The present study sought to determine whether an acute increase in arterial blood pressure (ABP) reduces plasma vasopressin (VP) levels stimulated by ANG II or hyperosmolality. During an intravenous infusion of ANG II (100 ng.kg(-1).min(-1)), attenuation of the ANG II-evoked increase in ABP with diazoxide or minoxidil did not further enhance plasma VP levels in rats. When VP secretion was stimulated by an infusion of hypertonic saline, coinfusion of the alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (PE) significantly increased ABP but did not reduce plasma VP levels. In fact, plasma VP levels were enhanced. The enhancement of plasma VP levels cannot be explained by a direct stimulatory action of PE, as plasma VP levels of isosmotic rats did not change during a similar infusion of PE. An infusion of endothelin-1 in hyperosmotic rats significantly raised ABP but did not reduce plasma VP levels; rather, VP levels increased as observed with PE. In alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rats infused with hypertonic saline, inflation of an aortic cuff to increase ABP and stimulate arterial baroreceptors did not reduce plasma VP levels. In each experiment, plasma oxytocin levels paralleled plasma VP levels. Collectively, the present findings suggest that an acute increase in ABP does not inhibit VP secretion.


The study tries to seek evidence whether the ethical judgment of the accounting students following treatment of watching ethical-dilemma movie and make a reflection as suggested by Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm Approach. The study is a quasi-experimental using posttest only with an experimental and control group approach. Using the respondents of senior accounting students in a university in Indonesia, we found no ethical judgment difference between students received the treatment and the control group. However, the score of the treated group was higher than the score of the control group. Under a specific limitation, this study suggests that a reflective learning method is an excellent idea to improve students' ethical judgment.


Introduction Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), incorporating Crohns Disease (CD) and Ulcerative colits (UC), is a chronic condition that can cause significant gastrointestinal morbidity. Alongside the anticipated gastrointestinal symptoms, patients with chronic illness may experience issues with low mood, relationships, employment and education opportunities, and may miss significant time off work. In this pilot project, we sought to record the additional morbidity experienced by a typical cohort of IBD patients. Method Over a 3-week period 100 consecutive patients attending an IBD clinic in a tertiary teaching hospital were surveyed by questionnaire. Questions addressed demographics, impact of IBD on lifestyle, mood, relationships, and education/employment. Disease activity over the preceding 12 months was noted. Remission was defined by Physician Global Assessment, plus the absence of steroid use within the last 12 months, plus normal CRP. Data were analysed according to disease activity. Results A total of 100 questionnaires were completed by 44 males (aged 15–80) and 56 females (aged 19–81). 63 patients had CD (M:F 28:35), 37 had UC (M:F 16:21). 56% of patients had clinically active disease and 44% were in clinical remission. There was no significant difference in ages between those patients with active or inactive disease. The majority in both groups had felt depressed at times; 81% of those patients with active disease and 68% with inactive disease. Table 1shows morbidity by disease activity. 75% from each group reported IBD has impacted on their lifestyle in the preceding 12 months, and over 60% from each group reported IBD had restricted their activities. In terms of employment, 3% were unemployed with active disease and 16% in the inactive group with the rest being in some form of employment, full time education or retired. Only 32% of those with active disease and 31% in remission reported no loss of days at work in the preceding 12 months. 16% of those with active disease and interesting 36% of those in remission reported the loss of greater than 2 weeks at work due to their IBD in the preceding 12 months.Abstract PWE-041 Table 1 Always Sometimes Rarely Never My IBD Impacts My Lifestyle Active 26% 48% 23% 0% Remission 25% 52% 16% 7% My IBD Stops me doing what I want Active 13% 52% 29% 7% Remission 11% 52% 18% 18% My IBD impacts on my relationships Active 7% 45% 23% 23% Remission 9% 46% 5% 41% My IBD impacts on my employment/education Active 12% 39% 27% 21% Remission 17% 42% 17% 25% Conclusion We have demonstrated that, irrespective of disease activity, IBD has a significant impact on the physical and psychological health, and employment record of the patients surveyed. Patients' psychological health is important and should be actively addressed when reviewing patients with IBD in outpatient clinics. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


The article focuses on the metaphorical conceptualisation of the #MeToo movement, which has spread virally as a hashtag used on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment. The #MeToo movement as a social issue is looked at from the perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) (Charteris-Black 2005/2011, 2014, Musolff 2004, 2016, Koller 2014, De Landtsheer 2009, Hart 2010). CMA is a blend of Cognitive Metaphor Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis that aims at identifying how metaphors are used to describe socially contested issues and how they reveal speakers' hidden intentions and attitudes (Charteris-Black, 2014, p. 174). CMA is also concerned with the different functions metaphors may perform. A predicative function, being one of many, is most likely to explain how socially sensitive issues are communicated (Charteris-Black, 2014, pp. 204-207; Musolff, 2016, p. 4). In other words, it implies positive or negative attitudes expressed towards certain issues. Thus, the paper aims to study how the predicative function of metaphor manifests in the discourse of contemporary social concerns cross-linguistically and cross-culturally. In other words, the paper looks into how different attitudes towards the #MeToo movement are communicated via metaphors in Lithuanian and English media and how they shape prevailing public attitudes.


Abstract This is a study of the comparative foliar morphology carried out in seven neotropical species of the genus Marattia Sw.: M. alata Sw., M. cicutifolia Kaulf., M. excavata Underw., M. interposita Christ, M. laevis Sm., M. laxa Kunze, and M. weinmanniifolia Liebm., with the purpose of analyzing their diagnostic characters. A key to identify the species is obtained from the results.


Macrophages are key cells in inflammation and repair, and their activity requires close regulation. The characterization of cues coordinating macrophage function has focused on biologic and soluble mediators, with little known about their responses to physical stimuli, such as the electrical fields that are generated naturally in injured tissue and which accelerate wound healing. To address this gap in understanding, we tested how properties of human monocyte‐derived macrophages are regulated by applied electrical fields, similar in strengths to those established naturally. With the use of live‐cell video microscopy, we show that macrophage migration is directed anodally by electrical fields as low as 5 mV/mm and is electrical field strength dependent, with effects peaking ∼300 mV/mm. Monocytes, as macrophage precursors, migrate in the opposite, cathodal direction. Strikingly, we show for the first time that electrical fields significantly enhance macrophage phagocytic uptake of a variety of targets, including carboxylate beads, apoptotic neutrophils, and the nominal opportunist pathogen Candida albicans, which engage different classes of surface receptors. These electrical field‐induced functional changes are accompanied by clustering of phagocytic receptors, enhanced PI3K and ERK activation, mobilization of intracellular calcium, and actin polarization. Electrical fields also modulate cytokine production selectively and can augment some effects of conventional polarizing stimuli on cytokine secretion. Taken together, electrical signals have been identified as major contributors to the coordination and regulation of important human macrophage functions, including those essential for microbial clearance and healing. Our results open up a new area of research into effects of naturally occurring and clinically applied electrical fields in conditions where macrophage activity is critical.


This study examines the effect of transaction frequency on profit and cash flow risk for firms that periodically purchase inputs, continuously transform inputs into outputs, and periodically sell output. Soybean-processing profit and cash flows are computed for unhedged, direct-hedged, and risk-minimizing-hedged processing with up to 52 transactions per year. Findings include: (a) higher transaction frequencies result in lower unhedged profit and cash flow risk and lower hedging effectiveness, (b) anticipatory hedging provides less risk protection than product-transformation hedging, (c) stabilizing cash flow stabilizes annual profits but the converse does not hold, and (d) hedging profits makes cash flow more variable.


In the early C. elegans embryo, cell polarization and cytokinesis are interrelated yet distinct processes. Here, we sought to understand a poorly understood aspect of cleavage furrow positioning. Early C. elegans embryos deficient in the cytokinetic regulator centralspindlin form furrows, due to an inhibitory activity that depends on aster positioning relative to the polar cortex. Polar relaxation is associated with depletion of the cortical RhoGEF, ECT-2, specifically at the posterior pole. Asymmetric ECT-2 accumulation requires intact centrosomes, Aurora A (AIR-1), and myosin-dependent cortical flows. Within a localization competent ECT-2 fragment, we identified three putative phospho-acceptor sites in the PH domain of ECT-2 that render ECT-2 responsive to inhibition by AIR-1. AIR-1 and cortical flows cooperate to promote embryo polarization. During both polarization and cytokinesis, centrosomal AIR-1 breaks symmetry via ECT-2 phosphorylation; this local inhibition of ECT-2 is amplified by myosin-driven flows that generate regional ECT-2 asymmetry. Together, these mechanisms cooperate to induce polarized assembly of cortical myosin, contributing to both embryo polarization and cytokinesis.


Game theory is a theory of decision-making and models dynamic and flexible economic relationships. In this paper we demonstrate how it can be implemented in a geoinformation trade situation. We set up a business game model where two producers of geoinformation produce and sell their products. The producers are rational in the sense that they are trying to maximize their profits, and they can set either a high or a low price for their geoinformation products. We focus on the implementation of different pricing strategies and show the resulting payoffs in the form of the profits gained by the geoinformation producers. According to our analysis, setting a low price is a strictly dominant strategy. A dominant strategy is the best choice for a player for every possible choice of the other player. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the analysis results and suggestions for further research.


A method for active noise cancelation that uses an optically transparent membrane is described. The membrane consists of a prestretched hydrophobic elastomer, attached to a rigid frame and sandwiched between two hydrogels swollen with an aqueous solution of salt. The elastomer functions as a dielectric, and the hydrogel functions as an ionic conductor. When the two hydrogels are subjected to a sinusoidal voltage, the membrane generates sound. A linear model for the reflection, transmission, and generation of sound by the membrane in an impedance tube is presented and validated. Active noise cancelation is demonstrated using the linear model and feedforward control. Compared to passive sound absorption, the sound transmission loss across the membrane is improved with active control from an average value of 7 dB to an average value of 16 dB. The transparent membrane may be used to cancel noises through a window, while maintaining its transparency.


We present a heuristic theory to understand the effect of spin-orbit scattering on the localization length ξ in Anderson insulators. In one-dimensional geometries, and in the limit of strong spin-orbit scattering, we find that ξ is halved when a magnetic field is applied. This result was recently derived through random matrix theory. Within our theory, this simple "factor two" does not hold for films or bulk samples, at least when the localization length is much larger than the mean free path.


Background: Hip fractures are common injuries affecting the proximal femur of hip joint. In Sudan, hip fracture remains a huge problem and concerns many Sudanese families the costs of her surgeries are very expensive, and they depletes country a lot of resources, and it is causes are due to road traffic accident and gunshots among the military . The nurses are playing vital role regarding care of patient with hip fracture through over caring. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of educational program on nurses' practice regard care of patient with hip fracture. Methods: Quasi-experimental study was done for nurses (N=70), who were working in White Nile governmental hospitals and Omdurman military hospital, Selection was done purposive total coverage; practice of nurses was assessed by observational checklist. The collected data was analyzed by (SPSS) version24. Results: Most of study sample has poor performance of practice pre intervention of the program by 17.1% and become very good post intervention of the program by 68.6% with mean and standard deviation (57.3±18.2) pre intervention of the program and become (81.7±14.4) post intervention of the program by p value (0.02). Study show significant statistical association concerned practice pre intervention of the program and post intervention of the program by p value (0.02). Conclusion: From finding the study indicated that the educational program were effective in improving practice of study group.


Background: The clinical diagnosis of primary and secondary syphilis can be difficult because of the wide variability of lesions. The available laboratory tests (dark‐field microscopy and direct fluorescent antibody) require specialized microscopes and skilled technicians, and serologic tests are insensitive in early infection. Methods: Dark‐field microscopy and monoclonal antibody staining were compared to a new solid‐phase enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (Visuwell test) for detection of T. pallidum in lesion exudate of 188 patients with genital lesions. Results: Sixty‐four patients (34%) had lesions of early syphilis diagnosed by either dark‐field, monoclonal antibody staining, or both. The Visuwell test and dark‐field examination were positive in 52 (81.3%) and 55 (85.9%) of the 64 patients, respectively, whereas the monoclonal antibody staining technique demonstrated the presence of T. pallidum in 59 (92.2%) of the 64 patients. The Visuwell test gave a negative result in 111 of 124 patients who had negative dark‐field and direct fluorescent antibody test results (89.5% specificity). Conclusions: The Visuwell test is an alternative method for evaluating genital ulcers but is less sensitive and specific than existing tests.


The viability of recalcitrant seeds is lost following stress from either drying or freezing. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting from uncontrolled metabolic activity are likely responsible for seed sensitivity to drying. Nitric oxide (NO) and the ascorbate-glutathione cycle can be used for the detoxification of ROS, but their roles in the seed response to desiccation remain poorly understood. Here, we report that desiccation induces rapid accumulation of H2O2, which blocks recalcitrant Antiaris toxicaria seed germination; however, pretreatment with NO increases the activity of antioxidant ascorbate-glutathione pathway enzymes and metabolites, diminishes H2O2 production and assuages the inhibitory effects of desiccation on seed germination. Desiccation increases the protein carbonylation levels and reduces protein S-nitrosylation of these antioxidant enzymes; these effects can be reversed with NO treatment. Antioxidant protein S-nitrosylation levels can be further increased by the application of S-nitrosoglutathione reductase inhibitors, which further enhances NO-induced seed germination rates after desiccation and reduces desiccation-induced H2O2 accumulation. These findings suggest that NO reinforces recalcitrant seed desiccation tolerance by regulating antioxidant enzyme activities to stabilize H2O2 accumulation at an appropriate concentration. During this process, protein carbonylation and S-nitrosylation patterns are used as a specific molecular switch to control antioxidant enzyme activities.


This RFC describes best current practices for implementing Service
Provider network infrastructure protection for network elements. This
RFC complements and extends RFC 2267 and RFC 3704. RFC 2267 provides
guidelines for filtering traffic on the ingress to service provider
networks. RFC 3704 expands the recommendations described in RFC 2267
to address operational filtering guidelines for single and multi-homed
environments. The focus of those RFCs is on filtering packets on
ingress to a network, regardless of destination, if those packets have
a spoofed source address, or if the source address fall within
"reserved" address space. Deployment of RFCs 2267 and 3704 has limited
the effects of denial of service attacks by dropping ingress packets
with spoofed source addresses, which in turn offers other benefits by
ensuring that packets coming into a network originate from validly
allocated and consistent sources. This document focuses solely on
traffic destined to elements of the the network infrastructure itself.
This document presents techniques that, together with network edge
ingress filtering and RFC 2267 and RFC 3704, provides a defense in
depth approach for infrastructure protection. This document does not
present recommendations for protocol validation (i.e. "sanity
checking") nor does it address guidelines for general security
configuration.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to investigate the prevalence of portal vein thrombosis in patients with acute cholecystitis and the relationship between portal vein thrombosis and the various patterns of transient increased hepatic attenuation on CT.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We studied 72 of 107 patients with acute cholecystitis who, during a 3-year period, underwent dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT before percutaneous cholecystostomy or cholecystectomy. CT scans were retrospectively reviewed for the presence of portal vein thrombosis and location of the thrombi and for patterns of transient increased hepatic attenuation, which were classified as either pericholecystic, segmental, or mixed.

RESULTS
Portal vein thrombi (two in hepatic segment IV, three in the left portal vein, and one in the right posterior portal vein) were found in six (8.3%) of 72 patients, and in those patients, transient increased attenuation with a segmental (five patients) or mixed (one patient) pattern was seen on CT. The pattern of transient increased attenuation in the 54 patients without portal vein thrombosis was pericholecystic in 41 (75.9%) and mixed in 13 (24.1%). Nineteen patients had segmental distribution (segmental or mixed pattern) that in 31.6% (6/19) of the patients was associated with portal vein thrombosis. Segmental distribution was more frequently found in those patients who had acute cholecystitis with portal vein thrombosis than in those who had only acute cholecystitis (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION
In patients with acute cholecystitis, portal vein thrombosis is not uncommon. Patterns of transient increased hepatic attenuation were found to vary, depending on the presence or absence of portal vein thrombosis.


This study analyzed factors influencing performance of National Directorate of Employment Graduate farmers in Rural Agricultural Development Training Scheme of Imo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 90 (45 cassava and 45 poultry farmers). Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean counts. Return on Investment and multiple regression models. The result from the study showed that 57.78% of the farmers were males with mean farming experience of 14 years and farm size and flock size of 1.5 hectares and 90.5 birds respectively. The result also shows that incomes from cassava and poultry farming were N325,500.00 and N421,400.00 respectively. Cassava and poultry production enterprise was a lucrative business with a Return on Investment (ROI) of 142.40%.and 138.40% respectively. The multiple regression analysis result revealed that coefficients for age, marital status, household size, farming experience, flock size, crop output and poultry output influenced performance of cassava and poultry farmers' performance. It is therefore recommends proper funding of the scheme, awareness and sensitization of the programme agricultural activities and monitoring of graduate farmers for effective performance of their farming activities.


Objectives The purpose of this research is to investigate recent clinical treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Compression Fracture.
Methods We searched recent clinical studies about Oriental Medicine treatment in traditional chinese medical journals for Compression Fracture through China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Clinical articles published from 2012 to 2016 were analyzed. This study examined the authors, published years, types of study, number of sample, criteria for evaluation, periods, purposes of study and classified articles by techniques of treatment.
Results 23 papers were selected from 98 studies. Most of articles were classified as RCT. The techniques of treatment were herb medicine, herb medicine apply therapy, herb medicine fumigation therapy, Dao yin exercise.
Conclusions Various and valuable studies about treatment of Compression fracture performed in chinese medicine. And more studies using various treatment needed for Korean Medicine development. (J Korean Med Rehabil 2017;27(3):1-12)


The potential for using an exoskeleton to support mobility has been considered for some time. The paper describes the procedures associated with the analysis, design and implementation of a model for a lightweight design of such an exoskeleton and shows how the integration of motion analysis with modelling supported the development of the concept. It then proceeds to consider the implementation of the identified control and operational strategies in model form and how the basic concepts developed are being deployed in support of an implementation of system to support the rehabilitation of the lower limbs.


Ciprofloxacin is widely used in treating adults infected with Gram-negative bacteria. It is contraindicated in children, growing adolescents and during pregnancy due to joint toxicity. Its toxicity concerning other organs needs to be clarified. Thus, this study was designed to study the possible cardiac damage induced by two selected doses of ciprofloxacin in juvenile rats.Eighteenth healthy juvenile rats (4 weeks old and their weight 30 ± 2 gm) were utilized in this study and divided into three groups. Group-I control; group II and group III, respectively injected IP with 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg ciprofloxacin every 12 hours for one week. Serum enzymes activities alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase  (AST), creatin kinase -muscle brain isoform (CK-MB), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were assessed. Histological examination of heart tissues was also performed. The results of this study showed that, ALT, AST and CK-MB enzymes were significantly elevated only in group III compared to control. LDH enzyme was elevated in both group II and III. Concerning histological examination of the heart's gross sections, the results obtained from this work demonstrated the degeneration and necrosis in the hearts of group II and III juvenile rats compared to control animals. In conclusion, our results showed that the selected therapeutic doses of ciprofloxacin utilized in this study caused cardiac damage in juvenile rats.
Key words: Fluoroquinolones, cardiac adverse effects, juvenile rat .


AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS: A STRUCTURATIONIST PERSPECTIVE Linda Rouleau HEC-Montréal The structurationist perspective offers a pertinent avenue of reflection for renewing knowledge in strategy. By considering strategy as a structure of social activity, the structurationist perspective provides an understanding of how strategy, through the use of rules and resources, is produced and reproduced in the interactions of knowledgeable and reflexive agents. To illustrate this point of view, I present two episodes that demonstrate how ties with clientele are transformed in daily life in a top-of-theline clothing company undergoing reorganisation. Analysis of these episodes highlights three micro-practices of structuration of strategy: translating the orientation, disciplining the client, and justifying the change. The analysis also demonstrates that strategic activity is, by overcoding, embedded in contexts such as industry and society. The paper ends by outlining the elements of a structurationist perspective of strategising.


A novel Guinier camera and diffractometer allow automated adjustment of all optical components and change from transmission to reflection geometry by remote control. The apparatus is equipped with two counters. A special degree of freedom within the counter set-up aligns the counters towards any point at the circumference of the Rowland circle and keeps it oriented towards the sample during a 2 theta scan. So, only one rotation is used during measurement. The sample support, oriented by two translations and one rotation, is independent from the counter set-up. The apparatus combines the highest accuracy with full variability.


This study offers a preliminary investigation of gains in students' early literacy reading scores when historically Black college or university preservice teachers facilitate letterbox lesson interventions during field clinical experiences with at-risk readers using culturally relevant pedagogy and materials. The aims of this study were to (a) assess overall gains in reading and (b) examine more specific gains in phoneme awareness, letter naming fluency, decoding, and spelling. Using t-test comparisons, results indicate significant gains between the administered preand post-reading assessments on phonemic awareness development, letter naming fluency, and spelling abilities. The findings suggest culturally relevant pedagogy combined with clinical letterbox interventions may particularly support the reading achievement of at-risk readers. Additional research is needed to better understand the impact of historically Black college or university preservice teachers' use of culturally relevant materials and pedagogy and field clinical letterbox interventions with at-risk readers.


Conrad in the Public Eye: Biography / Criticism / Publicity edited by John G. Peters (Rodopi, 2008)The Joseph Conrad who was described by Bernard C Meyer as 'a creature of sharp contradictions and inconsistencies',1 a lonely, pathetic, and ill-tempered man and a grudging father, appears with a new aura in Conrad in the Public Eye. This edited volume offers a broad spectrum of opinions about the famous mariner and writer, carefully crossing the welltrodden threshold of Conrad's biographical details. It is not a critical analysis of the life of Conrad, but a focus on how he was viewed and evaluated by his contemporaries. Under the division of four broad sections - Biography, Appreciations, Early Criticism and Publicity - the subsections include news and views about Conrad's life and writings from America, England, Ireland, Wales, France, South Africa, but regrettably nothing from Poland, Conrad's native land. Had Poland been included, the reader would have experienced a sense of completeness together with fascination.The most vibrant section of the book concerns Conrad's meeting with the reporters in New York, written by Christopher Morley, titled Conrad and the Reporters. From these accounts many facts about Conrad, the man, can be gathered. In place of a burlier, dour, austere, and remote personality, the American reporters got 'the long-thoughtful Ulysses' (8) with a tender, affectionate, gentle and friendly disposition who was not even irritated at the persistent requests by the photographers to take different poses. Though Conrad realised the disadvantages of being famous - he looked perplexed and became tired due to his sickness and the interview process, he preserved his characteristic reserve during the interview. Moreover, when he was requested to say something about American writers, he regretfully admitted that he did not have a critical mind, nor did he have much time to read. Writing came to him spontaneously in the strange and unstable events of his sea-life. This information, together with a poem about his reluctance to deliver a public lecture and epigrammatic sentences about 'the journalistic profession' (8) such as 'Interviewing is a dangerously ticklish art' (11) or 'Interview is really one of the most rarefied and sentimental arts; there is no formula but intuition' (20), makes this part of the book enjoyable.Florence Doubleday's memoir of Conrad's days at her home, Effendi Hill, during his visit to New York is kaleidoscopic in nature. This lady, the second wife of Conrad's American publisher, F.N. Doubleday, in her Episodes in the Life of a Publisher's Wife remembers many fragmentary events, both funny and grave, with compassion. For example, when Conrad disembarked from the Tuscania, she met a lovely lady, a fan of Conrad, who touching the writer's hand, was crying silently. Conrad asked her one day to call him Joseph, and later on he sent a letter to his wife containing a false excuse that angered Florence very much. As she promised that she would not tell anyone, he informed her when he had stopped and then had resumed writing The Rescue.In this section the comment on Conrad by Sir Hugh Clifford touches the heart. It gives an impression of Conrad's theme, styles, and expertise in using the English language as well as his mariner-like physical beauty and mental disposition. Clifford writes, 'he was most distinctively and unmistakably a seamen. None could ever have mistaken him for a member of any other profession. ... There was something in the whole character of him ... which remained with him until his death, and was so stamped in as to mark him to the end as a "son of the sea'" (33),and 'there was a certain exotic flavor about his English. ...It was as intangible as the timbre of a voice' (29).Two memories about Conrad - one is Roditi's meeting with Conrad at Elstree School and the other is James Whitaker's account of his life in Essex - are also interesting. The first one is Roditi's vague effort to remember his meeting with 'a live representative of English literature' (59) in his school. …


Information on the benefits of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the condition of fish stocks is not well documented in Tanzania. Fish landing sites located in Tanga and Mtwara regions were surveyed to assess patterns of fish community structure; particularly fish abundance, species diversity, growth patterns, and maturity stages, based on catches landed at sites with different protection status. Fish abundance in the catch from protected areas was significantly lower than in non-protected areas (p=0.002). Species diversity was relatively higher in catches from non-protected (H=2.742) compared to protected areas (H=2.232). A high percentage of species (63.24 %) exhibiting negative allometric growth was observed in catches from non-protected areas. Further, a large number of mature fish was observed in catches from protected areas compared to non-protected areas (p<0.01). These indices are useful indicators of the performance of MPAs. The observed negative allometric growth and reduced number of mature fishes in the non-protected areas suggest that extractive pressure and disturbances from fishing gears have negative impacts on the fish stock. Continued high extraction may induce a decline in general fish size due to the constant selection for large-trait fish specimens, potentially causing evolutionally change in morphological traits. In contrast, the lower abundance and species diversity from the protected areas reflected low catch effort as a result of regulated fishing pressure in MPAs, rather than indicating the actual diversity in the fish stocks in these protected waters. Based on these findings it is recommended that more regulatory strategies are implemented in non-protected waters to allow more time for fish to attain appropriate harvest sizes and to ensure the effective protection of marine resources.


We mainly present the 728 nm laser spectroscopy and Faraday atomic filter of Cs atoms with 650 MHz linewidth and 2.6% transmission based on an electrodeless discharge vapor lamp, compared with Rb 728 nm laser spectroscopy. Accidentally, this remarkably strong Cs 728 nm transition from the 6F7/2 state to the 5D5/2 state is only about 2.5 GHz away from the Rb 728 nm transition of the future potential four-level active optical clock, once laser cooled and trapped from the 7S1/2 state to the 5P1/2 state, as we proposed previously. A Faraday atomic filter stabilized 728 nm laser using a Cs electrodeless discharge vapor lamp with a power of 10mW will provide a frequency reference to evaluate the performance of the potential Rb four-level active optical clock at 728 nm with power less than 1 nW by 2.5 GHz heterodyne measurements.


The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of adding different levels of ginseng roots to the diet on some physiological characteristics of Japanese quail males. A total of 120 Japanese quail males aged one week were used in this study. The males were randomly distributed into four experimental treatments (n=30). Each treatment was replicated three times (10 individual each). Males were fed experimental diets that were formulated to contain the same components as the control diet which contained red ginseng roots powder at levels 250, 500 and 750 mg/ kg feed  in other three experimental diets respectively. The results showed that the males of the fourth treatment recorded the lowest mean of the age of sexual puberty. While the highest average of sexual puberty age was recorded by the males of first treatment. On the other hand, the fourth treatment recorded the highest relative weight of testes compared with the other treatments at the age of 30 and 60 days. The results indicated that the males of the fourth treatment recorded highest Testosterone, FSH and LH levels compared with the other treatments at the age of 60 days. We can conclude from this study that the highest concentration of powder ginseng roots (750mg/kg feed) can promote the development of testes and increase testosterone, FSH and LH hormones in the serum of Japanese quail males.


Recently, nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) has been widely adopted for community detection, because of its better interpretability. However, the existing NMF-based methods have the following three problems: 1) they directly transform the original network into community membership space, so it is difficult for them to capture the hierarchical information; 2) they often only pay attention to the topology of the network and ignore its node attributes; 3) it is hard for them to learn the global structure information necessary for community detection. Therefore, we propose a new community detection algorithm, named Contrastive Deep Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (CDNMF). Firstly, we deepen NMF to strengthen its capacity for information extraction. Subsequently, inspired by contrastive learning, our algorithm creatively constructs network topology and node attributes as two contrasting views. Furthermore, we utilize a debiased negative sampling layer and learn node similarity at the community level, thereby enhancing the suitability of our model for community detection. We conduct experiments on three public real graph datasets and the proposed model has achieved better results than state-of-the-art methods. Code available at https://github.com/6lyc/CDNMF.git.


Abstract In the middle of the 16th century the ironworks of Mădăraș was one of the important centres of iron production. During its one and a half century lifespan its output provided a significant part of Transylvania's iron supply. While it operated it used up the entire raw material extracted in the iron ore mines of the Felcsík basin. This study presents the reconstructed ground-plan of the ironworks, its layout on the shores of the Mădăraș creek, and the chemical composition and microstructure of the samples discovered during exploration of the location by means of XRF analysis, EDS analysis and metallography. The analysis of the pig iron, the steel and the slag although performed on individual samples, still provides a good approach regarding the products of the ironworks, their chemical composition and microstructural characteristics.


Developing new patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) for application in clinical studies can be necessary if an adequate PROM does not exist. For adequate measurement, it is essential that the PROM has face validity (ie, is perceived to be relevant by clinicians and researchers) and has high content validity (ie, content relevance and content coverage for the targeted patient group). The steps needed to create PROMs that possess face and content validity for a specific condition are described in this paper. Face validity is achieved by item identification and generation through literature review. Content validity is confirmed through repetitive cognitive interviews of patients from the targeted patient group in order to generate a consensus‐based pilot‐version of the new PROM. This qualitative process ensures that items are appropriately worded, understandable, and minimizes doubts about how items should be answered. A practical example of this process is presented, which shows the development of the Knee Numeric‐Entity Evaluation Score (KNEES‐ACL), a condition‐specific PROM for patients with deficiency of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).


Tumors of the heart are very uncommon and can occur as primary or secondary metastatic tumors. Metastatic tumors are over 40 times more common than primary cardiac tumors. Primary tumors of the heart are benign in 75% of cases and malignant in 25%. We first reported our institutional experience with all primary cardiac tumors in 2003. Of the 85 patients seen, 17 had malignant tumors (20%) and 68 had benign tumors (80%). These benign tumors and our subsequent experience form the basis of this report.


This work exploits action equivariance for representation learning in reinforcement learning. Equivariance under actions states that transitions in the input space are mirrored by equivalent transitions in latent space, while the map and transition functions should also commute. We introduce a contrastive loss function that enforces action equivariance on the learned representations. We prove that when our loss is zero, we have a homomorphism of a deterministic Markov Decision Process (MDP). Learning equivariant maps leads to structured latent spaces, allowing us to build a model on which we plan through value iteration. We show experimentally that for deterministic MDPs, the optimal policy in the abstract MDP can be successfully lifted to the original MDP. Moreover, the approach easily adapts to changes in the goal states. Empirically, we show that in such MDPs, we obtain better representations in fewer epochs compared to representation learning approaches using reconstructions, while generalizing better to new goals than model-free approaches.


The $40 "Wiimote" (an input device belonging with the Nintendo® Wii™ game system) can be used by hydrologists as a sensor. The device contains three accelerometers and an infrared camera with built‐in source tracking. It communicates by Bluetooth®. Because of the efforts of the hacking community it is now easy to let the Wiimote communicate with a standard personal computer. Using a floating evaporation pan as an example, we show that the Wiimote, although it may have potential drawbacks when used in field campaigns, is a good addition to the hydrologist's bag of tools, especially for proof of concept testing.


Information is now coming centre stage in companies anxious to maintain their competitive advantage in the dot.com economy as electronic business‐to‐business exchanges rapidly emerge. The technical issues of being able to search across a wide range of different database and document types are now being solved through enterprise information portal applications (EIP), often referred to as corporate portals. These provide users with access to internal and external information resources through a customisable Web browser interface. This paper outlines the generic features of EIP applications, and categorises the different approaches being taken by EIP vendors, many of whom are adapting software developed for document management and information retrieval purposes. Emerging roles for information professionals in the deployment of EIP applications are discussed.


In discussions of the emotions, it is commonplace to wheel out examples of (for instance) people who know that rollercoasters aren't dangerous but who fear them anyway. Such cases are well known to have been troubling for cognitivists who hold the emotions are (at least in part) judgments or beliefs. But more recently, it has been argued that the very theories that emerged from the failure of cognitivism (perceptual theories and other neo-cognitivist approaches) face trouble as well. One gets the sense that the theory that can accomplish this will win a crucial point over its competitors. In the present paper I offer a new approach to making sense of the normative tension to which recalcitrant emotions give rise. Interestingly, the approach is one that can be adopted by anyone willing to grant that emotions are themselves governed by norms.


The conventional sea level budget (SLB) equates changes in sea surface height with the sum of ocean mass and steric change, where solid‐Earth movements are included as corrections but limited to the impact of glacial isostatic adjustment. However, changes in ocean mass load also deform the ocean bottom elastically. Until the early 2000s, ocean mass change was relatively small, translating into negligible elastic ocean bottom deformation (OBD), hence neglected in the SLB equation. However, recently ocean mass has increased rapidly; hence, OBD is no longer negligible and likely of similar magnitude to the deep steric sea level contribution. Here, we use a mass‐volume framework, which allows the ocean bottom to respond to mass load, to derive a SLB equation that includes OBD. We discuss the theoretical appearance of OBD in the SLB equation and its implications for the global SLB.


Double-stranded endonuclease activity was demonstrated for the first time in the excretory/secretory (ES) products of a parasitic nematode, Trichinella spiralis, which can reorganize host muscle cells. The endonuclease introduced double-stranded breaks to the native DNA. The ES double-stranded endonuclease(s) was sequence nonspecific, with a pH optimum below 6, and required divalent cations as a cofactor. Its activity was inhibited by the Zn2+ ion. It was detected mainly in the ES products of the infective-stage larvae of T. spiralis collected at 37 degrees C and was present in much smaller amounts in samples collected at 43 degrees C and in the products of T. pseudospiralis, a nonencapsulated species. The activity of endonuclease was blocked by antibodies against ES products. Zymographic analysis showed that the endonuclease activity was associated with at least three molecular forms, designated approximately 25, 30 and 58 kDa, respectively.


F1000Prime is an expert review service that aims to identify and rate new articles likely to greatly influence current biomedical and clinical knowledge and practice. In addition to the expert-selected and reviewed articles of F1000Prime, the publisher, Faculty of 1000, offers numerous personalized features, access to two open access journals, and an open repository of scientific posters and presentations. This article includes a sample search of F1000Prime and a discussion of its additional features.


Single nanowire (NW) green InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were fabricated by top-down etching technology. The electroluminescence (EL) peak wavelength remains approximately constant with an increasing injection current in contrast to a standard planar LED, which suggests that the quantum-confined Stark effect is significantly reduced in the single NW device. The strain relaxation mechanism is studied in the single NW LED using Raman scattering analysis. As compared to its planar counterpart, the EL peak of the NW LED shows a redshift, due to electric field redistribution as a result of changes in the cavity mode pattern after metallization. Our method has important implication for single NW optoelectronic device applications.


The manner by which the government has chosen to finance the fiscal deficit in the given period and the economic consequences of financing of government expenditures are discussed in this paper. It documents the size of the government deficit from 1975-1984 through the presentation of a consistent series of consolidated public sector. It also analyzes the implications of the fiscal deficit on public debt, interest rate, capital formation, money creation and inflation.


ISSUES
The paper discusses the school-based challenges that may moderate the implementation of evidence-based drug education in schools.

APPROACH
Knowledge about what constitutes an effective evidence-based drug education programme is discussed in relation to the challenge of delivery in the school setting. Research demonstrates that drug education should be engaging, incorporate interactive learning strategies, stimulate higher-order thinking, promote learning and be transferable to real life circumstances. This may difficult to accomplish in practice, as a range of contextual challenges and ideological assumptions may moderate the teacher's capacity to deliver a programme of this nature.

KEY FINDINGS
Collaborative learning strategies are not the norm in schools and therefore teachers may find interactive drug education programmes difficult to adopt. Conflicting ideological assumptions about effective epistemological approaches to drug education may also direct the way in which teachers modify programmes in the local context.

IMPLICATIONS
Teachers need professional training and support if they are to adopt successfully evidence-based school drug education programmes. This support may be enhanced if it includes whole school approaches to effective pedagogy and the development of pro-social classroom environments.

CONCLUSION
Drug education research should take account of the complexities of implementation in the school setting and investigate further the professional and organisational support that teachers require in order to maintain high-quality provision in the school context.


This paper presents a novel authentication system, that will find applications on the Internet like e-commerce and areas where secure communication is mandatory. It consists of a set of authentication protocols-JavaCard authentication protocol (JCAP) and a secure crypto-module-random symmetric authentication module (RSAM). The JCAP is used to establish the session "key" and mutual authenticate the communicating principals. The "key" established has enhanced functions and acts as a set of parameters used in RSAM for a more secure symmetric cryptographic session to provide privacy and dynamic symmetric encryption algorithm operations. The encryption keys, and the length and sequence of messages will be different for each exchange of messages, making it almost impossible for the attacker to decrypt the message exchanged. JavaCard is used to enhance the security of the authentication session.


With historicism on the wane, now is a good time to reexamine Thomas Hoccleve's politics. The resurgence of interest in Hoccleve coincided with the advent of critical historicism in Middle English scholarship. Debate on Hoccleve has been sharply divided between those who see him as a royalist and those who see him as politically unaligned. Analysis of Hoccleve's persona in the Regiment of Princes—the most poetically prominent feature of his most important political poem—and its relation to the figure of Fortune demonstrates that, if anything, ideological readings of Hoccleve have underplayed his royalism.


Economic research on corruption aims both to isolate the economic effects of quid pro quo deals between agents and third parties, and to suggest how legal and institutional reforms might curb harms and enhance benefits. In this comprehensive Handbook, top scholars in the field provide specially commissioned essays, both theoretical and empirical, exploring both types of research.


The objective of this descriptive and documentary work is to investigate basic education teachers as study subjects in educational excellence postgraduate studies in Brazil. To this end the assessment identified three graduate courses with the highest ratings in the assessment by CAPES (Coordination for the improvement of higher education) and in said courses five groups were investigated with a focus on the study of the teacher, exploring their access to the internet, seniority, specific lines of research, academic production, synergies and involved staff and likewise the master's thesis and doctoral dissertations in said groups.


The spontaneous firing rate of midbrain central gray (MCG) neurons and the effect of iontophoretically applied prolactin and luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) on the electrical activity of these neurons was studied in untreated and estrogen-progesterone-treated ovariectomized female rats. The spontaneous firing rate of MCG neurons as well as the neuronal membrane responsiveness to iontophoretically applied prolactin was unaffected by the presence or absence of ovarian hormones. In both treated and untreated rats, the majority of neurons were not responsive to prolactin. On the other hand, the responsiveness of MCG neurons to iontophoretically applied LH-RH was influenced by hormonal treatment. A significantly larger number of MCG neurons were inhibited by LH-RH in hormone-treated animals than in untreated rats. The present work provides evidence at the electrophysiological level that ovarian hormones do not affect the firing rate of MCG neurons but do modulate the responsiveness of MCG neurons to LH-RH.


This article discusses the duties of hospital governing boards, medical staffs, medical staff officers, and individual medical staff members regarding the credentialing of physicians, including the potential liability of these groups for negligent medical care and wrongful denial of staff privileges. This article also proposes possible measures these groups may take to avoid or limit their exposure to such liability.


Abstract Mobile devices can be used for bridge inspection and collect all the required asset information without field notes and complete bridge inspection quickly. Mobile devices eliminate the need to fill out field inspection paper forms by hand and retype this data on the computer to compile reports. Inspection and ancillary data including pictures are collected in the field with global positioning system-enabled devices. This provides time-saved visualized members input and customized section data input from the office and on the web. Automated field inspection forms or reports are generated automatically using the field data collection database and can be sent to the client immediately if bridge condition is critical. In this study, the efficiency of this technology is discussed, which is expected that it will be useful in subsequent projects through several American bridge inspection projects.


A21 BACKGROUND: Although immunotherapeutic interventions are promising, current treatments to induce strong immune responses against ovarian cancer (OC) are still inadequate. In order to develop a new method to induce strong immune responses against OC, we used the rAAV-based antigen loading of dendritic cells (DCs) to generate significant and specific CTL responses against OC antigen. Recent studies demonstrate that recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV)-based antigen loading of DCs generates in vitro , significant and rapid cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses against viral antigens. We used the rAAV system to induce specific CTL against tumor antigens for the development of OC gene therapy. As an extension of the versatility of the rAAV system, we incorporated a self -antigen, Her-2/neu, expressed in many cancers, including breast and OC. We then tested the ability of r-AAV loading of DCs to generate CTLs specific for the self-antigen.
 METHODS: The AAV/Her-2/neu vectors encoding a short (157-612) and long domain (1-1197) were constructed, and the titers of AAV/Her2/157 and AAV/Her2/1197 virus stocks were determined by real-time PCR. AAV/Her2/neu-transduced DCs were confirmed by Immunofluorescence and measuring polyadenylated RNA expression of the AAV/Her2/neu transgene. We then generated autologous targets by infecting donor Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with AAV/Her2/157 and AAV/Her2/1197 virus 4 days before the CTL assay. The ability of rAAV-transduced DCs to stimulate Her2/neu-specific CTLs was determined by standard 6-hour 51 Cr assay.
 RESULTS: AAV/Her2/neu-infected PBMCs were found to express Her2/157 and Her2/1197 by RT-PCR analysis, whereas unaltered PBMCs and K562 cells did not express Her2/neu. Our rAAV vectors induced strong stimulation of CTLs directed against the self tumor antigen Her-2/neu. Moreover, a significant MHC Class I-restricted, anti-Her-2/neu-specific CTL killing was demonstrated against Her-2/neu positive OC cells after one in vitro stimulation . The results showed that the T-cells incubated with both AAV/Her2/157 and AAV/Her2/1197-loaded DCs were able to kill the patients' OC cells. The CTLs' stimulation due by Her2/1197 loaded DCs was superior to the one due by Her2/157, which confirmed our hypothesis that the Her2/1197 containing more Her2/neu-derived specific epitopes than Her2/157.
 CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our results demonstrate that the delivery of Her2/neu antigen by an AAV vector is a good strategy for generating anti-Her-2/neu CTLs. A single PBMC stimulation with AAV/Her2/157 or AAV/Her2/1197 pulsed DCs induces strong antigen specific-CTLs generation. CTLs were capable to lyse low doses of peptide pulsed into target cells or OC Her-2/neu + tumors. These data suggest that AAV-based antigen loading of DC is highly effective for generating human CTL responses against OC antigens.


Objectives: Primary CMV infection may result in a serious CMV related fetopathy in 2% of neonates. PCR on the amniotic fluid(AF) increases the sensitivity/specificity of prenatal imaging by detailed neurosonogram. The goal of this study is to investigate the chronology in the development of lesions, visible on ultrasound in CMV PCR-positive fetuses. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study including all fetuses with a positive AF PCR for CMV from 2007 to 2018. Serial two weekly US scans were performed. Gestational age when the first lesion(s) appeared was noted and compared with final abnormalities on neurosonogram. The relationship between CMV DNA in AF and the level of CMV related features was analysed. Results: 181 AF samples showed a positive CMV PCR.7 patients were exluded. Of the remaining 174 results, 74 patients had normal US follow up, while 100 had abnormal US features. In patients with > 5.000.000 copies/ml CMV particles in AF; 27% had a normal US and 69.9% an abnormal US. In patients with less than 5 million copies, 52% had normal and 42.8% abnormal follow up. Echogenic bowels (57%) and periventricular halo (6%) are the most common. If they appeared early without associated lesions, they had little impact on the outcome of pregnancy. Fetal hydrops (4%), microcephaly (13%) and early IUGR (10%) were apparent often before 24 weeks and usually led to TOP. Calcifications (51%), LSV (14%), cysts can appear throughout follow up. These lesions are often progressive and lead to TOP in the majority of cases. Conclusions: Early CMV-related lesions seem to appear in the 2nd trimester and are usually subtle findings like echogenic bowels and periventricular halo. Later in pregnancy calcifications, cysts and LSV become more apparent.


Multimedia instruction set extensions have become a prominent feature in desktop microprocessor platforms, promising superior performance on a wide range of floating-point and integer signal processing, multimedia, and scientific applications. But the question remains whether or not these multimedia extensions can be applied to improve the performance of general, integer intensive applications. The answer to this question is important and could be used to direct research and development of compiler algorithms and refinements to multimedia architectures. In this paper we answer the question of whether integer programs exhibit enough sub-word level parallelism (SLP) to facilitate performance improvements through use of multimedia extensions. Using a highly optimizing compiler and a simulator for an aggressive SLP architecture, we measured available SLP in a range of integer benchmarks. Our measurements show that these applications exhibit significant levels of SLP. Using the most aggressive simulator settings, dynamic instruction count reductions of 17 to 36 percent were observed. However, detailed examination of the data indicates that much of this parallelism is equivalent to instruction-level parallelism (ILP) and could just as easily be exploited by a traditional ILP architecture. Our findings indicate that researchers should focus their efforts on exploiting SLP in floating-point intensive and multimedia applications.


Eigenmodes and their growth rate in the photon storage ring (PhSR) are studied theoretically. In PhSR the synchrotron radiation emitted tangentially from the electron storage rings is reflected by a cylindrical mirror which surrounds the electron orbit. The radiation, thus confined in the cylindrical cavity, is represented by eigenmodes of very high mode numbers. It is found that the coherent radiation may build up, when the phase velocity of the eigenmode along the electron orbit is close to the electron velocity. The growth rate of this laser is evaluated for the compact electron storage ring AURORA. >


This paper proposes a wearable hand rehabilitation device, DULEX, for persons with functional paralysis of upper-limbs after stoke. DULEX has three degrees of freedom for rehabilitation exercises for wrist and fingers except the thumb. The main function of DULEX is to extend the range of motions of finger and wrist being contracture. DULEX is designed by using a parallel mechanism, and its parameters such as length and location of links are determined by kinematic analysis. The motion trajectory of the designed DULEX is aligned to human hand to prevent a slip. To reduce total weight of DULEX, artificial air muscles are used for actuating each joint motion. In feedback control, each joint angle is indirectly estimated from the relations of the input air pressure and the output muscle length. Experimental results show that DULEX is feasible in hand rehabilitation for stroke survivals.


The effects of vacancies on deformation of nanocrystalline Ni have been investigated by experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In the experiments, nanocrystalline Ni specimens containing different numbers of vacancies were produced by electrodeposition and annealing, and their mechanical properties were investigated by tensile tests. As a result, the yield stress and fracture stress for the specimen containing more vacancies were lower than those for the one containing fewer vacancies. The MD simulations showed that the grain boundary energy is increased by the presence of vacancies in the grain boundary, however, that an increase in grain boundary energy with straining is reduced by the presence of vacancies in the grain boundary. The results of the experiments and simulations suggested that there is a correlation between the grain boundary energy characteristics and the mechanical properties of the nanocrystalline Ni.


We prove the correctness of a formalised realisability interpretation of ex- tensions of first-order theories by inductive and coinductive definitions in an untyped λ-calculus with fixed-points. We illustrate the use of this interpretation for program extraction by some simple examples in the area of exact real number computation and hint at further non-trivial applications in computable analysis.


Background: Oral candidiasis is one of the most common manifestations of patients with cancer under chemotherapy. Due to many side effects of chemical antifungal products and various advantages of herbal extracts like licorice, this study was performed to compare the antifungal effects of nystatin and licorice on yeasts isolated from oral mucosa of patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: In this in vitro study, a total number of 30 patients with oral candidiasis who received chemotherapy were examined. The samples were prepared by using swabs taken from the lesions, and after 48 h, they were transferred and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar. The antifungal effect of licorice was compared with nystatin using agar disk diffusion method. These data were entered in SPSS statistical software and were analyzed with Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests. (α = 5%). Results: Four types of candida were identified among all 30 oral lesions (Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida stellatoidea, and Candida SP). The mean inhibition zone diameter around nystatin showed a significant difference (P < 0.001) between C. albicans (9.486), C. glabrata (8.627), C. stellatoidea (7.00), and C. sp (7.06) but the inhibition zone diameter around licorice was almost zero in all groups. Conclusion: Licorice extracts did not show any antifungal effects whereas nystatin showed the most antifungal effect against C. albicans.


Author(s): Zroka, Amy Liane | Abstract: In this dissertation, I investigate the actions and experiences of German Red Cross nurses who worked on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The purpose of the project is to gain a deeper understanding of how the Third Reich mobilized "Aryan" German women for war service and how these women, as nurses, helped constitute a Volksgemeinschaft or "people's community." By examining the actions of nurses, I analyze how humanitarian ideals are affected by nationalist goals and international conflicts. In addition, I also move beyond the war itself in order to answer the question of how German Red Cross nurses' wartime activities were remembered, on the level of the individual and of the group, and what these memories meant for the women themselves and the two postwar German publics. This project therefore investigates the discourses, training programs, and personal experiences of German Red Cross nurses and the soldiers, ethnic Germans, and non-Germans with whom nurses interacted. Red Cross nursing appealed to German women because it provided them with the opportunity to work outside of the home without violating traditional gender norms. During their time serving in hospitals on the Eastern Front, nurses modified the National Socialist concept of "people's community" by creating a community of the front field hospital. This community was defined not only by German citizenship, but also by a set of common wartime experiences and connections to German Red Cross institutions. Red Cross nurses who served at the front gained a sense that they, rather than their superiors who worked further away from the front, had a better understanding of the war. As a result, the nurses who worked in these field hospitals forged a specific kind of nursing community within the larger German front community. These women thus modified the Nazi community based on their needs and experiences. However, nurses also reinforced Nazi "racial" and political hierarchies by prioritizing the care of German soldiers and ethnic Germans. After the war, changing patterns of silence and recollection slowly brought nurses' experiences and memories into public discussions


Several biochemical effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) including inhibition of the incorporation of 3H-deoxyuridine (3H-UdR) into DNA, inhibition of ribosome formation, and formation of 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine-5'-monophosphate (FdUMP) were examined in samples of human colon carcinomas to determine if any of these drug effects might have predictive value as a reliable guide to 5-FU therapy. For comparison, the solid rat Walker 256 carcinosarcoma, which is only minimally responsive to 5-FU, was also studied. For each of the biochemical effects of 5-FU measured in the various samples of Walker 256 tumors, the responses were consistent and varied within a narrow range. In contrast, the formation of FdUMP from 5-FU and the degree of inhibition of the incorporation of 3H-UdR into DNA by 5-FU were extremely variable in the population of human colon carcinomas examined. In all human tumors examined, 5-FU caused a reduction in the formation of ribosomes, but even in the absence of 5-FU, the total amount of ribosome synthesis was so low that it makes measurement difficult to quantitate. Based on our data, a study might be warranted to determine if there is a correlation between FdUMP formation and responsiveness of colon carcinoma to 5-FU therapy.


The perineural administration of alcohol or phenol results in protein denaturation and, consequently, neurolysis. This can produce long-lasting analgesia, with a duration of 3–6 months. Although neurolytic blocks for the brachial plexus have been described in multiple review articles and textbooks, they are rarely performed. As such, little is known about the efficacy and adverse effect profile of this commonly described treatment. In this article, we report the outcomes of a patient who underwent a left brachial plexus neurolytic block for the management of upper limb pain arising from a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.


Abstract. Forest biomass is an important indicator for the structure and function of forest ecosystems, and an accurate assessment of forest biomass is crucial for understanding ecosystem changes. Remote sensing has been widely used for inversion of biomass. However, in mature or over-mature forest areas, spectral saturation is prone to occur. Based on existing research, this paper synthesizes domestic high resolution satellites, ZY3-01 satellites, and GLAS14-level data from space-borne Lidar system, and other data set. Extracting texture and elevation features respectively, for the inversion of forest biomass. This experiment takes Shangri-La as the research area. Firstly, the biomass in the laser spot was calculated based on GLAS data and other auxiliary data, DEM, the second type inventory of forest resources data and the Shangri-La vector boundary data. Then, the regression model was established, that is, the relationship between the texture factors of ZY3-01 and biomass in the laser spot. Finally, by using this model and the forest distribution map in Shangri-La, the biomass of the whole area is obtained, which is 1.3972 × 108t.


A 43-year-old man, previously submitted to right hepatectomy, right hepatic artery chemoembolization, and surgical resection of liver lesions, with well-differentiated and moderately differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) confirmed by histopathology, underwent cholescintigraphy with Tc diisopropyliminodiacetic acid (Tc-DISIDA) due to recurrent cholangitis. The scintigraphic images and the coregistered CT images showed radiotracer uptake in an area of biliary ectasia near the hepatic surface (which may be associated with recurrent cholangitis), in a hepatic nodule, and in multiple pulmonary metastases.


The authors examine the manifold legal issues created by the practice of cryopreserving fertilized egg (embryos) as part of fertility treatments. Eggs are harvested, fertilized and frozen for future use. Several consequences follow from this procedure. In some cases the intended parents separate or are divorced before the embryos are implanted. In other cases one of the intended parents dies before use. Sometimes one intended parents wants to donate embryos for research, while the other objects. Issues can arise about parenthood when one or both of the gametes are donated, meaning that the intended parent(s) may have no genetic connection to the potential child. A movement has grown up to allow infertile couples to adopt embryos produced but not used by original intended parents. Issue of inheritance, medical malpractice, eugenic considerations, as well as public policy concerns about the ultimate choices to be made regarding embryos and the question of who should make them. The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of these and other problems resulting from the storage of hundreds of thousands of embryos.


This paper introduces a novel heterogeneous shared memory multiprocessor architecture based on a reconfigurable processor and a standard RISC processor. The work aims at increasing further the computational density of a reconfigurable device by the integration of the reconfigurable hardware into a heterogeneous multi-core architecture. Though a RISC processor has a lower inner computational density than a reconfigurable processor, this work demonstrates that coupling a reconfigurable core to a RISC core leads to a computational density increase by a factor of up to 1.7times on signal processing applications. Moreover, this approach also achieves up to 37% energy savings on the same applications. The multi-core SoC architecture was implemented in 0.13mum technology, achieving a 166MHz clock frequency with an average 340mW power consumption


Abstract Background Neurological involvement is common in hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), but each neurological symptom may be due to a variety of factors. Objective We aimed to evaluate predisposing factors to the neurological symptoms in HUS. Materials and Methods The 10-year follow-up data on HUS patients were retrospectively analyzed. Statistical comparisons were made across subgroups based on age and neurological symptoms. Results The neurological involvement rate was 37.5%. The female-to-male ratio increased in patients with neurological involvement (3.8 vs. 1.37). Regarding all HUS patients, hemoglobin levels were higher in patients with paresis. The rate of paresis was twofold higher in patients with a hemoglobin level above 11 g/dL (p < 0.05). In diarrhea-associated HUS patients, D-dimer and C-reactive protein levels were higher in patients with paresis, and leukocyte counts were higher in patients with seizures. Patients with altered consciousness had higher creatinine levels. The survival rate was significantly lower in patients with a reticulocyte percentage of less than 2% (50 vs. 100%). Conclusion Results of our study indicate that neurological involvement depends on overall findings in HUS. A symptom-oriented approach, which is different from that employed in previous studies, reveals some clues to the pathogenesis and management of these patients.


Recently increasing interest in Gnostic studies has been fed from several sources. Among the most obvious and most healthy reasons for this increase is the availability of primary source material. The Nag Hammadi literature is slowly but surely becoming available, and now, in this volume, for the second time in recent months a collection of ancient texts pertaining to the Gnostic movement is published.


A solution is proposed for the task of controlling a group of UAVs moving along a given route. The group is considered as a limited-size formation consisting of n-agents moving relative to the leader, which allows us to treat the group as some aggregate with the center of motion. The quantitative composition of a group can change while maintaining the integrity of the group. The chapter proposes the use of smooth laws governing the motion of a group. The safety of motion is ensured by introducing into the law of control the components equivalent to the creation of attractive and repulsive fields.


BACKGROUND
Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L., is a very important pest of cruciferous vegetables causing excessive economic losses worldwide. Bioactivities of halo-, diazo-, and cyclopropane acetates of P. xylostella sex pheromone have been evaluated using electrophysiology and enzyme inhibition assays.

RESULTS
A total of 23 sex pheromone analogs of P. xylostella were designed and synthesized and the result shows that (11Z)-hexadec-11-en-1-yl 2,2,2-trifluoroacetate, (11Z)-hexadec-11-en-1-yl 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropanoate, and (11Z)-hexadec-11-en-1-yl trifluoromethanesulfonate elicited potential inhibitory effects at all doses tested in the electrophysiology and enzyme inhibition assays. Interference of locating the sex pheromone source was found strongest when these three analogs were mixed with the sex pheromone at a 10:1 ratio. In addition, field test showed that the rate of mating disruption was over 90% when (11Z)-hexadec-11-en-1-yl 2,2,2-trifluoroacetate or (11Z)-hexadec-11-en-1-yl 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropanoate was mixed with the sex pheromone at a 10:1 ratio.

CONCLUSION
Two sex pheromone antagonists were screen out by electrophysiology, enzyme inhibition assays, wind tunnel and field tests. We believe that these antagonists could be used to establish a novel eco-friendly measure to control P. xylostella and provide evidence for clarifying the specific functions and molecular mechanisms of sex pheromone antagonists. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.


Rapid and sensitive techniques for the determination of residues of the fungicides furalaxyl and metalaxyl in agricultural samples are described. Air-dried soils and peat composts are extracted with acetone in a Soxhlet apparatus; the extract is applied directly to the gas chromatograph and detected using a nitrogen-selective detector. Plants are macerated with acetone and, after filtration and dilution with water, partitioned with chloroform; nutrient solutions are similarly extracted with chloroform. The extracts are subjected to gas chromatography after removal of chloroform and dissolution in acetone. Recoveries are generally better than 80% with detection limits of 0.5 mg kg–1 for peat, 0.1 mg kg–1 for soils and plants and 0.02 mg kg–1 for nutrient solutions.


Static network unreliability computation is an NP-hard problem, leading to the use of Monte Carlo techniques to estimate it. The latter, in turn, suffer from the rare event problem, in the frequent situation where the system's unreliability is a very small value. As a consequence, specific rare event event simulation techniques are relevant tools to provide this estimation. We focus here on a method proposed by Fishman making use of bounds on the structure function of the model. The bounds are based on the computation of (disjoint) mincuts disconnecting the set of nodes and (disjoint) minpaths ensuring that they are connected. We analyze the robustness of the method when the unreliability of links goes to zero. We show that the conditions provided by Fishman, based on a bound, are only sufficient, and we provide more insight and examples on the behavior of the method.


Ophthalmologists are strongly opposed to any move by optometrists to treat anterior segment disease. Or are they? This year the optometric journal Optician has been examining this question by gauging opinions from grassroots professionals and from their representative bodies. At a time when UK universities are offering optometrists the first postgraduate courses in ocular therapeutics the results make interesting reading.

According to a survey conducted by Optician in August 1996, half of UK ophthalmologists believe that optometrists could use ocular therapeutics given suitable training. Yet many clearly remain implacably opposed to the concept—49% of those surveyed saying they were against any suggested timescale for introducing such a move.

Not surprisingly, optometrists' opinions are less divided. A similar Optician survey earlier in 1996 showed that 91% of UK optometrists surveyed would be interested in using ocular therapeutics, again given suitable training. There was widespread support for managing a range of conditions such as conjunctivitis, blepharitis, and dry eye.

Despite their enthusiasm, many optometrists expressed concern over the issues of education, funding, and litigation and many rejected the notion of managing a wider spectrum of anterior segment disease. Yet eight out of 10 optometrists believed that a realistic timescale for a move into therapeutics was within 2 years.

Adding a further piece …


OBJECTIVES
Although the prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is known to be higher than in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), the reasons have never been identified.

METHODS
We randomly selected 115 isolates of S. aureus collected from 10 different hospitals in Korea between June 2009 and May 2011. To investigate the difference in fluoroquinolone resistance mechanisms between MRSA and MSSA, we evaluated gyrA and parC mutations and the relative expression of the multidrug efflux pump genes norA, norB and norC.

RESULTS
All 62 ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus had either gyrA or parC mutations. The S84L mutation of gyrA (59/62, 95.2%) and the S80F mutation of parC (61/62, 98.4%) were the most common. Fifty-eight (93.6%) strains had both the S84L mutation of gyrA and the S80F mutation of parC. Among the 115 isolates, norB overexpression was the most common, occurring in 49 (42.6%) strains. There were only two (1.7%) strains with norA overexpression and none with norC overexpression. Strains overexpressing norB were more common among ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus (33/62, 53.2%) than ciprofloxacin-susceptible S. aureus (16/53, 30.2%) (P = 0.013). When we analysed 62 ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus strains, those overexpressing norB were more common in ciprofloxacin-resistant MRSA (28/46, 60.9%) than in ciprofloxacin-resistant MSSA (5/16, 31.3%) (P = 0.041).

CONCLUSIONS
Increased expression of norB can be a factor that contributes to ciprofloxacin resistance in MRSA strains.


Background. Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is the presence of an infection and/or ulcer defect of the foot associated with neuropathy and circulatory disorders of the lower extremities of varying severity. Insensitivity of the foot, its deformation and constant load lead to the formation of necrosis under hyperkeratosis with the potential infectious process development.
Objective. To describe the features of the course and treatment of DFS.
Materials and methods. Analysis of literature data on this issue.
Results and discussion. Classification of diabetic ulcers is carried out according to the PEDIS system, where P means perfusion, E – extent, D – depth, I – infection, S – sensation. To assess the circulatory status of the lower extremities, the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and transcutaneous oxygen tension are determined. Critical ischemia is determined by the following criteria: tibial systolic blood pressure <50 mm Hg, big toe blood pressure <30 mm Hg, or transcutaneous oxygen tension <30 mm Hg, or ABI <0.5. DFS treatment involves unloading the foot with the help of special shoes or orthoses, ultrasonic or vacuum cavitation of wounds, surgery, antibiotic therapy. If necessary, anti-pseudomonad antibiotics should be used (ceftazidime, cefoperazone, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem, ciprofloxacin, amikacin). 95 % of the microorganisms present in the world are able to coexist in the form of biofilms – communities of microorganisms in a matrix of polymers (mucopolysaccharides), which are released by the same bacteria. Taking this into account, one should choose antibiotics that can penetrate biofilms. Diabetic ulcers should be covered with dressings such as Hydroclean plus, which contain an antiseptic that protects the wound from secondary infection, prevents excessive evaporation of moisture and has an atraumatic contact layer that prevents traumatization of the young granulation tissue. This dressing continuously releases Ringer's solution into the wound and absorbs the wound exudate, creating a continuous washing effect. Lacerta ("Yuria-Pharm") can be used to stimulate the regeneration of long-term defects of connective tissues. Lacerta activates the migration and proliferation of fibroblasts, accelerates their metabolic activity, and enhances angiogenesis. Other methods of accelerating of the wound healing include the use of cryopreserved amniotic membranes and the injection of stem cells.
Conclusions. 1. DFS is the presence of an infection and/or ulcerative defect of the foot associated with neuropathy and circulatory disorders of the lower extremities. 2. Classification of diabetic ulcers is carried out according to the PEDIS system. 3. Treatment of DFS involves unloading the foot with special shoes or orthoses, ultrasonic or vacuum cavitation of wounds, antibiotic therapy, surgery. 4. It is advisable to cover diabetic ulcers with hydrogel bandages. 5. Lacerta can be used to stimulate the regeneration of persistent skin defects.


A method for local investigation of ultrafiltration membrane pore networks has been developed in order to complement bulk measurements and calculations. An membrane (200 nm) pore network was filled with electrodeposited nickel. Membranes were analysed simultaneously with normal scanning force microscopy (SFM) and electrical-conductivity SFM. Cantilevers coated with cm diamond were used to map both normal force and conductivity. Conductivity images show two kinds of pores: bright pores with diameters of and grey pores with diameters of , depending on the depth of the nickel tubes. The average pore diameter measured from the normal SFM images is , and the ratio of the conductive pores to total number of pores is 49.8%. Preferential flow paths can be established from this technique.


This paper describes the purposes, structure and applications as well as the speakers, material, recording, digitizing, labeling and storage procedures of Map Task Corpus of spoken Russian. The database is comprised of recordings of 116 spontaneous unscripted taskoriented dialogues produced by 64 native speakers of Russian while performing the task of marking a route on a printed map. The task was performed only via verbal communication, other forms (such as eye contact or gestures) being excluded in experimental settings. The total duration of the recorded dialogues is 18 hours. The database is constructed as a material source for theoretical and applied linguistics, language teaching, psycholinguistics, communication, speech processing, recognition as well as for interdisciplinary applications.


(1) Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic dermatological condition characterized by pruritus (itchiness) and rash. Topical corticosteroids are the mainstay of pharmacotherapy. (2) Tacrolimus ointment is a new topical anti-inflammatory agent available in Canada through the Special Access Program. (3) It is approved as a second line agent for short or long term intermittent treatment of moderate to severe AD. (4) Clinical trials suggest it is both effective and safe, but comparative studies with corticosteroids and long-term information are limited.


Target exon resequencing using Massively Parallel DNA Sequencing (MPS) is a new powerful strategy to discover causative genes in rare Mendelian disorders such as deafness. We attempted to identify genomic variations responsible for deafness by massive sequencing of the exons of 112 target candidate genes. By the analysis of 216randomly selected Japanese deafness patients (120 early-onset and 96 late-detected), who had already been evaluated for common genes/mutations by Invader assay and of which 48 had already been diagnosed, we efficiently identified causative mutations and/or mutation candidates in 57 genes. Approximately 86.6% (187/216) of the patients had at least one mutation. Of the 187 patients, in 69 the etiology of the hearing loss was completely explained. To determine which genes have the greatest impact on deafness etiology, the number of mutations was counted, showing that those in GJB2 were exceptionally higher, followed by mutations in SLC26A4, USH2A, GPR98, MYO15A, COL4A5 and CDH23. The present data suggested that targeted exon sequencing of selected genes using the MPS technology followed by the appropriate filtering algorithm will be able to identify rare responsible genes including new candidate genes for individual patients with deafness, and improve molecular diagnosis. In addition, using a large number of patients, the present study clarified the molecular epidemiology of deafness in Japanese. GJB2 is the most prevalent causative gene, and the major (commonly found) gene mutations cause 30–40% of deafness while the remainder of hearing loss is the result of various rare genes/mutations that have been difficult to diagnose by the conventional one-by-one approach. In conclusion, target exon resequencing using MPS technology is a suitable method to discover common and rare causative genes for a highly heterogeneous monogenic disease like hearing loss.


In this paper, we propose a video copy detection system by adopting a video fingerprinting technique as kernel. To achieve fast speed, the video fingerprints are generated from videos uploaded by users, and then are put into a retrieval system which prepares references by using a direct hashing algorithm for fast decision. To demonstrate the superiority of this method, several video fingerprints are used for comparisons. The experimental results indicate that our proposed method can perform well. The best performance that we can obtain is 0.35% for false negative rate and 0.1% for false positive rate, by using 1,295 videos for evaluation.


We present a simple, low cost but fast 3D data acquisition method. We employ a projector to project shifting color De Bruijn strips on the object, and a digital camera to record videos of the scene. The strips pattern divides the image to several spaces and the distortion of the strips on the object is used to get the object's 3D information. A novel space-time edge finding method is introduced to get the color strips edge accurately by fully use De Bruijn pattern's space information and the time information. This edge finding method overcomes the affect of inter-reflection and noise. This method is fast no matter the complexity of the shape.


Myriophyllum aquaticum is an invasive plant species originating from the Amazon River and is currently found in British Columbia. We hypothesized that freshwater sources with Myriophyllum aquaticum would have lower dissolved oxygen content compared to areas without Myriophyllum aquaticum . During this experiment, 40 water samples were collected from each of our four sites: Serpentine Fen (Surrey, B.C.), Nicomekl River (Surrey, B.C.), Alpine Garden Pond and Meyer Glade at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden (Vancouver, B.C.). Serpentine Fen had Myriophyllum aquaticum while the other three sites were control sites. The dissolved oxygen content (mg/L) was measured with an oxygen meter and recorded for comparison. When comparing the data from Serpentine Fen to Nicomekl River, Alpine Garden Pond and Meyer Glade, a paired t-test was used. P-values of 2.2753E-22, 1.082E-29 and 9.0394E-29 were obtained for these sites. Since they are all less than 0.05, the null hypothesis was rejected and support was provided for the alternate hypothesis that Myriophyllum aquaticum decreases the dissolved oxygen content in freshwater bodies. The results also suggest that a decrease in temperature may increase the dissolved oxygen content because numerous biota cannot survive the colder temperatures, thus less oxygen is being used.


Cutaneous round cell neoplasms (RCNs) are among the most common skin tumors of dogs. Although a diagnosis can be made in most cases following the examination of H&E-stained routine samples, less-differentiated neoplasms can exhibit overlapping morphologic features that may be challenging to the pathologist, and require immunohistochemistry or molecular testing to reach a final diagnosis. Many patients with cutaneous RCNs are initially seen by a general practitioner and are not referred to a veterinary teaching hospital until a diagnosis has been made. For this reason, anatomic pathology residents at some academic or other training institutions may not be exposed frequently to RCNs during the surgical biopsy service as part of their residency training. In an attempt to fill that gap, here we review the key routine histologic features of canine cutaneous RCNs.


Rabbit meat is a viable option to meet the qualitative and nutritional demands of the current consumers, due to its easy digestion, high protein content and unsaturated fatty acids, low-fat concentration. Despite its nutritional characteristics, this meat is not widely accepted in Mexico, so it is necessary to develop products that favor its acceptance. In the present study, two experiments were carried out using sensory tests to evaluate the acceptance of a sausage type made from rabbit meat. Experiment one consisted of a sensorial test of the sausage with 24 hours of rest after its elaboration, through a hedonic scale with values from 1 to 10 where 1 corresponded to the lowest score and 10 to the highest. Experiment two was developed by a sensorial test for a sausage ripened at 48, 120, 216 and 312 hours, with the hedonic scale established for experiment one. The evaluated aspects of the product were: color, smell, flavor, texture and overall, the results were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. In conclusion, the sausage was accepted by the participants in both experiments. In experiment two, the highest level of acceptance corresponded to 216 hours of maturation (P <0.05). Keywords: Maturation, Oryctolagus cuniculus, sensory evaluation.


In the present article, the authors argue that the study of Salafism as a contemporary Islamic new religious movement could benefit from an analytical perspective separating fundamentalism into the modes of inferentialism and deferentialism. The basics of these concepts are outlined and discussed in relation to different aspects of contemporary Salafism as well as in relation to previous tendencies in Islamic history. As a case study, the authors employ the concept in an analysis of a contemporary Swedish Salafi discourse on the 'wiping of the (leather) socks' in the context of ritual purity. The authors argue that the concept of 'deferential fundamentalism' has a potential in the study of Salafism in that it allows for comparative analysis, both cross-religiously and diachronically, in contextualising Salafism historically. It also allows for an analysis of Salafi thought and practice in relation to theories of how human beings in general process social information.


A case of a 13-year-old boy with a primary, intrasellar malignant germ cell tumor is reported. An immunohistochemical study revealed that the serum HCG and AFP levels were highly elevated and that the tumor contained elements of seminoma, choriocarcinoma, a yolk sac tumor, and an embryonal carcinoma. After operation, combined chemotherapy (cisplatin, vinblastine and bleomycin, i.e. PVB therapy) and irradiation were performed in hope of achieving the radiosensitizing effect of cisplatin. As a result, partial remission was obtained. Although PVB therapy is considered effective, combined radio-chemotherapy, as was done in this case, is thought to be better method for treating an intracranial, malignant germ cell tumor.


We analyze the interaction between stock prices of big companies in the USA and Germany using Granger Causality. We claim that the increase in pair-wise Granger causality interaction between prices in the times of crisis is the consequence of simultaneous response of the markets to the outside events or external stimulus that is considered as a common driver to all the stocks, not a result of real causal predictability between the prices themselves. An alternative approach through recurrence analysis in single stock price series supports this claim. The observed patterns in the price of stocks are modelled by adding a multiplicative exogenous term as the representative for external factors to the geometric Brownian motion model for stock prices. Altogether, we can detect and model the effects of the Great Recession as a consequence of the mortgage crisis in 2007/2008 as well as the impacts of the Covid out-break in early 2020.


Eight patients with frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) were given single oral doses of 2‐amino‐2', 6'‐propionoxylidide hydrochloride (APX),* a lidocaine congener, to investigate the drug's efficacy, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics. Of the 7 patients receiving more than 100 mg, 5 demonstrated at least 60% reduction in PVCs in the 5‐hour period following one of the doses; the responsiveness to APX was similar to that observed when intravenous lidocaine was given to the same patients. There were side effects of transient dizziness, lightheadedness, and nausea in 3 patients 20 to 30 min after doses of 400 to 800 mg; slightly smaller doses in 2 of these patients retained efficacy without side effects. There were no effects on arterial blood pressure, heart rate, or the electrocardiogram of normally conducted beats. Laboratory values remained within normal limits, although the hemoglobin level and hematocrit showed a small but significant fall probably related to repeated blood sampling during the study. Drug plasma levels at 1 and 2 hr after administration and the area under the plasma concentration‐time curve were proportional to dose, and the drug disappeared with a mean elimination half‐life of 14.7 ± 1.7 hr (mean ± SD). Plasma levels resulting in suppression of PVCs ranged from 1 to 5 μg/ml. A mean of 39.7 ± 12.4% of an orally administered dose was recovered unchanged in 48‐hr urine collections. Comparison of the present results with those previously obtained after intravenous administration of APX indicates that oral bioavailability of the drug was essentially complete. APX appears to be a promising orally effective antiarrhythmic drug with suitable pharmacokinetic characteristics to warrant studies designed to establish dosage regimens for chronic therapy.


In the last decades, photonic technologies have been increasingly proposed for microwave and millimeter-wave applications, opening the way to the development of a new field of research known as Microwave Photonics. The hybridization of the microwave world with photonics has demonstrated a beneficial impact on both communications and remote sensing. 5G radio access networks, as well as the next-coming generation of distributed, multistatic radars, are expected to massively leverage on photonic techniques for the generation, distribution, processing, and acquisition of microwave signals. This is due to the advantages brought about by photonics in terms of system transparency to the employed frequency or waveform, low losses, electromagnetic interference immunity, high signal stability. In particular, the inherent coherence guaranteed by photonics will enable next-future multiple input-multiple output radars with enhanced performance. In this paper, we expose in detail some of the most widely employed functions on RF signals obtained with photonic techniques, highlighting the achievable performance that help overcoming some limitations of classical electronic technologies. Finally, two recently implemented microwave photonics systems are described, i.e., a multiple input-multiple output radar and a RF spectrum scanner, showing with practical examples all the potential of microwave photonics systems.


Gut mucosa is an important interface between body and environment. Immune response and healing processes of murine small intestinal mucosa were investigated by intravital time-lapse two-photon excited autofluorescence microscopy of the response to localized laser-induced damage. Epithelial lesions were created by 355-nm, 500-ps pulses from a microchip laser that produced minute cavitation bubbles. Size and dynamics of these bubbles were monitored using a novel interferometric backscattering technique with 80 nm resolution. Small bubbles (< 2.5 µm maximum radius) merely resulted in autofluorescence loss of the target cell. Larger bubbles (7-25 µm) affected several cells and provoked immigration of immune cells (polymorphonuclear leucocytes). Damaged cells were expelled into the lumen, and the epithelium healed within 2 hours by stretching and migration of adjacent epithelial cells.


Pharmaceutical research once focused primarily on curing infectious diseases, many of which have been virtually eliminated. Today, there is growing emphasis on finding ways to prevent, treat, and cure chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.


This paper presents an approach for statistical characterization of standard cells based on a combination of Statistical Design of Experiments (S-DoE) and Response Surface Modeling. Unlike both, most of the State-of-the-Art and Sensitivity Analysis (SA) techniques currently offered by EDA vendors, S-DoE preserves the underlying correlation among process variation parameters. This results in about two orders of magnitude of statistical accuracy improvement, yet it features an electrical simulation effort linear to the cell complexity. The technique is validated using a representative subset of standard cells using a 32nm statistical Physical Design Kit.