigue crack growth curves. The test data demonstrated that effective SIF range ΔKeff more accurately described the crack growth property due to plasticity induced crack closure. Comparing the test results with the reference crack growth curves in the ASME Code Section XI, it may seem that the crack growth prediction based on the Code underestimates the crack growth rates for compressive-tensile cyclic loadings under high stress level.


The current study attempts to explore the representation of male ancestors in Arabic texts written by Saudi female journalists. These texts appeared in Saudi daily newspapers as daily/weekly columns, which were subsequently put together in a one-million-word corpus. Sketch Engine was used to extract the contexts of eleven Arabic entries for male ancestors, that is, father(s) and grandfather(s), in different linguistic forms (e.g., definite, indefinite, singular, and plural). The total number of tokens for these targeted entries within the corpus was 361, and in each context of these tokens, we determined whether the context was positive, neutral, or negative. Additionally, the contexts were categorized into six groups: upbringing, family relations, guardianship, politics, daily issues, or other. The data show that both the categories of the context and the type of ancestor (father vs. grandfather) can be a determiner for the positive or negative representation of male ancestors within Arabic texts. Overall, there seems to be a negativity towards fathers and positivity towards grandfathers within the corpus. One implication of the study is that the contextualization process employed by female writers tends to be practice-specific instead of portraying a stereotypical picture of male ancestors. A second implication is that the discourse topic seems to be a determiner of the positivity and negativity towards male ancestors. Future research is needed to compare these outcomes with the representation of female ancestors within the same corpus.


An expedient strategy for the synthesis of 3-phosphinoylbenzofurans through a cascade electrophilic phosphination cyclization has been presented. This sequential process was induced by phosphenium-cations under mild and metal-free conditions. The reaction can be scaled up to gram quantities with an excellent yield. Additionally, the obtained arylphosphine oxide product can be reduced to phosphine, which could coordinate with the transition metals ruthenium and palladium, acting as potential ligands for other important chemical reactions.


Background: The microbiological diagnosis of pulmonary TB by direct sputum smear microscopy plays a key role in routine diagnosis of TB and treatment follow up in Tuberculosis Control Programs in India. Direct smear preparation of clinical samples is hazardous for technicians working in centers without a bio-safety hood. Studies have shown that sensitivity of smear microscopy can be improved if the sputum sample is liquefied with one or more chemical reagents and then concentrated by centrifugation or sedimentation before acid fast staining. The present study aimed to quantify the gain in positivity of microscopic detection and to test its implementation in a peripheral laboratory participating. Methods: This is a prospective observational study were conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpalli, Nalgonda, Telangana, India. A total of 100 patients, of all age groups and sex, presenting to the OPD for the first time, with clinical suspicion of pulmonary or extrapulmonary TB was included in the study. All the demographic details of the patients were noted and consent was taken from patients. Salivary samples were immediately removed and a new sample was requested. The time between sputum collection and analysis was recorded. Results: In present study the 100 patients enrolled, the male/female ratio was 1.32, the mean age was 57 years (range 10–85), and 92% of patients were sampled for TB case detection. Only one patient had known HIV infection. Overall, AFB were detected on 44 smears prepared by the direct method (12.3%) and 55 smears prepared by the bleach method (16.0%), a statistically significant difference (P = 0.0006), giving an increase in positivity. The semi-quantitative results highlighted a significant gain in positivity (P < 0.001) with the bleach method. Conclusion: Our study, conducted in a population with a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS, confirms the benefits of the bleach method for the microscopic case detection of pulmonary TB. This rustic, simple and inexpensive method could easily be integrated into the routine of a peripheral laboratory after a short training period and strengthening of quality assurance.


Perhaps the author hoped to broaden the book's appeal with the second edition (2E). Concerning new features, the author notes that "some are targeted to the more experienced data analyst" (Preface, p. xi). His description of statistical tools is "extensions of statistical methods described in the Ž rst edition only in their most elementary forms." There are three new chapters, but one is simply a dataset and another is a chapter of exercises. However, a chapter on crossover designs has been added, and there are 50% more illustrations. All of these changes and the aforementioned extensions have added 150 pages to the 1E. Anyone using the 1E will probably want the 2E. The author notes that "SAS is not the primary focus of this book." SAS for the author is "an indispensable tool." Our use of Statistica at BP, a package with a comprehensive GUI, has relegated SAS to a secondary tool. One's productivity goes up considerably when the need for program codes with colossally complicated syntax has been eliminated. However, the Books by Users series at SAS remains a landmark in the integration of statistics instruction and computation, and this book is certainly one of its most useful selections in applied statistics.


The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, via a critical review of available studies on the adult L2 resetting of the Null-Subject Parameter (NSP) and in light of a typologically wide sampling of languages, we conclude that the NSP cluster is much narrower in scope than is reflected in the design and discussion of most L2 studies. Secondly, we present original research on the L2 resetting of the NSP by two groups of adult English intermediate learners of L2 Spanish: a study-abroad group and a class-room only group. We seek to quantify the extent to which study-abroad experience, that is, increased exposure to native input, is beneficial specifically as it relates to the acquisition of new functional features needed for parameter re-setting (cf. Isabelli 2004). Despite the observable and clandestine linguistic benefits to study-abroad, our data suggest that for the resetting of the NSP, at least, such exposure to native input is not particularly gainful.


As elective transfer of a single embryo (eSET) becomes increasingly accepted, the need to improve implantation rates becomes crucial. Selecting the most competent embryo therefore constitutes a major challenge in assisted reproductive technology. Embryo morphology and developmental stage at given time points are closely correlated with developmental competence and assessment of morphological parameters at discrete inspection points thus remains the preferred way of evaluating embryonic potential. Lately, more attention has been given to the assessment of dynamic embryo development as a tool for evaluating embryonic potential. The introduction of time-lapse equipment approved for use on human embryos offers novel clinical opportunities for continuous monitoring of embryos, enabling flexible evaluation of known morphological parameters and potentially introducing new dynamic markers of viability. Due to lack of larger, randomized clinical studies it remains to be elucidated whether embryo selection using dynamic parameters improves clinical outcome and which parameters are of significance. Before such randomized controlled studies are organized, the most promising parameters to evaluate must be identified. This mini-review summarizes the current knowledge about dynamic markers of viability and discusses the potential clinical role of time-lapse analysis in embryo assessment and selection.


Wright (1983) questions the use of hypothetical situations as stimulus material in recent research exploring attributions to supernatural causality. He advocates the use of behavioral settings in such research, and suggests that hypothetical situations be standardized when they are used. While attributional research could benefit substantially from use of behavioral settings, threats to internal and external validity can best be overcome, not by reliance on a single research method, but by use of a variety of different methods. The stimulus material presented to subjects in the typical attribution experiment can be divided into two components, a narrative description and one or more questions about this description. Establishing validity of these elements involves separate, though related, sets of problems.


An energy-based fatigue life prediction framework was previously developed by the authors for prediction of axial, bending and shear fatigue life at various stress ratios. The framework for the prediction of fatigue life via energy analysis was based on a new constitutive law, which states the following: the amount of energy required to fracture a material is constant. In the first part of this study, energy expressions that construct the constitutive law are equated in the form of total strain energy and the distortion energy dissipated in a fatigue cycle. The resulting equation is further evaluated to acquire the equivalent stress per cycle using energy based methodologies. The equivalent stress expressions are developed both for biaxial and multiaxial fatigue loads and are used to predict the number of cycles to failure based on previously developed prediction criterion. The equivalent stress expressions developed in this study are further used in a new finite element procedure to predict the fatigue life for two and three dimensional structures. In the second part of this study, a new Quadrilateral fatigue finite element is developed through integration of constitutive law into minimum potential energy formulation. This new QUAD-4 element is capable of simulating biaxial fatigue problems. The final output of this finite element analysis both using equivalent stress approach and using the new QUAD-4 fatigue element, is in the form of number of cycles to failure for each element on a scale in ascending or descending order. Therefore, the new finite element framework can provide the number of cycles to failure at each location in gas turbine engine structural components. In order to obtain experimental data for comparison, an Al6061-T6 plate is tested using a previously developed vibration based testing framework. The finite element analysis is performed for Al6061-T6 aluminum and the results are compared with experimental results.


A 68-year-old man with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and widespread bone metastases as well as a history of kidney transplant, underwent 5 cycles of Lu-prostate-specific membrane antigen 617 therapies in our department. Being more cautious of the radiation burden imposed on the transplanted kidney, a lower average dose of 4 GBq per cycle was administered (instead of the more routine 6.0-7.4 GBq per cycle). However, excellent response was noted and serum creatinine level of 0.8 mg/dL remained stable.


This paper describes the equilibrium shape of a liquid drop under applied fields such as gravity and electrical fields, taking into account material properties such as dielectric constants, resistivities, and surface tension coefficients. The analysis is based on an energy minimization framework, scaling arguments, and on solutions of Maxwell's electrostatic equations. A rigorous and exact link is provided between the energy function corresponding to any given physical phenomena, and the resulting shape and size dependent force term in the (modified) Young's equation. It is shown that a dielectric solid and a perfectly conducting liquid is all that is needed to exactly recover the Young-Lippmann equation. A dielectric liquid on a conducting solid gives rise to line tension terms. Finally, a slightly resistive liquid on top of a dielectric, highly resistive solid gives rise to contact angle saturation and accurately predicts the experimental data that we observe in our electrowetting devices.


Synopsis : The number of oxygen sensors consumed by Japanese steelmaking industries in 1987, the objects of use and the reliability of sensors were surveyed. 518 653 pieces of oxygen sensor were consumed in Japan and 157 700 pieces were exported to Taiwan, China and Korea. 26.3% of them consumed in Japan were used in converters, 9.9% in ladles, 53.9% in RH and DH, 5.6% in secondary refining, 3.2% in the tundishes of continuous casting and 1.0% in electric furnaces. Main objects of the uses were almost the same as the results of survey in 1985, that is, the determination of the amount of deoxidizers and the control of aluminium content in steel. Oxygen sensors were also used in converters for the estimation of contents of phosphur and manganese in steel at blow-end. Discussions on the reliability of oxygen sensors and the other technics for determining the contents of elements in steel were made.


Deglutition and its disorders. Anatomy, physiology, clinical diagnosis, and management. Edited by Perlman AL, Schulze-Delrieu KS. (Pp 522; illustrated; £49.95.) Singular Publishing Group, 1997. ISBN 9781565 936218.

The act of swallowing has been described as the most complex reflex which can be reproduced by the stimulation of a peripheral nerve. Such complexity is also encountered in the aetiology, pathogenesis, investigation, and management of deglutition disorders. The senior editor of this comprehensive multi author review, Adrienne Perlman, is a speech and language therapist, now based in Champaign, Illinois, with an outstanding personal record of innovative research in the field of swallowing. Her contributors include most of the principal prominent names in North American dysphagia research, whether internists, neurologists, radiologists or, of course, speech and language therapists. …


Trehalose, an important disaccharide in fungal spores, plays important role in protects against many environmental stresses, such as heat and salt. In this study, a gene (PiTPS) encoded trehalose-6-phosphate synthase was isolated from Phellinus igniarius (L.: Fr.) Quel, a basidiomycete fungus belonging to the family Polyporaceae. It contains many bioactive compounds that have been reported to possess antiviral, antibacterial, antitumor and antimutagenic activities. The PiTPS cDNA is composed of 2688 nucleotides, which encodes a protein of 517 amino acids and its molecular mass is about 100 kDa. The amino acid sequence has a relatively high homology with the TPS in several other filamentous fungi. The predicted protein contains a glycol_transf_20 domain and a trehalose_PPase domain. Genomic structure of PiTPS is composed of three exons with 607, 763 and 1,318bp and two introns with 73 and 52 bp. In this rearch, we clone and express the TPS gene in E. coli, constructed engineering strain, and laid the foundation for further study its structure and function.


Step‐pool systems have been widely studied during the past few years, resulting in enhanced knowledge of mechanisms for sediment transport, energy dissipation and patterns of self‐organization. We use rhodamine tracer data collected in nine step‐pool reaches during high, intermediate and low flows to explore scaling of solute transport processes. Using the scaling patterns found, we propose an extension of the Aggregated Dead Zone (ADZ) approach for solute transport modeling based on the morphological features of step‐pool units and their corresponding inherent variability within a stream reach. In addition to discharge, the reach‐average bankfull width, mean step height, and the ratio of pool length to step‐to‐step length can be used as explanatory variables for the dispersion process within the studied reaches. These variables appeared to be sufficient for estimating ADZ model parameters and simulating solute transport in predictive mode for applications in reaches lacking tracer data.


The use of organic wastes, as an alternative to inorganic fertilizer, can be an important strategy for Brazilian agriculture. The objective was to evaluate the residual effects and the agronomic efficiency of organic amendments use on chemical attributes of a Haplic Cambisol and to soybean crop. A field experiment was carried out in a completely randomized split-plot design with three replications in Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2008/09. In the plots, the sources of organic amendments were evaluated (poultry litter, farmyard manure, and biochar) using three application rates (3, 6 and 9 Mg ha-1) into the subplots, and control treatment without amendments. Agronomic efficiency of the wastes linearly increased with the doses, independent of the organic source. Poultry litter, a nutrient-rich organic amendment, increased the soybean grain yield. The biochar use boosted the availability of calcium and magnesium levels in the soil, and a consequent increase in the sum of bases, base saturation, pH and effective cation exchange capacity of the soil. The poultry litter utilization enhances the soil acidity and availability of potassium, sulfur and zinc, over the time. The use of organic amendments increases the levels of phosphorus, potassium and zinc in the soil, after soybean cropping.


A noted architect said to me when I was a young student, "One needs one hundred years to study and then one hundred years to practice what he has acquired." If this is true in general architectural problems, it is doubly true in hospital planning; so that in the brief time allotted me this afternoon I can but touch the high points of the subject given me, "The Ward Unit of the General Hospital." The ward unit is really the keynote of the hospital, for here the patient (for whom the institution is built) lives, eats, sleeps and spends his weary hours of convalescence. We should therefore never cease to study how to fill those hours with as much comfort as possible, to serve the patient good, palatable food, to guard him from undue noise and excitement from the working of the hospital, and to see that he has fresh


Two hundred and forty stool samples from three primary schools in Khana Local Government of Rivers State were examined to determine the prevalence of gastro-intestinal helminthes in pupils. The stool samples were examined using the direct wet preparation and formol ether concentration methods. The study showed that 126 females and 114 males were examined in three communities (Sii, Gwara and Gure). An overall prevalence of 70% was recorded; out of which 57 (23.7%), 53 (22.1%) and 58 (24.2%) were recorded for Sii, Gwara, and Gure respectively. Eighty three (34.5%) males and 85 (35.4%) females were infected as follows: 27 (11.2%), 30 (12.5%); 24 (10.0%), 29 (12.1%) and 32 (13.3%), 26 (10.8%) for Sii, Gwara, and Gure, respectively. Also 286 helminth worms were recovered as follows; 127 (44.4%), 114 (40%), 21 (7.3%), 20 (7%), 3 (1%) and 1 (0.3%) for Ascaris lumbricoides , Trichuris trichuira , Hookworms, Fasciola hepatica , Strongyloides stercolaris and Enterobius vermicularis respectively. There was no significant difference in pattern of infection between the sexes, and location of study ( p -values > 0.05). The study suggested that the high prevalence is an indication of prevailing unhygienic environment due to inadequate sanitary facilities and drinking water. Keywords: intestinal helminthes, school children, prevalence, sexes, infections


Trachoma is the primary cause of preventable blindness in Gazankulu, N.W. Transvaal. Its prevalence has not changed for many years. To identify, treat and prevent trachoma, communities were asked and aided to set up care groups (volunteer health workers) to deal with the disease at the household level. The groups have extended their activities to other areas of primary health care.


One necessary condition for creating a safe AI system is making it transparent to uncover any unintended or harmful behaviour. Transparency can be achieved by explaining predictions of an AI system with counterfactual statements, which are becoming a de facto standard in explaining algorithmic decisions. The popularity of counterfactuals is mainly attributed to their compliance with the "right to explanation" introduced by the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and them being understandable by a lay audience as well as domain experts. In this paper we describe our experience and the lessons learnt from explaining decision tree models trained on UCI German Credit and FICO Explainable Machine Learning Challenge data sets with class-contrastive counterfactual statements. We review how counterfactual explanations can affect an artificial intelligence system and its safety by investigating their risks and benefits. We show example explanations, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, show how they can be used to debug the underlying model, inspect its fairness and unveil security and privacy challenges


Despite of implicit flow conservation on every arc of traditional network flow model, the generalized network flow model assumes the proportional and symmetric loss factor on each arc. This paper considers two terminal lossy networks specifying the portion of flow entering an arc at its tail node that reaches to its head node. We studied the generalized maximum continuous dynamic contraflow (GMCDCF) and generalized continuous earliest arrival contraflow (GCEACF) problems. The problems are efficiently solved with pseudo-polynomial time algorithms. Moreover, a fully polynomial time approximation scheme (FPTAS) is proposed in polynomial time.


The article, which is the result of a study, proposes strategies for suitable educational interaction between students and teachers, based on an analysis of a virtual university forum. The forum is one of group, discussion-based, thematic, asynchronous and argumentative communication intended to generate a knowledge-building process. The conceptual and methodological framework of the study is centered on the elements of specialized educational discourse, such as linguistic analysis of computer-mediated interaction, cyber pragmatics, the theory of courtesy, argument and the cooperative principle in communication. As a general conclusion, it is possible to say that training students and teachers in strategies for argument, linguistic correction and interaction, from a linguistic-textual and cyber pragmatic perspective, is essential to the development of collaborative, communicative and scientific competence in virtual higher education.


We consider storage devices located in the plane according to a general point process and specialize the results for the homogeneous Poisson process. A large data file is stored at the storage devices, which have limited storage capabilities. Hence, they can only store parts of the data. Clients can contact the storage devices to retrieve the data. We compare the expected cost of obtaining the complete data under uncoded as well as coded data allocation strategies. It is shown that for the general class of cost measures where the cost of retrieving data is increasing with the distance between client and storage devices, coded allocation outperforms uncoded allocation. The improvement offered by coding is quantified for two more specific classes of performance measures. Finally, our results are validated by computing the costs of the allocation strategies for the case that storage devices coincide with currently deployed mobile base stations.


This technical note describes a new microfluidic sensor that combines low-cost (USD $0.97) with rapid fabrication and user-friendly, fast, sensitive, and accurate quantification of a breast cancer biomarker. The electrodes consisted of cost-effective bare stainless-steel capillaries, whose mass production is already well-established. These capillaries were used as received, without any surface modification. Microfluidic chips containing electrical double-layer capillary capacitors (μEDLC) were obtained by a cleanroom-free prototyping that allows the fabrication of dozens to hundreds of chips in 1 h. This sensor provided the successful quantification of CA 15-3, a biomarker protein for breast cancer, in serum samples from cancer patients. Antibody-anchored magnetic beads were utilized for immunocapture of the marker, and then, water was added to dilute the protein. Next, the CA 15-3 detection (<2 min) was made without using redox probes, antibody on electrode (sandwich immunoassay), or signal amplification strategies. In addition, the capacitance tests eliminated external pumping systems and precise volumetric sampling steps, as well as presented low sample volume (5 μL) and high sensitivity using bare capillaries in a new design for double-layer capacitors. The achieved limit-of-detection (92.0 μU mL-1) is lower than that of most methods reported in the literature for CA 15-3, which are based on nanostructured electrodes. The data shown in this technical note support the potential of the μEDLC toward breast cancer diagnosis even at early stages. We believe that accurate analyses using a simple sample pretreatment such as magnetic field-assisted immunocapture and cost-effective bare electrodes can be extended to quantify other cancer biomarkers and even biomolecules by changing the biorecognition element.