BACKGROUND
Gynecologic endoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique for treatment of various gynecologic diseases. When compared to conventional laparotomy, this procedure has advantages in many aspects such as reduced postoperative pain, short hospital stay, and decreased morbidity associated with laparotomy. However 15 to 30% of the patients experienced moderate or severe postoperative shoulder pain. Methods to minimize postoperative shoulder pain after gynecologic endoscopy are essential to maximize the quality of life of the patients.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the benefit of intraperitoneal instillation of bupivacaine plus morphine for reducing postoperative shoulder pain incidence after gynecologic endoscopy.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
A randomized clinical trial was conducted in 158 patients undergoing laparoscopic procedures. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either 0.5% bupivacaine hydrochloride 20 mL mixed with morphine 3 mg (study group) or normal saline (control group) instillation to subdiaphragmatic area before finishing the procedure. Shoulder pain was evaluated at immediate post-operative time, and at 12 and 24 hours from the termination of surgery. The data of requested analgesic drugs after surgery was also recorded.

RESULTS
Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups. Diagnosis, laparoscopic procedures, and duration of operation were also comparable. There were comparable proportions of patients reporting shoulder pain at 12 and 24 hours between the study and control group (30.4% and 30.4% at 12 hours, and 11.3% and 21.5% at 24 hours, respectively). Median pain scores at 12 and 24 hours were comparable between the study and control group (3 and 2 at 12 hours, and 4 and 4 at 24 hours, respectively). Requirement of analgesics was slightly greater among control than study group, but without statistical significance (17.7% and 24.1% respectively).

CONCLUSION
Intraperitoneal instillation of bupivacaine plus morphine had no efficiency for reducing postoperative shoulder pain incidence after gynecologic endoscopy.


Rett syndrome (RTT) is caused by mutations in the X‐linked gene MECP2. While patients with RTT show widespread changes in brain function, relatively few studies document changes in brain structure and none examine in detail whether mutations causing more severe clinical phenotypes are linked to more marked changes in brain structure. To study the influence of MeCP2‐deficiency on the morphology of brain areas and axonal bundles, we carried out an extensive morphometric study of two Mecp2‐mutant mouse models (Mecp2B and Mecp2J) of RTT. Compared to wildtype littermates, striking changes included reduced brain weight (≈13% and ≈9%) and the volumes of cortex (≈11% and ≈7%), hippocampus (both by ≈8%), and cerebellum (≈12% and 8%) in both mutant mice. At 3 weeks of age, most (24 of 47) morphological parameters were significantly altered in Mecp2B mice; fewer (18) were abnormal in Mecp2J mice. In Mecp2B mice, significantly lower values for cortical area were distributed along the rostrocaudal axis, and there was a reduced length of the olfactory bulb (≈10%) and periaqueductal gray matter (≈16%). In Mecp2J mice, while there was significant reduction in rostrocaudal length of cortex, this parameter was also abnormal in hippocampus (≈10%), periaqueductal gray matter (≈13%), fimbria (≈18%), and anterior commissure (≈10%). Our findings define patterns of Mecp2 mutation‐induced changes in brain structure that are widespread and show that while some changes are present in both mutants, others are not. These observations provide the underpinning for studies to further define microarchitectural and physiological consequences of MECP2 deficiency. J. Comp. Neurol. 508:184–195, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We study the asymptotic properties of bridge estimators in sparse, high-dimensional, linear regression models when the number of covariates may increase to infinity with the sample size. We are particularly interested in the use of bridge estimators to distinguish between covariates whose coefficients are zero and covariates whose coefficients are nonzero. We show that under appropriate conditions, bridge estimators correctly select covariates with nonzero coefficients with probability converging to one and that the estimators of nonzero coefficients have the same asymptotic distribution that they would have if the zero coefficients were known in advance. Thus, bridge estimators have an oracle property in the sense of Fan and Li [J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 96 (2001) 1348-1360] and Fan and Peng [Ann. Statist. 32 (2004) 928-961]. In general, the oracle property holds only if the number of covariates is smaller than the sample size. However, under a partial orthogonality condition in which the covariates of the zero coefficients are uncorrelated or weakly correlated with the covariates of nonzero coefficients, we show that marginal bridge estimators can correctly distinguish between covariates with nonzero and zero coefficients with probability converging to one even when the number of covariates is greater than the sample size.


The pure rotational spectra of the bicyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycle molecules, quinazoline, quinoxaline, and phthalazine, have been recorded and assigned in the region 13-87 GHz. An analysis, guided by ab initio molecular orbital predictions, of frequency-scanned Stark modulated, jet-cooled millimeter wave absorption spectra (48-87 GHz) yielded a preliminary set of rotational and centrifugal distortion constants. Subsequent spectral analysis at higher resolution was carried out with Fourier transform microwave (FT-MW) spectroscopy (13-18 GHz) of a supersonic rotationally cold molecular beam. The high spectral resolution of the FT-MW instrument provided an improved set of rotational and centrifugal distortion constants together with nitrogen quadrupole coupling constants for all three species. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP∕6-311+G∗∗ level of theory closely predict rotational constants and are useful in predicting quadrupole coupling constants and dipole moments for such species.


It has been reported that more than half of the children in Japan suffer from daytime sleepiness. In contrast, about one quarter of junior high-school students in Japan complain of insomnia. According to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (Second edition), these children could be diagnosed as having behaviorally-induced insufficient sleep syndrome due to inadequate sleeping habits. Getting on adequate amount of sleep should solve such problems;however, such a therapeutic approach often fails. Although social factors are involved in these sleep disturbances, I feel that a novel notion - asynchronization - leads to an understanding of the pathophysiology of disturbances in these children. Further, it could contribute to resolve their problems. The essence of asynchronization is a disturbance of various aspects (e.g., cycle, amplitude, phase, and interrelationship) of the biological rhythms that normally exhibits circadian oscillation. The main cause of asynchronization is hypothesized to be the combination of light exposure during night and the lack of light exposure in the morning. Asynchronization results in the disturbance of variable systems. Thus, symptoms of asynchronization include disturbances of the autonomic nervous system (sleepiness, insomnia, disturbance of hormonal excretion, gastrointestinal problems, etc.) and higher brain function (disorientation, loss of sociality, loss of will or motivation, impaired alertness and performance, etc.). Neurological (attention deficit, aggression, impulsiveness, hyperactivity, etc.), psychiatric (depressive disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, etc.) and somatic (tiredness, fatigue, etc.) disturbances could also be symptoms of asynchronization. At the initial phase of asynchronization, disturbances are functional and can be resolved relatively easily, such as by the establishment of a regular sleep-wakefulness cycle;however, without adequate intervention the disturbances could gradually worsen and become hard to resolve.


The size effect in thin film sandwich structures is considered. Three types of boundary conditions for dynamic polarization at interface electrode-ferroelectric layer are formulated. The type of boundary conditions depends on matching crystal lattices of electrodes and ferroelectric layer. A model describing the dependence of dielectric permittivity on biasing field, temperature, and thickness of the thin ferroelectric film is proposed. The results of the simulation are in good agreement with experiments.


Households with PHBS in West Java were still low so that people at high risk of experiencing health problems. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between knowledge and behaviour regarding the household in order PHBS RW 17 Village Sub-district Cihideung Parongpong West Bandung Regency. This research used descriptive method of correlation. Fifty-two mothers were chosen through simple random sampling technique. The instrument used was a questionnaire sheet containing 12 questions about knowledge and 12 statements about behavior (PHBS). The results showed that the knowledge of respondents about the PHBS is good. PHBS household often washes hands after bowel movement, and seldom do not use PAM/gallon water for cooking and drinking in RW 17 Village Cihideung. There is no significant relationship between knowledge and behavior of living clean and healthy household order.


Organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) have great potential applications in display and solid‐state lighting. Stability, cost, and blue emission are key issues governing the future of OLEDs. The synthesis and photoelectronics of a series of three kinds of binaphthyl (BN) derivatives are reported. BN1–3 are "melting‐point‐less" and highly stable materials, forming very good, amorphous, glass‐like films. They decompose at temperatures as high as 485–545 °C. At a constant current density of 25 mA cm−2, an ITO/BN3/Al single‐layer device has a much‐longer lifetime (>80 h) than that of an ITO/NPB/Al single‐layer device (8 h). Also, the lifetime of a multilayer device based on BN1 is longer than a similar device based on NPB. BNs are efficient and versatile OLED materials: they can be used as a hole‐transport layer (HTL), a host, and a deep‐blue‐light‐emitting material. This versatility may cut the cost of large‐scale material manufacture. More importantly, the deep‐blue electroluminescence (emission peak at 444 nm with CIE coordinates (0.16, 0.11), 3.23 cd A−1 at 0.21 mA cm−2, and 25200 cd m−2 at 9 V) remains very stable at very high current densities up to 1000 mA cm−2.


Abstract 4426 Background/Aims: Despite improved prognosis of CML patients with the use of imatinib (IM), its administration is associated with extramedullary disease (EMD) occurrence. We postulate that, like in the metastatic processes, changes in migration and adherence potential may enable leukemic cells to inhabit extramedullary sites. Focal adhesion complexes linking between extracellular matrix and the cell cytoskeleton are likely to play an important role in these processes. Pyk2 is a tyrosine kinase highly expressed in hematopoietic cells, localized to focal adhesion complexes, and known to participate in adhesion and migration processes. We have previously shown that Pyk2 participates in NB4 (an acute promyelocytic leukemia [APL] cell line) cells9 adhesion and migration following exposure to the APL targeted therapy ATRA. We postulate that similar to the effect of ATRA on NB4 cells, IM being also a targeted therapy, might also be associated with enhanced adhesion and migration abilities of the CML cell line K562. Our objectives were to identify the effect of IM administration on pyk2 expression and on K562 cell adhesion and migration ability and to establish the role of these changes in treatment-associated EMD. Results: We found a 2.6-fold increase in pyk2 mRNA expression in K562 cells following exposure to IM. We also found that 30% of IM-treated K562 cells adhered to fibronectin (FN) compared to untreated cells having no adhesion ability. In addition, a 3-fold induction in migration was seen in K562 cells following treatment. Furthermore, K562 cells treated with IM demonstrated a 2-fold increase in invasion potential as compared to untreated cells. In order to assess whether Pyk2 is essential for IM-dependent adhesion and migration of K562 cells, these cells were infected with pyk2 specific shRNAs. While 30% of the non-infected NB4 cells adhered to FN following IM treatment, only 12% of the pyk2-shRNA–infected K562 cells exhibited adhesion potential (Pvalue Finally, we found that IM treatment induced an in-vivo increase in pyk2 mRNA expression level in leukocytes derived from 3 out of 5 CML patients studied. Conclusions: IM induces K562 cell adhesion, migration and invasion accompanied by increased pyk2 expression. Pyk2 is one of the key proteins regulating IM-induced cell migration and adhesion. Collectively our data suggest a critical role of Pyk2 in adhesion and migration initiated by the targeted therapy IM and a possible role in EMD development. These data support a common mechanism for the development of EMD in hematological malignancies treated by targeted therapies via pyk2 expression. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This research paper reveals the results of the studies on the impact of human resource practices (consistency, involvement, work, salary, autocratic leadership, participative leadership, employee motivation employee learning and enactment pay) on the organizational performance with the mediating effect of knowledge sharing commitment in the public service sector of Pakistan. The targeted population of this study contains executive civil servants of the public service sector in Pakistan. By applying non-probability sampling technique researcher collected data from 326 civil servants. Researcher get the feedback form quantitative methodology by distributing questionnaire among civil servants containing 65 questions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0. The result shown most significant and effective human resource practices are participative leadership and enactment pay on the organizational performance. Autocratic leadership and salary is least effective practices to improve organizational performance and bring knowledge sharing commitment among the civil servants.


A 26-GHz frequency-stalbilized MIC IMPATT oscillator using a dielectric resonator has been developed. In designing such an oscillator in the high-frequency range, many parameters affecting frequency stability should be considered. This paper discusses oscillation frequency variations caused by deviations in the resonant frequency of dielectric resonators, in diode reactance, and in the electrical length between the diode and resonator, all of which are due to temperature variation. Design criteria for a highly frequency-stabilized oscillator are also presented. With these techniques, we have obtained an MIC IMPATT oscillator with frequency stability of less than +-5.0x10/sup -5/, output power deviation of less thau +-2.0 dB, and output power of more than 23 dBm over the temperature range of 0°C to 50°C.


The dependence of the optical and spin-Hamiltonian parameters of NiF65- and NiF43- D4h units, with a b1g* ( approximately x2-y2) unpaired electron, upon the equatorial (Req) and axial (Rax) Ni+-F- distances has been studied through multiple-scattering X alpha and self-consistent charge extended Huckel methods. Both methods lead to the following main conclusions: (i) A charge-transfer transition like eu( pi + sigma ,eq) to b1g*( approximately x2-y2) (termed Eu) is more sensitive than a crystal-field one like b2g* ( approximately xy) to b1g*( Delta 1) or eg* to b1g*( Delta 2) to variations in Req. The change experienced by Eu mainly reflects that of Vel(M)-Vel(L), where Vel(M) and Vel(L) are the electrostatic potentials experienced by an electron placed on metal and ligands, respectively, (ii) As regards the unpaired spin densities onto nLp and nLs ligand valence orbitals (termed fsigma and fs respectively), it is found that fsigma >>fs but fs is much more sensitive than fsigma to changes in Req. The microscopic origin of this relevant fact is explained in detail. (iii) The removal of axial ligands, keeping Req constant, induces a decrease of Eu as a result of the diminution of the electrostatic repulsion, Vel (M), and produces a slight increase of Delta 1 and a more important one of Delta 2. (iv) The dependence of g//-g0 and gperpendicular to -g0 on Req essentially reflects that of Delta 1-1 and Delta 2-1, respectively, because of the low covalency (fsigma approximately=2%).


Turfgrass sites are frequently irrigated with water from nearby ponds. However, aquatic herbicides used to control aquatic plants and algae may be phytotoxic to turfgrasses. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential for turfgrass injury following irrigation from herbicide-treated ponds. Injury to creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds. 'Penncross') irrigated with water containing aquatic herbicides depended upon the herbicide, the concentration, formulation, season, and frequency of application. The most injurious herbicide was dichlobenil (2 6-dichlorobenzonitrile). Diquat [6 7-dihydrodipyrido(1,2-a:2′,1′-c)-pyrazinediium ion]; silvex [2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy) propionic acid]; simazine [2-chloro-4,6-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine]; and the ester formulation of 2,4-D [(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] caused moderate injury to the turf. No injury was observed from copper sulfate; copper-triethanolamine; diuron [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea]; endothall [7-oxabicyclo(2.2.1) heptane-2,3-dicarboxylic acid]; or fenac [2,3,6-trichlorophenyl) acetic acid]. In actual practice, simazine is the only herbicide which would be expected to cause unacceptable turfgrass injury because of its persistance in water and its possible accumulation in irrigated turf.


A linkage disequilibrium between sexually selected and life history traits can be explained by three mutually non-exclusive mechanisms. Genes coding for two traits may be located close on the same chromosome, genes responsible for variation in one of the trait may pleiotropically alter the other, and non-random pairing with respect to two traits may generate a non-physical linkage disequilibrium between their genes. Knowledge of which of these three mechanisms is responsible for a covariation between two traits is of interest to understand why differently ornamented individuals differ in several phenotypic aspects. In Switzerland, barn owls Tyto alba mate randomly with respect to a colour polymorphism generating a large range of variants between reddish-brown and white, males being lighter coloured than females. Several studies have shown that plumage coloration is not neutral with respect to some life history components. To test whether coloration is genetically associated with body size, partial cross-fostering experiments were performed by exchanging some hatchlings between nests. These experiments showed that darker biological fathers produce longer-tailed offspring. This sex-specific pattern is consistent with the hypothesis of non-physical linkage disequilibrium. In line with this hypothesis, darker coloured males were mated with longer-tailed females, whereas female coloration was not associated with tail length of their mate. The finding that dark nestlings had a longer tail than their pale siblings also supports the physical linkage and pleiotropy hypotheses. Therefore, non-random pairing can generate or strengthen a genetic covariation between a secondary sexual character and a morphological trait. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 88, 475–488.


This work studied the effects of ethanol in the absence and presence of haloperidol under two experimental conditions. In protocol 1, rats were treated daily with ethanol (4 g/kg, p.o.) for 7 days, and received only haloperidol (1 mg/kg, i.p.) from the 8th day to the 14th day. In protocol 2, animals received ethanol, and the treatment continued with ethanol and haloperidol from the 8th day to the 14th day. Results show increases in alanine transaminase (ALT; 48% and 55%) and aspartate transaminase (AST; 32% and 22%) levels after ethanol or haloperidol (14 days) treatments, as compared with controls. Apolipoprotein A-1 (APO A1) levels were increased by haloperidol, after 7- (148%) but not after 14-day treatments, as compared with controls. Levels of lipoprotein (high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C)) tended to be increased only by ethanol treatment for 14 days. ALT (80%) and AST (43%) levels were increased in the haloperidol plus ethanol group (protocol 2), as compared with controls. However, an increase in APO A1 levels was observed in the haloperidol group pretreated with ethanol (protocol 1), as compared with controls and ethanol 7-day treatments. Triglyceride (TG) levels were increased in the combination of ethanol and haloperidol in protocol 1 (234%) and 2 (106%), as compared with controls. Except for a small decrease in haloperidol groups, with or without ethanol, as related to ethanol alone, no other effect was observed in HDL-C levels. In conclusion, we showed that haloperidol might be effective in moderating lipid alterations caused by chronic alcohol intake.


This is the continuation of our research on development of a fully nonlinear, dynamically consistent, numerical ship motion model (DiSSEL). In this paper we report our results onmodeling ship maneuvering in arbitrary seaway that is one of themost challenging and important problems in seakeeping. In our modeling, we developed an adaptive algorithm to maintain dynamical balances numerically as the encounter frequencies (the wave frequencies as measured on the ship) varying with the ship maneuvering state. The key of this new algorithm is to evaluate the encounter frequency variation differently in the physical domain and in the frequency domain, thus effectively eliminating possible numerical dynamical imbalances. We have tested this algorithm with several well-documented maneuvering experiments, and our results agree very well with experimental data. In particular, the numerical time series of roll and pitch motions and the numerical ship tracks (i.e., surge, sway, and yaw) are nearly identical to those of experiments.


Cosmic ray composition is very important to clarify the origin of cosmic rays. In particular, the composition in the energy region at and beyond the knee is of special interest, because it must be closely related to sites of cosmic ray productions and mechanisms of particle accelerations. In the BASJE (Bolivian Air Shower Joint Experiment) group, we constructed a new air shower array at Mount Chacaltaya (5,200m above the sea level) to observe cosmic rays with energies greater than 10 eV. Moreover, we have designed Cherenkov light detectors operated together with the air shower array. It is known that the longitudinal development of a particle cascade in the atmosphere strongly depends on the type of the primary nucleus, and an air shower initiated by a heavier nucleus develop faster than that by a lighter primary. It has also been pointed out that the longitudinal development of an air shower can be measured by detecting Cherenkov light emitted from electrons in the shower. We carried out a Monte-Carlo studies of air showers and found that primary cosmic ray nuclei types can be distinguished by measuring lateral distributions and arrival timings (waveforms) of Cherenkov lights associated with air showers. In our experiment, we install ∼ 18 Cherenkov light detectors in the air shower array and will carry out a hybrid experiment to observe air showers by determining directions and primary energies of cosmic rays from air shower array data, and identifying primary particle type from Cherenkov light detector data.


Ssd1p is an RNA binding protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that plays an important role in cell division, cell fate decisions, stress response and virulence. Lab strain W303 encodes the terminal truncation ssd1-2, which is typically interpreted to be a loss of function allele. We have shown that ssd1-2 is toxic to mpt5-Δ mutants and to diploids entering stationary phase and quiescence. The ssd1-Δ null shows no toxicity, indicating that ssd1-2 is disrupting an essential function that does not solely require Ssd1p. ssd1-2 cells are also more sensitive to stress than ssd1-Δ . These phenotypes are recessive to SSD1-1 . In contrast, ssd1-2 plays a dominant role in promoting sporulation.


The purpose of this study was to create a new, highly selective biosensor, which uses surface plasmon resonance as a detection method for the quantitative determination of the matrix metalloproteinase-1. The main part of the biosensor is an immobilized rabbit anti-human matrix metalloproteinase-1 antibody, which binds the enzyme from the sample. The analytical response signal of the biosensor is in the range of 0.05–20.00 ng ml−1. The detection limit is 9 pg ml−1, and the limit of quantification is 18 pg ml−1. The biosensor was used to measure the matrix metalloproteinase-1 concentration in the blood plasma of healthy persons and patients with bladder cancer with good results (good tolerance of the potential interferents). To validate the new analytical method, measurements of serum matrix metalloproteinase-1 concentration in the biological samples by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) were conducted. Good correlation between these two methods was found. The developed biosensor can be successfully used for the quantitative determination of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in laboratories.


This is the first report of a previously undescribed mutation in Indian subjects of the CACCC box of promoter region for beta-globin, which in combination with a common mutation produces thalassemia major in the offspring of the family.


The phenomenon of scaling in deep inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering is usually explained in terms of the Feynman parton model, and the logarithmic corrections to scaling are explained in the framework of perturbative QCD. For testing the validity of the parton model, we consider the deep inelastic electron scattering in a model in which the system electromagnetic current operator explicitly satisfies relativistic invariance and current conservation. Let the struck particle have the fraction ξ of the total momentum in the infinite momentum frame. Then it is shown that, due to binding of particles in the system under consideration, the Bjorken variable x no longer can be interpreted as ξ , even in the Bjorken limit and in zero order of the perturbation theory. We argue that, as a result, the data on deep inelastic scattering alone do not make it possible to determine the ξ distribution of quarks in the nucleon.


We consider a simplified bidirectional associated memory (BAM)
neural network model with four neurons and multiple time delays.
The global existence of periodic solutions bifurcating from Hopf
bifurcations is investigated by applying the global Hopf
bifurcation theorem due to Wu and Bendixson's criterion for
high-dimensional ordinary differential equations due to Li and
Muldowney. It is shown that the local Hopf bifurcation implies the
global Hopf bifurcation after the second critical value of the sum
of two delays. Numerical simulations supporting the theoretical
analysis are also included.


Diabetes is a major public health challenge affecting more than 451 million people. Physiological and experimental factors influence the accuracy of non-invasive glucose monitoring, and these need to be overcome before replacing the finger prick method. Also, the suitable employment of machine learning techniques can significantly improve the accuracy of glucose predictions. One aim of this study is to use light sources with multiple wavelengths to enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of glucose detection in an aqueous solution. Multiple wavelength measurements have the potential to compensate for errors associated with inter- and intra-individual differences in blood and tissue components. In this study, the transmission measurements of a custom built optical sensor are examined using 18 different wavelengths between 410 and 940 nm. Results show a high correlation value (0.98) between glucose concentration and transmission intensity for four wavelengths (485, 645, 860 and 940 nm). Five machine learning methods are investigated for glucose predictions. When regression methods are used, 9% of glucose predictions fall outside the correct range (normal, hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic). The prediction accuracy is improved by applying classification methods on sets of data arranged into 21 classes. Data within each class corresponds to a discrete 10 mg/dL glucose range. Classification based models outperform regression, and among them, the support vector machine is the most successful with F1-score of 99%. Additionally, Clarke error grid shows that 99.75% of glucose readings fall within the clinically acceptable zones. This is an important step towards critical diagnosis during an emergency patient situation.


This case report deals with a solitary granular cell myoblastoma extrinsic to the proximal trachea. This lesion can be encountered frequently by the plastic surgeon; its histology, incidence and treatment are reviewed here. It is important to reemphasize that local extirpation is appropriate treatment of what is almost always a benign neoplasm, and intraoperative pathological diagnosis guides the surgeon in providing curative therapy.


In this paper, we argue the need for effective resource control mechanisms for sharing resources in commodity clusters. To address this issue, we present the design of Sharc---a system that enables resource sharing among applications in such clusters. Sharc depends on single node resource control mechanisms such as reservations or shares and extends the benefits of such mechanisms to clustered environments. Our Sharc prototype (i) supports resource reservation for applications, (ii) enables dynamic resource allocation based on resource usages, (iii) provides performance isolation to applications, and (iv) handles a variety of failure scenarios. Our experimental evaluation has shown that Sharc can scale to 256 node clusters running 100,000 applications. Our results demonstrate that Sharc can be an effective approach for sharing resources among competing applications in moderate size clusters.


Regularized diffusion tensor estimation is an essential step in DTI analysis. There are many methods proposed in literature for this task but most of them are neither statistically robust nor feature preserving denoising techniques that can simultaneously estimate symmetric positive definite (SPD) diffusion tensors from diffusion MRI. One of the most popular techniques in recent times for feature preserving scalar- valued image denoising is the non-local means filtering method that has recently been generalized to the case of diffusion MRI denoising. However, these techniques denoise the multi-gradient volumes first and then estimate the tensors rather than achieving it simultaneously in a unified approach. Moreover, some of them do not guarantee the positive definiteness of the estimated diffusion tensors. In this work, we propose a novel and robust variational framework for the simultaneous smoothing and estimation of diffusion tensors from diffusion MRI. Our variational principle makes use of a recently introduced total Kullback-Leibler (tKL) divergence, which is a statistically robust similarity measure between diffusion tensors, weighted by a non-local factor adapted from the traditional non-local means filters. For the data fidelity, we use the nonlinear least-squares term derived from the Stejskal-Tanner model. We present experimental results depicting the positive performance of our method in comparison to competing methods on synthetic and real data examples.


An adequacy of mathematical modelling of the technical object dynamics is always a challenge, and a user can make up his mind about the modelling package using simple test schemes. The article presents the schemes that are quite common from the point of view of an inexperienced user, but have specifics in mathematical modelling. The features of the schemes are that therein failures of equilibrium equations (such as the first Kirchhoff law) and continuity (such as the second Kirchhoff law) can occur. These features can lead to incorrect results when using the OpenModelica package, while the domestic PA9 and PRADIS packages used in modelling these schemes give the correct result. The article presents two simple schemes, the simulation result of which can be a priori estimated, and provides simulation results for three packages - OpenModelica, PA9, and PRADIS.


Fatty acids play a unique and important role in human nutrition. They are the major source of energy and also structural components of biological membranes. Essential fatty acids, LA and LNA are important for normal growth and functioning of body. Dietary fatty acids have been well correlated with metabolic and physiologic alterations associated with several complications including coronary heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, obesity and hypertension. The major changes that took place with respect to dietary fatty acid consumption may be attributed to agricultural revolutions leading to large-scale production of edible oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids. However, historical background of our fatty acid consumption pattern indicates omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 1:1. But the present dietary omega-6 to omega-3 ratio ranges from 20:1 to 30:1. Indicating an increase of 20-30 fold in the intake of omega-6 fatty acids. Dietary survey conducted in India has indicated the need to improve the omega-3 fatty acid intake. Linseed oil and marine source like fish are not consumed regularly in India. However, they can be exploited as omega-3 fatty acid source if it can be stabilized and delivered through a medium that is consumed on a regular basis. Milk is an important dairy products extensively consumed by people of different age groups. Milk contains several factors that are considered to have health beneficial effects. Bovine milk however lacks omega-3 fatty acids. Milk, an every day consumed beverage can be an ideal vehicle to deliver omega-3 fatty acids. In the present work, it was aimed to incorporate omega-3 fatty acids rich oils like LSO and FO into milk and present it in a form that can be consumed. Nutritional evaluations of omega-3 fatty acid supplemented spray-dried milk formulation were carried out on experimental animals. The bioavailability, tissue distribution and differences in the distribution of LNA and long chain metabolites (EPA+DHA) were monitored. The beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplemented milk formulation in reducing risk factors for atherogenic and thrombogenic events are also studied. The aim of this investigation was to asses whether spraydried milk powder containing omega-3 fatty acids can supply adequate amounts of these essential fatty acids to a population who do not get them through their normal diet. The results obtained indicated that it is feasible to deliver omega-3 fatty acids from linseed oil and fish oil through spray-dried milk powder prepared under controlled conditions.


Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of human recombinant interferon alpha-2b (VIFERON®) as a part of comprehensive treatment for coronavirus infection COVID-19. Patients and methods. This prospective, comparative, controlled study included 140 patients with COVID-19 randomized in two groups. The experimental group (EG) included 70 patients who received standard therapy plus VIFERON® (one rectal suppository 3,000,000 IU three times a day and gel 36,000 IU/g 5 times a day applied to the nasal mucosa and palatine tonsils for 14 days); the control group (CG) comprised 70 patients who received standard therapy alone. Results. Patients in the EG demonstrated more rapid resolution of main symptoms, such as intoxication, bronchopulmonary and catarrhal manifestations. Normalization of the total score in the EG was observed 7 days earlier than in the CG. In the EG, the proportions of patients who had their D-dimer and CRP levels normalized were 42.7% and 18.7% higher than those in the CG, respectively (р < 0.05). Follow-up computed tomography demonstrated that the proportion of patients with positive dynamics in the EG was 8.1% higher than that among controls, whereas advanced disease with 51%–75% of lung tissue affected was 11.9% less common in participants from the EG than in controls (р = 0.019). We observed no adverse events associated with interferon alpha-2b (VIFERON®) or other medicines included in the treatment scheme. Conclusion. Our findings suggest high efficacy and safety of recombinant interferon alpha-2b (VIFERON®) used in combination with symptomatic agents, antibiotics, anticoagulants, which allows us to recommend this drug for inclusion into standard treatment schemes for COVID-19. Key words: COVID-19, coronavirus infection, human recombinant interferon alpha-2b


Over recent years interest in the study of behavior phenotypes has gained increasing momentum. We present three white female patients, age respectively 9 years 9 months, 14 years 6 months and 18 years at the time of the last observation, seen because of developmental delay/mental retardation, seizures and learning disabilities. Cytogenetic analysis showed a de novo deletion of the short arm of chromosome 9 in all three, with the breakpoint being located at band 9p22. Although several studies have described the somatic phenotype, analytical evaluation of verbal and non-verbal cognitive functions are lacking. Our patients received a detailed neuropsychological and linguistic evaluation that showed a particular behavior profile, in the context of mental retardation of variable degree. On selective tests there was a marked deficit in visuo-praxic and visuo-spatial skills associated with memory disturbance. Visuo-motor integration abilities [VMI; Beery, 1997] and visuo-perceptual and visuo-spatial abilities [Benton line orientation test, 1992] seemed particularly impaired, both in relation to verbal mental age (vocabulary and grammatical production/comprehension) and to some non-verbal competencies [Benton face recognition test, 1992]. The profile shows advanced performances in face recognition. In addition, there is also a dissociation between verbal and visuo-spatial short term memory. This behavior phenotype is similar to that of Williams syndrome (WS) individuals. Our patients also showed some unusual within-domain dissociations regarding linguistic abilities. To better demonstrate similarities and differences between the behavior phenotypes of the del (9p22) syndrome and WS, we studied three IQ-gender-matched WS subjects. The comparison between the cognitive phenotypes of the two syndromes shows similarities in neuropsychological pattern. We hypothesize that there is a gene within the 9p22 region responsible for the neuropsychological profile described here.


This study was performed to investigate cholesterol improvement effects of adding fermented defatted soybean grit (FD) and FD added to 5 or 10% Corchorus olitorius (FDC). Cholesterol adsorption in the FD and FDC group was more than 70%. Apolipoprotein AI and CIII improved in HepG2 cells, and a greater improvement effect was shown in FDC than that in FD. We also investigated the effect of FDC on body lipid metabolism and a high-fat diet for 4 weeks. Rats were divided into control (Con), high-fat (HF), HF treated with 20% FD (HF-FD), and HF treated with 20% FDC (HF-FDC) groups. Plasma total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations, hepatic total cholesterol, and triglyceride contents were significantly lower in the HF-FDC group than those in the HF group. Additionally, fecal total cholesterol and triglyceride contents increased in rats treated with FDC. Hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase activities were significantly lower in the HF-FDC group than those in the HF group.


Taxa that alter the morphology of foundation species have the potential to indirectly affect organisms that use the foundation species for habitat. On tropical reefs, coral morphology can be altered by epibiotic symbionts, potentially affecting fish populations that use coral as refuge. In the lagoons of Moorea, French Polynesia, mutualistic gammarid amphipods and chaetopterid polychaetes induce the growth of branch-like 'fingers' on corals of the genus Montipora. I tested whether these fingers create habitat for reef fish, and found that juvenile and adult fish sheltered and larvae settled among fingers on both natural and experimental reefs. While the habitat structure induced by the mutualists appears to be of lower quality than that provided by branching corals such as Pocillopora sp., the presence of these structures in areas of the reef devoid of branching corals likely means that mutualist-induced structures increase the abundance and diversity of reef fish at the landscape scale.


Background: In this case report the authors present an individual with a medical history of severe bilateral leg lymphoedema, multiple bilateral ulceration, type 2 diabetes, and morbid obesity. Aim: To determine the efficacy of a commercially available compression system (Coban™ 2 Compression System; 3M) on an individual with severe bilateral leg lymphoedema, and multiple bilateral ulceration. Methods: Employing the Coban 2 Compression System toe-boot bandaging technique, objective and subjective data on leg volume, tissue compositional changes and wound healing were collected at baseline and three times per week over a 4-week follow-up period. Under-bandage pressures were controlled using a pressure monitor during bandage application. Results: The patient's total limb volume decreased during treatment; circumference volume measurements showed a 3 L reduction in the left leg, and a 1.3 L reduction in the right leg. Limb volume decreased by 2.1 L in the left leg, and 2.1 L in the right. Bioimpedance spectroscopy data measured a reduction of 3.2 L in the left leg and 3.0 L in the right leg. Tissue fluids reduced by 55% in the superficial tissue of both calves during the intervention period. The reduction of the total wound size was 21.7 cm 2 in the left leg and 19.95 cm 2 in the right leg. Conclusion: Treatment with Coban 2 Compression System improved wound healing and decreased leg volume in the present case.


Due to the advantage of reducing storage while speeding up query time on big heterogeneous data, cross-modal hashing has been extensively studied for approximate nearest neighbor search of multi-modal data. Most hashing methods assume that training data is class-balanced.However, in practice, real world data often have a long-tailed distribution. In this paper, we introduce a meta-learning based cross-modal hashing method (MetaCMH) to handle long-tailed data. Due to the lack of training samples in the tail classes, MetaCMH first learns direct features from data in different modalities, and then introduces an associative memory module to learn the memory features of samples of the tail classes. It then combines the direct and memory features to obtain meta features for each sample. For samples of the head classes of the long tail distribution, the weight of the direct features is larger, because there are enough training data to learn them well; while for rare classes, the weight of the memory features is larger. Finally, MetaCMH uses a likelihood loss function to preserve the similarity in different modalities and learns hash functions in an end-to-end fashion. Experiments on long-tailed datasets show that MetaCMH performs significantly better than state-of-the-art methods, especially on the tail classes.


Although participatory approaches in health research are increasingly used, critical voices are being raised around lack of diversity among the public contributors involved. This article explores enabling and hindering factors in participatory meetings with forced migrants involved as public contributors in health research, using a convergent parallel mixed methods design including behavioural observations and questionnaires, with the aim of contributing to practices of meaningful and inclusive involvement in research. Our findings indicated that relationship-building and adapting to team development over time were key. Additionally, researcher responsivity and transparency enabled relevant contributions, but few decisions were taken. Although linguistic barriers existed and were rated higher by the researchers, engaging interpreters as co-facilitators of the meetings enabled nuanced discussions. In addition to following PPI recommendations, involving public contributors with experience of forced migration requires considering relationship-focused factors; inclusive communication, relationships and trust, and process-focused factors: where and how decisions are taken.


The quality of refractory applied on IGCC is a key factor that affects the cost of production. The workability and microstructure of chromia based castable are varied by introducing different type of alumina dispersant powder, such as active alumina powder. In this study, three types of active alumina powder are added to improve the workability. It's proved that the specific surface area and particle size distribution of fine powders in matrix part greatly affect the flow values and microstructures.


Aiming to enable dramatic reductions in the environment impact and fuel consumption of future civil aviation, NASA and European related research institutions are committed to developing new concepts and technologies in which counter rotating open rotor (CROR) concept can achieve this objective. In order to evaluate its potential impact, an open rotor engine performance model needs to be established.
 This paper presents the modeling method of an open rotor engine with the geared counter rotating open rotor (GOR) as object, and implements it in an in-house modular program of gas turbine performance prediction. In addition, the steady-state performance of the model is analyzed, and the model accuracy is verified based on the existing data. On this basis, the performance of open rotor engine and high bypass ratio turbofan engine is compared and results show that the counter rotating open rotor engine has obvious fuel saving advantages.


This study examines the effects of the firm's ownership concentration and its institutional environment on corporate debt maturity choices. As ownership concentration and debt maturity are alternative governance mechanisms, we theorize and investigate whether their association is influenced by country‐level governance factors that enhance outside monitoring by minority shareholders and debtholders. Our investigation is based on a dataset of 50,599 firm‐year observations from 38 countries. We use a propensity‐score matching approach and find that the effect of ownership concentration on debt maturity is conditional to country‐level governance attributes. Ownership concentration has a negative effect on debt maturity in countries where both shareholder protection and creditor rights are weak. Ownership concentration, however, tends to lengthen debt maturity as protection increases, and this positive effect on the length of debt maturity is stronger in countries enhancing protection towards debtholders (instead of shareholders). We also explore other characteristics of ownership structure, such as the identity and presence of controlling shareholders. These results corroborate the view that entrenched shareholders may use debt maturity opportunistically. Our study provides new insights into the interplay between firm‐ and country‐level governance mechanisms and a deeper understanding of cross‐country differences in the association between ownership structure and debt financing.


The surveys conducted by AGROCAMPUS OUEST as part of the Idealg project iden"fied consumers interested in seaweed as snack food, work that resulted in the authors asking the following ques"on: " Are seaweed food products suited to French ea)ng habits? ". Diagram summing up the methods used Seaweed snacks account for a fairly small part of the range of non-Asian style seaweed food products available although they poten"ally meet the ea"ng requirements of many consumers who have made a habit of ea)ng between meals, outside their homes but who also want to eat healthy, natural and local food. Who are these poten"al consumers of seaweed snacks and what products are currently available? What measures could be taken to encourage consumers to eat seaweed? Context In Asia, seaweed is historically a tradi"onal source of food whereas in France, seaweed consump"on is re-la"vely limited and only started to gain momentum in the 2000s. French seaweed producers and processors have developed a wide range of products suited to French-style cuisine and containing seaweed in all its various forms. In France, food intake is tradi"onally divided in three daily meals. Some consumers, however, choose to move away from this ea)ng pa2ern, with repercussions on breakfast, which they may skip, or on lunch, which will merely consist of a bite to eat. Thus about one third of French consumers eat between tradi"o-nal main meals, a3ernoon snack and aperi"f excluded. Snack food is food that can be eaten with the fingers at any)me and/or anywhere.


If we step back and consider the words around which critiques and debates have crystallized in recent years, some have been relatively clear, while others have been constantly in need of disambiguation. Even during the most drawn-out of debates over "nationalism" or "revolution," and despite the arguments over definitions and typologies, we had the sense that we were all talking about the same thing—that is why the debates could move along, adding new perspectives, disputing whether this or that author had placed enough stress on class position, or industrialization, or ideas.


The Li-Strahler (1985) canopy model was tested, using SPOT HRV XS imagery, for semiarid shrub vegetation, based on 26 small (1-ha) sites in five classes of shrub vegetation, two dominated by tarbush, one by creosote bush, and two by mesquite. The model was driven by reflectance values derived from June and September imagery. While predictions of crown size and density for individual sites had a large average error of 35%, the predictions of shrub size and density were reasonably accurate when grouped by shrub class. The aggregated predictions for a number of stands within a class were accurate to within one or two standard errors of the observed average value. Accuracy was highest but predictions were biased for some classes (size was underestimated) when the nonrandom shrub pattern was characterized for the class based on the average coefficient of determination of density. >


ABSTRACT Rangel-Buitrago, N., 2020. Are we managing in the right way the coastal erosion along the Caribbean coast of Colombia? In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 930–934. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Coastal erosion has become a severe problem, rising in magnitude, dominance, and extension along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Circa 55% of this critical area for the country is undergoing severe erosion problems related to a multiplicity of factors contrasted by their degree of influence and magnitude. The management of the coastal erosion processes has been implemented via traditional hard defense options. During the last 30 years, the necessity to protect the coast with hard structures has been driven by the growing coastal zone population and political - economic pressures. At the beginning of 2019, at least 15000 both cross and hard longshore structures have been built along the coastline. These hard structures have altered the natural conditions of the study area, producing impacts such as (i) coastal hardening, (ii) reduced sediment supplies to downdrift areas, (iii) intensification of erosion processes, (iv) generation of nearby new erosion hot spots, (v) deterioration of coastal scenery quality, among others. Direct and indirect experience indicates that optimal results, on money and a time basis, can be achieved using a combination of other coastal erosion management options, such as, "accommodation," "planned retreat," or "do nothing" solutions delivered through legally adopted coastal management plans, coordinated by one government department is urgently required. This work describes and evaluates the functionality of current coastal erosion management strategies used up to the present. It also indicates the current and future coastal erosion management scene for the region and highlights major trends and challenges faced by users, landowners, and coastal managers.


Introduction A few studies have reported an association between NADP(H): quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) C609T polymorphism and susceptibility to colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the results were inconsistent rather than conclusive. We performed a meta-analysis to examine this association in various populations. Material and methods Eligible articles were identified by a search of several databases up until June 30, 2013. Summary odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of the association. Results Overall, 14 case-control studies with 4,461 cases and 5,474 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that the NQO1 C609T polymorphism was significantly associated with CRC susceptibility (summary ORs (95% CIs): 1.30 (1.07–1.59) for CT vs. CC, 1.64 (1.15–2.33) for TT vs. CC, 1.34 (1.10–1.64) for TT/CT vs. CC, and 1.43 (1.10–1.87) for TT vs. CT/CC). Subgroup analyses indicated that the T allele was significantly associated with CRC susceptibility in both Asians and Caucasians, and was also observed in high quality studies and hospital-based case-control studies. Specifically, we found a positive association between the NQO1 C609T polymorphism and CRC susceptibility in smokers, but not in non-smokers. Conclusions The results of this meta-analysis suggest that the NQO1 C609T polymorphism significantly contributes to increased susceptibility to CRC in both Asians and Caucasians.


Adsorption of ordered (2 × 2) arrays of Nb4 clusters on the insulating surface of NaCl(100) is studied by the first-principles calculations within the density functional theory. The calculations on the relaxed geometries and cohesive energies show that both the tetrahedron and quadrangle-Nb4 can be stably adsorbed on this substrate, which may have important applications. The adsorption of quadrangle-Nb4 on the NaCl(100) surface is more stable than that of tetrahedron-Nb4. Both the Nb4 clusters studied and a single Nb atom prefer the top site of the Cl atom in the NaCl(100) surface. Electronic structure analysis suggests that the interactions between the Nb4 clusters and the substrate are weak.


The Renison granite in northwestern Tasmania is genetically related to cassiterite sulfide mineralization (carbonate replacement) at Renison Bell, one of the largest Sn deposits in the world. The magmatic hydrothermal system responsible for the mineralization in the roof sediments is also responsible for the development of three zones of extensive hydrothermal alteration in the granite. The tourmaline zone (tourmaline + quartz + topaz + fluorite + sericite + cassiterite) is in part surrounded by a sericite zone (sericite + quartz + tourmaline + calcite + cassiterite). An albite zone is characterized by albite + quartz + chlorite + sericite along with primary plagioclase and K feldspar. The Renison granite is a reduced felsic granite with biotite as the only mafic mineral. It is characterized by high contents of SiO 2 (70.9-75.3%) and K 2 O (4.69-5.91%), but low Na 2 O (2.52-3.12%). High amounts of Rb (up to 918 ppm) and Sr (as low as 19 ppm), as well as other trace element abundances in the most felsic rocks, indicate that parts of the magma were highly fractionated, and as a result, enriched in volatile constituents, mostly aqueous. During hydrothermal alteration, B, Fe, and F were introduced into the tourmaline zone, whereas Na and K were removed. In the sericite and albite zones, chemical and petrographic effects of alteration are less conspicuous and are marked by changes in the concentrations of Na and Ca and small changes in K. Norms of unaltered granites project as a tight cluster on the haplogranite plane (quartz-albite-orthoclase) whereas altered rocks are widely scattered. Normal trace element concentrations defining-fractionation trends of igneous origin have surveyed the effects of alteration in albite and sericite zone rocks as well as in weakly to moderately altered, tourmaline zone rocks. However, depletion in Rb, St, and Ba occurs in strongly tourmalinized rocks in which the primary mineral fabric is completely replaced by secondary (hydrothermal) mineral fabric...


The anti-oncogenic protein p53 is a transcription factor that prevents tumorigenesis by inducing gene repair proteins or apoptosis under DNA damage. Since the DNA-binding domain of p53 (p53C) is aggregation-prone, the anti-oncogenic function of p53 is often lost in cancer cells. This tendency is rather severe in some tumor-related p53 mutants, such as R175H. In this study, we examined the effect of salts, including KCl and sugars, on the aggregation of p53C by monitoring two distinct aggregates: amorphous-like and amyloid-like. The amorphous aggregates are detectable with 8-(phenylamino)-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) fluorescence, whereas the amyloid aggregates are sensitive to thioflavin-T (ThT) fluorescence. We found that KCl inhibited the formation of amorphous aggregates but promoted the formation of amyloid aggregates in a p53C R175H mutant. The salts exhibited different effects against the wild-type and R175H mutants of p53C. However, the ratio of ANS/ThT fluorescence for the wild-type and R175H mutant remained constant. KCl also suppressed the structural transition and loss of the DNA-binding function of p53C. These observations indicate the existence of multiple steps of p53C aggregation, probably coupled with the dissociation of Zn. Notably, amorphous aggregates and amyloid aggregates have distinct properties that could be discriminated by various small additives upon aggregation.


As the world population is projected to increase from 6 to 9 billion by 2050, the demand for global food production is rising (United Nations, 2013). Protecting domesticated crops has become a challenge due to the emergence of pathogenic diseases, which are restricting environmentally sustainable food production. The plant pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) most commonly known as yellow rust, is one of the devastating diseases of wheat (Triticum spp.), a major food source globally (Cantu et al., 2011).
Rust fungi are an important group of pathogens that pose major concerns for agriculture globally as wheat is a host to three rust diseases, yellow, brown and stem rust. Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) is a fungus producing dikaryotic urediniospores that spread sporadically causing global epidemics of wheat yellow rust. Serious implications of this rust pathogen have been reported as it continues to spread in various wheat growing regions of the world including China (Duan et al., 2011), Pakistan (Bux et al., 2011), Australia (Welling, 2007), the USA (Milus et al., 2006), and the UK (Cantu et al., 2013).
Losses are particularly high in cases when the epidemic is associated with an exotic strain that has not been considered in breeding for resistance locally (Walter et al., 2016). Recently, the evolution of yellow rust pathotypes has been documented by Hovmoller et al. (2016); this study details the migration of rust pathotypes worldwide. They illustrated the emergence of new exotic races displaying a significantly higher genetic diversity than a previous clonal population. The Himalayan and near-Himalayan regions have been documented as the centre of diversity, as this is the place where most sexual reproduction appears to occur (Ali et al., 2010; Ali et al., 2014), whilst in other parts of the world the evidence is that there are clonal introductions that then evolve by stepwise mutation (Wellings et al., 2007; Ali et al., 2014, Hubbard et al., 2015; Hovmoller et al., 2015). This study confirmed these findings with data from Illumina sequencing in chapter 3 and AFLP results from chapter 2 that display an overall distinction between new and old isolates.
Developing a better understanding of pathogenicity and virulence factors is essential to reduce the severity of this obligate biotrophic fungus. The aim of this research project was to identify molecular markers linked to specific pathotypes of yellow rust through a random molecular marker approach such as Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLP), and also identify molecular markers such as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in potential effector genes, using a targeted NGS approach (Illumina Miseq). Both approaches enabled the comparison of genomes of old and new pathotypes of Pst, and enabled us to explore the association of both types of markers with virulence/avirulence phenotypes of isolates, with the aim of developing markers that could be used to test collections of spore samples using rapid molecular techniques to identify their pathotypes.
Using a targeted approach and sequencing potential effector protein regions, identifying presence/absence of genes correlated with presence/absence of avirulence genes using data obtained from chapter 3 proved to be a successful method. This thesis found that many of the genes correlated with the older virulences, and only one gene (Pst130_4892) shared any correlation with a new virulence (AvrSte). In summary, it can be concluded that genes Pst43_3149, Pst877_18061, Pst0821_12746, Pst877_3038, Pst43_20465, Pst43_2877, Pst21_14230, Pst21_18506, Pst877_4028, Pst130_4892 from the 147 studied potential effector proteins, could be known avirulence genes, since polymorphisms and/or presence/absence of them showed correlation with particular Avrs.
Anlaysing AFLP data made it possible to correlate specific AFLP markers to virulence/avirulence traits. The sufficiency of markers to distinguish between the two distinct populations was reflected through the correlation with virulences. Virulence for the resistant genes Yr1, Yr2, Yr3, Yr4, Yr9, and Yr17 was identified in most isolates suggesting these virulences are now fixed in the population.
Overall, this thesis has identified some markers potentially linked to specific virulence phenotypes. Future studies, using more isolates and gene expression studies should focus on confirming which markers to develop further so that a toolkit of primers can be developed for rapid identification of pathotypes in the field.


Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is an evident advance in the management of patients. Its feasibility and its effectiveness have been little analyzed in elderly's orthopedics. The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to analyze the feasibility (realization of classic ERAS items) and the efficiency (length of stay, morbidity and mortality) of ERAS in the elderly during total arthroplasty hip.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A bibliographic search was performed with PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane and Embase, using keywords "total hip arthroplasty", "orthopedics surgery", "fast track", "enhanced recovery after surgery", and" elderly ". Seventy-two articles were listed and 47 fully analyzed by 2 independent authors.

RESULTS
Thirty-two articles were selected. All the articles demonstrated ERAS feasibility in the elderly. The most frequently performed items were: preoperative information, spinal anesthesia and local or regional anesthetic infiltrations, multimodal analgesia with opioids sparing. Early stand-up is desirable but more difficult to achieve than in younger. Compared with traditional management, ERAS decreases the average length of stay without increasing complications, re-admissions and mortality rates. Medico-economic analyzes would be in favor of a reduction in the overall cost. The elderly's adherence to ERAS program depends on information's quality provided at the time of the consultation.

CONCLUSION
The application of ERAS program in total hip arthroplasty in the elderly is feasible and efficient to reduce hospital stay and morbidity without increasing the complication rates. Protocols must be adapted to the particularities of this population.


The Meso-Neoproterozoic volcanic-intrusive rocks from Hunan in west section of Jiangnan orogen show very
different geochemistry features. The Mesoproterozoic volcanic- intrusive rocks have narrow SiO2 contents varying from 49. 95% to 53. 91%. They are mainly sub-alkaline basalts with low TiO2 and Zr/Y ratios, high MgO, Ni, Cr, and Al2O3/TiO2 ratios. They have different types of REE patterns, and display characteristics of arc volcanic rocks. The Neoproterozoic volcanic-intrusive rocks are alkaline and sub-alkaline basalts with broad SiO2 varying 45. 56% to 60. 37%. They have high Zr/Y ratios and low MgO, Ni, Cr. Among them, the Neoproterozoic basic rocks are mostly alkaline basalts, with high TiO2 contents and low Al2O3/TiO2 ratios. They are obviously enriched in HFSE and show typical patterns of OIB, similar to the rift-basalts.
Mesoproterozoic basalts from Nanqiao exhibit typical N-MORB features with high eNd(t) values (6. 86-8. 98), and may represent the residual slab, which provides a new important evidence for Jiuling Island Arc in the middle section of Jiangnan orogen. Mesoproterozoic basalts from Yiyang show enrichment in Th and depletion in Nb and Ti with low eNd(t) values (1. 56 - 1. 76) , similar to arc island volcanic rocks. On the other hand, they are enriched in MgO, Ni, and Cr with komatiitic basalts signatures, implying that they might be a product of interaction between the plume induced by subduction and the arc in the area. Early Neoproterozoic andesites from Yiyang are enriched in Th, La, Sm and Nd and depleted in Nb, Ti, Zr and Hf showing arc volcanic features. They suggest that they are the products of Grenville orogeny. Patterns normalized by primitive mantle of Neoproterozoic volcanic-intrusive rocks from Qianyang, Guzhang and Gaoqiao are similar to OIB, the eeeeeeeeNd(t) of basic rocks from Qianyang and Guzhang are 1. 69-1. 05, indicating that they might be originated from asthenospheric mantle. The geochemistry of these Meso-Neoproterozoic volcanic-intrusive rocks give some implications for the evolvement of Rodinia from colliding to rifting in this area.


Estimation of the impulse response of power systems is one of the important parts of power system performance assessment. Impulse response data can be used for modelling and control of power system dynamics, and system planning based on stability analysis. In this paper, the preliminary results of modal parameter estimation of impulse response of power system using continuous wavelet transform are presented. The advantage as well as limitation of wavelet based modal estimation when applied to a power system is discussed using simulated benchmark signals.


: An examination of 1525 patients has established that the main clinical symptoms of the perifocal inflammatory process are: hyperthermia of different degrees, leukocytosis and higher ESR, pain in the rectum area and in the abdomen, tenderness and pasty tissues in the tumor area. The roentgenological symptoms are: the presence of fistulas, considerable dilatation of presacral space not corresponding to the tumor size, pathological "cellularity" of the paraintestinal tissues.


New advances in control theory are required to enable aggressive maneuvering of autonomous vehicles, while adapting in real time to changes in the operational environment. A hybrid control architecture, the states of which represent feasible trajectory primitives, is constructed to reduce the complexity of the motion-planning problem for a nonlinear, high-dimensional system such as an aerial vehicle. Any feasible trajectories in the primitive list are available to the automatic control system; these may include a complete set of transitions between pairs of trim trajectories in addition to pilot-inspired behaviors recorded during manual flight tests with a human pilot. This paper describes the structure of a hybrid automaton that solves a time-optimal motion-planning problem by sequencing maneuvers in real time from such a primitive list. The algorithm can be used in a free workspace, or in the presence of fixed or moving obstacles. We present simulation results showing the effectiveness of this approach for a behavior library generated by a combination of analysis and live flight tests with a small remote-controlled helicopter.


Optical switching techniques have the potential to enable the optical data center network (DCN) interconnections providing high capacity and fast switching capabilities, overcoming thus the bandwidth and latency bottleneck of present electrical switch-based multi-tiered DCNs. The rapid growth of multi-tenant applications with heterogeneous traffic require specialized quality of service (QoS) in terms of packet loss and latency to the DCN infrastructure. Slicing the DCNs into dedicated pieces according to the deployed applications, differentiated QoS, and high resource utilization can be provided. However, slicing the optical DCNs still needs to be investigated because the Software-defined Networking (SDN) technique is developed for the electrical networks, not fully supporting the properties of the optical network. Additionally, Network Slices (NS) need to be automatically provisioned and reconfigured, to provide flexible slice interconnections in support of the multi-tenant applications to be deployed. In this article, we propose and experimentally assess the automatic and flexible NSs configurations of optical OPSquare DCN controlled and orchestrated by an extended SDN control plane for multi-tenant applications with differentiated QoS provisioning. Optical Flow Control (OFC) protocol has been developed to prevent packet losses at switch sides caused by packet contentions. The extended OpenFlow (OF) protocol of SDN is deployed as well in support of the optical switching characteristics. Based on the collected resource topology of data plane, the optical network slices can be dynamically provisioned and automatically reconfigured by the SDN control plane. Meanwhile, experimental results validate that the priority assignment of application flows supplies dynamic QoS performance to various slices running applications with specific requirements in terms of packet loss and transmission latency. In addition, the capability of exposing traffic statistics information of data plane to SDN control plane enables the implementation of load balancing algorithms further improving the network performance with high QoS. No packet loss and less than 4.8 μs server-to-server latency can be guaranteed for the sliced network with highest priority at a load of 0.5.


Miller argues that the presumptions regarding parentage established by California law have not kept pace with science. The reliability of paternity tests; the growing use of artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy; and the likelihood of additional breakthroughs regarding reproduction have made the California system of presumptions outmoded. This system does not protect the intact family, does not protect the child's relationship with a psychological parent and does not protect the best interests of the family. In this article, Miller explores California statutes and cases regarding parentage. He offers a detailed discussion of the law regarding paternity; maternity; and assisted conception including artificial insemination, ovum donation, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and new reproductive technologies. Miller then proposes a new legal model that takes advantage of modern genetic testing but is not a slave to it. The proposed model has three parts. The first part makes the genetic parent the parent for all purposes unless another person has been designated as the child's parent by operation of law. The second part requires that, except for cases of artificial insemination, in all instances of assisted conception in which someone other than the genetic parent is the intended parent of the child, there be a judicially pre-validated contract. The third part requires that, in all instances of assisted conception where there is either no contract or an unenforceable contract due to lack of judicial pre-validation, the best interest of the child standard be used to determine parentage.


The switched reluctance motor is a simple and robust machine, which has found application over a wide power and speed ranges in different shapes and geometries. This paper introduces a new configuration for a three phase switched reluctance motor. The proposed novel motor consists of two magnetically independent stator and rotor layers, where each stator set includes six salient poles with windings wrapped around them, while the rotor comprises of four salient poles with different arc lengths and no windings. This motor includes the two sets are connected independently. In this connection the stator poles in each layer can have both North and South Pole configurations. In this paper a new three phase 6/4 two layers SRM is proposed for analysis with finite element method (FEM) by numerical technique. The motor application is simulated with Magnet Software to get motor's characteristics consist of flux and torque.


Automatically generated synthetic training examples have been shown to improve performance in machine reading comprehension (MRC). Compared to human annotated gold standard data, synthetic training data has unique properties, such as high availability at the possible expense of quality. In view of such differences, in this paper, we explore novel applications of synthetic examples to MRC. Our proposed pre-training and knowledge distillation strategies show significant improvements over existing methods. In a particularly surprising discovery, we observe that synthetic distillation often yields students that can outperform the teacher model.


The present study assessed whether the effects of cortisol on working memory depend on the level of adrenergic activity (as measured by sympathetic activation) during memory performance. After exposure to a psychosocial stress task, participants were divided into cortisol responders and nonresponders. Cortisol responders showed working memory impairments during the psychosocial stress phase, when cortisol and adrenergic activity were enhanced, whereas nonresponders did not. During recovery, however, when cortisol levels were elevated but adrenergic activity was normalized, working memory of responders did not differ from that of nonresponders. Among several stress measures, cortisol was the only significant predictor for working memory performance during stress. These findings suggest that adrenergic activation is essential for the impairing effects of stress-induced cortisol on working memory.


This study aims at identifying the economic development that focused on marine products during the administration of Sultan Muhammad Syah II in Terengganu from 1918-1920. During this period, the state of Terengganu showed an auspicious economic development of seafood. The sea product economy includes dried fish, anchovies, budu, belacan, and pickled fish. Qualitative research methods are used based on primary sources such as annual reports, telegrams, correspondence, memoranda, and official reports obtained from the Terengganu Government Secretary's Office, the Terengganu Badariah Palace Office, the Land and Mines Commissioner's Office, and the British Colonial Office, which are analysed using a historical approach. Secondary sources are also used to strengthen the data and research findings, including books, journals, encyclopedias, and theses. The study's findings show the sea product economy to be the leading economy among the Malay community in Terengganu. Seafood products became an essential source of economic strength for the community and state of Terengganu during the administration of Sultan Muhammad Syah II from 1918-1920. This is because marine products are the main export commodity of Terengganu compared to other export commodities, based on the quantity and value of exports every year. The conclusion from the study explains that, although Sultan Muhammad Syah II ruled Terengganu for a period of fewer than two years, from November 26, 1918, to May 11, 1920, His Majesty Sultan Muhammad Syah II placed great importance on the economic development of the community in improving the standard of living and income of the community, most of whom were involved in the sea product economy. The export commodity of many marine products is to meet the needs of the local and foreign markets. Terengganu's Big Boat for trading activities also boosted the seafood economy in Terengganu. This proves that Terengganu is a state rich in marine resources, which have thereby become the highest export commodity product.


In this paper, we study the characteristics of dominant interference power with directional reception in a random network modelled by a Poisson Point Process. Additionally, the Laplace functional of cumulative interference excluding the n dominant interferers is also derived, which turns out to be a generalization of omni-directional reception and complete accumulative interference. As an application of these results, we study the impact of directional receivers in random networks in terms of outage probability and error probability with queue length constraint.


Delignification of bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides) grown in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey was carried out by kraft, kraft-anthraquinone (AQ) and kraft-sodium borohydride (NaBH4) pulping under a variety of conditions to determine the effect of AQ, NaBH4 and cooking parameters on pulp and paper properties such as yield, kappa number, viscosity, and strength properties. The chemical composition and fibre dimensions of the cell wall of Phyllostachys bambusoides culm fibres were also investigated. The analysed data revealed the following optimum kraft pulping conditions: Active alkali, 16% (as Na2O); NaBH4, 0.3%; AQ, 0.1%; and cooking time, 90 min. The modified kraft method with 0.1% AQ was found to provide better pulp properties than those with 0.3% NaBH4. Increasing the thickness of chip used in cooking from 2.0 mm to 4.0 mm increase the yield. The optimum cooking conditions of Phyllostachys bambusoides modified kraft pulps were found to be: screened yield, 48.1%; reject ratio, 0.53%; kappa number, 24.1; viscosity, 1210 ml/g; breaking length, 6.05 km; burst index, 5.08 kPa m2/g; tearing index, 4.99 mNm2/g; brightness 20.35%.


Energy awareness has become a hot topic in software development and computer science in recent years, due to realizations concerning the amount of energy consumed through ICT processes worldwide. Practitioner-oriented research reveals that a recurring problem in adopting energy-saving mentalities and techniques for developers is the lack of supporting tools in this area. In this thesis, we go over the development of grint, a green linter for JavaScript programs. grint is designed to detect functional purity in JavaScript functions, that can be optimized via memoization, in order to improve the energy consumption of the application. I test the efficacy of grint and memoization, as an energy optimization technique, on two opensource projects by running original and refactored versions, as part of an experimental suite, and comparing their energy consumption. I use Intel's RAPL to perform energy measurements. Measurements show that the memoized versions of the applications had consistently worse energy consumption rates than the original. This suggests that function memoizability is a more complex aspect of JavaScript functions, that is only conditioned by purity and not fully represented by it.


This paper deals with a hybrid actuator composed by a piezo and a hydraulic part and with a switching Kalman Filter structure for camless engine motor applications. In the sensorless control problem, nonlinearities such as hysteresis, creep etc. must be taken into account. In this paper the Preisach dynamic model with the above mentioned hysteresis is considered together with a robust switching Kalman Filter utilized as an observer to manage the hysteresis nonlinearity. The control structure is realized using a Model Predictive Control strategy. Simulations with real data are shown.


Sound attenuation performances of a duct silencer made of a metamaterial composed of a set of poroelastic lamellas, are investigated numerically and experimentally. The lamella arrangement is designed so that skeleton elastic resonances appear at low frequency. In addition, the air gap between the lamellas induces pressure diffusion effects commonly encountered in highly contrasted double porosity media. The configuration of the silencer also exhibits strong anisotropy. A 3D finite element model of the silencer has been developed in order to identify the different mechanisms taking place in the silencer. Numerical results are shown to match well with experimental data for different lamella orientations. By exploiting the geometrical periodicity of the silencer, a Bloch waves analysis is realized and a parametric study is conducted. This reveals strong model dispersion and interaction due to lamella elastic resonances. It is shown that certain design parameters can be tuned in order to achieve large attenuation and absorption at low frequency.


A new dynamical method is employed to study charge transfer probabilities between a donor and an acceptor coupled via a long π-conjugated bridge, within a correlated many-body picture. The initial state of the composite system (donor + bridge + acceptor) is taken to be the direct product of the ground state of the bridge Hamiltonian with specified occupancies in the donor and the acceptor orbitals. This t = 0 state is evolved using the many-body model Hamiltonian of the composite system. We find that for the interacting model, the rate of electron transfer depends strongly on the initial occupancy of the acceptor orbital. The electron transfer rate is quite different from the spin exchange rate and emphasizes the spin-charge separation in one-dimensional Hubbard models.


Blood vessels supplying tumors are often dysfunctional and generally heterogeneous. The mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity remain poorly understood. Here, using multicolor lineage tracing, in vivo time-lapse imaging and single cell RNA sequencing in a mouse glioma model, we identify tumour-specific blood endothelial cells that originate from cells expressing the receptor for colony stimulating factor 1, Csf1r, a cytokine which controls macrophage biology. These Csf1r lineage endothelial cells (CLECs) form up to 10% of the tumour vasculature and express, besides classical blood endothelial cell markers, a gene signature that is distinct from brain endothelium but shares similarities with lymphatic endothelial cell populations. in silico analysis of pan-cancer single cell RNAseq datasets highlights the presence of a comparable subpopulation in the endothelium of a wide spectrum of human tumours. We show that CLECs actively contribute to sprouting and remodeling of tumour blood vessels and that selective depletion of CLECs reduces vascular branching and tumour growth. Our findings indicate that a non-tumour resident Csf1r-positive population is recruited to tumours, differentiates into blood endothelial cells to contribute to vascularization and, thereby, tumour growth.


Extrapulmonary infection with Pneumocystis carinii (P. carinii) in AIDS patients is uncommon, and is often described only at postmortem examination. Although most antemortem cases involve spread to the bone marrow or spleen, P. carinii involvement of other organs has only recently been described. Despite the frequency of liver enzyme abnormalities in AIDS patients with a history of P. carinii pneumonia, P. carinii has been observed only rarely in the liver. We present a well-documented case of P. carinii involving the liver in an AIDS patient with P. carinii pneumonia and progressive liver enzyme abnormalities. We suggest that P. carinii infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of AIDS-related liver disease.


We investigate the topical structure of the set of documents used to expand a query in pseudorelevance feedback (PRF). We propose a coherence score to measure the relative topical diversity/compactness of this document set, which we call the relevance feedback set. The coherence score captures both the topical relatedness of the members of a document set as well as the set's overall clustering structure. We demonstrate the ability of the coherence score to capture topical structure of a document set using tests performed on synthetic data. Then, experiments are performed which show that when queries are divided into two sets, one with high and one with low relevance feedback set coherence, two different levels of retrieval performance are observed. In particular, our results suggests that if a query has a relevance feedback set with a high coherence score, it is apt to benefit from PRF.


This paper presents an investigation of the throughput and delay performance of the modified p-persistent CSMA/CD local area network proposed by the first author (1990). The basic idea of the adaptive algorithm is to maximize the throughput of the network by varying the dynamic probability of transmission of every station. The principle of operation of the algorithm is described. A method for choosing the step size is proposed. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the approach.


Objectives Unequivocal clinical progression (UCP)—a worsening of clinical status with or without radiographic progression (RAD)—represents a distinct mode of disease progression in metastatic prostate cancer. We evaluated the prevalence, risk factors and the impact of UCP on survival outcomes. Methods A post-hoc analysis of the COU-AA-302, a randomised phase 3 study of abiraterone plus prednisone (AAP) versus prednisone was performed. Baseline characteristics were summarised. Cox proportional-hazards model and Kaplan-Meier method were used for survival and time to event analyses, respectively. Iterative multiple imputation method was used for correlation between clinicoradiographic progression-free survival (crPFS) and overall survival (OS). Results Of 736 patients with disease progression, 280 (38%) had UCP-only and 124 (17%) had UCP plus RAD. Prognostic index model high-risk group was associated with increased likelihood of UCP (p<0.0001). Median OS was 25.7 months in UCP-only and 33.0 months for RAD-only (HR 1.39; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.66; p=0.0003). UCP adversely impacted OS in both treatment groups. Lowest OS was seen in patients with prostate specific antigen (PSA)-non-response plus UCP-only progression (median OS 22.6 months (95% CI 20.7 to 24.4)). Including UCP events lowered estimates of treatment benefit—median crPFS was 13.3 months (95% CI 11.1 to 13.8) versus median rPFS of 16.5 months (95% CI 13.8 to 16.8) in AAP group. Finally, crPFS showed high correlation with OS (r=0.67; 95% CI 0.63 to 0.71). Conclusions UCP is a common and clinically relevant phenomenon in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with AAP or prednisone. UCP is prognostic and associated with inferior OS and post-progression survival. A combination of PSA-non-response and UCP identifies patients with poorest survival. When included in PFS analysis, UCP diminishes estimates of treatment benefit. Continued study of UCP in mCRPC is warranted.


The cohabitation of different nations in the border of one state creates certain ethnic, social, mental collective nation's image which changes very slowly. These processes are enhanced during the global historical processes with significant devastating effects which lead to an alteration in public consciousness. During World War І, under the influence of the external crisis circumstances, the necessity to take into account the strategic interests and fundamental values of the nations involved in the war, led to a change in perception of the image of the Pole. The image of a Pole as a disloyal person to Russian statehood had changed into the image of a true confederate in the mutual striving with the enemy. Perception of the Poles as partners in state‑building and international cohabitation became possible only due to global geopolitical changes, the policy of powerful nations, including the Polish territory and the ability of Polish political powers to consolidate their efforts around the idea of statehood restoration.


【A study has been made of the Korean bentonite aqueous suspension contrast with American bentonite by means of XRD IR swelling, gel formation and rheogram at various conditions such as concentration, temperature and pH. The Korean bentonite was identified as montmorillonite clay containig a small proprotion of crystoballite and mordenite, and its swelling power were acceptable for requirements of Korean pharmacopeia regulations though its values were not satisfied. Korean bentonite swelled to 10 times and American one did to 15 times compared to its bulkiness of powder. The rheogram of Korean bentonite suspension reveals bulged pseudoplatic flow with yield value at higher concentration and pseudoplastic flow without yield value at lower concentration. The higher the concentration, the greater were the apparent viscosity and hysteresis loop. Korean bentonite suspension showed insignificant temperature dependence on both apparent viscosity and hysteresis loop and it was more temperature dependent on viscosity but less on hysteresis loop than those of American sample. The pH dependence was so high on viscosity that apparent minimum value was near pH 7 and maximum value at pH 3 or 7. The hysteresis loop appeared minimum over the pH range 5-7 and maximum near pH 3 or 11. The Korean bentonite was inferior to the American bentonite in swelling volume, gel formation, thioxotropy, however, it would be possible to improve the quality of Korean bentonite by developing the method of purification for bentonite clay.】


Introduction Metastasis prostate cancer (CaP) occurs in a small fraction of patients. Improved prognostication of disease progression is a critical challenge. This study examined alkaline phosphatase velocity (APV) in predicting distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS). Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort study examined CaP patients enrolled in the Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR) multicenter national database who underwent RP and experienced BCR (n=1783). BCR was defined as a PSA ≥ 0.2 ng/mL at ≥ 8 weeks post-RP, followed by at least one confirmatory PSA ≥ 0.2 ng/mL or initiation of salvage therapy. APV was computed as the slope of the linear regression line of all alkaline phosphatase (AP) values after BCR and prior to distant metastasis. APV values in the uppermost quartile were defined as "rapid" and compared to the lower three quartiles combined ("slower"). Unadjusted Kaplan Meier (KM) estimation curves and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis were used to examine predictors of DMFS. Results Of the 1783 eligible patients who experienced post-RP BCR, 701 (39.3%) had necessary AP data for APV calculation. PSA doubling time (PSADT) and APV were strongly associated (p=0.008). No differences in APV were observed across race. In KM analysis, significantly poorer DMFS was observed among the rapid versus slower APV group (Log-rank p=0.003). In multivariable analysis, a rapid APV was predictive of a twofold increased probability of DMFS (HR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.2, 3.9; p = 0.008), controlling for key study covariates. Conclusions Building on previous work, this study found that rapid APV was a strong predictor of DMFS for a broader group of CaP patients, those who undergo post-RP BCR who were enrolled in a longitudinal cohort with long-term follow-up and equal health care access. APV is worth considering as a complementary clinical factor for predicting DMFS.


College students' physical education plays an important role in physical activity and cultivates the concept of independent health management. At present, what kind of learning attitude do Taiwan college students face in physical education? What motivation does the student influence the attitude of the physical education? What is the relevance? All of the above are the purpose of this study. The research method adopts the questionnaire survey method, and the survey data adopts descriptive statistical analysis, independent sample t test, single factor variance analysis, LSD post hoc comparison method, and typical correlation analysis. Research results: 1. The different background variables of Taiwanese college students are that the main motivation factor of physical education is to obtain good health fitness for "physical health". 2. Taiwanese college students have different background variables. They all think that the "cognitive learning" of physical education is the main factor of attitude, that is, the knowledge about health care and sports skills. 3. There is a positive correlation between learning motivation and learning attitude (ρ=.90). Learning motivation is one of the important factors affecting learning attitude. Research conclusions: 1. The factors of Taiwanese male and female college students' motivation for learning in physical education are mainly based on "physical health". 2. Freshmen have higher motivations and learning attitudes in physical education than second-grade to fourth-grade. 3. Taiwan female college students average 1 or 2 times per week, male college students have the most athletes 2 to 3 times per week, more than 90% of college students like sports. 4. There is a positive correlation between learning motivation and learning attitude, indicating that the stronger the attribute of learning motivation "physical health", the higher the student's learning attitude. 5. Satisfying students' motivation for learning helps students to learn positively. 6. Another important task of the college physical education class is to prepare students for future lifelong sports.


This study focuses on the employment effects of military spending versus alternative domestic spending priorities. The authors begin by introducing the basic input-output modeling technique for considering issues such as these in a systematic way. They then present some simple alternative spending scenarios—namely, devoting $1 billion to the military versus the same amount of money spent for five alternatives: tax cuts that produce increased levels of personal consumption; health care; education; mass transit; and construction targeted at home weatherization and infrastructure repair. The first conclusion in assessing such relative employment effects is straightforward: $1 billion spent on personal consumption, health care, education, mass transit, and construction for home weatherization/infrastructure will all create more jobs in the U.S. economy than would the same $1 billion spent on the military. The authors then examine the pay level of jobs created through these alternative spending priorities and assess the overall welfare effects of the alternative employment outcomes. Combining these alternative domestic spending categories in an effective way can also generate a higher level of compensation for working people in the United States and a better average quality of jobs.


Abstract Despite the fact that stability of labor share in national income is a key foundation in macroeconomic models, scientists acknowledge, that in the last three decades it has been declining around the world. The Baltic countries are not an exception; they follow similar patters to large economies, thus the research aims at determining economic factors at play. With the help of error correction model and time series data covering the past twenty years, we determine factors which contribute to the decline of labor share in the Baltic countries. We find significant long-term relationships between labor share and government spending, trade openness, and emigration. Government spending exhibits the highest contribution to variance of labor share in Lithuania, which also explains a large part of Latvia's labor share variations. We find many similarities between the analyzed countries, however some differences are also visible.


Corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures are becoming more prevalent among firms. We investigate the predisposition of firms to disclose CSR information and find that firms are likely to disclose more in countries with: better investor protection, higher levels of democracy, more effective government services, higher quality regulations, more press freedom, and a lower commitment to environmental policies. We also find that CSR disclosures are associated with higher share prices. In addition, we find this relationship to be stronger in countries with more democracy, more government effectiveness, better regulatory quality, and more press freedom. These results imply that market participants find CSR disclosures more informative in countries where investors are in a better position to voice their concerns (through democratic mechanisms and through the media), and where opportunities to voice concerns have resulted in better regulation and more effective government implementation of regulations.