The Oder (Szczecin) Lagoon in the southern Baltic Sea is a heavily eutrophicated and degraded coastal ecosystem. We applied a systems approach framework to critically evaluate whether existing water-management measures achieve water- quality objectives for the river and lagoon systems. Our simulations reveal that the existing water-quality objectives for the river and the coastal waters are not sufficiently complementary. We suggest new water-quality threshold concentrations, which are in agreement with the European Water Framework Directive, and we calculate acceptable maximum nutrient loads for the Oder River. These calculations suggest that external nutrient-load reductions in the river basin alone seem insufficient to achieve good water quality in the lagoon. A comprehensive eutrophication management approach should also include internal nutrient- retention and nutrient-removal measures in the lagoon. We focus on mussel farming, i.e., that of zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, because they are efficient in removing nutrients and improving water transparency in the Oder Lagoon. For this purpose, the ecosystem model ERGOM is extended by a mussel module and an economic model. The economic model describes costs and benefits of mussel cultivation depending on the the farm size. We included additional potential sources of income such as water-quality tax or emission certificates. The simulations show that mussel farming in the lagoon is a suitable supportive measure and, at a load-reduction target of 50% or more, it is a cost-efficient measure for removing nutrients and for implementing the Baltic Sea Action Plan. In the Oder Lagoon, mussel farming could potentially remove nearly 1000 t of N (70 t of P)/year, or about 2% of the present N and P loads, and it would have the additional benefit of improving water transparency.


Accurate estimates of subnational populations are important for policy formulation and monitoring population health indicators. In particular, estimates of the number of women of reproductive age affect measures of maternal mortality, contraceptive prevalence and fertility. However, in many developing countries, data on population counts are limited and are of poor quality, and so levels are unclear. We present a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate female populations at the subnational level. The model builds on a cohort component projection framework, incorporates data on population counts and migration, and uses characteristic mortality schedules to obtain population estimates and uncertainty levels. The model is applied to estimate and project populations by county in Kenya for 1979-2020.


In this work we analyze the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test results, this test offers a simple method for testing color discrimination and was applied to a sample of 129 observers, with natural daylight in the same conditions (the observers were men and women), all of these were participants in colorimetric training courses, and aged 20 to 76, with two to twenty five years experience in the color control manufacturer laboratories (of plastics, rugs, dyes, textiles, and paints). Their job titles included mixers, inspectors, shaders, matchers, passers, and dyers. The test was applied twice and the results here presented are the comparison between both tests, taking into account errors by mistakes incidence in each hue position, as well as the redeeming of each participant in both test. The comparison shows us that most of the mistakes are in the green hue in both tests, but in the second test, approximately 20 percent of the observers reduced those. Also we can to separate persons with normal color vision o...


Background: With the extensive use of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance has become a serious threat to public health. Traditional plant medicine may serve as an alternative to this issue as they are relatively safe and has additional beneficial effects.

Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate antimicrobial effect of Costus pictus D. Don aqueous leaf extract.

Materials and Methods: Antimicrobial effect of Costus pictus D. Don aqueous leaf extract was tested by modified agar well diffusion method in triplets. 10 different types of bacterial isolates were studied. Zone of inhibition >8 mm was considered to be active.

Result: Marked antimicrobial activity of Costus pictus D. Don aqueous leaf extract was observed against all the bacterial stains used, especially above 40 μl.

Conclusion: Aqueous leaf extract of Costus pictus D. Don showed dose-related antimicrobial effect on the bacterial stains studied.


Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify adverse events (device- and patient-related) associated with thoracic aortic stent graft systems and their timing post-procedure. Materials and methods The Food and Drug Administration's Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (FDA-MAUDE) voluntary database was searched for Thoracic Aortic Endovascular Repair (TEVAR) devices reported over the course of 1 year (January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014). The data abstracted included the indication for treatment, device used, and adverse events. Results During 2014, there were 334 original submissions to the FDA-MAUDE database describing 371 adverse events regarding TEVAR devices that met inclusion criteria for this study. All submissions were from manufacturers, and none were from physicians. The most common pathologies treated were thoracic aortic aneurysm (67.6%) and type B aortic dissection (25.1%). The most frequently reported intraoperative, early postoperative (<30 days), and late postoperative (>30 days) events overall were technical device failure, neurologic complications (stroke, paraplegia), and endoleak, respectively. Of note, there were descriptions of retained deployment materials, late graft infections, and aorto-visceral fistula formation up to 3 years postoperatively. Conclusion The MAUDE database is a valuable repository for complications and device failures that are not otherwise in the published literature and submitted by manufacturers relating to this relatively new technology.


Rationale: With a high failure rate and multiple postoperative complications, the resection for tumors in the elbow and reconstruction present a formidable challenge to orthopedic surgeons. The maturation of 3-dimension (3D) printing technology has facilitated the preoperative design, intraoperative navigation, and reconstruction of bone defects in patients with complex malignant tumors of the elbow joint. In order to improve prognosis, we explored a method of tumor resection and elbow reconstruction aided by 3D printing technology in this research. Patient concerns: The patient underwent nephrectomy for clear cell carcinoma of the left kidney 3 years ago. Six months ago, the patient presented with limited movement and lateral tenderness in the right elbow joint. The tumor puncture biopsy demonstrated renal clear cell carcinoma metastasis. Diagnoses: Renal clear cell carcinoma with distal humerus bone metastasis. Interventions: Thin-layer CT scan data of the patient was acquired, and a 3D reconstruction of both upper limb bones and joints was conducted, followed by a simulation of diseased tissue excision. According to the model, individualized osteotomy guidelines and elbow prostheses were designed and manufactured. Then, prior to the completion of the actual operation, a simulation of the preoperative phase was performed. Outcomes: The operation was completed without incident. At the 1-, 3-, and 6-month postoperative examinations, both the position and mobility of the prosthesis were found to be satisfactory, and no complications were observed. The hospital for special surgery score and mayo elbow performance score scores increased in comparison to the preoperative period. Lessons: For patients with complex tumors in the elbow joint, 3D printing technology may assist in the precise excision of the tumor and provide an individualized elbow joint prosthesis that is more precise and effective than traditional surgery. It can accomplish a satisfactory treatment effect for patients when combined with early postoperative scientific rehabilitation training, so it is a method worth promoting.


Ammonia (NH3) is a sustainable fuel with excellent emission characteristics. Hence, it is important to develop diagnostic techniques for NH3 combustion. In this paper, femtosecond laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (FLIPS) was performed in premixed NH3/air flames. The plasma emission spectra induced by the femtosecond laser in the flame and the chemiluminescence spectra of the flame itself were both measured. Through calibration, we found that the spectral intensity ratio of NH (336  nm)/N2 (337 nm) could be used for equivalence ratio measurements in NH3 combustion flow fields. This work is the first attempt at using a femtosecond laser-based technique for NH3 combustion diagnostics.


In Italy, the expansion of turfgrasses is limited by the lack of suitable species for cultivation in the Mediterranean climate. With this view, Mi.Te.A.Med. ( Turfgrass improvement in the Mediterranean climate ) research project was developed with the main purpose to find out and agronomically characterise native turfgrass species of Southern and Central Italy and to compare them with some commercial cultivars. During the first step of the research, 11 sites from 6 regions of Southern and Central Italy were identified. In these sites 24 ecotypes of Cynodon dactylon L. (Pers.) were collected and their habitus, phenology plus some biometric parameters have been determined. During the two years of research both botanic and agronomic characterisation of the collected C. dactylon ecotypes and their comparison with 3 commercial cultivars ( Panama , Transcontinental and Yukon ) was carried out. In the first year the colour loss interval was assessed. In the second year, colour index was measured by an electronic colorimeter, weekly growth rate was measured by a turfmeter, turf quality and ground cover percentage were assessed by visual estimate. Some native accessions showed behaviour similar to commercial cultivars while an ecotype from the Abruzzo region showed better results compared to the commercial cultivars for several quality indices.


Malonyl, acetoacetyl, and acetylacetonyl alkylation reactions have been carried out in the gaseous state under gas–liquid phase-transfer catalysis (g.l.–p.t.c.) conditions using potassium carbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate as the base. No alkali metal was used to generate the reactive anion. No solvents are used in the process, and the reaction mixture requires no stirring. The phase-transfer catalysts which promote the reaction: phosphonium salts, crown ethers, and poly(ethylene glycol) are also the medium in which the reaction occurs; they direct C- or O-alkylation, as a function of the methylene compound and the alkylating agent used. The malonic ester alkylation using poly(ethylene glycol) gives rise to improved selectivity for C-monoalkylation compared with the other catalysts.


Using the so(2,1) Lie algebra and the Baker, Campbell and Hausdorff formulas, the Green's function for the class of the confluent Natanzon potentials is constructed straightforwardly. The bound-state energy spectrum is then determined. Eventually, the three-dimensional harmonic potential, the three-dimensional Coulomb potential and the Morse potential may all be considered as particular cases.


A two‐dimensional charge coupled device (CCD) detector, based on the Texas Instruments ''virtual phase'' CCD, has been developed for synchrotron radiation applications. Simultaneous near‐edge and multilayer scattering experiments have been carried out with the detector on an energy‐dispersive synchrotron beamline. The detector was used in an optical mode where the CCD element is coupled to a phosphor screen by a pair of focusing and demagnifying lenses. We report on the performance of the detector in this mode.


Abstract Emerging reports raise concerns on the potential association between the COVID-19 vaccines and cardiac manifestations. We sought to evaluate cardiac complications associated with COVID-19 vaccination in a pooled analysis from our institution's cohort study and systematic review. Consecutive patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Singapore between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021, with the onset of cardiac manifestations within 14 days following COVID-19 vaccination, were studied. Furthermore, a systematic review was performed, with PubMed, Embase, Research Square, MedRxiv and LitCovid databases accessed from inception up to 29 June 2021. Relevant manuscripts reporting individual patient data on cardiac complications following COVID-19 vaccination were included. Thirty patients were included in the study cohort, with 29 diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 1 with myocarditis. Five patients developed heart failure, two had cardiogenic shock, three intubated, and one had cardiovascular-related mortality. In the systematic review, 16 studies were included with 41 myocarditis and 6 AMI cases. In the pooled analysis of the study cohort and the systematic review, 35 patients had AMI and 42 had myocarditis. Majority were men, and myocarditis patients were younger than AMI patients. Myocarditis patients tended to present 72 h postvaccination, while AMI patients were older and typically presented 24 h postvaccination. Majority with AMI or myocarditis developed symptoms after the first and second vaccination dose, respectively. This pooled analysis of patients presenting with cardiac manifestations following COVID-19 vaccination highlights the differences between myocarditis and AMI presentations in temporal association with the vaccination.


Sampling-based planners are the predominant motion planning paradigm for robots. Majority of sampling-based planners use a global random sampling scheme to guarantee completeness. However, these schemes are sample inefficient as the majority of the samples are wasted in narrow passages. Consequently, information about the local structure is neglected. Local sampling-based motion planners, on the other hand, take sequential decisions of random walks to samples valid trajectories in configuration space. However, current approaches do not adapt their strategies according to the success and failures of past samples.
In this work, we introduce a local sampling-based motion planner with a Bayesian update scheme for modelling a sampling proposal distribution. The proposal distribution is sequentially updated based on previous sample outcomes, consequently shaping the proposal distribution according to local obstacles and constraints in the configuration space. Thus, through learning from past observed outcomes, we can maximise the likelihood of sampling in regions that have a higher probability to form trajectories within narrow passages.


We realize a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) which is imprinted with the retinal neurotransmitter glutamate. The films prepared by electrochemical deposition have a smooth surface with a granular morphology as observed using an atomic force microscope. Multiple reflection attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to chemically confirm the imprint of a neurotransmitter in the MIP at the solid–liquid and the solid–air interface, respectively. Fluorescence spectroscopy using the dye fluorescamine is used to monitor the changes in neurotransmitter concentration in various solvents induced by application of voltage to the MIP. By controlling neurotransmitter trafficking across a solid–liquid interface with voltage, we suggest the possibility of using such a neurotransmitter imprinted MIP for chemical stimulation of retinal neurons. The current state of the art approach to restore sight in certain cases of blindness is the replacement of damaged photoreceptors by a subretinal implant consisting of light-sensitive photodiodes. Thus a future perspective of our work would be to chemically stimulate the neurons by replacing the photodiodes in the subretinal implant by the neurotransmitter imprinted polymer film.


Atherosclerosis is a vascular disease, initiated by damage to the endothelial cells, and characterized by the deposition of plaque, which composes of mainly lipids and cholesterol, in the inner arterial wall that leads to progressive narrowing and hardening of the artery. The assessment of plaque status for the prediction of disease progression requires the examination of plaque's composition and structure rather than its size or gross morphology. Recent studies have shown Raman spectroscopy to be well suited for diagnosis of tissues because of its ability to identify and quantify biochemical molecules and structural motifs within intact cells. The ultimate utility of Raman technique may lie in its potential for the real-time assessment of atherosclerosis in vivo using fiber optic probes. This project employed confocal Raman microspectroscopy for the study of normal and diseased human coronary artery specimens in situ. A new Raman microscopy system for tissue spectroscopy has been set-up and characterized. Raman spectra were collected at various locations of the arterial wall, either along the radius covering its different layers, or concentrically outward from the lumen. Numerous algorithms were developed and tested for baseline removal, normalization and smoothing of Raman spectra obtained. Key analysis involving component analysis and generalized two-dimensional (2D) correlation followed. A model for chemical component analysis of eighteen major biochemicals found in the tissue/plaque was developed based on the application of singular value decomposition (SVD). Quantitative information on the relative amount of individual biomolecule was provided by the component analysis in which each Raman artery spectrum was modeled to a set of eighteen biochemical basis spectra. Generalized 2D Raman correlation spectroscopy was employed to identify and classify variations in spectral features occurring at different locations of the artery transverse section. The 2D correlation results have demonstrated the ability of 2D correlation to detect subtle spectral changes happening within a tiny area of the arterial wall, as well as to provide qualitative information about the order of appearance of individual constituent that complemented the chemical composition results. Possible future improvements and continuation of the project were proposed in the final chapter of this thesis as well.


Abstract Background: Dural fistula to the cavernous sinus (DFCS) is an infrequent pathology that consists in the anomalous communication between the meningeal branches of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and/or the external carotid artery (ECA) and the cavernous sinus. Aim: To perform a systematic review to evaluate clinical and imaging findings in DFCS, and current indications for treatment. Methods: A literature search was performed in several medical databases using the keywords "intracranial dural fistula", "carotid-cavernous fistula", "endovascular treatment", associated with "outcome"; resulting articles were assessed by considering factors such as: number of patients treated, type of material used, complications, and type of image technique used for diagnosis. Results: 33 articles were selected, yielding: clinical and imaging: The symptoms are basically related to the type of venous drainage of the fistula. The combination of ocular symptoms and tinnitus is highly suggestive of DFCS. Ocular symptoms are found in 80-97% of patients, while the tinnitus is present in up to 50% of cases. The imaging method for initial assessment of the DFCS is the magnetic resonance imaging. Digital subtraction angiography is the method of choice to determine adequately the precise angioarchitecture of the injury and its drainage. This data is of vital importance in future decision making. Treatment: Currently are considered as indications for the management of DFCS: 1) rapidly progressive deterioration of visual function, 2) angiographic evidence of abnormal cortical venous drainage, 3) the hypoxic consequences in retina and optic nerve, and 4) ischemic keratitis; the most suitable materials for embolization of the DFCS are CA and PAP. Conclusion: DFCS stills being an uncommon cerebrovascular condition, with good outcomes from endovascular treatment.


Objective To systematically assess the effectiveness of atorvastatin in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) companied with chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods Databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, CBM, and VIP were searched from inception to June 2014 to collect randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on atorvastatin for CHD with CHF. According to the inclusion criterion, relevant articles were screened. Then we extracted data, assessed quality, and performed meta-analysis using RevMan 5.3. Results A total of 12 RCTs involving 1140 patients were included. The result of meta-analyses showed that compared with the control group at the 3–12 months after treatment, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) elevated [MD = 7.98, 95% CI (6.42, 9.53), p < 0.0000 1], BNP decreased [MD = −95.72, 95% CI (−148.22, −48.22), p = 0.0004], LDL-C decreased[MD = −0.73, 95% CI(−0.96, −0.49), p < 0.0000 1], 6MWT increased[MD = 93.46, 95% CI(51.94, 134.97), p < 0.000 1], hsCRP decreased significantly [MD = −3.11, 95% CI(−4.68, −1.54), p = 0.000 1]. Further substudy reveal that atrovastain 20 mg group decrease hsCRP more significantly than 10 mg group [MD = −0.46, 95% CI(−0.71, −0.21), p = 0.003]. Atrovastain 40 mg group decreased LVEDD more significantly than atrovastain 20 mg group [MD = −6.87, 95% CI(−8.30, −5.45), p < 0.000 01]. Conclusion Current evidence indicates that atorvastatin, based on routine treatment, can increase LVEF and 6MWT, decrease BNP and reduce serum levels of inflammatory markers for patients with CHD with CHF. Further substudy revealed that high dose atrovastain might have a better treatment effect than low dose atrovastain. So atorvastatin is likely to be an effective drug, but it still has to be proved by large-scale and high-quality clinical trials.


A theoretical and computational framework for linear and non-linear fracture mechanics is presented. We use the material forces concept as a basis for the formulation, due to the close relation between on one hand the Eshelby energy-momentum tensor and on the other hand material defects like cracks and material inhomogeneities. By separating the discontinuous displacement from the continuous counterpart in line with the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM), we are able to formulate the weak equilibrium in two coupled problems representing the total deformation. However, in contrast to standard XFEM, where the direct motion discontinuity is used to model the crack, we rather formulate an inverse motion discontinuity to model crack development. The resulting formulation thus couples the continuous direct motion to the inverse discontinuous motion, which may used to simulate linear as well as nonlinear fracture in one and the same formulation. In fact, the linear fracture formulation can be retrieved from the non-linear cohesive zone formulation simply by confining the cohesive zone to the crack tip.


We applied protein-mediated lipid transfer using recombinant His-tagged pro-sterol carrier protein 2 (pro-SCP2) to prepare asymmetrical membrane vesicles (AMV) featuring an unequal transmembrane distribution of the negative phospholipid egg-phosphatidylglycerol (EPG). Pure egg-phosphatidylcholine (EPC) vesicles were used as the acceptor and EPC:EPG 90:10 mol % vesicles as the donor populations. The changes in surface charge during EPG transfer were used to quantify the degree of asymmetry by free-flow electrophoresis (FFE). The relative deflection in FFE correlated with EPG content in the outer monolayer (x(EPG)). The initial transfer rates and first order rate constants for the transfer process were determined. The addition of pro-SCP2 at a molar protein-to-lipid ratio R(P/L) of (15-20) x 10(-5) accelerated the EPG transfer to half-times of between 2 and 3 h. Thus, the transmembrane redistribution of EPG by flip-flop, which reduces the degree of asymmetry and occurs at half-times of tens of hours, was minimized during the transfer process. We investigated the influence of membrane curvature on the transfer rate using 50 and 100 nm vesicles with very low size distribution widths (RSD of 13-17%). Transfer occurred with a 55.7% higher initial rate between the smaller vesicles. The use of equally sized acceptor and donor populations of such narrow size distributions was shown to be important for the preparation of AMV with a uniform degree of asymmetry. Under these conditions, AMV were obtained after less than 3 h by preparative FFE separation. In the case of the acceptor vesicles, EPG transfer increased x(EPG) to 3 mol %, whereas it was reduced to 6 mol % in the donor vesicles.


The article reports on a giant aneurysm of the bifurcation of the basilar artery simulating a tumour of the third ventricle and producing a marked diencephalic syndrome. It was diagnosed and treated as a tumour. The symptoms are discussed and noteworthy similar cases are reviewed.


Background: Extended, continuous hemilaminectomy has only been reported in small to medium-sized dogs so far. It remains unclear whether excessive continuous hemilaminectomy can also be performed safely in large breed dogs. Case Description: We describe the surgical treatment and clinical outcome of a 5-year-old German Shepherd Dog that presented with paraplegia and deep pain perception following a short episode of bilateral hind-limb lameness, secondary to jumping off of a car. Computed tomography-myelography revealed that the paraplegia originated from extensive extradural spinal cord compression (Th6-L1), due to intervertebral disc extrusion and associated epidural hemorrhage. The dog was treated with a continuous hemilaminectomy involving nine vertebrae (Th6-L1) and recovered completely with no remaining neurological deficits, within 6 months. Conclusion: The rapid, uncomplicated, and complete functional recovery in the presented case emphasizes the practicability of extensive, continuous hemilaminectomies, also in large breed dogs.


The changes that have taken place in religious and ecclesiastical life in Western Europe are characterised as a process of secularisation. Secularisation encompasses three different processes, namely a decline in the religiosity of people, the restriction of the range of influence of religion and the adaptation of religion to the values of society. By means of these processes on three levels the developments with relation to religious life in its entirety can be described. Since changes in religious life are connected with changes in society and the culture of the society in which that religion functions, a better understanding of what secularisation entails demands that we look at those developments in society which have promoted changes in religion and the church. Developments in society that are discussed include the changed organisation of society and processes of rationalisation, democratisation and subjectivation. Finally, it is shown how these developments resulted in the diminishing significance of religion and the churches in and for society.


Within the context of new economic conditions, the issues of quality become a priority that allows gaining competitive advantages, on the one hand, and satisfy the ever-growing needs of consumers, on the other hand. Meat processors carry out the multilevel quality control both of their products and of the processes: the quality issues are of particular importance for such companies; that is why they were chosen as the object of research. The article deals with the issues of evaluating the product quality and analyzing the effectiveness of quality costs. The authors propose to use the integral factor of product quality in practice as it includes the mathematical assessment of technical and consumer criteria and the product safety criterion. The recommendations allow reducing the complexity of the assessment process, improving the quality of information, and simplifying the procedure of control and analysis with regard to obtaining long-term competitive advantages that lead to an increase in a company's value.


I study the consequences of a random exposure to common risk for the purpose of relative performance evaluation (RPE) and find that it significantly affects the usefulness and the empirical measurement of RPE. According to my analysis, the magnitude of the exposure risk not only determines how firms aggregate measures of common risk with measures of firm performance but also the extent to which the firms can control the impact of common risk on their own performance. Simulated regressions of my theoretical model indicate that a high exposure risk can prevent the correct identification of informative performance signals and cause a biased composition of customized peer groups. A high exposure risk also increases the likelihood of a type II error in implicit RPE tests. I evaluate two empirical strategies to control for the magnitude of the exposure risk and find that they significantly reduce the likelihood of a type II error.


Results of the application of pattern-recognition techniques to the problem of identifying giant radio sources (GRSs) from the data in the NVSS catalog are presented, and issues affecting the process are explored. Decision-tree pattern-recognition software was applied to training-set source pairs developed from known NVSS large-angular-size radio galaxies. The full training set consisted of 51,195 source pairs, 48 of which were known GRSs for which each lobe was primarily represented by a single catalog component. The source pairs had a maximum separation of and a minimum component area of 1.87 square arcmin at the 1.4 mJy level. The importance of comparing the resulting probability distributions of the training and application sets for cases of unknown class ratio is demonstrated. The probability of correctly ranking a randomly selected (GRS, non-GRS) pair from the best of the tested classifiers was determined to be 97.8 ± 1.5%. The best classifiers were applied to the over 870,000 candidate pairs from the entire catalog. Images of higher-ranked sources were visually screened, and a table of over 1600 candidates, including morphological annotation, is presented. These systems include doubles and triples, wide-angle tail and narrow-angle tail, S- or Z-shaped systems, and core-jets and resolved cores. While some resolved-lobe systems are recovered with this technique, generally it is expected that such systems would require a different approach.


Abstract Deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) has achieved superior performance in complex sequential tasks by using deep neural networks as function approximators to learn directly from raw input images. However, learning directly from raw images is data inefficient. The agent must learn feature representation of complex states in addition to learning a policy. As a result, deep RL typically suffers from slow learning speeds and often requires a prohibitively large amount of training time and data to reach reasonable performance, making it inapplicable to real-world settings where data are expensive. In this work, we improve data efficiency in deep RL by addressing one of the two learning goals, feature learning. We leverage supervised learning to pre-train on a small set of non-expert human demonstrations and empirically evaluate our approach using the asynchronous advantage actor-critic algorithms in the Atari domain. Our results show significant improvements in learning speed, even when the provided demonstration is noisy and of low quality.


The construction industry attempts to produce buildings with as lower environmental impact as possible. However, construction activities still greatly affect environment; therefore, it is necessary to consider a sustainable project approach based on its performance. Sustainability is an important issue to consider in design, not only due to environmental concerns but also due to economic and social matters, promoting architectural quality and economic advantages. This paper aims to identify the phases through which a design project should be developed, emphasising the importance and ability of earlier stages to influence sustainability, performance, and life cycle cost. Then, a selection of sustainability key indicators, able to be used at the design conceptual phase and able to start predicting environmental sustainability performance of buildings is presented. The output of this paper aimed to enable designers to compare and evaluate the consequences of different design solutions, based on preliminary data, and facilitate the collaboration between stakeholders and clients and eventually yield a sustainable and high performance building throughout its life cycle.


Original bioisosteric analogues of clozapine were evaluated for potential disinhibitory and/or antidepressant effects using the open-field test in the rat and Porsolt's forced swimming test in the mouse. Attempts to relate the behavioural results to the binding affinities for dopamine (D1, D2), serotonin (5-HT2) and muscarinic (M) receptors were also undertaken. In the open-field test, two main profiles were observed. The first profile corresponded to disinhibitory molecules resembling diazepam and ritanserin. The second profile corresponded to antipsychotic compounds resembling either typical (haloperidol, clothiapine) or atypical (clozapine) neuroleptics. The results obtained in the forced swimming test confirmed the neuroleptic-like activity of the second group of compounds, while two compounds of the first group (JL 3 and JL 26) showed an antidepressant-like activity, JL 3 being as active as imipramine. While it was not possible to relate the first profile to any binding interaction, a relation could be established among the second group of compounds between the typical or atypical antipsychotic behavioural profile and the 5-HT2/D2 ratio.


Background CD22, a transmembrane protein exclusively expressed on B cells, mediates migration by cell–cell interaction and negatively regulates B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling. CD22 acts as an inhibitory co-receptor of the BCR via de-phosphorylation of signaling molecules such as spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and subsequent phospholipase C (PLC)-γ2-triggered Ca2+ fluxes. The humanized anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody epratuzumab modulates adhesion molecule expression and B-cell migration in vitro. However, the potential of CD22 to regulate BCR signaling has not been fully delineated. Objectives As toll-like receptor (TLR)-dependent activation of B cells represents an important pathway of B-cell hyperactivity in autoimmunity, our studies addressed whether epratuzumab might be able to modulate BCR signaling pathways in TLR9 pre-activated B cells or whether TLR9 activation abrogates the inhibitory effect of epratuzumab on the BCR signaling. Methods Our study focused on the influence of epratuzumab on the B cells' response to BCR alone or in combination with TLR9. The recruitment of CD22 to the BCR (CD79α) after epratuzumab incubation on B cells from healthy volunteers was analyzed by confocal microscopy. The in vitro effects of epratuzumab on BCR-induced signaling were evaluated by analyzing the phosphorylation status of BCR-signaling molecules, Syk and PLC-γ2 by flow cytometry with or without TLR9 pre-activation. The concentration of intracellular Ca2+ was monitored by flow cytometry after BCR stimulation. Finally, to evaluate the origin of the Ca2+ flux, extracellular Ca2+ was chelated with 1 mM ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA). Results B cells incubated with epratuzumab showed a specific co-localization of CD22 to the BCR-associated molecule CD79α on B cells. In addition, pre-treatment with epratuzumab led to a reduction in the MFI of phosphorylated Syk and PLC-γ2 induced by BCR stimulation compared with IgG1 isotype control. Similar results were observed when the cells were pre-incubated with F(ab')2 fragment of epratuzumab, which excludes an inhibitory effect dependent on FcR signaling. Interestingly, the reduction of BCR induced kinase phosphorylation was demonstrated in both CD27- and CD27+ memory B cells. In addition, pre-activation of B cells by TLR9 did not circumvent the influence of epratuzumab on BCR signaling, as shown by a reduction in the MFI of phosphorylated Syk and PLC-γ2 in comparison to non-activated cells. Finally, a F(ab')2 fragment of epratuzumab reduced BCR-induced calcium mobilization. Conclusions Intracellular BCR signals can be modulated by CD22 ligation using epratuzumab, and pre-activation with TLR9 did not circumvent this effect. These data expand the potential mechanisms of action of epratuzumab. Disclosure of Interest N. Sieger Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, S. Fleischer Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, K. Reiter Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, H. Mei Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, A. Shock Employee of: UCB Pharma, G. Burmester Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, C. Daridon Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, T. Dörner Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, Consultant for: UCB Pharma


For many basement-cored folds and related mountain flank faults in the Wyoming province, locally balanced cross sections can be constructed using structural relief and line lengths in the sedimentary cover rocks. By conserving the length of the upper basement surface, possible basement fault movement can be inferred. This faulting includes: (1) motion along a reverse fault which yields a folded upper basement surface, and (2) displacement distributed along a series of parallel basement faults. The sedimentary cover rocks are force folded and may be cut by mountain flank faults which place Precambrian rocks overlying either Paleozoic or Mesozoic rocks. Previously recognized thrusts, blind thrusts, rootless anticlines, and buckle folds in the cover rocks in adjacent basins re reinterpreted to represent thin-skinned deformation related to basement faulting. Where there is relative translation of the cover rocks, cross sections need not balance locally and the fault dips and basement geometries previously determined are in error. The fault dips calculated from locally balanced cross sections have been overestimated, and/or the displacement on the basement fault(s) has been underestimated. The displacement observed on mountain flank faults may be far less than the total displacement on the basement fault. In the simplest case, it may be possible to project the mountain flank fault downdip to infer the orientation and location of the basement fault(s) at depth. End_of_Article - Last_Page 950------------


Learning has its direct impact on the intellect, emotions and the will power of humans. Learning is building, testing, and refining mental models. Innovative learning facilitates healthy participation from the students and gives an extra edge for the teachers in imparting the creative knowledge. Innovative learning will create tremendous interest in the minds of the learners in getting the knowledge and making them to be completely molded people for organizations. The innovative learning requires creative mind set from both sides including learner and teacher together can generate fruitful results. The present paper is an empirical one which is completely based on practical observation on management students. The various observations noted on practical learning on advertising management subject have been formed in the form of a case study. The study will focus on analyzing the importance of practical based education and its significance on the development of students in the area of advertising management. The study will also focus on knowing the opinions of the students on the innovative learning through practical based education.


In this paper a criterion for L1- convergence of a certain cosine sums with third semi-convex coecients is obtained. Also a necessary and sucient condition for L1-convergence of the cosine series is deduced as a corollary.


The Km and V values of the tRNA-charging reaction have been measured for L-phenylalanine:tRNA ligase and the geometric isomers of adenosine 5'-O-(1-thio)triphosphate, adenosine 5'-O-(2-thio)triphosphate and for 5'-O-(3-thio)triphosphate. All ATP analogs were found to be substrates with values of Km similar or (up to 10-fold) higher, and with values of V in the range of 10--30% compared with the natural substrate. The dissociation constants of the binary enzyme-nucleotide and ternary enzyme-nucleotide-L-phenylalaninol complexes were analysed as a function of the position of the sulfur atom indicating those phosphate groups which are involved in an enzyme-triphosphate interaction. The results are consistent with a participation of the beta and gamma-phosphate in the binary complex formation and an additional interaction at the positions of the alpha and beta-phosphate groups in the ternary complexes.


This paper presents an empirical study with the objective to examine the sociodemographic characteristics of the students of applied and academic studies that educate future preschool teachers. The aim of the study was to determine the sociodemographic characteristics of students, future teachers: sex, place of origin, education of parents, parental occupation, hereditary occupational tendencies interest in the family, source of funding your studies, the type of secondary school and the average mark in previous education. The results of the research of sociodemographic characteristics show that most of the students are female, that usually originate from small and medium-sized cities, and whose parents in a small percentage have a university degree. Also, the parents' occupation analysis showed that the preschool teacher occupation is usually chosen by the students who come from families of lower socioeconomic status in which the benefits are lower than the average, and that one-fifth of the students come from families in which someone already works as a teacher. The research findings showed that most students come with completed medical school or grammar school and the average success over 4.0.


Palisade endings are nerve specializations found in the extraocular muscles (EOMs) of mammals, including primates. They have long been postulated to be proprioceptors. It was recently demonstrated that palisade endings are cholinergic and that in monkeys they originate from the EOM motor nuclei. Nevertheless, there is considerable difference of opinion concerning the nature of palisade ending function. Palisade endings in EOMs were examined in cats to test whether they display motor or sensory characteristics. We injected an anterograde tracer into the oculomotor or abducens nuclei and combined tracer visualization with immunohistochemistry and α-bungarotoxin staining. Employing immunohistochemistry, we performed molecular analyses of palisade endings and trigeminal ganglia to determine whether cat palisade endings are a cholinergic trigeminal projection. We confirmed that palisade endings are cholinergic and showed, for the first time, that they, like extraocular motoneurons, are also immunoreactive for calcitonin gene-related peptide. Following tracer injection into the EOM nuclei, we observed tracer-positive palisade endings that exhibited choline acetyl transferase immunoreactivity. The tracer-positive nerve fibers supplying palisade endings also established motor terminals along the muscle fibers, as demonstrated by α-bungarotoxin. Neither the trigeminal ganglion nor the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve contained cholinergic elements. This study confirms that palisade endings originate in the EOM motor nuclei and further indicates that they are extensions of the axons supplying the muscle fiber related to the palisade. The present work excludes the possibility that they receive cholinergic trigeminal projections. These findings call into doubt the proposed proprioceptive function of palisade endings.


New developments in international migration, communication, and technology have facilitated the growth of transnational politics. The scale of international migration today is unprecedented, as is the ability of emigrants to maintain relationships with individuals in their home countries as well as with their home governments. Countries around the world have recognized the importance of these emigrants. Emigrant-sending states wish to tap into the resources of their diasporas, whether these resources be in the form of financial contributions, knowledge and skills, or political support. Engaging the diaspora in order to extract resources is especially important for developing countries. There are a number of ways for countries to engage their diasporas, including, but not limited to, rhetorical appeals, consulting diaspora organizations, extending dual citizenship, and offering incentives for financial contributions. This project will assess the benefits and drawbacks of the different methods that states use to engage their diasporas.


Currently, with respect to chlamydial infections, one cannot predict the probability of an infected patient developing pelvic inflammatory disease. To determine if specific biomarkers may be associated with distinct chlamydial pathotypes, we utilized two Chlamydia muridarum variants (M4, M9) that showed differences in the development of upper tract pathology. M4 has a slower growth rate in vitro, induces pathology in 6 of 30 C57Bl/6 oviducts versus 25 of 30 oviducts in M9-infected mice. To determine if chemokine cytokine production within 24 h of infection will define the outcome of pathology, 15 chemokines and cytokines were measured. M4 infection induced significantly lower levels of CXCL 1, CXCL 2, TNF-α and CCL 2 in comparison to M9 infection with similar ribosomal RNA (rs16) levels for chlamydiae. To understand if chemokine cytokine responses would also be reflected in miRNA expression profile within 24 h of infection, 134 inflammation-related miRNAs were measured. Interestingly, 12 miRNAs (miR-135a-5p, miR155-5p, miR325-3p, miR338-5p, miR105, miR132-3p, miR142-3p, miR142-5p, miR147-3p, miR223-3p, miR298-5p and miR299a-3p) were expressed significantly higher during M4 infection than M9 infection, inversely correlating with the respective chemokine/cytokine responses. To our knowledge this is the first report demonstrating that early biomarkers elicited in the host could differentiate between two pathologic variants of chlamydiae and be predictive of upper tract disease.


Anisakis (L3-stage) is a parasitic nematode commonly found in marine fish or squid serve as intermediate or paratenic host. The purpose of this research was to identify Anisakis larvae using PCR-RFLP and sequencing methods. A total of 30 individuals of each species: bullet tuna (Auxis rochei) and Indian scad (Decapterus russeli) were examined for presence of Anisakis spp. Fish samples caught by fishermen around Mamuju waters were purchased at a fish market. The fish was necropsied and the organs: liver, intestine wall, heart and muscle were removed and put on separated petri dishes and examined for parasites under a stereo microscope. Anisakis found was cleaned and fixed in 70% alcohol. Initial identification was based on ventriculus shape and presence of mucron to distinguish Anisakis type I and Anisakis type II. All Anisakis found belong to Anisakis type I. Ten Anisakis type I were isolated, cleaned and stored in microfuge tubes containing 70% alcohol. The parasite gDNA was extracted using Wizard genomic DNA extraction and purification kit (Promega). Species of Anisakis was determined by PCR-RFLP at ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region using two restriction enzymes: Taq I and Hinf I and PCR-sequencing in mtDNA cox2 region. Analysis by PCR-RFLP showed that all Anisakis type I examined was in the same pattern as Anisakis typica. Sequencing in mtDNAcox-2 region and the phylogenetic analysis showed that all samples were in the same cluster as A. typica. Based on PCR-RFLP and sequencing analysis, all Anisakis found in this study belong to A. typica.


The Iranian Green Movement can be summarized as the shifts of the opposition to civil activism to stay on the streets until the demands of the opposition, which are the objections of the 2009 Presidential election results, are reviewed by Housein Mousevi. "The Green Wave", (2010) an animated documentary film by Ali Samadi Ahadi, portrays the events that took place during the entire process in documentary style in the form of an animated film. The images used in the documentary are enriched with images taken from Facebook, Tweeter sharing, blog posts, mobile phones, and the news content producer is people who are in squares and participate in the popular movement. This animation-documentary film performs a detailed analysis of a failing east-based civilian movement. In this context, "The Green Wave" documentary has become a communication tool that summarizes the practice of political communication of dissident thinking in Iran. Common symbols, thoughts and interpretations about the public demonstrations were conveyed through animation film aesthetics. In this study, the Iranian Green Movement will be held in the background and political activism in the eastern wing will be discussed in the context of art-aesthetics-politics. "Persopolis" (2007), describing the Iranian revolution, "Wals with Bashir" (2008), about Israel's invasion of Lebanon, "Tehran Taboo" (2017) critisizing the social situation of Iran have achieved great success within the scope of political animation films and effectively put forward the practice of cinema as a tool of political communication.


A potato digger equipped with a fourbladed beater operating in connection with rotary separating surface has low material and energy consumption, higher separating efficiency, as well as lower degree of tuber damaging. The potato digger design should include a fourbladed intakeandfeed beater to prevent potato heap transportation faults in front of the first section. (Research purpose) Increasing the technological and economic efficiency of a potato diggingand separating unit through the determination of the optimum values of the design parameters and operating process of the intakeandfeed beater. (Materials and methods) the authors have made an overview of general principles of ensuring the stability of the potato heap movement provided by the fourbladed intakeandfeed beater. The dependency of the minimum beater speed on the operating speed of the potato digger has been found to exclude a probability of its overloading. The methodology of calculating the potato heap velocity and the cutoff angle between the material and the beater blades has been worked out by analyzing potato heap lifting to the upper points of the working units of the rotary separator's first section. Operating speed of the beater has been determined through the differential equation for the speed of a potato heap moving along the blade surface. (Results and discussion) Preliminary potato heap speed and cutoff angle have been found through the equation of dynamics describing the projectile motion of an object thrown at an angle. The operating values of the angles are dependent on the potato digger working speed and can be selected from the triangle of speeds. The authors have determined the dependence of the optimal beater speed on the working speed of a potato digger. Its value should exceed the minimum speed of the beater. (Conclusions) Theoretical results allow proposing the best design features and optimum working process parameters of a fourbladed beater receiving a potato heap, transporting it and lifting on the rotary separating surface.


This paper presents a study of user access patterns to a large, Web-based, image collection. The images are the entire collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the largest on-line collection of high resolution art images in the world. The images are served using a tile-based solution that allows a user to zoom-in and navigate within an image. We studied five months of web log data for this collection. Our analysis revealed the following: less than 10% of all available documents on the site were accessed in the five month period and document popularity appears to follow a Zipf distribution. Also, images have interesting areas which are viewed more than others, some image resolutions are viewed far more than others, and user navigation patterns vary between resolutions and are sensitive to download time. The paper discusses these results and their implications for the design of caches and archival storage systems to support this type of workload.


Abstract. We study the numerical approximation of stochastic evolution equations with a monotone drift driven by an infinite-dimensional Wiener process. To discretize the equation, we combine a drift-implicit two-step BDF method for the temporal discretization with an abstract Galerkin method for the spatial discretization. After proving well-posedness of the BDF2Maruyama scheme, we establish a convergence rate of the strong error for equations under suitable Lipschitz conditions. We illustrate our theoretical results through various numerical experiments and compare the performance of the BDF2-Maruyama scheme to the backward Euler–Maruyama scheme.


Objective: The vestibular pathway from thalamus to cortex is still well unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the frequent/ docking sites of patients with acute vestibular syndrome (AVS) caused by acute intracerebral hemorrage(ICH). Methods: All patients with ICH with AVS were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and neurologic ward in Shuyang Hospital during 2014–2016. We prospectively collected and analyzed data on patients with ICH with AVS. The frequent sites of central AVS were assessed on head CT-confirmed ICH. While, the images docking test between thalamic vestibular station and homologous cortical vestibular organ was studied.


Tumor angiogenesis is a complex process based upon a sequence of interactions between tumor cells and endothelial cells. Previous studies have shown that CD147 was correlated with tumor angiogenesis through increasing tumor cell secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In this study, we made a three-dimensional (3D) tumor angiogenesis model using a co-culture system of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells SMMC-7721 and humanumbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro. We found that CD147-expressing cancer cells could promote HUVECs to form net-like structures resembling the neo-vasculature, whereas the ability of proliferation, migration and tube formation of HUVECs was significantly decreased in tumor conditioned medium (TCM) of SMMC-7721 cells transfected with specific CD147-siRNA. Furthermore, by assaying the change of pro-angiogenic factors in TCM, we found that the inhibition of CD147 expression led to significant decrease of VEGF and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) secretion. Interestingly, we also found that IGF-I up-regulated the expression of CD147 in both tumor cells and HUVECs. These findings suggest that there is a positive feedback between CD147 and IGF-I at the tumor-endothelial interface and CD147 initiates the formation of an angiogenesis niche.


Presents forensic medical characteristics of the specific features of stabbed and cut injuries of human skin and jersey. Suggests a complex of signs that will help determine some structural parameters of a knife blade and the conditions of its interaction with the injured site of human body.


Microfractographical features of corrosion fatigue process of 12 Cr stainless steel turbine blade material are described. The emphasis is focussed upon the initiation and growth of corrosion pits in corrosion fatigue crack initiation process. A quantitative analyzed example of corrosion pit by use of recent developed image analyzing technology is also touched in brief.


OBJECTIVE
To research the effects and mechanism of Shenqi compound (SQC) on PTEN/ PI3K signal transducing path and angiogenesis in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) caused macroangiopathy.

METHOD
GK rats with blood sugar > or = 11.1 mmol/L were divided into 4 groups, the GK group, the model group, the Western medicine (WM) group treated by atorvastatin 1.5 mg/(kg x d) and the Chinese medicine (CM) group treated with SQC 1.44 g/(kg x d). All were fed 35 days with high fatty diet, but to the latter three groups, N omega-nitriyl-L-arginine methyl ester 0.1 mg/mL was added into their drinking water for macroangiopathy model establishing. Besides, a group of normal Wistar rats fed with ordinary forage was set for control. Rat's blood glucose and lipids were measured, morphology of abdominal aorta wall tissue was observed with HE staining, and mRNA expressions of PTEN and PI3Kp85 in aortic wall were detected by Real-time PCR.

RESULTS
General condition, gluco-lipid metabolism and aortic morphology in the CM group were significantly better than those in the model group. PTEN mRNA expression in the CM group (1.10 +/- 0.48) was significantly higher than that in the GK group (0.63 +/- 0.16) and the model group (0.17 +/- 0.07, both P < 0.01), but near to that in the WM group (1.11 +/- 0.46), while the PI3Kp85 mRNA expression in the TCM group (0.19 +/- 0.05) was lower than that in the GK group (1.38 +/- 0.43, P < 0.01), but near to that in the model group (0.33 +/- 0.09) and the WM group (0.11 +/- 0.06, both P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION
SQC could increase the PTEN mRNA expression and restrain the PI3Kp85 mRNA expression in aorta, which is possibly the partial mechanisms of action of the remedy in inhibiting angiogenesis and preventing diabetic macroangiopathy.


Objectives . This study investigated the substrate properties of the modified derivatives of triphosphates of purine and pyrimidine deoxynucleosides (5-propynyl-2'-deoxyuridine-5'-triphosphate, 5-propynyl2'-deoxycytidine-5'-triphosphate, 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine-5'-triphosphate, and N6-methyl-2'-deoxyadenosine-5'-triphosphate) during their simultaneous incorporation in enzymatic reactions (polymerase chain and primer extension reactions). Methods . The real-time polymerase chain and primer extension reactions were used to study the substrate efficiency of modified deoxynucleotide triphosphates. Various pairwise combinations of modified derivatives were used; specially designed synthetic DNA fragments and libraries for the Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment technology were used as templates. Reactions were conducted using DNA polymerases: Taq, Vent (exo-), DeepVent (exo-), and KOD XL. Results . In each case, a pair of compounds (modified dUTP + dCTP, dUTP + dATP, and dCTP + dATP) was selected to study the simultaneous incorporation into the growing DNA strand. The most effective combinations of nucleotides for simultaneous insertion were dU and dC, having 5-propynyl substitution. The Vent (exo-) DNA polymerase was found as the most effective for the modified substrates. Conclusions . The selected compounds can be used for the enzymatic preparation of modified DNA, including aptamers with extended physicochemical properties.


This Act sets forth infractions and sanctions with respect to labor and social security. Among other things, it classifies the following as very serious offenses: 1) unilateral decisions of employers involving discrimination, either favorable or adverse, in the matter of compensation, hours, training, promotion, and other labor conditions with respect to sex and kinship with other workers; and 2) establishment of conditions through advertising, offers of work, or any other means that constitute discrimination, either favorable or adverse, with respect to access to employment for reasons of sex or kinship with other workers. The following persons will also be considered to have committed very serious infractions: 1) employers who use foreign workers without having first obtained the proper work permit or its renewal; they will incur an infraction for each foreign worker so employed; 2) foreigners who exercise in Spain any lucrative, labor, or professional activity for themselves without having obtained the proper permit or renewed it; and 3) real or legal persons who promote, facilitate, or protect the work of foreigners in Spain without the proper work permit. The Act sets penalties for these infractions ranging from 500,001 pesetas to 15,000,000 pesetas depending on attenuating or aggravating circumstances. In addition, employers committing these infractions are 1) automatically to lose benefits derived from employment programs from the time the infraction was committed and 2) to be excluded from access to such benefits for a maximum period of one year.


Marco Crivello's work is elemental, arresting,muscular, incorporating a layering and overlapping of elements and a porous geology of paint.What
fascinates is the technical ingenuity which enables him to be both establishing paint as elemental and at the same time introducing a composition which comments on landscape – the work exists both as product of and in connection with our material world of land, sea and weather. In a sense, his new works are like jewels – intrinsically beautiful, polished objects separated from the land and materials that produced them; decorative, abstract surfaces. But the eye is drawn above, beneath and across those surfaces, dispersing attention to rhythms that promise to come to rest only beyond the frame.


The significant dependence of agricultural productivity on pest control requires pest distribution predictions at an early stage of pest invasion. Because pest cycles are critically affected by climate, climate is one of the most important factors for predicting an invasive pest. CLIMEX is a highly effective tool that can predict potential geographical species distributions, and test the regional suitability for a target species' habitat based on data including climate change scenarios. CLIMEX has been recently used in Europe, North America, China and Australia, among others. However, for modeling species distributions in Korea, the use of the model has been limited to date. This study aimed to first introduce the function and application of CLIMEX by reviewing important studies using this model. Second, we investigated previous studies using the model simulation to demonstrate the practical applicability of CLIMEX for the agricultural sector, and its use in forecasting.


Spintronic logic devices have attracted attention because of the prospect of breaking the von Neumann bottleneck through nonvolatile in-memory computing. Although varieties of spin Boolean logic gates have been proposed, spintronic arithmetic logic units such as adders have not been extensively studied because of the difficulties in application of the cascade method of CMOS-based logic in spintronic devices. We experimentally demonstrated a spintronic full adder based on the anomalous Hall effect and geometrical tuning magnetization switching driven by spin-orbit torque. The anomalous Hall effect of magnetic bits was enhanced by nonlinear elements with N-type negative differential resistance to control the on/off state of mosfets, which determined the write voltage of the memory unit. The magnetizations of the memory bits in the memory unit were switched one by one as write voltage increased because of geometry difference. The order of magnetization switching caused the response of the anomalous Hall voltage of the memory unit to the input configurations to conform with the logic function of the full adder. The computation function of the full adder combined with memory writing was experimentally realized with only seven magnetic bits and two steps. The reduced number of magnetic bits and time steps indicated the efficiency of space and time of our device, which is beneficial for practical applications.


Solving the issues with global warming and climate change is one of the main targets for the leading politicians of the world. The transport sector, including the aviation sector is in desperate need for tools to make a transition towards a more sustainable future. While biofuels are becoming more popular in for example the automotive sector, the aviation sector is still far behind. To explore if and when this could be solved the authors have investigated the most promising biojetfuels on the market. This report studies the future costs for fossil jetfuel as well as biofuels for aviation and concludes that the production figures for biofuels for aviation can be sufficient the European market for aviation fuel, this however requires that the price for refining vegetable oils from jatropha and algae reach lower levels compared to today. Political policy implementations are possible and would help pushing the tipping point between the market for fossil fuels and biofuels for aviation to an earlier point of time.


This paper highlights the importance of optimized shape index for agricultural management system analysis that utilizes the contiguous bands of hyperspectral data to define the gradient of the spectral curve and improve image classification accuracy. Currently, a number of machine learning methods would resort to using averaged spectral information over wide bandwidths resulting in loss of crucial information available in those contiguous bands. The loss of information could mean a drop in the discriminative power when it comes to land cover classes with comparable spectral responses, as in the case of cultivated fields versus fallow lands. In this study, we proposed and tested three new optimized novel algorithms based on Moment Distance Index (MDI) that characterizes the whole shape of the spectral curve. The image classification tests conducted on two publicly available hyperspectral data sets (AVIRIS 1992 Indian Pine and HYDICE Washington DC Mall images) showed the robustness of the optimized algorithms in terms of classification accuracy. We achieved an overall accuracy of 98% and 99% for AVIRIS and HYDICE, respectively. The optimized indices were also time efficient as it avoided the process of band dimension reduction, such as those implemented by several well-known classifiers. Our results showed the potential of optimized shape indices, specifically the Moment Distance Ratio Right/Left (MDRRL), to discriminate between types of tillage (corn-min and corn-notill) and between grass/pasture and grass/trees, tree and grass under object-based random forest approach.


This study evaluated the effect of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) on the morphology, primordial follicle activation and growth after in vitro culture of domestic cat ovarian tissue. Ovaries (n = 12) from prepubertal domestic cats were collected and fragmented. One fragment was fixed for histological analysis (fresh control). The remaining fragments were incubated in control medium alone or with 10, 50 or 100 ng/ml FGF-2 for 7 days. After in vitro culture, the following endpoints were analyzed: morphology, activation by counting primordial and developing follicles, and growth (follicle and oocyte diameters). Treatment with 100 ng/ml FGF-2 maintained (P > 0.05) the percentage of normal follicles similar to fresh control. Follicle survival was greater (P < 0.05) after culture in 100 ng/ml FGF-2 than in 50 ng/ml FGF-2. The percentage of primordial follicles decreased (P < 0.05) and the percentage of developing follicles increased (P < 0.05) in all treatments compared with fresh tissue. The proportion of developing follicles increased (P < 0.05) in tissues incubated with 100 ng/ml FGF-2 compared with control medium and other FGF-2 concentrations. Furthermore, culture in 10 or 100 ng/ml FGF-2 resulted in increased (P < 0.05) follicle and oocyte diameters compared with fresh tissues and MEM+. In conclusion, FGF-2 at 100 ng/ml maintains follicle survival and promotes the in vitro activation and growth of cat primordial follicles.


Multi-dimensional (n-D) systems can be described by matrices whose elements
are polynomial in more than one indeterminate. These systems arise in the study
of partial differential equations and delay differential equations for example, and
have attracted great interest over recent years. Many of the available results have
been developed by generalising the corresponding results from the well known
1-D theory. However, this is not always the best approach since there are many
differences between 1-D, 2-D and n-D (n>2) polynomial matrices. This is due
mainly to the underlying polynomial ring structure. [Continues.]


A lot has happened since Stewart, Tabori & Chang first published Jane Goodall: 40 Years at Gombe in the Autumn of 1999. Most recently, Gombe has contributed ground-breaking AIDS research; established programmes to improve sanitation, health care and education within neighbouring Tanzanian communities; and empowered locals to pursue reforestation initiatives and refugee aid programs.The accomplishments of the past ten years alone have given the Jane Goodall Institute a great deal to celebrate. In honour of the field site's 50th anniversary, STC is proud to release Jane Goodall: 50 Years at Gombe, a compelling pictorial tribute to her life, her studies of the chimpanzees and her unflagging efforts to motivate human beings on their behalf. With a new format, a redesign, more than a dozen new photographs, and updated text throughout, this revised edition retraces five decades of compassion and discovery.


This paper reviews recent changes in the epidemiology of dental caries and assesses their potential impact on the diagnosis and management of the disease and the planning and operation of sealant programs. These changes, such as the decline in caries and slowing of the rate of progression of the disease, have important implications for diagnosing and treating incipient lesions, predicting caries risk, and conducting effective disease preventive programs. Traditional paradigms for restoring carious lesions are being replaced by newer strategies that emphasize disease prevention and conservation of tooth structure. The search continues for the identification of practical models for predicting caries risk at the individual level. This paper describes a method useful for targeting resources in sealant placement programs by enabling one to determine the relative effectiveness of sealing alternative tooth surfaces in the oral cavity. One guide serves as a widely adopted manual for those who use or intend to use dental sealants in caries prevention programs. This paper provides a brief review of that document, "Preventing Pit and Fissure Caries: A Guide to Sealant Use," as well as guidelines for sealant utilization provided by the American Dental Association, and information regarding dental sealant programs under Medicaid. The final portion of the paper provides a synthesis of the epidemiology reviewed and summarizes the implications of findings for sealant programs.


In lithium‐sulfur batteries, small S2–4 molecules show very different electrochemical responses from the traditional S8 material. Their exact lithiation/delitiation mechanism is not clear and how to select proper electrolytes for the S2–4 cathodes is also ambiguous. Here, S2–4 and S8/S2–4 composites with highly ordered microporous carbon as a confining matrix are fabricated and the electrode mechanism of the S2–4 cathode is investigated by comparing the electrochemical performances of the S2–4 and S2–4/S8 electrodes in various electrolytes combined with theoretical calculation. Experimental results show that the electrolyte and microstructure of carbon matrix play important roles in the electrochemical performance. If the micropores of carbon are small enough to prevent the penetration of the solvent molecules, the lithiation/delithiation for S2–4 occurs as a solid‐solid process. The irreversible chemically reactions between the polysulfudes and carbonates, and the dissolution of the polysulfides into the ethers can be effectively avoided due to the steric hindrance. The confined S2–4 show high adaptability to the electrolytes. The sulfur cathode based on this strategy exhibits excellent rate capability and cycling stability.


Human brains are known to be capable of speeding up visual recognition of repeatedly presented objects through faster memory encoding and accessing procedures on activated neurons. For the first time, we borrow and distill such a capability into a semantic memory design, namely SMTM, to improve on-device CNN inference. SMTM employs a hierarchical memory architecture to leverage the long-tail distribution of objects of interest, and further incorporates several novel techniques to put it into effects: (1) it encodes high-dimensional feature maps into low-dimensional, semantic vectors for low-cost yet accurate cache and lookup; (2) it uses a novel metric in determining the exit timing considering different layers' inherent characteristics; (3) it adaptively adjusts the cache size and semantic vectors to fit the scene dynamics. SMTM is prototyped on commodity CNN engine and runs on both mobile CPU and GPU. Extensive experiments on large-scale datasets and models show that SMTM can significantly speed up the model inference over standard approach (up to 2×) and prior cache designs (up to 1.5x), with acceptable accuracy loss.


My career as a radioisotope hunter began when I was working as a young scientist in the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, during the trailblazing years in the late 1930s. I started this research in 1936 while a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at Berkeley. The cyclotrons of Ernest O. Lawrence opened the doors to discovery, and as a chemist I was in the enviable position of being able to apply the powerful methods of my discipline to the identification of transmutation products. As a result of the broad interests of Ernest and his brother John, the scope of investigations in the Radiation Laboratory extended beyond basic research to include the practical interdisciplinary applications of these new tools of investigation. Special emphasis was placed on applications to medicine. Partly because of this and partly as a result of accidental good fortune, I became involved in


We study the structure of the Mordell-Weil group of elliptic curves over number fields of degree 2, 3, and 4. We show that if T is a group, then either the class of all elliptic curves over quadratic fields with torsion subgroup T is empty, or it contains curves of rank 0 as well as curves of positive rank. We prove a similar but slightly weaker result for cubic and quartic fields. On the other hand, we find a group T and a quartic field K such that among the elliptic curves over K with torsion subgroup T, there are curves of positive rank, but none of rank 0. We find examples of elliptic curves with positive rank and given torsion in many previously unknown cases. We also prove that all elliptic curves over quadratic fields with a point of order 13 or 18 and all elliptic curves over quartic fields with a point of order 22 are isogenous to one of their Galois conjugates and, by a phenomenon that we call false complex multiplication, have even rank. Finally, we discuss connections with elliptic curves over finite fields and applications to integer factorization.


Angiography of Traumaby WheiRung Fu has been written to make emergency-room physicians, surgeons, and radiologists more aware of the many uses of angiography in the evaluation of trauma. The book covers injuries to the great vessels of the thorax, abdominal vessels, liver, spleen, kidneys, and peripheral vessels. The text is brief, and there are few illustrations. Each chapter has good references, and the index is satisfactory. There is no doubt that angiography should play a major role in the evaluation of the case of the traumatized patient. In many instances, it should replace exploratory celiotomy; in others, it will help determine the correct order of treatment of several serious injuries. Accordingly, a monograph on this subject seems in order. This particular effort, however, is unlikely to satisfy any of the physicians for whom it is written. First, the text is very brief, dogmatic, and often unsubstantiated by references. For


Death certificate reporting of chronic airways disease was examined during 13 years of follow-up in the Tucson Epidemiologic Study of Airways Obstructive Disease. The Tucson study population is a geographically clustered stratified random sample of white, non-Mexican-American households in Tucson, Arizona. The initial survey was performed in 1972-1973. Using clinical and physiologic criteria from nine surveys to define airways obstructive disease in the population, the authors compared death certificate reporting with these criteria as the underlying cause and as reported anywhere on the death certificate. Reporting was related to the degree of antemortem airways obstruction. Sex differences in reporting were also noted. Females showed greater rates of reporting at low levels of impairment while males showed greater reporting at high levels of impairment. When airways obstructive disease was not the underlying cause of death, the type of underlying cause was found to affect reporting of airways obstructive disease on the death certificate.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our study was to evaluate the usefulness of adding n-butyl cyanoacrylate to microcoils to fix the catheter tip in percutaneous implantation of a port-catheter system for hepatic arterial-infusion chemotherapy.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Ninety-three patients (64 men and 29 women; age range, 38-83 years; mean age, 62.2 years) with unresectable advanced liver cancer underwent percutaneous implantation of a port-catheter system with the catheter tip fixed at the gastroduodenal artery with microcoils and a mixture of n-butyl cyanoacrylate and iodized oil. The rates of successful implantation and complications closely associated with this technique and management of the complications were reviewed.

RESULTS
Percutaneous port-catheter placement was successfully performed in all patients. However, in eight patients, complications occurred: hepatic arterial obstruction (n = 5, 5.4%); catheter dislocation (n = 2, 2.2%); recanalization of the gastroduodenal artery (n = 1, 1.1%); or movement of n-butyl cyanoacrylate (n = 1, 1.1%). In five of the eight patients with complications, hepatic arterial-infusion chemotherapy was continued either after observation of the patient to ensure that stability had been established or after treatment using comparatively easy interventional techniques. In three (3.2%) of the 93 patients, planned hepatic arterial-infusion chemotherapy could not be performed because of complications associated with the technique.

CONCLUSION
Fixation of the catheter tip in the gastroduodenal artery using a combination of microcoils and a mixture of n-butyl cyanoacrylate and iodized oil is a useful and safe technique in percutaneous port-catheter placement for repeated hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy.


Introduction: Identifying key molecules involved in cancer metastasis is important in anticancer drug discovery. To identify such molecules, we used a dual approach involving: 1) gene screening and in vivo confirmation of metastasis-promoting molecules using a mouse mammary tumor model; and 2) functional and clinicopathological analyses of the candidate molecules in a human cancer. The products of several candidate genes promoted metastasis of mouse mammary tumors. A protein designated S100A14 promoted metastasis in the mouse model and was found to be associated with poor prognosis in human breast cancer patients. Methods and Results: 1) Identification of metastasis-related molecules: We established two highly metastatic cell lines, 66Lu10 and 66HM, which formed multiple metastatic colonies in general organs, from MCH66 mouse mammary tumor cells. Two low-metastasis cell lines, 66C8 and 66LM1, were also established. DNA microarray analysis was used to identify candidate metastasis-related genes based on differential expression in 66Lu10 and 66HM cells compared with 66C8 and 66LM1. An in vivo metastasis assay in which the highly metastatic cells were transfected with gene-specific siRNAs and orthotopically inoculated into mice was performed to confirm the metastasis-promoting activity of the candidate genes. Several novel molecules that promoted metastasis in the mouse model were identified, including S100A14. 2) Significance of S100A14 in human cancer: Analysis of S100A14 protein expression in various human cancer cell lines and tissues revealed that S100A14 expression is upregulated in breast cancer. Functional analysis using MCF7 and SK-BR-3 human breast cancer cells showed that S100A14 colocalizes with F-actin on the cell membrane at cell-cell attachment sites and on focal adhesions at the leading edge. Immunoprecipitation analysis also demonstrated an interaction between S100A14 and F-actin. Boyden chamber and wound-healing assays showed that S100A14 knockdown substantially suppresses the invasive activity of both cell lines. Immunohistochemical analysis of archival specimens of primary tumors from 167 breast cancer patients showed strong membranous staining of S100A14 (53%). Elevated expression of this protein was significantly associated with younger age ( Conclusions: Using our mouse mammary tumor model for identifying metastasis-related genes, we identified S100A14 as a strong candidate metastasis-promoting molecule in vivo. Functional analyses using human breast cancer cell lines indicated that S100A14 promotes invasive activity via interaction with cytoskeletal components. Upregulated expression of S100A14 is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Therefore, S100A14 is a potential prognostic biomarker and breast cancer therapeutic target. Citation Format: Takashi Sugino, Mizuko Tanaka, Takuma Oishi, Takashi Nakajima. Expression of S100A14 promotes cancer cell invasion and metastasis and is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-07-28.


236 Background: Radiation therapy (RT) is an important primary treatment for localized prostate cancer (PCa). However, certain patients can relapse and become resistant to RT. To identify the molecular mechanisms underlying RT resistance, we studied human PCa cells that survive fractionated high dose IR in vitro.

METHODS
DU145 (DU), a human cell line from PCa metastasized to brain, was exposed to fractionated ionizing radiation (IR) up to 40 Gy. The cancer biology of the surviving cells (DUIR) after 4 month in culture was studied. Cell growth and survival were assessed using cell counting, SRB and clonogenic assay. Invasiveness was measured using Boyden chambers. Caspase activity was determined for apoptosis. Activation of signaling molecules and expression of biomarkers was assessed using Immunoblot. Hormone binding to receptors was assayed using iodinated ligands.

RESULTS
Whereas DU was squamous in shape, DUIR displayed fibroblast-like morphology with long protrusions resembling cells undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) confirmed by reduced E-cadherin and enhanced vimentin expression. DUIR cells showed higher level of neurotensin receptor 1 (NTR1) and chromogranin B resembling a neuroendocrine (NE) phenotype. DUIR has significantly higher survival than DU when exposed to IR (6-10 Gy) or zinc-directed toxins and grows significantly faster in response to serum or NT at a dose dependent manner. Addition of NTR1 antagonist SR486923 abolished the NT enhanced cell growth. DUIR had increased invasiveness through the matrigel-coated membrane. ERK and PKC, but not AKT, were constitutively active in DUIR. BCL2 level was upregulated in DUIR. NT stimulation reduced apoptosis while SR486923 enhanced apoptosis in DUIR cells upon IR.

CONCLUSIONS
PCa cells that survive high dose IR display an aggressive phenotype characterized by NE and EMT features including invasion and resistance to IR/drug induced cell death. These changes could be due to constitutive activation of growth signaling pathways and upregulation of anti-apoptosis/necrosis molecules. Further study may provide insight into the mechanism of cellular resistance to therapy and establish strategies for novel therapeutic applications.


The death process of Candida albicans was investigated after treatment with the antifungal agents flucytosine and amphotericin B by assessing morphological and biophysical properties associated with cell death. C. albicans was treated varying time periods (from 6 to 48 hours) and examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). SEM and AFM images clearly showed changes in morphology and biophysical properties. After drug treatment, the membrane of C. albicans was perforated, deformed, and shrunken. Compared to the control, C. albicans treated with flucytosine was softer and initially showed a greater adhesive force. Conversely, C. albicans treated with amphotericin B was harder and had a lower adhesive force. In both cases, the surface roughness increased as the treatment time increased. The relationships between morphological changes and the drugs were observed by AFM clearly; the surface of C. albicans treated with flucytosine underwent membrane collapse, expansion of holes, and shrinkage, while the membranes of cells treated with amphotericin B peeled off. According to these observations, the death process of C. albicans was divided into 4 phases, CDP0, CDP1, CDP2, and CDP4, which were determined based on morphological changes. Our results could be employed to further investigate the antifungal activity of compounds derived from natural sources.


Gender equality indexes (GEIs) have become a popular tool for the quantification of unequal resource distribution between males and females. Creating such an index implies an understanding of what gender inequality is, though this question has remained the province of theoretical feminism with little explicit treatment in the methodologically focussed literature. This paper presents an empirically minded, theoretical account of gender inequality, which can be used broadly to inform the development of GEIs. The account proceeds in three steps. First, we argue for a broad understanding of the types of resources that structure gender inequality. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, we highlight the importance of including symbolic capitals (and indeed viewing gender itself as a symbolic capital). By considering gender as a symbolic capital, we are drawn to the ways that normative maleness hides some types of gender inequality. Thus, caregiving norms and leisure time inequality are brought to the foreground. Finally, in recognizing that there is no single unifying female experience, we describe the ways that gender inequality intersect with other forms of disadvantage, motivating the incorporation of (particularly) race into the index. The result is a comprehensive-and theoretically defensible-set of indicators for the measurement of gender inequality.


This study was made with the purposes of characterizing milk supply and marketing chains, post-production losses of milk, and evaluating the potential of supply chain management approach to reduce milk losses in Ethiopia. Primary data were collected by semi-structured survey questionnaire and interview of key informants. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel sheets. Mapping, characterizations, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the collected data. Both quantitative and qualitative-narrative methods were used in analysis. The finding revealed that farmers, cooperatives/unions, traders, and catering institutions were the major chain actors in milk chain in the study area. With 73% of milk sold by farmers passing through cooperatives/unions to the next chain actors, cooperatives/unions were the focal firms in this supply chain. Production was characterized by smallholders with few numbers of cows and low productivity of milk per cow per day. Cow breed and lack of access to credit were identified as critical resource and the most constraint that hinder production improvement. Marketing relationships among the chain actors were characterized as lacking long-term market orientation and were mostly on the spot and transaction based. The assessment on the enabling environment indicated further need of support from governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to build the capacity of chain actors, particularly the farmers. The study indicated existence of significant amount of milk losses in the milk chain. With 39% of the total losses happening at cooperatives/ union stage, cooperatives/unions were identified as loss hotspot point in the chain. Poor milk handling practice at the collection points, lack of immediate acceptors, milk carrying tools used, means of transport used, and ineffective communication with other partner in the chain were identified in order of severity as important problems causing milk losses in the study area. Based on the study results and review of others' work in similar contexts, this study argued for SCM to be part of solution in improving this dairy chain. The study showed cases where effectively implemented SCM approach converted dairy chains from chains characterized by dismantled, high conflicts of interests among the chain actors, and high losses of food in the chain to chains with mutual interest trying to maximize the profit to the whole chain actors. Integrated and collective actions by all chain actors aiming at reducing costs, improving quality, and minimizing food losses in the chain were central to these efforts. Therefore, SCM approach needs to be part of the solution in increasing profitability and reducing milk losses in Ethiopia in general and in the study area in particular. However, the needs for detailed further study, some of which are recommended by this study, are worthwhile.


This study aims to investigate the effects of two freeze–thaw environments (i.e., maintenance freeze-thaw (MFT) environment and immersion freeze-thaw (IFT) environment) on the durability performance, deterioration rules, and mechanisms of concrete. In MFT, the concrete specimens were firstly cured in the standard curing environment (temperature, 20 ± 3, humidity, not less than 95%, and ages, 28 d) and then were carried out in freeze–thaw environment, while in IFT, the concrete specimens were firstly cured in the salt (NaHCO3, NaCl, and Na2SO4) immersion environment for 90 d and then were carried out in freeze–thaw environment. In this study, the damage features, relative dynamic elastic modulus, mass changes, and erosion-resistance coefficient of concrete have been measured. Thereafter, using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), the air-void structure parameters and the microstructures have been measured, respectively. The results show that the relative dynamic elastic modulus and the erosion-resistance coefficient of the compressive strength of the concrete in the IFT environment are, respectively, 14.3% and 21.0% higher than those of the concrete in the MFT environment. In addition, the results of the microstructure analyses show that the corrosion damages of the concrete are mainly caused by the combined action of the corrosion products of ettringite and freeze–thaw environment. However, the damage to the concrete in the MFT environment is more serious than that in the IFT environment. The results of the MIP analysis show that the harmful pore value for the concrete in the MFT environment is almost two times larger than that for the concrete in the IFT environment.


Standard definitions of social psychology, such as "the study of the way in which people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people" (Aronson et al., 2019, p. 3), fail to capture much of what social psychologists actually do and do not capture the basic theoretical foundations of the field. I suggest the field is founded on the construal principle, which holds that to understand and predict human behavior, one must focus on people's proximate (current) construals of themselves and their environment. The construal principle empowers social psychology in three key ways: It (a) accounts for the power of the situation, by acknowledging that construals are highly attuned to social norms; (b) is amenable to study with the experimental method; and (c) provides a unique theoretical framework for how to change human behavior. I discuss the origins and implications of the construal principle and how it distinguishes social psychology from related subdisciplines, including evolutionary social psychology, personality psychology, and social neuroscience. Whereas each subdiscipline is good at accomplishing the tasks it has set for itself, social psychology has unique advantages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).


There are only few investigations about the driving ability in demented patients. The available data point to an elevated risk of accident. Patients with very mild dementia, however, are often fit enough to drive. Unfortunately there are no tests available to identify demented drivers with a high risk of accidents. So it remains an individual decision of the doctor to assess the driving ability in demented patients. The caregiver's assessment of the driving competency and psychometric tests are helpful, if an in-car road test is not possible. Further investigations and simple tests are needed.


Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a chronic inflammatory disease regulated by T lymphocytes. Our purpose is to assess the pattern of Th17 cells and CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells in peripheral blood of patients with OSAS. Fourty-four OSAS men and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled. Twenty-three patients were classified into mild to moderate group and 21 cases were classified into severe group according to the severity of OSAS. We detected the frequencies of Th17 and Treg and related serum cytokines secretion and expressions of key transcription factors. OSAS patients revealed significant increase in peripheral Th17 number, Th17-related cytokines (IL-17 and IL-6), and RORγt mRNA levels. They also presented a significant decrease in Treg number, Treg-related cytokines (TGF-β 1), and Foxp3 mRNA levels as compared with normal persons. As a result, the Th17/Treg ratios were markedly more upregulated in OSAS patients than those in control group. Furthermore, the Th17/Treg ratio was positively related to the severity of OSAS and serum levels of C-reactive protein. The development of OSAS may be associated with peripheral Th17/Treg imbalance and characterized by a proinflammatory cytokine microenvironment. These results opened an alternative explanation for the substantial activation of immune cells in OSAS and the development of related complications.


In the Correlation Clustering problem, we are given a complete weighted graph $G$ with its edges labeled as"similar"and"dissimilar"by a noisy binary classifier. For a clustering $\mathcal{C}$ of graph $G$, a similar edge is in disagreement with $\mathcal{C}$, if its endpoints belong to distinct clusters; and a dissimilar edge is in disagreement with $\mathcal{C}$ if its endpoints belong to the same cluster. The disagreements vector, $\text{dis}$, is a vector indexed by the vertices of $G$ such that the $v$-th coordinate $\text{dis}_v$ equals the weight of all disagreeing edges incident on $v$. The goal is to produce a clustering that minimizes the $\ell_p$ norm of the disagreements vector for $p\geq 1$. We study the $\ell_p$ objective in Correlation Clustering under the following assumption: Every similar edge has weight in the range of $[\alpha\mathbf{w},\mathbf{w}]$ and every dissimilar edge has weight at least $\alpha\mathbf{w}$ (where $\alpha \leq 1$ and $\mathbf{w}>0$ is a scaling parameter). We give an $O\left((\frac{1}{\alpha})^{\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{2p}}\cdot \log\frac{1}{\alpha}\right)$ approximation algorithm for this problem. Furthermore, we show an almost matching convex programming integrality gap.


There are many studies that model the within-host population dynamics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) infection. However, the within-infected-cell replication of HIV-1 remains to be not comprehensively addressed. There exist rather few quantitative models describing the regulation of the HIV-1 life cycle at the intracellular level. In treatment of HIV-1 infection, there remain issues related to side-effects and drug-resistance that require further search "...for new and better drugs, ideally targeting multiple independent steps in the HIV-1 replication cycle" (as highlighted recently by Tedbury & Freed, The Future of HIV-1 Therapeutics, 2015). High-resolution mathematical models of HIV-1 growth in infected cells provide an additional analytical tool in identifying novel drug targets. We formulate a high-dimensional model describing the biochemical reactions underlying the replication of HIV-1 in target cells. The model considers a nonlinear regulation of the transcription of HIV-1 mediated by Tat and the Rev-dependent transport of fully spliced and singly spliced transcripts from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The model is calibrated using available information on the kinetics of various stages of HIV-1 replication. The sensitivity analysis of the model is performed to rank the biochemical processes of HIV-1 replication with respect to their impact on the net production of virions by one actively infected cell. The ranking of the sensitivity factors provides a quantitative basis for identifying novel targets for antiviral therapy. Our analysis suggests that HIV-1 assembly depending on Gag and Tat-Rev regulation of transcription and mRNA distribution present two most critical stages in HIV-1 replication that can be targeted to effectively control virus production. These processes are not covered by current antiretroviral treatments.