Introduction: Animal studies and limited human research suggest that nightly fasting duration (NFD) and timing of food intake may influence cardiometabolic risk through behavioral and physiological mechanisms. Research is needed to clarify these associations in diverse populations including Hispanic/Latina women, who have elevated cardiometabolic risk. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that longer NFD would be associated with lower body adiposity, inflammation, blood pressure (BP) and lipids, and glucose regulation indicators and with healthier lifestyle behaviors that may explain associations with cardiometabolic risk. Methods: We examined associations of NFD with cardiometabolic risk among n= 9,781 diverse Hispanic/Latina women, aged 18-76y, from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), recruited from four US cities between 2008-2011. Pregnant women and those treated for diabetes were excluded. NFD, defined as time from last meal on one day to first meal on the next day, was calculated from two 24-hour recalls. BMI, waist size (WS), BP, blood lipids, glucose, insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, hemoglobin A 1c , and C-reactive protein measurements were used in linear and logistic regression models to evaluate associations of NDF with cardiometabolic risk. Models accounted for sample weights and design effects and were adjusted for age, marital status, education, employment, income, health insurance, race, Hispanic/Latino background, acculturation level, BMI, and percent caloric intake consumed after 8PM. Results: The mean NFD was 12.9±2.3 hours. In linear regression models, longer NFD was associated with higher BMI (β=0.19,p Conclusions: This large cross-sectional population-based study in U.S. Hispanic/Latina women showed null associations between NFD and glycemic control and inflammation, contrary to previous findings in Caucasian women, but uniquely evaluated and demonstrated deleterious associations between prolonged NFD and other cardiometabolic risk factors. Future studies should investigate longitudinal associations of NFD with cardiometabolic outcomes in this population group.


The hard-square model is a two-dimensional (2-D) constrained system consisting of all binary arrays on a rectangular grid in which 1's are isolated both horizontally and vertically. This paper proposes algorithms to search for single-state and finite-state block codes with rectangular codewords that satisfy the hard-square constraint. Although the codeword size is small, single-state block codes with coding rates larger than 0.5 can be designed. Letting the 2-D constrained sequences have finite memory increases the achievable coding rate. A method for designing low-complexity encoders and decoders is also presented. When the codeword size increases, the coding rate asymptotically approaches the capacity but with rapidly increasing complexity of the encoder and decoder.


Forty-six samples of apatite from lower vertebrates (ostracoderms, placoderms, elasmobranchs, actinopterygians, and crossopterygians), ranging in age from Silurian to Recent, were analyzed to determine each specimen9s 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic ratio and content of the elements Na, F, Sr, and La. Our aim was to determine whether these chemical parameters can yield reliable information about the paleosalinity conditions of the ancient fish habitats. In recent times, the uniform 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic ratio and Na, F, and Sr abundances of sea water in general differ characteristically from the corresponding ratios and abundances of fresh waters and low-saline brackish waters. For evaluation of the data on fossils, analyses were made on recent skeletal-fish apatite derived from different waters with known Sr-isotopic ratio and salinity. Salinity interpretations based on our chemical analyses are generally congruent with the salinity conditions indicated by other paleoenvironmental parameters inherent in the fossil-bearing strata. Some fossil specimens, however, gave signals seemingly incompatible with prevailing opinions regarding the environment in which the embedding strata formed. In some cases, the divergences could be accounted for by erratic occurrences of reworked material. Other cases, such as ostracoderm and placoderm remains from the Old Red Sandstone, are less easy to unravel. The method tested in this study may be a useful tool, clarifying, for example, salinity conditions during formation of various Old Red Sandstone deposits.


Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved great success in fields such as computer vision, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence. Many of these applications utilize parallel processing in GPUs to achieve higher performance. However, it remains a daunting task to optimize for GPUs, and most researchers have to rely on vendor-provided libraries for such purposes. In this paper, we discuss an operator that can be used to succinctly express computational kernels in CNNs and various scientific and vision applications. This operator, called Unrolled-Memory-Inner-Product (UMI), is a computationally-efficient operator with smaller code token requirement. Since a naive UMI implementation would increase memory requirement through input data unrolling, we propose a method to achieve optimal memory fetch performance in modern GPUs. We demonstrate this operator by converting several popular applications into the UMI representation, and achieve 1.3x-26.4x speedup against frameworks such as OpenCV and Caffe.


power in the circuit, In consequence the inductions in the respective parts of the magnetic circuit also different to a significant degree. A consequence of this was an increase of core losses in 5-limb magnetic circuits, as shown in the paper. The magnetic losses measured experimentally in the transformer were higher than those calculated theoretically. They were increased additionally by need to open the core in order to position the windings and from later closing of the magnetic circuit. The values obtained in our study and measurements taken during the prototype exploitation of the 160 kVA transformer support low core losses in no-load state and measurable saving energy. A further research should result in a wider application of 3-limb cores as they possess more advantageous properties that the 5-limb cores.


BACKGROUND
Metastatic colorectal cancer is a common disease encountered in oncology practice and treatment options beyond fluoropyrimidines, irinotecan, oxaliplatin and monoclonal antibodies against epidermal growth factor receptor and vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF) are limited. Regorafenib, a new drug that targets tyrosine kinases such as VEGF receptor as well as others, has been added recently to the armamentarium for metastatic colorectal cancer. This report analyzes the published experience with this drug in clinical practice outside of clinical trials.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A literature search of major databases was performed for the identification of studies of regorafenib in metastatic colorectal cancer. Studies retained for further analysis were in English or French, describing 20 or more patients treated with regorafenib monotherapy and not part of a phase I, II or III trial. Results of the pooled analysis of retrospective studies were compared with results of the published phase III trials and a phase IIIb prospective study.

RESULTS
Twelve publications including a total of 702 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Summary response rate was 2% [95% confidence interval (CI) =0.8-3.2%] and the disease control rate 38.14% (95% CI=32.35-43.93%). Summary survival rates were 3.34 months (95% CI=2.71-3.97 months) for progression-free and 7.27 months (95% CI=6.23-8.3 months) for overall survival. These were similar to the phase III and IIIb studies. Most common adverse effects were also consistent with those of the published phase III experience.

CONCLUSION
This systematic review and meta-analysis confirmed a moderate efficacy of regorafenib in later-stage metastatic colorectal cancer in the everyday clinical practice setting outside of clinical trials. Future identification of biomarkers may aid in further tailoring of this treatment in order to obtain maximum clinical benefit.


The progressive increase in the average age of the population leads to chronic diseases that are increasingly important. Chronic conditions are large in number, the prevalence of each one is high and so does the annual cost of their care. Moreover, clinicians alert about the impact of one disease on the development and severity of others. Among chronic morbidities the most prevalent are cardiovascular disease (CV), cancer, diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Chillón et al., 2009). Noticeably, a 25% of patients older than 65 years have two chronic conditions and this figure rises to 40% in population over 75 years old (Chatila et al., 2008).


This paper examines the links between ownership, innovation and exporting in electronics firms in three late industrializing East Asian countries (China, Thailand and the Philippines) drawing on recent developments in applied international trade and innovation and learning. Technology-based approaches to trade offer a plausible explanation for firm-level exporting behavior. The econometric results (using probit) confirm the importance of foreign ownership and innovation in increasing the probability of exporting in electronics. Higher levels of skills, managers' education and capital also matter in China as well as accumulated experience in Thailand. Furthermore, a technology index composed of technical functions performed by firms emerges as a more robust indicator of innovation than the R&D to sales ratio. Accordingly, technological effort in electronics in these countries mostly focuses on assimilating and using imported technologies rather than formal R&D by specialized engineers. JEL Codes: F23, O31, O32, L63, O57


BACKGROUND
Encouraging results in transplant medicine create a growing demand for organ transplant donors. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) has been used by several investigators to assess arrest of the cerebral circulation in brain dead patients. We report on TCD as a monitoring tool for early identification of potential organ transplant donors.

DESIGN
A prospective clinical study.

SETTING
Intensive care unit (ICU) of a 900-bed community hospital (primary and tertiary care center) in Vienna, Austria.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
All patients with acute intracranial lesions admitted to our intensive care unit underwent TCD examination at least once daily. In patients with Glasgow Coma Scores < 7, TCD waveforms with high resistance profiles unchanged by therapeutic attempts to lower intracranial pressure indicated the need for repeated TCD up to four times a day. TCD waveform abnormality consisting of absent or reversed diastolic flow or small early systolic spikes in at least two intracranial arteries was considered to constitute intracranial circulatory arrest. Brain death was confirmed by clinical criteria, an isoelectric electroencephalography (EEG) or non filling of the intracerebral arteries on arteriography.

RESULTS
From January 1994 to July 1996 we identified 11 comatose patients as potential organ transplant donors with typical TCD findings indicating intracranial circulatory arrest. Diagnosis was subarachnoid hemorrhage in 7 and intracerebral hemorrhage in 4 patients. Brain death diagnosis according to the criteria of Austrian law was initiated immediately after the TCD findings suggested intracranial circulatory arrest. Confirmation of brain death was obtained by clinical criteria and either EEG (6 patients) or cerebral angiography (5 patients).

CONCLUSION
TCD examinations on a daily routine basis offer a noninvasive monitoring method for early assessment of intracranial circulatory arrest. TCD enables quick identification and further diagnosis of candidates for organ transplant donation.


Feminist research practice is firmly established within the academy and is concerned to develop ways of understanding reality that place women at their centre. However, researching women who do not identify with feminist aims presents feminist researchers with particular challenges in relation to appropriate method and ethical practice. This article discusses these challenges focusing on the issues of 'gatekeeper' access, informed consent and the impact that the insider researcher role has on 'truth telling'. Ideas offered are a critical reflection on qualitative research undertaken into the career experiences of women civil engineers in the UK. The extent to which the inside knowledge of the researcher gives rise to shared understandings and a 'common' language, and the ways this creates empathy across a 'political' and theoretical divide are discussed. An ethics of care model of feminist research practice that suggests that the line between empathy and exploitation is, in reality, a fine one, is considered. This article argues that researcher integrity is complex and dynamic; it functions along a continuum of practical constraint that involves mutuality, negotiation and re-negotiation of boundaries with participants.


Two methods of control for a prosthetic hand are presented. A fairly typical force feedback controller is compared to a novel biomimetic application of sliding mode control. The two controllers are evaluated analytically and subjectively by six human test subjects. The analytical experiments show that the human operators, on average, were more capable of effectively using the prosthetic hand with the biomimetic slding mode controller. The averaged results from the subjective evaluations indicated that the biomimetic sliding mode controller was more similar to operation of the human hand than the force controller.


The purpose of this study was to develop an attitude and a self-efficacy survey of using PDAs in ubiquitous learning (u-learning) environments for elementary school students. The sample of this study included 414 third-grade to sixth-grade students (age 9-12 years) in Taiwan who had experience using PDAs for u-learning. The results indicate that the students, in general, had positive attitudes and adequate self-efficacy in terms of using PDAs for u-learning. Gender differences existed only in the students' self-efficacy of using PDAs for Internet related functions, with the male students expressing higher confidence in using PDAs for Internet-related functions than the female students. In addition, the students in lower grades (third and fourth-graders; age 9-10 years) tended to use PDAs more frequently and to have more positive perspectives of PDAs than the higher grade students (fifth and sixth-graders; age 11-12 years). Furthermore, for predicting students' attitudes toward using PDAs for u-learning, students' confidence in using PDAs for general purposes was more important than their confidence in using PDAs to perform Internet functions.


This study observed the effect of video recording of microteaching training in comparison with traditional teaching on student teachers' performance while practicing teaching. Fifty student teachers of Regional Institute for Teacher Education female Abbottabad comprised the sample of the study. Pre-test post-test equivalent group design was used for the experiment. For data collection valid and reliable observation sheet was adopted. Pre-test post-test data was analyzed. Pretest findings showed the same level of performance of student teachers of both control and experimental groups. Post-test t test application indicated significant difference between the performance of student teachers of control and experimental group. Comparatively the performance of prospective teachers of experimental group was better than the performance of student teachers of control group in the use of questioning and students' reinforcement skill. The use of video recording of microteaching as a feedback tool improves the teaching performance of the student teachers. Hence, it is suggested that trainee teachers teach and re-teach demonstrations may be video recorded. So that, the student teachers having received feedback in the light of their video recorded microteaching, may acquire and use microteaching skills in their professional careers for better teaching performance.


Thoron gas and its progeny behave quite differently in room environments, owing to the difference in their half-lives; therefore, it is important to measure simultaneously gas and progeny concentrations to estimate the time-integrated equilibrium factor. Furthermore, thoron concentration strongly depends on the distance from the source, i.e. generally walls in indoor environments. In the present work, therefore, the measurements of both thoron and radon gas and their progeny concentrations were consistently carried out close to the walls, in 43 dwellings located in the Sokobanja municipality, Serbia. Three different types of instruments have been used in the present survey to measure the time-integrated thoron and radon gas and their progeny concentrations simultaneously. The equilibrium factor for thoron measured 'close to the wall', [Formula: see text], ranged from 0.001 to 0.077 with a geometric mean (GM) [geometric standard deviation (GSD)] of 0.006 (2.2), whereas the equilibrium factor for radon, FRn, ranged from 0.06 to 0.95 with a GM (GSD) of 0.23 (2.0).


Tracking national trends of therapeutic recreation curricula is imperative both for setting and maintaining professional standards. The second part of the 2003 curriculum study (Part B) contains a comparison between the 1996 data and data collected in the spring of 2003 in four areas: (a) university logistics, (b) faculty, (c) students, and (d) graduation and placement rates. The results showed that therapeutic recreation curricula were located at universities and departments that varied widely. Departments averaged 4.5 recreation faculty members (4.4 in 1996) and slightly less than two therapeutic recreation faculty (1.7 in 1996). Therapeutic recreation faculty typically taught undergraduate therapeutic recreation and recreation core classes carrying a load of four or three, three-hour courses per semester. The average department had 119 recreation majors (135 in 1996) and 36 therapeutic recreation majors (51 in 1996). Most therapeutic recreation majors (usually about 80 percent) graduated, gained employment in the field, and received certification from NCTRC™. NCTRC™ certification was held by a smaller percent of therapeutic recreation faculty in 2003 (61.9 percent) as compared to 1996 (84.2 percent), while state certification nearly halved from 17.4 percent in 1996 to 9.4 percent in 2003. Based on the current results, several recommendations are made for therapeutic recreation faculty and the national organizations. Part A, which contained data on accreditation, curriculum, and internship characteristics, precedes Part B in this issue.


Fast-growing poplar wood was modified with low molecular weight urea-formaldehyde resin (UF) at 41.5% concentration or phenol-formaldehyde (PF) at concentrations of 15, 25, and 40%. The physical and mechanical properties were measured, and creep behavior tests were carried out under ambient indoor conditions. The specimens were subjected to 30 and 50% of their maximum bending load. The density, modulus of elasticity, and modulus of rupture of UF-wood increased by 37.16, 45.86, and 28.36%, respectively, and the corresponding increases in 15% PF-specimen were 39.41, 31.80, and 27.74%, respectively. The wood modified with resins exhibited less creep deflection. The relative creep deflections of modified wood were about 0.22, 0.53, 1.22, and 0.32 times those of the untreated specimen at 30% of stress level after 15% PF, 25% PF, 40% PF, and UF were added, respectively. At the lower loading level, the relative creep deflection of the 15% PF specimen was 63.94% that of the 41.5% UF-specimen. Specimens treated with UF at 30 and 50% loading were broken within 120 d and 80 d respectively, whereas the untreated specimen was broken within one month at 50% loading.


OBJECTIVES
To compare relative measures of disparity in rates of favorable events with those in rates of adverse events.

METHODS
Relative measures of disparity are applied to four health indicators to demonstrate how the size of a disparity between groups, and changes in disparity over time, depend on whether indicators are expressed in terms of favorable or adverse events.

RESULTS
The size of an absolute measure of disparity is the same whether favorable or adverse events are studied. The size of a relative measure of disparity depends on the rate for each group and the reference point from which the disparity is measured. The rates for each group and for the reference point depend on whether the indicator is expressed in terms of favorable or adverse events. Relative measures of disparity, and conclusions about changes in relative measures of disparity, depend on whether indicators are expressed in terms of favorable or adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS
When relative measures of disparity are used to monitor changes in disparity over time or to compare disparities across different indicators, disparities should be measured in terms of adverse events.


Aims The mobility of phosphorus (P) depends on availability of water in soil; both are limited resources for crop production. We studied the mechanisms governing cross tolerance in the contrasting mungbean accessions for drought and low P stress. Methods Tolerant (IC333090 and IC507340) and sensitive (IC488526 and EC397142) mungbean accessions were grown in soil with treatments: control (sufficient P, irrigated), low P (no P, irrigated), drought (sufficient P, irrigation withheld), and combined stress (no P, irrigation withheld) as well as recovery. Results Drought reduced the relative water content and membrane stability index, affecting overall plant growth. Combined stress (low P and drought) significantly increased root growth, leaf area, and biomass in tolerant accessions, which was attributed to enhanced nutrient uptake and symbiotic N2-fixation. Combined stress also increased osmolyte concentration, antioxidative compounds, and scavenging activity of antioxidant enzymes in tolerant accessions while recovery from drought significantly reduced osmolyte concentration. Transcript abundance of candidate genes related to drought and low P was significantly higher in leaves of IC333090 than IC488526. Conversely, low-P-induced genes (VrSPX1, VrPHO1, VrSQD1, VrPEPCase, and VrMDH) in IC488526 were either downregulated or did not significantly change under combined stress. The drought recovery was better in IC333090 due to enhanced expression of stress-responsive genes. Conclusions Tolerant mungbean accession could be used as potential donor parents in breeding programs. Traits imparting cross tolerance to drought and low P stress may facilitate better varietal selection for increased crop productivity under low P, drought, and the combined stress.


The recent WHO classification of gliomas has incorporated molecular markers such as isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation and 1p/19q co-deletion into the ambit of morphological diagnosis, and 18F-fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine (18F-FET) positron emission tomography (PET) has shown its utility in noninvasive glioma grading and prognosis. Both dynamic and static FET PET parameters may assist in predicting the IDH mutational status, but time to peak derived from dynamic data may be a better predictor for IDH status. We present a case of left frontal lobe lesion suggestive of high-grade glioma on magnetic resonance imaging and static 18F-FET PET images, however, dynamic FET image was suggestive of low-grade IDH1-mutated glioma which was later confirmed on histology and immunohistochemistry.


The controversy about the sex distribution in Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) led us to study what occurred in 56 hospitalized patients affected by LBBB and ischemic heart disease (IHD). In the group of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 26 patients, with a high incidence of pump faiture (73%) an a mortality of 33%, the male/female (M/F) ratio was clearly reduced in relation to the global AMI M/F ratio (1.9:1 against 3.5:1). In the group without AMI, there was a female predominance and, namely in cases with unstable angina, the M/F ratio was reversed (1:2 against 2:1 in the general group with unstable angina). Hypertension did not seem responsible for the absence of male prevalence in patients with IHD. The reasons of this phenomenon - the relative female prevalence of LBBB in patients with AMI, and the absolute female predominance in cases without AMI - seem to be obscure at the moment. It is possible that, for the majority of patients with JHD and LBBB, LBBB does not have a simple etiology. The hypothesis of the coexistence of IHD with a primary degenerative disease of the conduction system is admitted.


ABSTRACT To this date, research on the interplay between organisational structure/managerial and organisational value/psychological elements which impact on educational quality is scarce and fragmented. As a consequence of a lack of knowledge in this area, institutions often address these elements in isolation, moving past integral approaches, which reinforce the organisations' quality culture. In order to examine interrelationships between context characteristics, work-related psychological attitudes of staff and enhancement practices, a path analysis was performed on data collected from academics with teaching coordination roles. The findings highlight the paramount importance of a 'human relation' value orientation; this orientation influences empowerment, commitment and communication satisfaction. Rational goal values and ownership are positively related to quality enhancement practices. It is advocated that institutional policies and strategies directed at educational quality enhancement should leave discretionary space for the availing of academics' expertise. Nurturing collaborative teaching/learning communities with explicit concern for morale, involvement and development, deserves further cultivation.


Due to asparagine synthetase (ASNS) deficiency, tumors cells auxotrophic for L-asparagine lack capability to synthesize this amino acid and depend to circulating L-asparagine for survival. Based on this rational, L-asparaginase (L-Aspa), an enzyme depleting L-asparagine, is an essential drug in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as these hematological cancer cells express low levels of ASNS. Recent evidence suggests that some solid tumors are also deficient in ASNS (Lorenzi, 2008; Dufour, 2012; Zhang, 2013), providing rationale for testing L-Aspa treatment in other contexts. In this study, we investigated the levels of ASNS expression in tumor tissues from patients with urological cancers (bladder, prostate and kidney) and we investigated the sensitivity to L-Aspa of bladder and prostate cell lines. Material & Method: ASNS expression was evaluated by a validated immunohistochemistry (IHC) method on tissue biopsie microarrays (USBiomax, Rockville, MD) including 384 cases of bladder, 94 cases of prostate and 75 cases of kidney tumors. A score was attributed to each tumor based on ASNS IHC labeling intensity from 0 (no labeling) to 3 (strong labeling). Tumors expressing no/low ASNS (scores 0 and 1) were considered potentially sensitive to asparagine depletion. Sensitivity to L-Aspa (expressed as an IC50) was assessed in vitro by measuring the cell viability of bladder cancer cell lines (RT-4 and UM-UC-3) and prostate cancer cell line PC-3 in the presence of various concentrations of L-Aspa. ASNS expression in cell lines was evaluated by western-blot. Results: ASNS expression was low/null in 77.3% of bladder tumors, 86.2% of prostate tumors and 72% of kidney tumors. In bladder tumors, no correlation was found between the grade of the tumor and its expression of ASNS. Bladder and prostate cancer cell lines were all sensitive to L-Aspa (IC50 = 0.31, 0.12 and 0.22 IU/mL for RT-4, UM-UC-3 and PC-3 cell lines, respectively) at a level similar to the sensitivity observed with the L-Aspa-sensitive MOLT-4 ALL cell line (IC50=0.19 IU/mL). All cell lines displayed low basal expression of ASNS. Conclusion: The sensitivity of bladder and prostate cancer cell lines to L-Aspa and the low/no expression of ASNS in the majority of urological tumor biopsies suggest that an extensive population of patients with urological tumors may respond to asparagine depletion. However, L-Aspa is accompanied with well known serious side-effects (hypersensitivity, coagulation disorders, pancreatitis, liver failure) and this drug should be used very carefully especially in older or frail patients. A new safer formulation is requested to make easier the clinical development of L-Aspa in urological cancer. Citation Format: Willy Berlier, Karine Aguera, Fanny Gallix, Fabien Gay, Gautam Borthakur, Yann Godfrin. Potential of asparagine depletion for the treatment of bladder cancer and other urological tumors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5436. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5436


Shifts in the long-run rate of productivity growth are difficult, in real time, to distinguish from transitory fluctuations. We analyze the evolution of forecasts of long-run productivity growth during the 1970s and 1990s and examine in a dynamic general equilibrium model the consequences of learning on the responses to shifts in the long-run productivity growth rate. We find that an updating rule based on an estimated Kalman filter model using real-time data describes economists' long-run productivity growth forecasts extremely well. We then show that learning has profound implications for the effects of shifts in trend productivity growth and can improve the model's ability to generate responses that resemble historical experience. If immediately recognized, an increase in the long-run growth rate produces a sharp decline in employment and investment, while with learning, a rise in the long-run rate of productivity growth sets off a sustained boom in employment and investment.


We conducted this study to determine whether heart rate, respiratory rate, and recovery time differed significantly between rats receiving target-controlled infusion (TCI) and those under volatile inhalant anesthesia. TCI rats received intravenous propofol at an average effect site concentration of 11.3 microg/ml or propofol plus ketamine (5 mg/ml of propofol) at an average effect site concentration of 8.7 microg/ml. Inhalant anesthesia rats received isoflurane (average, 1.8%) delivered in medical-grade air. We used a tail-clamp response test to determine when a surgical plane of anesthesia was attained. Anesthesia was continued for 1 h from the first negative tail-clamp test. During this time the test was repeated every 10 min to confirm that a surgical plane of anesthesia was being maintained. Anesthesia then was discontinued, and the animals were monitored continuously until they recovered. Average heart rate was higher for rats during anesthesia with isoflurane compared with TCI propofol-ketamine (P =0.0053). Average respiratory rate was higher for TCI regimens compared with isoflurane anesthesia, with male rats having consistently faster respiratory rates than females (P <0.001). Recovery time was longer for both TCI regimens compared with isoflurane (P <0.001). Once venous access was accomplished, TCI anesthesia with propofol or propofol combined with a low dose of ketamine was comparable to an isoflurane inhalant regimen in ease of administration and control of the anesthetic event when used in rats for procedures of 1-h duration. Respiratory rate was increased and recovery time was longer for rats receiving the TCI regimens.


PURPOSE
To investigate the marginal adaptation of resin-modified glass ionomer cements in dentin cavities placed with or without additional application of resin bonding systems.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Three resin-modified materials (Fuji II LC, Photac-Fil, Vitremer), one compomer (Dyract) and as reference an adhesively bonded resin composite system (Gluma CPS-Pekafill) were used. Flat peripheral dentin surfaces on human molar teeth were produced by wet grinding on SiC paper. Cylindrical cavities, 3.5 mm wide, were prepared in these dentin areas and restored with the individual materials. Sixty cavities were pretreated and restored as requested by the respective manufacturers. Following water storage of the specimens for 15 minutes or 24 hours, excess was gently removed by wet grinding for microscopic inspection of the marginal area. Additionally, in 30 cavities an experimental one-component adhesive resin system, a proprietary dimethacrylate and HEMA mixture dissolved in acetone, was combined with each of the restoratives for evaluation after 15-minutes water storage. Finally, in six cavities each, Dyract was combined with Prime and Bond 2.0, and Vitremer with Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus for assessment after 15 minutes. Maximum marginal gap widths (MGW) were measured. One-way ANOVA by ranks (Kruskal-Wallis-Test) followed by Wilcoxon's Two-Sample test were used to study the statistical difference of MGW among the treatment groups at a rejection level P = 0.05.

RESULTS
Neither the conventionally placed material systems nor the restorations in combination with adhesives showed consistently gap-free margins after 15-minute water storage. After 24-hour storage with Vitremer 4 of the 6 restorations were gap-free, whereas with all other materials only perfect margins were registered. There was, however, no significant difference between the groups. Application of the experimental and/or the specific resin bonding agents had no effect on early MGW except for the Photac-Fil group, which was significantly reduced.


1 Clonidine kinetics were studied in 21 patients with essential hypertension. All received two bolus i.v. injections in the mean dose range of (0.78--3.36 micrograms kg-1) and one single oral dose (mean dose 1.7--2.3 micrograms kg-1) on separate occasions. The kinetics were also studied in some of these patients after multiple therapeutic oral dose (mean dose 1.1 or 1.9 micrograms kg-1) twice daily during a dosage interval after 6--12 months monotherapy with clonidine. The multiple oral dosage was based on the therapeutic response. 2 With increasing i.v. doses the rate constants (alpha, beta) decreased and the plasma clearance was reduced by 74% (9.94--2.61 ml min-1 kg-1) indicating dose-dependent kinetics. The volume of distribution (Vd beta) did not change with dose in contrast to the volume of the plasma compartment (Vc) which was increased at the highest doses. 3 The single oral dose kinetics agreed with the i.v. kinetics at comparable dose. The bioavailability was 90%. 4 During multiple oral dosing the elimination rate constants decreased compared to the single dose. The plasma clearance increased (7.18 ml min-1 kg-1) compared to the corresponding single dose (4.17 ml min-1 kg-1). The latter change was probably caused by the decrease in bioavailability to about 65%. 5 The pharmacodynamic properties of the drug could explain the changes in pharmacokinetics with increased dose and during multiple doses.


Engaging in a close analysis of legal and political discourse, this chapter considers conflicts over intellectual property and climate change in three key arenas: climate law; trade law; and intellectual property law. In this chapter, it is argued that there is a need to overcome the political stalemates and deadlocks over intellectual property and climate change. It is essential that intellectual property law engage in a substantive fashion with the matrix of issues surrounding fossil fuels, clean technologies, and climate change at an international level. First, this chapter examines the debate over intellectual property and climate change under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1992, and the establishment of the UNFCCC Climate Technology Centre and Network. It recommends that the technology mechanism should address and deal with matters of intellectual property management and policy. Second, the piece examines the discussion of global issues in the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO GREEN. It supports the proposal for a Global Green Patent Highway to allow for the fast-tracking of intellectual property applications in respect of green technologies. Third, the chapter investigates the dispute in the TRIPS Council at the World Trade Organization over intellectual property, climate change, and development. This section focuses upon the TRIPS Agreement 1994. This chapter calls for a Joint Declaration on Intellectual Property and Climate Change from the UNFCCC, WIPO, and the WTO.The paper concludes that intellectual property should be reformed as part of a larger effort to promote climate justice. Rather than adopt a fragmented, piecemeal approach in various international institutions, there is a need for a co-ordinated and cohesive response to intellectual property in an age of runaway, global climate change. Patent law should be fossil fuel free. Intellectual property should encourage research, development, and diffusion of renewable energy and clean technologies. It is submitted that intellectual property law reform should promote climate justice in line with Mary Robinson's Declaration on Climate Justice 2013.


Methods in predictive maintenance are frequently confronted with limited applicability to realistic scenarios. The available approaches are often used for a single design, requiring an entirely new analysis for a slightly different case. A solution for this issue could be using a physical model. However, physical models focus on one unique failure mechanism, while, in a practical application, several mechanisms are typically active at the same instant. This work proposes and demonstrates a new methodology that combines different failure mechanism into an integrated life prediction model. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis is used to identify the different failure mechanisms that occur in a component simultaneously. Physical and empirical models are then analyzed and modified to be implemented in a realistic case of a centrifugal pump impeller applied in a maritime environment. As erosion, cavitation, and corrosion are the main failure mechanisms of an impeller, the combination of them quantifies the degradation increment during different types of pump operation. The proposed methodology is compared with traditional failure rate models and an established cavitation model that uses an aging factor to cover other failure mechanisms. In conclusion, it is demonstrated that the proposed methodology is more sensitive and reliable in describing the degradation process for a wide range of operating conditions, since all the mechanisms are considered.


In this paper, A 3.1-10.6 GHz ultra-wideband (UWB) low-voltage low-noise amplifier (LNA) employing only one-stage cascoded topology is presented. The voltage-current feedback is used to enhance the bandwidth. The research is based on the TSMC 0.18 um CMOS processes. A two-section LC resonance configuration is used to arrive at the input and output matching. Measurement results show the following performances: maximum power gain of 9.18 dB, gain flatness of below plusmn0.58 dB for every band group, minimum noise figure of 4.1 dB, the input- referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 7.25 dBm and the input-referred 1-dB compression point (P1 dB) of -2.5 dBm. The power consumption is 23.5 mW under a 1.0 V supply voltage. The chip area is 0.995 mm times0.780 mm.


product categories, from pizzas to real estate, present buyers with purchase decisions involving complex area judgments. Does a square look larger or smaller than a cir- cle? How much smaller does a circle of 8-inch diameter look when compared to one with a 10-inch diameter? In this pa- per, we propose a psychophysical model of how consumers make area comparison judgments. The model involves con- sumers making effort-accuracy trade-offs that lead to heu- ristic processing of area judgments and systematic shape- and size-related biases. The model is based on four propositions: P1. Consumers make an initial comparison between two figures based on a single dimension; P2. The dimension of initial compari- son—the primary dimension—is the one that is most salient to consumers, where salience is figure and context depen- dent; P3. Consumers insufficiently adjust an initial compar- ison using a secondary dimension, which we assume to be orthogonal to the primary dimension used for the initial comparison; and P4. The magnitude by which the initial comparison is adjusted is directly related to the relative sa- lience of the secondary dimension versus the primary di- mension. The model predicts that a single linear dimension inap- propriately dominates the two-dimensional area comparison task and that contextual factors affect which linear dimen- sion dominates the task. The relative use of the second di- mension depends on its relative salience, which can be in- fluenced in a variety of ways. The model extends the area estimation literature in cognitive psychology by exploring new biases in area estimation and is able to resolve contro- versial effects regarding which shape is perceived to be ''bigger,'' the square or the circle, by incorporating contex- tual factors into model specifications. A set of six studies—five laboratory experiments and one field experiment—systematically test model predic- tions. Study 1 is a process study that shows that when two dimensions are available to make an area comparison judg- ment, people choose one of those to be the primary di- mension, with the other being the secondary dimension. Furthermore, it shows that the choice of the primary di- mension is dependent on its relative salience that can be contextually manipulated via manner of visual presenta- tion. Studies 2 and 3 show how the use of a diagonal versus the side of a square (contextually determined) can affect whether a square is perceived to be smaller or larger than a circle of the same area. Study 3 extends the investigation to the domain of the price people are willing to pay for ''pizzas'' of different shapes, presented differently. Study 4, a field study, demonstrates external validity by showing that purchase quantities are greater when a circular package is expected to contain less than a rectangular pack- age of the same volume in a domain where consumption goal is constant (cream cheese with a bagel). Studies 5 and 6 examine ways in which one can increase the salience of the secondary dimension, in a size estimation task, i.e., judging the rate of increase of area. While Study 5 does so via contextual visual cues (incorporating lines that draw one's attention to the underused dimension), Study 6 does the same using semantic cues that direct attention to a single dimension (e.g., diameter) or the total area and comparing these with a visual presentation of the figure. Overall, results suggest that the manner in which infor- mation is presented affects the relative salience of dimen- sions used to judge areas, and can influence the price con- sumers are willing to pay. Underlining the external validity of these findings, container shape can significantly affect quantity purchased and overall sales. The paper highlights biases in area comparison judgments as a function of area shape and size. The model is parsimonious, demonstrates good predictive ability, and explains seemingly contradic- tory results in the cognitive psychology literature. Implica- tions for pricing, product design, packaging, and retailing are suggested. (Consumer Behavior; Experiments; Judgment Biases; Package De- sign; Information Processing)


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

The DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) Vidaza (5-azacytidine) and Dacogen (5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, decitabine) are approved by the FDA for chemotherapy against myelodysplastic syndrome, a heterogeneous bone marrow disorder. Vidaza in combination with the HDAC inhibitor entinostat has shown some promise in treating lung cancer and this has been replicated in our orthotopic lung cancer model. However, the effectiveness of these DNMTi against solid tumors is likely impacted in part, by their stability and rapid inactivation by cytidine deaminase in the liver. These studies were initiated to test the efficacy of SGI-110, a prodrug for decitabine. SGI-110, a dinucleotide consisting of 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine followed by a deoxyguanosine, has been shown to be effective in vitro as a DNA methylation inhibitor and less prone to deamination by cytidine deaminase. In this study, we used our in vivo lung cancer model to explore the potential therapeutic effect of SGI-110 alone and in combination with entinostat. In vivo plasma concentrations and pharmacokinetic properties of SGI-110 and its metabolite decitabine were evaluated in nude rats after a single SC dose of SGI-110. Upon SC administration, SGI-110 is rapidly converted to decitabine. Dose proportional pharmacokinetics showed no significant difference in accumulation of SGI-110 or decitabine, while the half life of decitabine was increased to 4hrs. SGI-110 alone or in combination with entinostat significantly reduced tumor burden by 56% of Calu-6, a K-ras/p53 mutant lung adenocarcinoma cell line engrafted orthotopically in nude rats. On a molecular level, global changes in gene profiles were associated with a reduction in tumor burden. Microarray analysis revealed that a 212 and 592 genes were differentially expressed in SGI-110 alone or with combination therapy. Highly significant gene expression changes were seen in key cancer regulatory pathways. In addition, SGI-110 treatment activated p21 and apoptotic genes BIK and BAK in these tumors. SGI-110 caused widespread epigenetic reprogramming that induced demethylation of an average of 291 genes; in particular 208 genes were polycomb target genes. The polycomb targets were enriched for transcription factors. These preclinical in vivo findings demonstrate that SGI-110 alone shows strong demethylating activity and when combined with entinostat more effectively retards tumor growth. (Supported by Astex Pharmaceutical and SU2C)

Citation Format: Carmen S. Tellez, Marcie J. Grimes, Maria A. Picchi, Yushi Liu, Tom H. March, Aram Oganesian, Pietro Taverna, Steven A. Belinsky. SGI-110 and entinostat therapy reduces lung tumor burden and reprograms the epigenome . [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 679. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-679


Modeling systems that are governed by van der Waals (dispersion) interactions using empirically corrected DFT methods is becoming increasingly popular due to the promise of a CCSD(T) level accuracy at the computational cost of DFT. Although, DFT methods are computationally efficient in comparison to the CCSD(T) method, currently, structural optimizations using DFT methods are generally only feasible for systems of less than a few hundred atoms. We seek a method applicable to macromolecular complexes. In order to model such large systems, empirically corrected semiempirical methods appear to be an attractive alternative. As with most common DFT methods, the popular semiempirical methods (e.g., AM1) also do not model long-range dispersion (and therefore an empirical correction term is desirable), but this is not their only shortcoming. For weakly interacting systems, hydrogen bonding also poses a concern. A new empirically corrected AM1 method that uses two empirical correction terms, one for dispersion and one for hydrogen bonding interactions, is presented and termed AM1-FS1. This new empirically corrected AM1 method has been parametrized to a diverse training set of 66 complexes that includes nonequilibrium structures and yields sub-kilocalorie accuracy in the prediction of intermolecular interaction energies. More significantly, AM1-FS1 achieves this result with substantially less parametrization than existing empirically corrected semiempirical methods and without modification of the original AM1 parameters so that it retains both the computational efficiency and predictive power for thermo-chemical quantities of the original AM1 Hamiltonian. The performance of AM1-FS1 is also tested on several carbon nanostructure complexes and pseudorotaxanes and is found to produce results in very good agreement with the best first-principles calculations.


Abstract Objective: The aim of the study was to assess disordered eating attitudes and other related factors in mothers of newborns requiring Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission compared to those of mothers who delivered healthy infants. Methods: An anonymous self-report study conducted among 199 mothers of newborns hospitalized in NICU, and a control group of 127 mothers of healthy newborns. Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) and a survey regarding other perinatal health issues were used. Results: Women in the study group (SG) gained significantly less weight during pregnancy when compared to control group (CG; p = 0.001). There were fewer women with appropriate pre-gestational BMI in the SG (p = 0.052). Women who feared weight-gain during pregnancy were younger (p < 0.001) and had higher EAT-26 scores (p < 0.001). Women with EAT-26 scores >20 smoked significantly more often during their last pregnancy in the SG (p = 0.010). Cesarean section was more frequent in the SG (p = 0.017). Conclusions: Disordered eating attitudes in gestation may significantly influence the pregnancy outcomes and newborns' health. Hence, it is vital for perinatal counseling and obstetrical care to focus on these issues to facilitate early diagnosis and intervention.


The editorial team is proud to present a new Issue of the Journal of Governance and Regulation. In particular, the latest 2020 Issue 4 of Volume 9 hosts contributions of various authors from different parts of the world who focus on several interesting topics in the field of governance and regulation, including corporate social responsibility, digitization opportunities, gender diversity, labour and tax-related issues, as well as on the characteristics and composition of banks' board of directors.


Maximal violation of the CHSH-Bell inequality is usually said to be a feature of anticommuting observables. In this work we show that even random observables exhibit near-maximal violations of the CHSH-Bell inequality. To do this, we use the tools of free probability theory to analyze the commutators of large random matrices. Along the way, we introduce the notion of ``free observables,'' which can be thought of as infinite-dimensional operators that reproduce the statistics of random matrices as their dimension tends towards infinity. We also study the fine-grained uncertainty of a sequence of free or random observables and use this to construct a steering inequality with a large violation.


BACKGROUND
The Lamiaceae family contains many high-valued medicinal, aromatic and ornamental plant species. Several members of the genera in this family are under heavy pressure of collection for commercial use. DNA markers such as microsatellites could be used to identify commercially important genotypes and to select high-yielding ones for development of new varieties.

RESULTS
A total of 12,432 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from Salvia fruticosa, S. miltiorrhiza, S. sclarea and Stenogyne rugosa were analyzed. A total of 6216 ESTs were found to be unique according the redundancy test used. Results of this study indicated that the use of redundant ESTs in comparison to non-redundant ESTs was advantageous in terms of higher cross-genera transferability of the markers. A total of 75 EST-microsatellite primer pairs were tested using two different polymerase chain reaction amplification profiles and 52 were found to be cross-genera transferable. Cross-genera transferability of the e-microsatellite primer pairs varied from one species to 12 species tested. It was noted that cross-genera transferability of e-microsatellite primer pairs decreased as the evolutionary distance between the sources and target species increased.

CONCLUSION
This study indicated that EST resources from Salvia spp. and Stenogyne rugosa could be successfully used to identify cross-genera transferable e-microsatellite markers for uncharacterized genomes of the genera in the Lamiaceae family. These e-microsatellite markers could allow one to perform comparative analyses of population structure and genomic studies, and facilitate comparative linkage mapping in the genera studied. E-microsatellite primer pairs reported in this manuscript are equivalent to a total of 135 e-microsatellite primer pairs since many e-microsatellite primer pairs show cross-genera transferability.


Dropout is a technique that silences the activity of units stochastically while training deep networks to reduce overfitting. Here we introduce Quantal Synaptic Dilution (QSD), a biologically plausible model of dropout regularisation based on the quantal properties of neuronal synapses, that incorporates heterogeneities in response magnitudes and release probabilities for vesicular quanta. QSD outperforms standard dropout in ReLU multilayer perceptrons, with enhanced sparse encoding at test time when dropout masks are replaced with identity functions, without shifts in trainable weight or bias distributions. For convolutional networks, the method also improves generalisation in computer vision tasks with and without inclusion of additional forms of regularisation. QSD also outperforms standard dropout in recurrent networks for language modelling and sentiment analysis. An advantage of QSD over many variations of dropout is that it can be implemented generally in all conventional deep networks where standard dropout is applicable.


An FIR filter comprising back-to-back binary trees, each using multiple-sample delay blocks, offers advantages; (1) for rate-changing filters, (2) when block delays are especially hardware efficient, and (3) when replacing block delays with allpass sections to create an IIR filter. In the latter case, the peak group delays of the allpass sections approximate the several distinct delays of the blocks replaced. With allpass sections fixed, the combining weights are easily optimized.


In this letter, high-performance polyimide (PI)-based resistive random access memory (ReRAM) is presented by utilizing a new DAXIN-PI thin film as a resistance layer. The switching between highand low-resistance states is triggered by the formation and dissociation of the charge transfer complex. As compared with the electrochemical-metallization-based ReRAM and the valence-change-based ReRAM, this DAXIN-PI ReRAM shows excellent performance, including large Ron/Roff ratio, superior endurance, low operation voltage, fast switching speed, needless of a forming process, and acceptable retention characteristics. Among them, large Ron/Roff ratio (>; 105) and superior endurance (>; 105 cycles) can be simultaneously achieved, and the detailed reliability test for PI-based ReRAMs has been analyzed for the first time.


This presentation aims to consider the process of inclusion and development of science and technology in developed and industrialized countries based on the experience of Japan's efforts as well as to present some observations on its prospects. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan aimed at catching up with the Western Great Powers and pushed for the rapid modernization with "Wealth and military strength". At that time, Japan was not only changing political systems drastically but also integrating the Western Great Powers' advanced science and technology positively. As a result, in the days of World War I, Japan achieved entering permanent member of the League of Nations and came to occupy a big position globally. Although Japan was put under the control of allied powers, after the World War II, Japan planed integrating the overseas advanced technology again and will have current prosperity in one's hand afterwards. On the other hand, when we pay more attention abroad, the utilization of science and technology is essential to the right profit in the achievement of "Sustainable Development Goals" that is an action plan shown in "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" adopted in the United Nations General Assembly of September 2015, In Japan, 3rd Basic Plan on Ocean Policy approved by the Cabinet in May 2018 prescribes about promoting measures such as "Improve scientific knowledge", "Promote Arctic policy" and others based on science and technology. Therefore, we must consider modality of science and technology for save the ocean as Japan's lifeline. In this presentation, we will focus on inclusion and development of science and technology in Japan's ocean policy and present modality of science and technology in developed and industrialized countries.


[1] The mechanisms of the periodic Kuroshio warm water intrusion (KWWI) into Sagami Bay through the Oshima West Channel (OWC) and the fluctuation of the current field in the bay were investigated using high-frequency oceanic radar observation data, satellite imagery, and meteorological data. During the period from 15 December 2000 to 16 January 2001 the Kuroshio took a nonlarge meander path, looping south around the Kii Peninsula and then turning sharply north toward the Izu Peninsula (IP). Kuroshio warm water (KWW) then flowed into Sagami Bay periodically through the OWC on a synoptic timescale of 8–11 days. Statistical analysis of the data indicated that the occurrence of the KWWI and the variability in the Kuroshio front were highly coherent with wind velocity field fluctuations corresponding to the passage of cyclones across northern Japan. When southward to southwestward winds dominated in and around Sagami Bay, the Kuroshio front approached the southern coast of the IP, and then the KWW strongly intruded into the bay through the OWC. When eastward to northeastward winds prevailed, the front moved offshore about 10–20 km, ending the KWWI. The distances of the Kuroshio front movements were consistent with the internal radius of the deformation estimated from conductivity-temperature-depth data collected off the IP, suggesting that the Kuroshio front movement was induced by the onshore-offshore surface Ekman transport associated with the wind velocity field regime shift corresponding to the passage of cyclones. In addition, examination of the vorticity dynamics in the northern part of the bay based on radar-derived surface current data indicated that the cyclonic circulation generated in the bay was enhanced due to the transport of the positive relative vorticity by the KWWI plus the horizontal convergence accompanied by the stretching of the vorticity.


In object detection, offset-guided and point-guided regression dominate anchor-based and anchor-free method separately. Recently, point-guided approach is introduced to anchor-based method. However, we observe points predicted by this way are misaligned with matched region of proposals and score of localization, causing a notable gap in performance. In this paper, we propose CPM R-CNN which contains three efficient modules to optimize anchor- based point-guided method. According to sufficient evaluations on the COCO dataset, CPM R-CNN is demonstrated efficient to improve the localization accuracy by calibrating mentioned misalignment. Compared with Faster R-CNN and Grid R-CNN based on ResNet-101 with FPN, our approach can substantially improve detection mAP by 3.3% and 1.5% respectively without whistles and bells. Moreover, our best model achieves improvement by a large margin to 49.9% on COCO test-dev. Code is available at https://github.com/zhubinQAQ/CPM-R-CNN.


This study is about the influence of the household's economy on the health-seeking behaviour in case of possibly malarial fever for children aged less than 10 years old. The research methods are the participative observation and non-directive interviews with twenty households of rural Senegal. The economic situation of each household does not mainly determinate its health-seeking behaviour. All the households, in a first time, spend the less money they can and care their children at home. On the other hand, when the parents are aware of an aggravation, they don't hesitate to consult a specialist (biomedical or traditional) and they choose him according to their perceptions of the illness. The popular representations downplay fevers which occur during the rainy season and then explain that the first time of the illness is managed ≪ on the minimum ≫ even though this is increase the risk of an evolution of the illness to its severe aspects. Copyright John Libbey Eurotext 2003.


Botryomycosis is a chronic, granulomatous infection of the skin, soft tissue and viscera. It is uncommon and mainly occurs in immunocompromised patients. Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon represents an immunological host reaction to antigens of infectious and non-infectious agents. We report a case of a 64-year-old immunocompetent woman presented at our department with a 2-month history of abdominal papules and discharging nodules. She was treated with several antibiotics with no success. Skin biopsy showed granular bodies in the dermis with a Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon. Microbiologic study isolated a Staphylococcus aureus. Patient was successfully treated 4 weeks with oral clindamycin 300 mg bid. Lack of drug penetration into the "encapsulated-like" microcolonies could explain the therapeutic challenge of this case.


SuperCritical Fluids (SCFs) have unique thermophyscial properties and heat-transfer characteristics, which make them very attractive for use in power industry. In this chapter, specifics of thermophysical properties and heat transfer of SCFs such as water, carbon dioxide and helium are considered and discussed. Also, particularities of heat transfer at SuperCritical Pressures (SCPs) are presented, and the most accurate heat-transfer correlations are listed. SuperCritical Water (SCW) is widely used as the working fluid in the SCP Rankine "steam"-turbine cycle in fossil-fuel thermal power plants. This increase in thermal efficiency is possible by application of high-temperature reactors and power cycles. Currently, six concepts of Generation-IV reactors are being developed, with coolant outlet temperatures of 500°C~1000°C. SCFs will be used as coolants (helium in GFRs and VHTRs; and SCW in SCWRs) and/or working fluids in power cycles (helium; mixture of nitrogen (80%) and helium [20%]; nitrogen, and carbon dioxide in Brayton gas-turbine cycles; and SCW "steam" in Rankine cycle).


In this paper, we examine the effect of IT investment on the cost of bank loans for firms, drawing upon theories of banking and risk management. On one hand, IT may be able to reduce the risk of being overtaken by competition or other adverse situations; on the other hand, the IT investment itself might be considered risky due to nature of the digital transformation. Using a sample of 261 firms from 1991-2006 and data from InformationWeek, DealScan and Compustat, we find that IT investment is associated with lower interest rates from banks. More importantly, we find the strength of this relationship is contingent upon the role of IT in the industry, the intensity of competition in the industry, and whether the firm is diversified.


In India the milk is consumed both in the raw (un-processed) as well as processed forms with the raw milk being consumed locally. The use of processed milk is prevalent through both the organized as well as un-organized sectors. The milk processing in the organized sector (20% of the total milk processed) is undertaken to produce the pasteurized liquid milk as well as other value-added products. Solar energy is a cheap, omnipresent, and indigenous source of energy that produces a clean, pollution-free climate. In recent years, the use of solar energy has risen to new heights. Its driving force is the ongoing quest for an alternative power source due to the perceived shortage of fossil fuels. As the price of fossil fuels continues to increase, it has become much more common. The planet absorbs more energy from the sun in a single hour than the entire world consumes in a year. Its use has proved to be the most cost-effective, as most systems in individual applications only need a few kilowatts of electricity. Solar collectors transform solar energy into thermal energy for heating applications, which is the easiest and most effective way to do it. The dairy industry is one of the industries where thermal processing is a crucial unit activity. Solar energy can thus be used to heat water, sterilize cans and bottles, and pasteurize milk. This paper examines the use of solar energy in the pasteurization of milk.


During translation elongation, the ribosome serially adds amino acids to a growing polypeptide over many rounds of catalysis. The ribosome remains bound to mRNAs over these multiple catalytic cycles, requiring high processivity. Despite its importance to translation, relatively little is known about how mRNA sequences or signaling pathways might enhance or reduce ribosome processivity. Here, we describe a metric for ribosome processivity, the ribosome density index (RDI), which is readily calculated from ribosomal profiling data. We show that ribosome processivity is not strongly influenced by open-reading frame (ORF) length or codon optimality. However, we do observe that ribosome processivity exists in two phases and that the early phase of ribosome processivity is enhanced by mTORC1, a key translational regulator. By showing that ribosome processivity is regulated, our findings suggest an additional layer of control that the cell can exert to govern gene expression.


This study assessed genetic counselors' (GCs) perceptions of delegation as a tool to increase workforce efficiency and help meet the current gap between the number of genetic service providers and the number of patients. GCs were recruited to participate via an online survey that assessed activities (categorized as typical genetic counseling, administrative, or professional development) performed by a clinical genetic counselor. Respondents indicated which activities represent their largest time consumers, their willingness to delegate these activities, and barriers to and perceived outcomes of delegation. Overall, respondents indicated that they spend 25% of their time performing administrative activities that they would largely be willing to delegate; however, respondents were generally unwilling to delegate many typical genetic counseling and professional development activities, citing concerns regarding accuracy and liability, and highlighting the belief that these activities constitute the core role of a genetic counselor. Respondents indicated that delegation of time‐consuming administrative activities would increase access to genetic services and improve job satisfaction. Additionally, differences were identified among clinical specialties regarding which activities were selected as top time consumers, indicating that potential targets of re‐allocation of time or delegation may be variable. This research indicates a need to reduce the number of administrative tasks in which GCs are directly involved to re‐allocate time toward core responsibilities, direct patient care, and professional development, the result of which is more efficient use of the GC skill‐set.


Healthcare professionals do not often encounter patients who refuse treatment. Generally, ill people are grateful to receive treatment, or may even demand it. However, some patients refuse treatment. Their reasons for so doing are often complex, associated with deep-seated emotions, and should be of concern to healthcare professionals. Nurses in particular must endeavour to understand why treatment they consider to be beneficial to a patient may not be viewed as such by said patient. Most treatments have what is called a risk–benefit ratio, an uneven balance of the risk of adverse outcome compared to desired effect. It is the patient who receives the treatment and takes the risk. As such, health professionals must be aware that patients have the right fully to understand their treatment and any resultant risks. For example, how often do nurses administer an arachis oil enema without ascertaining whether the patient has nut allergy? Arachis oil is extracted from peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea ) and about one in 100 people in the UK are allergic to peanuts (www.patientuk.co.uk). The risk to the patient may be hidden, illustrating the need to obtain informed consent to all treatments.

In the NHS, patients do not have the right to demand specific medical treatment (General Medical Council, 2010; Royal College of Physicians, 2010). However, they have the right to refuse specific treatment. Advance refusal of treatment will be considered in this article. Such refusal usually means that a person has thought about which clinical treatments they wish to forego in the event that they are unable to express their wishes for treatment at a future date. In other words, at the critical time of decision-making, an individual might be unconscious, too unwell, or mentally incompetent to make or express an informed decision.

This sort of planning for future care is termed …


Abstract Purpose It has been found that childhood obesity (CO) may play an important role in the onset and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Thus we conducted this mendelian randomisation analysis (MR) to evaluate the causal association between childhood obesity and osteoarthritis. Methods Instrumental variables (IVs) were obtained from publicly available genome-wide association study datasets. The leave-one-out sensitivity test, MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier test (MR-PRESSO), and Cochran's Q test were used to confirm the heterogeneity and pleiotropy of identified IVs, then five different models, including the inverse variance weighted model (IVW), weighted median estimator model (WME), weighted model-based method (WM), MR-Egger regression model (MER), and MR-Robust Adjusted Profile Score (MRAPS) were applied in this MR analysis. Results After excluding all outliers identified by the MR-PRESSO test, no evident directional pleiotropy was found. Significant heterogeneity was found in the secondary MR and as a result, the multiplicative random-effect model was used. Significant causal association between CO and OA (OR 1.0075, 95% CI [1.0054, 1.0010], p = 8.12 × 10−13). The secondary MR also revealed that CO was causally associated with knee OA (OR 1.1067, 95% CI [1.0769, 1.1373], p = 3.30 × 10−13) and hip OA (OR 1.1272, 95% CI [1.0610, 1.1976], p = 1.07 × 10−4). The accuracy and robustness of these findings were confirmed by sensitivity tests. Conclusion There appears to be a causal relationship between childhood obesity and OA. Our results indicate that individuals with a history of childhood obesity require specific clinical attention to prevent the development of knee and hip OA.


We report the results of a search for a spontaneous magnetization in the superconducting B-phase of UPt3 which is predicted to exist because of broken time-reversal symmetry. We have measured the change of magnetic flux upon the superconducting transition in a field very close to zero by using a SQUID magnetometer. Our result gives the upper limit of 2 mG for the spontaneous internal field, one order of magnitude smaller than obtained by a recent μSR measurement. The small value favors the theory of orbital degeneracy of the pair wave function over the theory of spin degeneracy.


The importance of landscape and heritage recording and documentation with optical remote sensing sensors is well recognized at international level. The continuous development of new sensors, data capture methodologies and multi-resolution 3D representations, contributes significantly to the digital 3D documentation, mapping, conservation and representation of landscapes and heritages and to the growth of research in this field. This article reviews the actual optical 3D measurement sensors and 3D modeling techniques, with their limitations and potentialities, requirements and specifications. Examples of 3D surveying and modeling of heritage sites and objects are also shown throughout the paper.


Mary Ellen O'Connell, Game of Drones, Review Essay of CHAMAYOU, GREGOIRE. A THEORY OF THE DRONE (Janet Llyod, trans.); SHAH, SIKANDER AHMED. INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DRONE STRIKES IN PAKISTAN: THE LEGAL AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ASPECTS; WOODS, CHRIS. SUDDEN JUSTICE: AMERICA'S SECRET DRONE WARS, 109 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 889 (2015).States and armed groups use drones today to hunt and kill known persons and anyone in their vicinity by launching Hellfire missiles and dropping 500-pound bombs. They are used for targeted killing, a euphemism for assassination. Woods provides an excellent account of drone development from spy plane to killing machine. It is Chamayou, however, who demonstrates that as the technology evolved so have certain legal, moral, and strategic assessments of targeted killing. These new developments have not occurred because of the success of targeted killing. All three books provide powerful evidence that targeted killing is counter-productive to security policy. It is the very possession of the technology that leads to the will to use it, inducing legal scholars to argue for the right to do so. Chamayou says those possessing the capacity to kill believe they also possess the right to kill. His insights help explain the wide gap between the actual international law on the use of force — well stated by Shah — and the arguments presented by United States government lawyers and sympathetic scholars. International law in the form of the United Nations Charter generally prohibits the use of military force with only two narrow exceptions: The Security Council may authorize force when necessary to restore international peace and security, and states may exercise individual and collective self- defense against a state responsible for an armed attack on another state. Governments also invite assistance in suppressing civil wars. Any other analysis is fabricated to suit the drone.


Abstract Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to reduce blood loss and postoperative transfusions in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). There is no consensus on the ideal dosing regimen in the literature, although there is a growing body of literature stating there is little benefit to additional doses. Our study compared one versus two doses of TXA in primary TKA and its effect on postoperative transfusion rate. We retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing primary TKA at our two high-volume arthroplasty centers between 2013 and 2016. Patients were included if they underwent unilateral primary TKA, and received one or two doses of intravenous TXA. Patients receiving therapeutic anticoagulation were excluded. Our primary outcome was postoperative transfusion rate. Secondary outcomes included blood loss, length of stay, rate of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE), readmission and reoperation. A total of 1,191 patients were included: 891 received one dose and 300 received two doses. There was no significant difference in rate of transfusion, deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE), blood volume loss, and reoperation. There was a significantly higher risk of readmission (6.7 vs. 2.4%, odds ratio [OR] 2.96, p < 0.001) and reoperation (2.0 vs. 0.6%, OR 3.61, p = 0.024) in patients receiving two doses. These findings were similar with subgroup analysis of patients receiving only aspirin prophylaxis. In unilateral TKA, there is no difference in transfusion rate with one or two doses of perioperative TXA. There was no increased risk of thromboembolic events between groups, although the two-dose group had a higher rate of readmission and reoperation. Given the added cost without clear benefit, these findings may support administration of one rather than two doses of TXA during primary TKA.


Abstract. Information about abudance and distribution of 8 species of Caspian gobies (Neogobius melanostomus, Neogobius kessleri, Neogobius syrman eurystomus, Neogobius gymnotrachelus, Neogobius caspius, Proterorhinus marmoratus, Bentophilus sp.) is given. A method of trawling (number of gobies / one o'clock trawling) was used. Hydrological and hydrochemical changes in the Caspian Sea influence the distribution and abudance of goby fishes in the western part of the North Caspian Sea. Changes of species composition and distribution depended on the lowering in the sea level, increase of salinity, temperature background. The maximal abudance of gobies in 2010 were as in previous years in the highly productive waters (western part), where was the fattening of sturgeons, semi-anadromous and marine fishes. Concentration of gobies is decreased in less trophic waters (eastern part) of the Northern Caspian Sea.


Two fundamental issues in emotion theory and research concern: (a) the role of emotion in promoting response coherence across different emotion systems; and (b) the role of awareness of bodily sensations in the experience of emotion. The present study poses a question bridging the two domains; namely, whether training in Vipassana meditation or dance, both of which promote attention to certain kinds of bodily sensations, is associated with greater coherence between the subjective and physiological aspects of emotion. We used lag correlations to examine second-by-second coherence between subjective emotional experience and heart period within individuals across four different films. Participants were either: (a) experienced Vipassana meditators (attention to visceral sensations), (b) experienced dancers (attention to somatic sensations), and (c) controls with no meditation or dance experience. Results indicated a linear relationship in coherence, with meditators having highest levels, dancers having intermediary levels, and controls having lowest levels. We conclude that the coherence between subjective and cardiac aspects of emotion is greater in those who have specialized training that promotes greater body awareness.


Abstract. The 2020 summer season has revealed frequent occurrences of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) around the Northern hemisphere at middle latitudes (45–55° N), with the lowest latitude at which NLCs were seen being 34.1° N. In order to investigate a reason for this NLC extraordinary summer season, we have analyzed long-term Aura/MLS satellite data for all available summer periods from 2005 to 2020. Both Aura/MLS summer temperature and water vapor in the upper mesosphere and the mesopause region, between 74 and 89 km altitude, have been considered. We have found that there has been a moderate decrease in the upper mesosphere temperature between 2016 and 2020 and no dramatic changes have been observed in temperature in the summer of 2020 at the middle latitude mesopause. At the same time, water vapor concentration has significantly increased (by about 12–15 %) in the zonal mean H2O value in the 2020 summer compared to 2017, meaning that the summer mesopause at middle latitudes has become more wet. At the same time, no increase in water vapor has been detected at the high latitude high altitude mesopause. A combination of lower mesopause temperature and water vapor concentration maximum at middle latitudes is the main reason for frequent and widespread occurrences of NLCs seen around the globe at middle latitudes in the summer of 2020. The 24th solar cycle minimum cannot explain the H2O maximum in 2020 since the correlation between Lyman-α flux and the amount of water vapor is low. The increase in volcanic activity from 2013 to 2015 (and its recent maximum occurred in 2015) explains the increased amount of water vapor in the upper mesosphere for the past years and its maximum in 2020 due to volcanic water vapor being injected into the atmosphere and transported into the upper mesosphere. The 5-year delay between volcanic activity and water vapor maximum is well explained by a general meridional-vertical atmospheric circulation.


The network slicing of physical infrastructure is required for fifth-generation mobile networks to make significant changes in how service providers deliver and defend services in the face of evolving end-user performance requirements. To perform this, a fast and secure slicing technique is employed for node allocation and connection establishment, which necessitates the usage of a large number of domain applications across the network. PROMETHEE-II and SLE algorithms were used in this study's approach to network design for node allocation and link construction, respectively. The PROMETHEE-II approach takes into account a variety of node characteristics while constructing a node importance rank array (NIRA), including the node capacity, bandwidth of neighboring connections, degree of the node, and proximity centrality among others. The SLE method is proposed to record all possible link configurations for the network slice request (NSR) nodes to guarantee that the shortest path array (SPA) of the NSR has a high acceptance rate. Performance metrics such as the service revenue and acceptance ratio were considered to evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested approach. The effectiveness of network slicing has been further examined under different infrastructure models to determine whether a small-world network structure is beneficial to 5G network. For each scenario, simulations were carried out and the results were compared to previously published findings from other sources.


The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the major factors that affect the insurance industry in the Middle East countries through applying the principal component analysis method (PCA). The researchers studied and analyzed 19 variables that have an impact on the insurance industry in the Middle East. These variables were summarized into eight major factors based on their importance, among them the inter-developed insurance culture, and the industry's dependence on traditional insurance products. These variables were categorized according to their significance, and in light of the nature of the implication of every factor. The study revealed that the first factor "Inter developed insurance culture" was the most significant factor, followed by the second factor "Industry's dependence on traditional insurance products", and then comes the eighth factor "The weakness and strength of the appropriate legislation and regulatory systems that are applied in the Arab countries in terms of legislation, supervision and regulation of the industry".


Introduction. The article is devoted to the development of an actual scientific problem - identifying the nature and place of didactic readiness of future teachers of vocational education in the structure of their professional readiness to work in the system of school, technical and vocational education in the dual format. This requires upgrading training system. The aim of the article is to identify the degree of didactic readiness of future teachers of vocational education to work in the professional sphere.
Materials and methods.The information on the research object, collected from 39 scientific and reference sources is presented. The views of various authorsare given. The correlation of the concepts "preparation" and "readiness", "professional readiness", "didactic readiness" and the range of their interpretations are consideredon this basis. The essence of didactic readiness proceeds from the content of the teacher's activity in the system of school, vocational and technical education in the dual format, the leading idea of which is to strengthen the link between training and production, to overcome the mismatch of the production and educational spheres. The dominant components, structural components and levels (low, medium, high) of the didactic readiness of future teachers to work in the professional sphere are determined.The choice of methods for obtaining the desired results is substantiated: analysis of the results of educational and extracurricular activities; methods of admission, intermediate and final control; case-based (method of professional situations); project, integrating knowledge and skills from various scientific and practical areas; observation; poll; testing; experiment and other methods that provide intensive formation.
The results of the study. The results of the survey and testing allowed us to follow the levels of growth in the didactic readiness of future professional education teachers (low, medium, high).
Discussion of the conclusion. In the course of the experiment and approbation of the research results, it was revealed that the implemented methodological tools contribute to the dynamic advancement of students from one level of didactic readiness to the activity to another.


Following oral administration of 75 mg of three dipyridamole commercial products in a three-way crossover design with six subjects, no statistically significant differences were found for serum concentrations at all sampling times nor for bioavailability parameters. The only exception was the higher serum concentration occurring 0.5 h after administration of Antistenocardin when compared with dipyridamole (p less than 0.05).


Abstract The article discusses individual approaches to the formation of the architectural and spatial environment of maternity hospitals and perinatal centres contributing to social distancing. A 'functional-spatial' approach is proposed, in which the boundaries of spaces in the most active functional areas of the maternity hospital are changed: entrance area, reception of women in labour, area for relatives and visitors of the hospital, delivery of newborns, consultations in the polyclinic department of the maternity hospital. As a planning technique for distancing is proposed the formation of a system of space 'soft borders' using flexible, inclined, semi-cylindrical and 'flowing' translucent partitions. The second, 'environmental approach', is based on changing the scheme of communication and environmental situations in the internal environment of the maternity hospital due to the thoughtful arrangement of furniture and interior equipment, as well as due to light, colour and graphic navigation. Such a reorganization of the architectural and spatial structure of the maternity hospitals, based on the requirements of social distancing, preserves the value characteristics of the therapeutic environment.


The low projectile component in tektites in contrast to the high projectile component in the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary clay has prompted a study of hypervelocity target-projectile mixing processes. Results from a 6.4-km/sec impact of a Fe-Ni-PGE alloy projectile (90% Fe) into a Mo target indicate that high-angle (55° to 75°), high-velocity (< 6 km/sec) melted ejecta is relatively projectile-rich, whereas low-angle (10° to 40°), low-velocity ejecta (< 1 km/sec) contains less projectile material and is more enriched in the target component. These results support theoretical predictions. Not predicted by theoretical calculation, but observed here, is a break in the compositional trend such that at angles of ejection between 50° and 70°, the projectile/target ratio in the melted ejecta decreases suddenly with increasing angle, only to rise to very high values at higher angles. It appears that for large-body terrestrial impacts, the composition of the high-angle, high-speed ejecta which reaches stratospheric heights will be critical to sudden changes in global climate and the induced environmental stresses. Application of these results to large impacts such as the K-T boundary event, are expected to provide new data pertinent to physical theories of extinction mechanisms.


Museum professionals, museum supporters and observers understand provenance to be the history and circumstances of an object's ownership and possession. Knowing the story of an object's ownership and possession may contribute to understanding the relative meanings and significances of that object to individuals, nations, groups, and locations, and may improve understandings of legal rights, titles, and interests in objects. Museum professionals understand that ascertaining and sharing provenance information can further public trust, public service, and building historical records for objects. However, the ability of museums of any type to ascertain provenance for objects is greatly dependent on the motivations and practices of past owners or possessors, and other interested parties, to document and share knowledge about ownership and possession. Discussions and actions within the last several years related to the history and practices surrounding twentieth and twenty-first century acquisitions of certain objects by museums have focused acute attention on the importance of studying, documenting, and revealing provenance


In prosthetic heart valve replacement the possibility of valve dysfunction is of particular importance. Preoperative nondestructive testing of each individual valve could prevent the implantation of valves that are potentially dysfunctional owing to material failure. For that purpose holographic interferometry as a noncontacting, nondestructive, highly sensitive, three-dimensional measurement technique has been applied. Samples of seven different types of prosthetic heart valves (Wada-Cutter, Cross-Jones, Bj6rk-Shiley, Omnicarbon, Lillehei-Kaster, Starr-Edwards, and St. Jude-Medical) were investigated in our experiments. The valve under investigation was mounted in a specially developed liquid-filled test chamber, which provided optical access to the valve from four sides, and was stressed in closed position at the physiological level of loading. Deformations of the valve due to a small pressure difference applied between exposures were recorded by double-exposure holography. A fringe pattern superimposed on the image of the valve reconstructed from the hologram clearly indicates--with the sensitivity and accuracy of a fraction of the laser wavelength used--the presence of any slightest defect in the valve material. The series of experiments carried out with different valves has demonstrated that this fringe pattern is reproducible and that its shape is specific for each type of valve. Deviations of these shapes from the typical ones point out the weaknesses and hidden defects, which could be responsible for dysfunction of the valves, a high level of hemolysis, or other functional disorders.


Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered as one of the major health problems worldwide. The rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Bangladesh is primarily attributed to rapid urbanization and associated changes in lifestyle, such as sedentary lifestyle, higher calorie food intake and stressful life. Studies support the utilization of riskassessment scoring systems in quantifying individual's risk for developing T2DM. Thus, a simple risk-assessment scoring system for early screening of T2DM among Bangladeshi adults will be beneficial to identify the high-risk adults and thus taking adequate preventive measures in combating DM.The purpose of the study was to calculate the risk assessment score of developing T2DM within 10 years among Bangladeshi adults. Methods: The cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the outpatient department (OPD) of Medicine, MARKS Medical College & Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 2018 to July 2018 among randomly sampled 205 adult subjects. Subjects undiagnosed with diabetes mellitus and had previous history of high blood glucose during pregnancy or other health examination (i.e. impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance or gestational diabetes mellitus) were included. From a review of literature regarding risk factors of developing DM in Bangladesh, the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) system was found to be more useful for the Bangladeshi adults. The Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) questionnaire was used to collect the data including demographic characteristics and different risk factors and to calculate total risk score for predicting the risk of developing T2DM within 10 years. Results: Among 205 subjects, male and female were 57.1% and 42.9% respectively. The Mean (±SD) age of the study subjects was 37.64±1.07 years. In this study, both non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors showed statistically significant association with the FINDRISC among Bangladeshi adults (p<0.05). There was a significant association among FINDRISC with history of previous high blood glucose, and treated hypertensive Bangladeshi adults.33.65% of the Bangladeshi adults had slightly elevated diabetes risk score (DRS). This study predicts that 17.55% of the Bangladeshi adults may have moderate to high risk to develop T2DM within the consecutive 10 years. Conclusion: This study provides a simple, feasible, non-invasive and convenient screening FINDRISC tool that identifies individuals at risk of having T2DM. People with high risk of DM should be referred for early intervention and changes to a healthy lifestyle and primary prevention to prevent or delay the onset of T2DM.


The teachers job is influenced by two main categories of forces- the internal forces, which he has control over and the external forces which are not within the domain of his control. The paper took a critical look at the internal forces from the point of view of the seven laws of the teacher as postulated by H G Hendrinks. The ability of the teacher to comply with these laws poses great challenge to him. The paper is an exposition with ample illustrations on what the teacher must do, why he must do it and how he is to do it in order to overcome or minimize the challenge. Furthermore, the paper recognizes the influence of the external forces which, if not controlled, can inhibit the manifestation of his professionalism. Two of such inhibitors are identified as infrastructure/facilities and teachers' welfare. Recommendations were made on the popularization of Hendrinks laws among teachers and control of external inhibitors through provision of adequate school infrastructure and welfare for teachers.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of an in vitro drug resistance assay to platinum and taxane in the management of advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian and primary peritoneal cancer. All patients with FIGO Stage IIIc and IV who received postoperative chemotherapy with platinum and taxane for more than 4 courses after the initial cytoreductive surgery between 1995 and 2008 were evaluated. Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were not included. An in vitro drug resistance assay (EDR Assay, Oncotech, Tustin, CA) was used to determine drug resistance for each patient's tumor tissue. Level of drug resistance was described as extreme (EDR), intermediate (IDR), or low (LDR). Response to chemotherapy and survival were correlated to the EDR Assay. Of the 335 patients who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery, 173 cases met the criteria for statistical evaluation. The 58 patients (33.5%) whose tumors had LDR to both platinum and taxane had statistically improved progression‐free survival and overall survival (OS) compared with the 115 patients (66.5%) who demonstrated IDR or EDR to platinum and/or taxane (5‐year OS rates, 41.1% vs. 30.9%, p = 0.014). The 5‐year OS rates for the 28 (16.2%) cases that had optimal cytoreduction with LDR to both platinum and taxane was significantly improved over the 62 (35.8%) cases that were suboptimally cytoreduced with IDR or EDR to platinum and/or taxane (54.1% vs. 20.4%, respectively, p < 0.001). In conclusion, LDR to both platinum and taxane chemotherapy, as determined by an in vitro drug resistance assay, independently predicts improved survival in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian and peritoneal cancer, especially in those patients who undergo optimal primary cytoreduction. © 2009 UICC


Traveling wave slot array on cylindrical substrate integrated waveguide (CSIW) is designed, fabricated and measured at K-band. CSIW is formed by wrapping the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) around the cylinder in the circumferential direction. 16 element longitudinal slot array on the broad wall of single CSIW is designed by the Elliot's design procedure. The spacings between the slot elements are determined to reduce the half power beam width (HPBW) and to obtain good matching at 25 GHz. A 4 × 16 slot array is formed using 4 CSIW array each having 16 traveling wave longitudinal slots and the array is fed by 1 × 4 SIW power divider structure. About 10 ° beam steering is achieved when frequency is swept from 24 to 26 GHz. Gain of the antenna is 14 dB. Very good agreement between the simulated and measured results is obtained.


When pulled along the axis, double-strand DNA undergoes a large conformational change and elongates by roughly twice its initial contour length at a pulling force of about 70 pN. The transition to this highly overstretched form of DNA is very cooperative. Applying a force perpendicular to the DNA axis (unzipping), double-strand DNA can also be separated into two single-stranded DNA, this being a fundamental process in DNA replication. We study the DNA overstretching and unzipping transition using fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and argue that the conformational changes of double-strand DNA associated with either of the above mentioned processes can be viewed as force induced DNA melting. As the force at one end of the DNA is increased the DNA starts melting abruptly/smoothly above a critical force depending on the pulling direction. The critical force fm, at which DNA melts completely decreases as the temperature of the system is increased. The melting force in the case of unzipping is smaller compared to the melting force when the DNA is pulled along the helical axis. In the case of melting through unzipping, the double-strand separation has jumps which correspond to the different energy minima arising due to sequence of different base pairs. The fraction of Watson–Crick base pair hydrogen bond breaking as a function of force does not show smooth and continuous behavior and consists of plateaus followed by sharp jumps.