There are two distinct modes of protein synthesis in the cell. The conventional mechanism of cap-dependent ribosomal scanning is utilized for general protein synthesis, whereas internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation appears to be reserved for synthesis of those gene products most critical for cell proliferation and survival, providing a fail-safe or emergency system to ensure that such essential polypeptides can be manufactured when needed, particularly under conditions of stress when general protein synthesis is compromised. To date, there has been no means, experimental or therapeutic, by which to selectively modulate IRES function; rather, IRES-mediated translation has typically been studied by inhibiting general protein synthesis and attributing the remaining translational activity to the IRES. To address this problem, a cell-based high-throughput screen of 135,000 compounds was performed to identify small molecules capable of selectively inhibiting translation mediated through the IGF1R IRES. The identification of these compounds allows us, for the first time, to selectively perturb IRES-mediated translation in its native context, and assess the consequences. Data obtained using the bicistronic reporter system demonstrate that the lead compounds and their structural analogs selectively inhibit second cistron translation (mediated through the IRES). Western analyses show that, at sufficient concentration (≥ 5 μg/ml), the IRES inhibitors completely block de novo IGF1R protein synthesis in genetically-unmodified breast tumor cells, confirming activity against the endogenous IRES. The IRES inhibitors function in a manner which is essentially reciprocal to rapamycin, and can be clearly distinguished from cycloheximide. Spectrum of activity of the small molecule IRES inhibitors extends beyond IGF1R to a subset of potential IRES targets, including c-myc. The IRES inhibitors differentially modulate synthesis of the two c-Myc protein isoforms, bringing about a dramatic decrease in p64, the dominant (oncogenic) isoform, while transiently stimulating synthesis of p67, the minor (growth-inhibitory) isoform. RNase protection analyses show no discernible changes in c-myc mRNA, confirming that the effects of the IRES inhibitor are exerted at the translational level. Sustained IRES inhibition has profound, detrimental effects on human tumor cells, inducing massive (>99%) cell death and complete loss of clonogenic survival in tumor models as disparate as triple negative breast carcinoma, glioblastoma, and acute myeloid leukemia. Beyond a critical threshold of dose and duration of exposure, there is no evidence of recovery, even with prolonged incubation in absence of the compound. Together, these findings support the conclusion that IRES-mediated translation is of fundamental importance to the survival of malignant cells, and may represent a critical point of vulnerability which could be exploited therapeutically. Citation Format: Christos Vaklavas, Zheng Meng, Hyoungsoo Choi, William E. Grizzle, Kurt R. Zinn, Scott W. Blume. Selective modulation of IRES-mediated translation in malignant cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4363. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4363


The study aimed was to assess selected mechanical properties of surface layers obtained after interference laser treatment – DLIL of titanium alloy
Ti-6Al-4V used for implants. The samples were melted in still air at room temperature, for this purpose Nd:YAG laser was used, the number of laser
shots was variable. Next, nanoindentation tests were performed, based on which Young's modulus and nanohardness in the obtained surface layers
were determined. An increase in nanohardness is observed in the surface layers after laser melting. An increase in the modulus of elasticity and higher
hardness was observed for both the first and second areas on the sample surface. In the case of a sample for which three laser beam shots were
used, hardness and Young's modulus almost doubled. On the basis of the obtained results, it was found that the modified Ti-6Al-4V alloy can be used
as an implant material, and the proposed method of modifying its surface may extend the life of such implants and improve their frictional properties.


Misconception on algebra is one of the fundamental problems in mathematics learning. Misconception on algebra is a condition in which the student does not correctly understand and master the algebraic concept. This can cause students fail in building a correct knowledge framework, both in the concept of algebra and in other mathematical concepts using algebra. This study aims to reveal the phenomenon of misconceptions in initial algebra. A total of 52 eighth grade students from two different schools were given an algebra test and six students were interviewed afterwards. The results showed that most students made mistakes and were not correctly understanding simple algebraic forms, such as variables, coefficients and similar terms. It was concluded that students experienced some misconceptions on the basic concept of algebra.


BACKGROUND
Most of the asthma susceptibility genes have demonstrated moderate effect. Gene-gene interaction may play a role in asthma.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the genetic and gene-gene interaction effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the ADAM33, TGFβ1, VEGFA, and PLAUR genes on asthma in Thai population.

METHODS
Two hundred and fifty control and 250 asthmatic Thai subjects were recruited. Asthma was diagnosed based on symptoms and spirometry assessments using criteria outlined by the American Thoracic Society. Degrees of asthma severity were determined according to guidelines provided by the Global Initiative for Asthma. Asthmatic subjects were subcategorized into the low-severity (n = 106) and high-severity (n = 144) groups. Eleven SNPs in four genes were genotyped, including ADAM33 SNPs (rs528557/S2, rs598418, rs44707/ST+4), TGFβ1 SNPs (rs2241715, rs11466345), VEGFA SNPs (rs833069, rs3025010), and PLAUR SNPs (rs344781, rs344787, rs2239374, rs2239372). Association analyses between SNPs and asthma, and tests for gene-gene interaction were performed.

RESULTS
The ADAM33 rs528557/S2 SNP was found to be associated with asthma according to the additive and dominant models. Comparison between the low-severity group and controls showed the VEGFA rs833069 SNP to be significantly associated with the low-severity group. No gene-gene interactions were observed in this study.

CONCLUSIONS
The ADAM33 rs528557/S2 and the VEGFA rs833069 SNPs were associated with Thai asthmatics, as well as with other populations worldwide. Further studies are warranted to investigate the use these SNPs as biomarkers for establishing early diagnosis or for predicting future risk of asthma.


Cerebellar posterior interpositus neurons were recorded in cats during delayed and trace conditioning of eyeblinks. Type A neurons increased their firing in the time interval between conditioned and unconditioned stimulus presentations for both paradigms, while type B neurons decreased it. The discharge of different type A neurons recorded across successive conditioning sessions increased, with slopes of 0.061-0.078 spikes/s/trial. Both types of neurons modified their firing several trials in advance of the appearance of eyelid conditioned responses, but for each conditioned stimulus presentation their response started after conditioned response onset. Interpositus microstimulation evoked eyelid responses similar in amplitude and profiles to conditioned responses, and microinjection of muscimol decreased conditioned response amplitude. It is proposed that the interpositus nucleus is an enhancer, but not the initiator, of eyelid conditioned responses.


SUMMARY In this paper, several computational schemes, applicable to passive components to be used in millimetre wave circuitry, are discussed. These schemes lie on concepts and techniques which are in most–cases, well known but rarely experimented on integrated components due to the importance of the numerical effort to produce.


We give a method for obtaining upper bounds on the critical probability in oriented bond percolation in two dimensions. This method enables us to prove that the critical probability is at most 0.6863, greatly improving the best published upper bound, 0.84. We also prove that our method can be used to give arbitrarily good upper bounds. We also use a slight variant of our method to obtain an upper bound of 0.72599 for the critical probability in oriented site percolation.


Stories told in organisations are being used increasingly as a way of gaining greater insight into organisational culture, leadership and health. These insights should be considered when organisational change is needed to improve effectiveness. This paper examines a method that combines data collection through a story elicitation process with intervention design that promotes change and learning within organisations. In this paper, we describe these processes in detail with a step‐by‐step account of how the authors implemented these processes in a research site. Our experience can act as a guide to other researchers undertaking similar projects. Evidence collected so far suggests that these processes can contribute to organisational change in an incremental way that engages people at various levels within an organisation.


Summary
1Social status has striking effects on individual physiology, but the extent to which it influences pathogen resistance has rarely been explored. Here we examine how social status within groups of wintering house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) relates to immunocompetence and susceptibility to an infectious disease.
2We assayed cellular and humoral components of the immune response, then quantified symptom severity in response to experimental infection with Mycoplasma gallisepticum, a naturally occurring bacterial pathogen that causes periodic epidemics in social aggregations of house finches across North America.
3Socially dominant house finches mounted stronger immune responses to phytohaemagglutinin but weaker antibody titres to sheep red blood cells. Dominant males, but not females, showed significantly lower symptom severity and proportion of time symptomatic when inoculated with M. gallisepticum.
4Individual condition was not associated with social status before or after infection, but infection with M. gallisepticum created disparities in resource access across social status. Infected dominant birds of both sexes fed for significantly more time intervals than infected subordinate birds following infection.
5Changes in resource access may partly underlie observed relationships between social status and disease severity, but the detected sex-specific interactions suggest a role for endocrine–immune relationships that warrant further study. Overall, our results indicate that social behaviour can influence both immunocompetence and resistance to an infectious disease of broad impact in the wild, highlighting the importance of considering the social context of individuals in studies of disease in natural populations.


Measuring Up. What Educational Testing Really Tells Us. By Daniel Koretz. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008. 361 pp. $29.95, £22.95, €27. ISBN 9780674028050. In this account of the complexities of educational testing written for nonspecialists, Koretz discusses what such tests can and cannot reveal and how test scores can be misunderstood and misused.


Background: Adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) significantly improves the overall and disease-free survival of breast cancer patients with hormone receptor-positive disease. Despite the benefits of AHT, many patients do not initiate or complete therapy as recommended. Further, adherence and patterns of AHT use in low-income and minority populations has not been well-studied. This study 1) estimated the prevalence of AHT initiation among breast cancer patients receiving care at a large safety-net healthcare system from 2008 to 2012; and 2) examined patient sociodemographic, tumor/treatment, and health history characteristics associated with AHT initiation. Methods: Patients diagnosed with stages I-III hormone receptor-positive breast cancer were identified from an academic cancer registry at Dallas9 Parkland Health and Hospital System (Parkland), one of the largest integrated safety-net healthcare systems in the U.S. We excluded patients who had a prior diagnosis of breast cancer, previously used AHT, did not receive definitive treatment and/or cancer-directed surgery at Parkland, or had commercial or Medicaid insurance. Uninsured residents of Dallas County are eligible for Parkland HEALTHplus, an income-based medical assistance program that covers prescriptions filled and dispensed by Parkland outpatient pharmacies. In addition, Parkland oncology and primary care clinics use the same, comprehensive electronic medical record (EMR). Thus, Parkland9s payor and clinical informatics infrastructure provides a unique opportunity to examine initiation of AHT in uninsured, low-income, and minority populations. We extracted and linked pharmacy claims, cancer registry, and patient EMR data to determine the prevalence of AHT Initiation. Initiation was defined as a new AHT prescription within 18 months of the incident breast cancer diagnosis. Descriptive statistics were used to examine characteristics of the study population by AHT initiation, and log-binomial regression was used to identify correlates of initiation. Results: We identified 291 breast cancer patients eligible for the study. Most patients were Hispanic (42.6%), not married (66.3%), and postmenopausal (63.9%). The mean age was 52.9 years. The majority (72.2%) of patients had one or more comorbid conditions, and the most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (51.2%), hyperlipidemia (25.1%), and diabetes (20.3%). Overall, 239 (82%) patients initiated AHT within 18 months of diagnosis, and 52 (18%) did not initiate therapy. Among initiators, tamoxifen (42.3%) and anastrozole (55.2%) were the most commonly prescribed types of AHT. The mean retail price of tamoxifen and anastrozole was $126.80 and $472.20, respectively, with a mean copay of $4.90 for tamoxifen and $6.00 for anastrozole. In univariable analysis, patients who were Hispanic (RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.04—1.61) and other (RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.02—1.68) race/ethnicity, diagnosed in year 2008 (vs. 2012, RR 1.24, 95% CI 1.07—1.44), and received primary care at Parkland prior to diagnosis (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01—1.28) were more likely to initiate AHT. Current smokers (vs. never, RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.65—0.94) were less likely to initiate AHT. No variables remained statistically significant in the final multivariable model. Conclusion: This study is an important first step in understanding AHT adherence behaviors in low-income and uninsured breast cancer patients. Our results suggest the majority of patients receiving care in a safety-net setting initiate AHT, and there are few differences in initiation by patient characteristics. Safety-net systems that provide access to AHT (e.g., through reduced prescription copays) may have a positive impact on disparities in AHT initiation rates among breast cancer patients. Future work is needed to determine if pharmacy benefits improve completion of the AHT regimen. Citation Format: Caitlin C. Murphy, Jasmin A. Tiro, Gary Jean, Bijal A. Balasubramanian, Robin T. Higashi, Brian Le, Hugh Teng, Carlos A. Alvarez. Initiation of adjuvant hormonal therapy among uninsured stage I-III breast cancer patients treated in a safety-net healthcare system. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr C59.


ABSTRACT The surface of Geobacillus stearothermophilus NRS 2004/3a cells is covered by an oblique surface layer (S-layer) composed of glycoprotein subunits. To this S-layer glycoprotein, elongated glycan chains are attached that are composed of [→2)-α-l-Rhap-(1→3)-β-l-Rhap-(1→2)-α-L-Rhap-(1→] repeating units, with a 2-O-methyl modification of the terminal trisaccharide at the nonreducing end of the glycan chain and a core saccharide as linker to the S-layer protein. On sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, four bands appear, of which three represent glycosylated S-layer proteins. In the present study, nanoelectrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MS) and infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometry were adapted for analysis of this high-molecular-mass and water-insoluble S-layer glycoprotein to refine insights into its glycosylation pattern. This is a prerequisite for artificial fine-tuning of S-layer glycans for nanobiotechnological applications. Optimized MS techniques allowed (i) determination of the average masses of three glycoprotein species to be 101.66 kDa, 108.68 kDa, and 115.73 kDa, (ii) assignment of nanoheterogeneity to the S-layer glycans, with the most prevalent variation between 12 and 18 trisaccharide repeating units, and the possibility of extension of the already-known →3)-α-l-Rhap-(1→3)-α-l-Rhap-(1→ core by one additional rhamnose residue, and (iii) identification of a third glycosylation site on the S-layer protein, at position threonine-590, in addition to the known sites threonine-620 and serine-794. The current interpretation of the S-layer glycoprotein banding pattern is that in the 101.66-kDa glycoprotein species only one glycosylation site is occupied, in the 108.68-kDa glycoprotein species two glycosylation sites are occupied, and in the 115.73-kDa glycoprotein species three glycosylation sites are occupied, while the 94.46-kDa band represents nonglycosylated S-layer protein.


The principle of autonomy allows people freedom, when these rights are available,
go to solve their disputes to alternative mechanisms of these mechanisms is jurisdiction. One
arbitration, which is configured as a real alternative because the law grants the arbitral decisionthings
equally well judged and executed, than to the sentences. Now well as the process of
judicial execution is always necessary to specify whether the judge should simply enforce the
award or have too, and that extension-control capabilities.


Multiple source transfer learning MSTL has been obtaining more and more applications especially from several related source domains to help the learning task on target domain. However, multiple source transfer learning algorithms often deal with the corresponding quadratic programming problems which may suffer a big computational burden caused by the kernel matrix computation. In this paper, a novel common-decision-vector based multiple source transfer classification learning CDV-MSTL is proposed which doesn't depend on the intrinsic structure of data. This algorithm is based on the structural risk minimization principle and the SVM like framework, so it has good adaptability and better accuracy. Based on the theory of CVM, CDV-MSTL is extended to its CVM based version which can realize fast training for large scale data. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the significant improvement in classification performance obtained by the proposed algorithm over existing MSTL algorithm.


Nitrogen-centered radicals could play a role in biological systems, but no proof of such a role has been reported as yet. In his Perspective,
 Kaim
 discusses how these chemical species could be stabilized in a biological context. He highlights the report by
 BA¼ttner
 et al ., who have synthesized, isolated, and characterized an aminyl radical (NR) stabilized by metal coordination. Crystallographic data, quantum chemical calculations, and sophisticated electron paramagnetic resonance investigations confirm that the unpaired electron is located mainly on the nitrogen atom of the aminyl. The principle of radical stabilization and control by metal complexes has thus been extended from oxygen- and carbon-centered to nitrogen-centered radicals, suggesting that the latter species may also be discovered in biology.


This study was designed to investigate the regulatory role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) in the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells under the hypothesis that the levels of the phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) mRNA and the phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) protein would be affected by the presence of different receptor ligand concentrations. SMMC-7721 hepatocellular carcinoma cells were cultured in the presence of different concentrations of either 15-deoxyprostaglandin J2 (15-d-PGJ2) or pioglitazone and experiments were conducted in order to determine cell growth changes and measure levels of PTEN mRNA and pAkt protein. Our results after treatment with MTT showed the addition of ligands to the cultured cells inhibited their proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Also, flow cytometry after PI treatment showed the presence of ligands in the growth media could increase the proportion of G0/G1 phase cells, and decrease the proportion of S phase cells. Finally, the same cells exhibited increased levels of the PTEN mRNA by RT-PCR and pAkt protein by western blot analysis. Taken together, our results support the notion that PPARγ ligands can inhibit the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and that this is at least in part due to the resulting upregulation of PTEN expression.


This paper presents a voice recognition experiment for speech understanding. The approach is based on the fact that a voice recognition system can have a big improvement by exploiting the intrinsic redundancy of the spoken natural language, that is by delaying every decision to the highest available information level. Namely any decision taken at phoneme level (acoustic level) carries the loss of a certain amount of information. The linguistic recognition system, we have so far developed, is based on a linguistic model, where decisions are taken only at the full message level. This approach follows the same basic idea of a system now successfully working for Mail Address Optical Recognition (1). Such a system has been successfully improved via EMMA, a spe cial network of associative minicomputers, consisting, for that application, in about 60 processors.


BACKGROUND: Simpler and radiation free alternatives have been researched to estimate postoperative lung functions. Objective of the study is to investigate the reliability of predicted postoperative (ppo) forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) and carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCO) calculated by vibration response imaging (VRI) to guide the selection of patients for lung resection surgery in comparison with quantitative perfusion scintigraphy (Q scan). METHODS: 35 candidates for lung resection were enrolled in the study for preoperative and postoperative evaluation of FEV₁ and DLCO. RESULTS: Totally 25 patients had preoperative tests. VRI measurements showed strong correlation with Q scan measurements of predicted postoperative (ppo) FEV₁% (r= .87, p<.001), ppo FEV₁(L) (r=.90, p<.001) and ppo DLCO% (r=.90, p<.001). There was a correlation between ppo FEV₁ (% and L) calculated by Q scan and postoperative actual FEV₁ (% and L) (r=.47, p<.05; r=.73, p<.001). There was no difference between VRI measurements of ppo FEV₁(% and L) and postoperative actual FEV₁ values. There was a correlation between ppo FEV₁ (% and L) calculated by VRI and postoperative actual FEV₁(% and L) (r= .52, p<.05; r= .79, p<.001). The mean differences between ppo and postoperative actual FEV₁ values was 49ml for VRI versus 230ml for Q scan. Both VRI and Q scan ppo DLCO% did not show agreement with postoperative actual DLCO%. CONCLUSIONS: VRI, which is a non-invasive, radiation free and simple test, may be valuable in the preoperative evaluation of lung resection surgery. It may be a good alternative to Q scan.


Increasing agreement is being reached among the International Society for the Study of Vulvar Disease, the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists, the World Health Organization, and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics concerning the terminology used to describe the abnormalities of and surgical procedures for vulvar disease. This paper focuses on Paget's disease of the vulva, which is beset with recurrence and a higher incidence of invasive disease than previously recognized, although diagnostic methods have improved. Agreements on the definition for and measurement of superficially invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva have also been reached. The prognostic features of tumors likely to be associated with nodal metastases are being delineated with a view to the use of conservative surgery. The risks in underestimating a tumor's capacity to metastasize are emphasized.


Metabolite profiling can be applied as a reliable quality control (QC) tool for herbal drug preparations, especially if the specifications of the quality markers have not yet been determined. Some herbal drug preparations of Justicia gendarussa (JG), ie acidified dried crude drugs, ethanol extracts, laboratory-made granule preparations, and industrial-scale produced granules, could be clearly differentiated by using a combination of ultra-performance liquid chromatography ultra-high-resolution quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis; unfortunately, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform-infra-red spectroscopy could not be applied. The differences in the metabolite profiles were caused mostly by the variations in the concentrations of some fatty acid components. This work showed that classification analysis can be applied for reliable QC purposes of the J. gendarussa herbal drug preparations; the industrial-made granules of JG were located in the correct cluster of the score plot of the training set.


This paper presents a matrix method for maximizing aerial directive gain, while simultaneously placing nulls in the far-field radiation pattern of the array. The technique is applicable to aerial arrays of N elements, arbitrarily positioned, and allows the designer to specify the directions of up to (N—1) independent pattern nulls and/or side-lobes, while providing maximum gain in some prespecified direction. This control is achieved by varying only the amplitude and phase of the element currents. The method can be used even when non-isotropic aerial elements and interelement mutual coupling effects are included in the expression for directive gain.


Despite cross-cultural differences in knowledge and attitudes toward menstruation, most studies on menstruation in women's sport have been conducted in high-income countries, such as in Europe, and none have been conducted in Africa. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of African elite women football players, and their support personnel toward the menstrual cycle and menstruation. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all participants (n = 564) at two African women football tournaments. Ultimately, 238 women football players, 44 coaches, 18 health personnel, and 17 referees completed it. From 317 questionnaires analyzed, 17%, 27%, 56%, and 0% of players, coaches, health personnel, and referees, respectively, knew at least one menstrual cycle hormone; 91%, 95%, and 100% of players, coaches, and referees, respectively, did not know at least one menstrual cycle phase. Over 70% of health personnel believed that menstruation negatively affects women's performance in sports compared with 36% of players; 18%, 28%, and 18% of players, health personnel, and referees, respectively, believed that, for convenience, the menstrual cycle should be changed by drugs like contraceptives; and 54%, 61%, 62%, and 40% of players, coaches, health personnel, and referees, respectively, were confident providing advice about the menstrual cycle to teammates. Minimal knowledge of the menstrual cycle has implications on the development of menstrual cycle considerate training environments and educational materials in African women's football. Furthermore, the relatively low perceived effect of the menstrual cycle on sporting performance and belief in the use of contraceptives may be attributable to differences in community-level religiocultural and social contexts which influence menstrual experiences, and shape behavioral expectations.


The emotional and psychological risks associated with providing direct social work services to vulnerable populations have been largely overlooked in social work educational curriculum and agency training (Cunningham, 2004; Courtois, 2002; Shackelford, 2006). These risks should be conceptualized as occurring in two separate forms: trauma-related stress and professional burnout. Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue are conditions related specifically to work with trauma populations, while professional burnout is considered a more general phenomenon which may occur within any social service setting. The forms of trauma-related stress conditions and professional burnout are often erroneously discussed either interchangeably or grouped together as one condition in the literature. It is best to conceptualize each of these conditions separately in order to have a comprehensive understanding of these complex phenomena. It is important that direct practitioners and educators understand the risk factors and symptoms associated with these phenomena in order to identify, prevent, and/or minimize their effects. As a best-practice initiative, it is appropriate that information on these conditions be infused into social work curricula as a first-line preventive measure for the training of inexperienced social workers who may be more vulnerable to the effects of these conditions (Lerias & Byrne, 2003). Information on these topics should also be included as part of agency training for practitioners already working in the field. This article provides a brief review of professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue, including the risk factors and symptoms associated with these conditions. Particular attention is paid to the inclusion of this material and the practice of self-care in both macro and micro social work education, as well as agency-training curriculum.


The constitutional duty of the Irish state 'to defend and vindicate the personal rights of the citizen' is the basis of a strict rule excluding unconstitutionally obtained evidence. Although English courts recognise a similar duty to 'vindicate human rights and the rule of law', their powers to exclude evidence or stay proceedings for abuse of process are extremely flexible and discretionary. In both jurisdictions, there has been particular controversy over the application of these powers to covert recordings that breach legal professional privilege. This paper argues that the duty to vindicate rights and the rule of law underpins both the exclusion of unlawfully obtained evidence and the punishment of offenders. It requires a balancing exercise, not between defendants' rights and an incommensurable public interest but, rather, between two aspects of the same constitutional duty of the courts.


representacao. ABSTRACT. When the others are ourselves: the place of post-colonial criticism in the Brazilian university. The examination of identity issues, in their respective forms of cultural representation, becomes productive in the light of Post-Colonial Studies - an interdisciplinary academic area of increasing relevance today, and of special interest for comparative literature and theory. A critical counter-discourse vis-a-vis hegemonic interpretative trends and models, Post-Colonialism re-reads the cultural production ideologically committed to the colonial apparatus in its various aspects and facades, and investigates, above all, alternative voices and deviant ways derived from the populations subjugated in the imperialistic process of European colonization. The present article emphasizes the importance of Post-Colonial Studies in the Brazilian university as it undertakes a contrastive analysis of British colonialism and the Portuguese (the latter, historically subaltern in relation to the former). Contemporary post-colonial reflection of different sources is here problematized, together with inherent questions of ambiguity and hybridity, alterity and otherness, representation and identity.


Hydrogen sulfide, ghrelin, and a handful of molecules made naturally in our bodies were, if you believed press stories and some researchers in recent years, going to trim our waistlines, spare our hearts, build up our muscles, and even allow deep space travel. But the molecular circuits that control our physiology are almost always more complex than they appear at first glance. Plucking out a single molecule and turning it into a drug or drug target is an ambitious goal. So Science decided to check in on whether some of these substances delivered on their initial promise. We found that although a few have spawned drugs that patients are now taking, none has lived up to its hype.


Moisture absorption of GFRP degrades mechanical properties such as compressive and fatigue strength. Monitoring of moisture absorption of GFRP structures is useful to assure the structural integrity. Conventional moisture measuring methods for various materials is inappropriate for GFRP because of its inhomogeneity and low moisture absorption ratio. In this study, a new method is proposed to measure the moisture absorption ratio of GFRP laminates by using a polymer film capacitance sensor which is embedded between GFRP plies. The dielectric constant of the film (polyimide) depends on the moisture absorption ration of surrounding resin. The moisture absorption ration of GFRP is estimated indirectly from measuring the dielectric constant of the film. At first, the relationship between the moisture absorption ratio and the dielectric constant change of an ideal capacitive film sensor itself was investigated. Then, an epoxy specimen with a flexible print film sensor in the midplane was immersed in water, and the moisture absorption ratio of the specimen and the capacitance change of the sensor were monitored. As a result, it is shown that the moisture absorption ratio of GFRP laminates can be easily measured by the proposed method.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the feasibility of in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tracking of transplanted adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) in rat heart.

METHODS
ADSCs were labeled with poly-L-lysine (PLL)-SPIO complexes. Intracellular iron uptake was identified by Prussian blue stain and transmission electromicroscopy. Trypan blue staining was used to test the viability of the labeled cells. In vitro MRI of labeled cells was performed. SPIO-labeled ADSCs were transplanted into normal rat hearts and were in vivo imaged with MRI. Image findings on MRI were correlated with histological findings of the rat hearts.

RESULTS
The labeling efficacy of ADSCs with PLL-SPIO was nearly 100%. Light microscopy revealed the SPIO particles were located in the cytoplasm of the ADSCs by Prussian blue staining. Transmission electromicroscopy revealed that the SPIO particles were located in the endosomes in the cytoplasm. There was no significantly deference in viability between labeled and unlabeled groups demonstrated by Trypan blue test (P > 0.05). MRI showed signal loss in gel mixed with labeled cells as compared with the unlabeled cells group and blank group. Signal void on rat hearts were demonstrated on MRI and were well correlated with histological findings where Prussian-blue-stain positive cells presented.

CONCLUSION
MRI can be used to in vivo track the transplanted ADSCs labeled with SPIO into rat hearts and facilitate to understand the conditions of the labeled cells in the transplanted areas.


Predicting protein structure from amino acid sequence is one of the main challenges of genomics. Various computational methods have been developed during the last decade to reach this goal. However, the problem of structure prediction remains difficult. Before facing this complex problem, our goal is to focus on the accurate analysis of protein structures at a local level. In our study, we present an approach called "hybrid protein model" (HPM) which uses a training procedure similar to the one of the self-organizing maps. It allows the compression of a non-redundant protein structure databank into a library of overlapping 3D structural fragments. The "hybrid protein model" carries out a multiple alignment of structural fragments. We present in this study an improvement of this strategy by introducing gaps in the local structures, and a sensitivity study of the training according to the control parameters. The library obtained is composed of a finite number of structural classes, each class including fragments sharing similar local structures. These classes are representative of the structural motifs found in the protein structures from the databank. Thus, this library constitutes an efficient tool for determining structural similarities between proteins and especially for predicting the local protein structure from the amino acid sequence.


This work is divided in two parts. In the first part, we construct and investigate the reliability of various NSFD schemes for diffusion and space-independent models. We consider two new NSFD schemes for the SIS-ODE model, which faithfully replicate the property of the continuous model of having the value R_{0}=1 of the basic reproduction parameter as a forward bifurcation: the disease-free equilibrium (DFE) is globally asymptotically stable (GAS) when R_{0} 1,  and there appears a unique locally asymptotically stable (LAS) endemic equilibrium (EE) in this case.The schemes are further used to derive NSFD schemes that are dynamically consistent with the positivity and boundedness properties of the SIS-diffusion model. In the second part, the contact rate is a function of the infective population and we incorporate a distributed infective period. The resulting SIS-model is a Volterra integral equation of the second kind. The qualitative analysis is now based on two threshold parameters Rc_{0} Rm_{0} with the DFE being unstable when R_{0} > 1; for Rc_{0} < R_{0} < 1; the DFE is LAS and co-exists with at least one LAS endemic equilibrium. We design a NSFD scheme that preserves positivity and boundedness of the solution as well as the above-stated stability properties of equilibria. Numerical simulations that support the theory are provided.


This is a reply to an article with the same title in which Kirkpatrick claimed that the considerations I put forward some thirty years ago on quantum mixtures are incorrect. It is shown here that Kirkpatrick's reasoning is erroneous.


The following article discusses the United Nations' (UN) recent initiatives (i) in revising the UN Model Tax Treaty between developed and developing countries and (ii) creating subcommittees and working groups for the discussion of contemporaneous tax topics, while adopting a developing country perspective. This article focuses on the work done by one subcommittee in particular: the transfer pricing subcommittee, and discusses what developing countries claimed to be their greatest difficulties in issuing, applying, and reinforcing transfer pricing regulations. This article also deals with prospective goals, and the role that the UN wants to have in international tax policy discussions for the future.


To investigate the pharmacodynamics of tetrabenazine [1,3,4,6,7,11b-hexahydro-3-isobutyl-9,10-dimethoxy-2-H-benzo(a)quinol izine-2- one; 1], the drug of choice in the control of Huntington's chorea and tardive dyskinesia, and its major metabolite, dihydrotetrabenazine (2), ip doses of 3 mg/kg of the drug and the metabolite were administered to rats. Animals were decapitated at 0.0, 0.5, 2, 5, and 12 h. Brain and serum concentrations of 1 and 2, and brain concentrations of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin were measured. Time courses of 1 and 2 in the brain (site of action) were parallel to those in serum, indicating that the brain is a part of the central compartment for both compounds. Despite its greater polarity, 2 was able to readily cross the blood-brain barrier. The monoamine depletions at any time following the administration of 2 were at least equal to or greater than those observed following the administration of the same dose of 1. After both compounds, the maximum serum and brain concentrations and maximum depletions were observed with the first sample at 0.5 h, with dopamine and serotonin being the most and least affected, respectively. The brain levels of the amines returned to the control values a maximum of 12 h after ip injections of either 1 or 2. Sigmoidal relationships were found between the monoamine levels and the corresponding log brain or serum concentrations of 1 or 2. The concentration-response curves of 2 following the administration of 1 and 2 were superimposable, suggesting that the observed activity after tetrabenazine injection is mainly, if not entirely, due to the formation of the active metabolite.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This poster presents the design, development, and test results of an energy consumption analysis module developed over ns3 Millimeter Wave (mmWave) communication, which can analyze the power consumption characteristics of 5G eNodeB/gNodeB Base Stations. This module is essential for research and exploration of the energy consumption behavior of the 5G communication protocols under the New Radio (NR) technology. To the best of our knowledge, the designed module is the first of its kind that provides a comprehensive energy analysis for the 5G mmWave base stations.


Leadership and followership are unified in an interdependent relationship exemplified by the idea of teamwork. Ethical concerns are among the valuational elements essential to developing loyalty and trust in this relationship. However, because of their need to maintain power and distance, self-serving leaders may become detached from how their actions are perceived and reacted to by followers. This pattern can be especially damaging to teamwork when leaders continue to receive dis- prortionate rewards despite their poor performance, especially when coupled with organizational downsizing and layoffs. Implications are drawn regarding the ethics of equity, responsibility, and accountability in the exercise of authority and power.


Life Sciences industry today faces a critical challenge when it comes to risk tacking and risk prioritization in the Phase 3 of clinical trials. Pharmaceutical companies have huge volumes of data that is gathered over the span of the trial, and even more detailed data during the human drug testing phase. The data collected is huge in volume, the analysis of this humungous data and finding the pain points ID of the biggest challenges this industry faces.


The changes faced by African business people over recent years have provided opportunities in the form of increased export markets and threats in the form of competition from new labour-force entrants. This article, which is adapted from the keynote speech of the conference of donor agencies for small and medium enterprises in Abidjan in 1993, outlines some of the changes that have taken place in many African countries following structural adjustment programmes. It describes changes in the markets in which firms operate, in the business environment and in the institutions affecting small enterprises.


s A57 without saxagliptin, which increased by US$2,812,671 during this period, reaching US$77,249,307 in year 3. Total costs in scenario with saxagliptin, however, remained stable around US$74,000,000/year. Introduction of saxagliptin is expected to be economical to the PHS, with savings of US$3,048,812 in year 3. Annual savings per patient potentially impacted by the introduction of saxagliptin correspond to 8% of pharmaceutical costs at year 3. Sensitvity analysis demonstrated that saxagliptin price is the most impactful parameter in the model, and a 25% increase over its price would still generate savings around US$2,100,000 to the PHS. CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of saxagliptin as a therapeutic option to patients with T2D in the PHS will save around US$4,900,000 in the next three years. PDB14 BUDGET IMPACT ANALYSIS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF SAXAGLIPTIN IN THE TREATMENT OF TYPE 2 DIABETES IN ARGENTINA Elgart J, Caporale J, Gagliardino JJ, Waschbusch M, Aiello EC, Jotimliansky L National University of La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Buenos Aires, Argentina OBJECTIVES: To estimate the budget impact of saxagliptin introduction as a treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), compared to the present situation. METHODS: An MS Excel-based budget impact model assuming coverage for one million people. The time horizon was three years and the analysis perspective was a social security organization in Argentina. Pharmaceutical expenses of antidiabetic agents were analyzed excluding other medical costs. The cost of antidiabetic agents was based upon the consumer price index adjusted to copayments and discounts (2009); the saxagliptin price was considered to be equal to the sitagliptin price. The market share of the different drugs was based upon market studies and data provided by Bristol Myers Squibb. The budget impact is reported in terms of annual treatment costs and monthly costs per member per month (PMPM). Finally, a one-way sensitivity analysis was carried out. RESULTS: The net budget impact estimated for the introduction of saxagliptin was US$2.077 for the first year, US$4.377 for the second year and US$9.230 for the third year; the accumulated net budget impact was US$15.648. The PMPM result was US$0.0002, U$$0.0004 and US$0.0008 for each year respectively. The accumulated impact in the total annual budget for antidiabetics was 0.07%. DM2 prevalence changes ± 50% derived an accumulated net budget impact of US$23.526 to US$7.842; a slight saxagliptin price decrease (-2%) generates a negative budget impact of US$538, US$1.133 and US$2.390 for each year respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The budget impact of adding saxagliptin in a population of one million affiliates of the Argentinean social security is minimal in patients with DM2. PDB15 ECONOMIC OUTCOMES OF THREE INSULIN THERAPY PROTOCOLS IMPLEMENTED IN A SURGICAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT Klinski AA, Pandey G, Sansgiry S, Mallow-Corbett S, Todd SR University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA, Walgreens Pharmacy, Visalia, CA, USA, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, USA, The Methodist Hospital,


Customer satisfaction has become essential in any service due to its positive influence to customer loyalty and further market opportunity. In video stream service over wireless and mobile network, customer satisfaction is determined by many interacting aspects. It includes objective Quality of Service (QoS) parameters and subjective Quality of user Experience (QoE) factors. In addition, customer satisfaction is also determined by business strategy that applied by service stakeholders e.g. pricing and customer care. Some issues arise due to interaction between these aspects. These issues are difficult to be addressed by creative and logical problem solving strategy. This paper discusses Soft System Methodology (SSM) to elucidate what the actual problem of these interacting aspects. It is expressed through seven consecutive stages of SSM that illustrate problem solving process from unstructured problem to structured problem. This paper also proposes a methodology to model the interacting aspects in determining customer satisfaction.


The strontium method for measuring geological age has been examined in each of its aspects, and the general conclusion is made that evidence is now sufficient to show this method as capable of providing reliable age measurements. Of the total strontium in the earth9s crust, 0.5–1.0% is considered to be radiogenic, almost all of which is concentrated in potassium and cesium minerals. Lepidolite contains the highest proportion of radiogenic strontium, in which mineral it usually predominates completely. Amazonite, pollucite, hydrothermal pegmatitic microcline, zinnwaldite, some specimens of lithium-rich muscovite, and probably also rhodizite and lithium-rich biotite commonly contain a high proportion of radiogenic strontium; age measurements may be made on most of these minerals, if not all. Age determinations on other minerals are also possible, and the strontium method could probably be extended to granite biotites, which would increase its scope very considerably. With lepidolite, a reasonably reliable age can be obtained in most instances without an isotope analysis, although one is desirable. An isotope analysis is imperative for age determinations on all other minerals. For a quantitative isotope analysis of strontium, the mass spectrograph is superior in sensitivity and accuracy to other methods; a quantitative analysis can be made on as little as 0.3 mg. of strontium salt, and a conveniently low proportion of radiogenic strontium can be determined in the presence of an excess of common strontium. In all, 32 strontium age determinations are known, 30 of which have been made according to a spectrochemical procedure outlined in this paper. The procedure is rapid—10–15 determinations (without isotope analyses) may be made in quadruplicate in 3 days—but lacks precision, since age reproducibility is usually only within about ±10–15%, even when carried out in quadruplicate. A more accurate procedure for determining Sr/Rb ratios is urgently needed to increase the usefulness of the strontium method; investigation of other spectrochemical methods is recommended. Where comparisons were possible, strontium ages tally reasonably well with lead and helium (magnetite) ages, with few exceptions. The strontium method should be of particular value in pre-Cambrian time and is probably superior to the lead and helium methods for dating very ancient rocks. The extreme antiquity of pegmatites from southeast Manitoba has been established beyond reasonable doubt; their age (2100 × 10 6 years) is considered to be greater than any other region on the earth9s crust on which sufficient data are available. The method is, however, apparently not so suitable for dating relatively young specimens, and even under the most favourable circumstances, that is, if lepidolite is available, it seems unlikely that an age of less than 50 × 10 8 years could be measured successfully. Lead, helium, and strontium methods have been compared.


ABSTRACT This research aimed to inhibit the oxidation of fish lipid by adding the ethanol extracts of albedo and flavedo fragments of grapefruit, sour orange, and bergamot. The samples were stored at 25°C, and analyses were performed on weekly intervals. The albedo fragments of sour orange extract had the highest antioxidant activity (0.342 ± 0.002 µM Trolox) and total phenolic content (5.29 ± 0.00 g GAE/100 g dry matter). Lipid oxidation increased rapidly in control samples compared to the extract treatments. The lowest scores for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), para-anisidine value, peroxide value, and UV absorbance values were determined in sour orange albedo extracts as 5.21 mg MDA/kg, 17.81 and 4.78 meq O2/kg, 2.24, and 0.403, respectively, at the end of the storage. More successful results were obtained with the peels of grapefruit and bergamot in supressing the lipid oxidation. Bergamot extract was the most preferred citrus in terms of sensory analyses.


Marine cultural industry is a special part of cultural industry and is a frontier research field of local cultural industry. Using theoretical study combined with field survey, this paper listed LuJiazhi, Daishan Dongsha Town, Putuo Mountain, Zhujiajian, Shenjiamen, Changzhi Island, Mayi Island, Taiyang Valley, Zhujiajian Baishan, and Taohua Island in Zhoushan Islands. From three core rules of cultural industry cluster, namely, rules of combination and extension of industry chain, rules of location advantage and selection, and rules of industrial agglomeration and linkage, to fully reveal inherent rules and development ideas for marine cultural industry cluster in Zhoushan Islands. It came up with recommendations for developing marine cultural industry cluster in accordance with resource endowment characteristics of each island. It is of certain directive significance for the development of marine cultural industry cluster in Zhoushan Islands.


Increased access to gambling is proving to be a great burden on the individuals who partake, their families and society in general. Despite growing evidence for the use of Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT) with problem gamblers, important questions remain unanswered regarding those individuals who do not respond to CBT. This paper compares gamblers who are considered 1) treatment completers, 2) drop-out following an initial assessment and, 3) drop-out after commencing treatment from a specialized CBT service. The results indicate a number of differences between the groups in regard to gambling severity and behaviour, demographic profile and variations in overall psychopathology.


Two cases of male fetishism were interviewed and the process of appearance of perversion and its development were disclosed. The object of fetishism is women's panties in the first example and women's rubber swimming cap in the second example. The generation mechanism of fetishism in both cases seems to be rooted in the background of homosexualism. Though they are both rooted in homosexualism, the first case seems to be caused by the castration anxiety toward authoritative father. While in the second case, the homosexual tendency seems to be derived from the narcissism in the boyhood of a beautiful boy as well as the sensual caress of a cousin. The two cases were not given medical treatment for a special reason.


We present an analytical solution of the boundary value problem of propagating acoustic-gravity waves generated in the ocean by earthquakes or ice-quakes in arctic zones. At the surface, we assume elastic ice-sheets of a variable thickness, and show that the propagating acoustic-gravity modes have different mode shape than originally derived by Ref. [1] for a rigid ice-sheet settings. Computationally, we couple the ice-sheet problem with the free surface model by Ref. [2] representing shrinking ice blocks in realistic sea state, where the randomly oriented ice-sheets cause inter modal transition at the edges and multidirectional reflections. We then derive a depth-integrated equation valid for spatially slowly varying thickness of ice-sheet and water depth. Surprisingly, and unlike the free-surface setting, here it is found that the higher acoustic-gravity modes exhibit a larger contribution. These modes travel at the speed of sound in water carrying information on their source, e.g. ice-sheet motion or submarine earthquake, providing various implications for ocean monitoring and detection of quakes. In addition, we found that the propagating acoustic-gravity modes can result in orbital displacements of fluid parcels sufficiently high that may contribute to deep ocean currents and circulation, as postulated by Refs. [1, 3].


Over the years, digital games have become one of adolescents' main interests and a controversial issue among researchers all over the world. However, it is claimed that digital games can be a promising educational tool utilizing both the attributes that make them effective in the learning process and the students' predisposition to deal with them. The present study explores the background of digital game use in a group of Greek adolescents (N=125) (12 to 16 years old) and the potential of using digital games as an educational tool, on a socio-cognitive learning theory basis. Gender differences were revealed; concerning the time spent playing digital games, the game preferences, and the identification with the hero of the game. There was no correlation of frequent digital game use with low academic performance, though frequent game use was partially correlated with low self-esteem and high computer self-efficacy.


Keratins (KRTs), a family of genes that encode a series of intermediate flament proteins, which expressed in epithelial cells of various tissues and had been identified as being involved in various tumors. Previous evidences indicated that KRTs were implicated in tumorigenesis and development of lung cancer. However, a comprehensive analysis of KRTs in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) and their roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of this disease is lacking. Therefore, we investigated the transcriptional level, proteomic level, and prognosis of KRTs in patients with LUSC from TCGA, Gene Expression Profifiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), Human Protein Atlas (HPA), Kaplan-Meier Plotter, and cBioPortal databases. We confirmed that the expression levels of KRT5, KRT6A, KRT6B, KRT6C, KRT13, KRT14, KRT15, KRT16, KRT17, KRT19, and KRT23 were higher in LUSC tissues than in adjacent normal lung tissues. Survival analyses using Kaplan-Meier Plotter database and TCGA database revealed that the high expression levels of KRT5, KRT6A, KRT6B, KRT6C, KRT13, KRT14, KRT15, KRT16, KRT17, KRT19, and KRT23 were associated with poor prognosis in patients with LUSC. ROC curves indicated that KRTs had poor roles in predicting the overall survival (OS) of LUSC patients. KRTs and their 50 most frequently altered neighbor genes were mainly enriched in epidermis development, keratinization, keratinocyte differentiation, Rap1 signaling pathway, and transcriptional misregulation in cancer. The results of clinical data analyses indicated that the expression levels of KRT13, KRT16, KRT17, and KRT19 were positively correlated with nodal metastasis, the expression level of KRT15 and KRT17 were positively correlated with primary tumor, and the high expression level of KRT15 was positively correlated with TNM stage. Our study may provide new theoretical basis and research direction for the discovery of potential therapeutic targets and new prognostic biomarkers in patients with LUSC.


Soybean is the third important food crops after rice and maize. It is a source of healthy vegetable protein. The FAO data showed that per capita consumption of soybean (equivalent dry grain) was decreasing from about 11.38 kg/capita in 1990 to about 8.97 kg/capita in 2004. Nevertheless, the total domestic demand is continuously increasing due to both the food industry and population growths. On the other hands, its production was declining, hence soybean deficit is estimated to steadily increasing. For example, the domestic demand for soybean in 2004 was about 2.02 million tons, while its production was only 0.71 million tons. This condition will likely be continue to happen. In other words, Indonesia will be continuously dependent upon import.


Strategies to harness the patient's immune system to fight cancer have mainly involved adoptive T-cell transfer. We and others have recently highlighted an alternative immunotherapeutic approach to cancer that consists of enhancing the macrophage-mediated clearance of leukemia cells through the blockade of inhibitory signals transmitted by signal regulatory protein α (SIRPα).


One cannot make truly fair decisions using integer linear programs unless one controls the selection probabilities of the (possibly many) optimal solutions. For this purpose, we propose a unified framework when binary decision variables represent agents with dichotomous preferences, who only care about whether they are selected in the final solution. We develop several general-purpose algorithms to fairly select optimal solutions, for example, by maximizing the Nash product or the minimum selection probability, or by using a random ordering of the agents as a selection criterion (Random Serial Dictatorship). As such, we embed the black-box procedure of solving an integer linear program into a framework that is explainable from start to finish. Moreover, we study the axiomatic properties of the proposed methods by embedding our framework into the rich literature of cooperative bargaining and probabilistic social choice. Lastly, we evaluate the proposed methods on a specific application, namely kidney exchange. We find that while the methods maximizing the Nash product or the minimum selection probability outperform the other methods on the evaluated welfare criteria, methods such as Random Serial Dictatorship perform reasonably well in computation times that are similar to those of finding a single optimal solution.


Abstract: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a fibrohistiocytic tumor of intermediate malignancy that usually occurs in early or mid‐adult life as a nodular cutaneous mass. DFSP has rarely been reported during childhood or at birth. We report a case of childhood DFSP that illustrates the usefulness of immunohistochemical analysis in the differential diagnosis between DFSP and other fibrohistiocytic proliferations occurring in the skin. A prompt and correct diagnosis is very important in order to ensure appropriate treatment and to prevent local recurrences.


The antihyperglycemic and antilipidemic effects of the tea infusion extracts of leaves from Annona cherimola Miller (IELAc-0.5, IELAc-1.5, and IELAc-3.0) were evaluated on normoglycemic (NG) and streptozocin-induced diabetic (STID) mice. In the acute test, IELAc-1.5 at 300 mg/kg bodyweight (bw) exhibited antihyperglycemic activity on STID mice since the first hour of treatment. Then, its antidiabetic potential was analyzed in a subchronic evaluation. IELAc-1.5 was able to reduce the blood glucose level, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), cholesterol (CHO), and triglycerides (TG); high-density lipoprotein (HDL) showed an increase at the end of treatment. IELAc-1.5 did not modify the urine profile at the end of the evaluation, and neither toxicity nor macroscopic organ damage were observed in acute and subchronic assays. In addition, a major flavonol glycoside present in the tea infusion extracts was identified using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The analysis of the tea infusion extracts by HPLC revealed that rutin was the major component. This study supports the use of tea infusions from Annona cherimola for the treatment of diabetes and suggests that rutin could be responsible, at least in part, for their antidiabetic properties.


Steganography is an ancient technique for hiding a secret message within ordinary looking messages or objects (e.g., images), also known as cover messages. Among various techniques, hiding text data in plain text file is a challenging task due to lack of redundant information. This paper proposes two new approaches to embed a secret message in a cover text document. The two approaches are n-gram and entropy metric-based generation of stego text. We provide examples of encoding secret messages in a cover text document followed by an initial evaluation of how well stego texts look close to the plain texts. Furthermore, we also discuss several related work as well as our future work plan. Disciplines Information Security | Management Information Systems | Technology and Innovation This event is available at DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ccerp/2016/Student/ 16 INTRODUCTION Steganography is a popular approach to hide a given secret message within an ordinary document (known as cover media). The embedded message within a cover document is known as stego document. A systematic approach is applied at the sender side to generate the stego document, while the secret message gets extracted at the receiver side. The entire approach is known as stego system. Steganographic techniques are divided into several categories based on the employed approach [6]. For example, a substitution system would add a secret message in redundant text present in a file, whereas a statistical method would capture the statistical properties from a text file in order to encode information. The cover document can be of three types: text, image and video. This work focuses on embedding a secret message into a text document. Generally, it is a challenging task as text documents have little or no redundant information to hide a secret message compared to images or videos. In this project, we focus on embedding a secret message in a cover document of type text. We denote it as cover text steganography. Current text-based steganography approaches (e.g., Garg (2011), Kim (2003), Nagarhill 2014, Low et al. (1995)) assume that a cover document is huge and the secret message is smaller in size. In practice, the cover document may be much smaller. A popular steganography technique on text cover document is to change the format by adding a space or invisible characters. The generated stego text reads as misspelled words in text, variation of fonts. This would fool an ordinary reader thinking misspellings or extra spaces. Format based approach may apply various fonts sizes, gaps among lines, or paragraphs. In this paper, we propose two simple approaches to generate stego text: N-gram and Entropy. We provide examples of the ideas. The paper is divided as follows. Section 2 provides an overview of some related work. Section 3 introduces N-gram and Entropy-based approaches with example of stego-text generation. Section 4 concludes and provides a future work plan. RELATED WORK Garg (2011) proposed to embed a secret message in HTML document. The idea is that HTML tag attributes often come with pairs (e.g., ) and the order of the pairs does not impact on the HTML document rendering process at the browser. Thus, they generate a set of tag attribute pairs and 1 Rico-Larmer: Cover Text Steganography: N-gram and Entropy-based Approach Published by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, 2016 alter their sequences to represent binary zero or one (e.g., align preceding width imply 1, where align present after width means zero). The approach works fine as long as HTML document is large enough to fit a secret message. If the secret message has a large length and HTML document does not have enough pairs of tag and attribute from the built in table, then the approach may not work well. Kim, Moon, and Oh (2003) grouped adjacent words and generated statistics of white space. The embedding of the secret message involves modifying the statistics among adjacent words in a group. Nagarhill [3] proposed to embed a secret message through emotics by mapping alphabets and numbers with emotics available by SMS messaging application in mobile phone. Low et al. (1995) proposes word shifting method where words are shifted horizontally and by changing the distance between the words the information is hidden. This leads to the strategy that marks a text line both vertically using line shifting and horizontally using word shifting. Interested readers can see an extensive survey of Bennett et al. (2004) covering most known cover text-based stego text generation approaches. PROPOSED APPROACH N-GRAM ANALYSIS-BASED STEGANOGRAPHY N-gram approach is used to generate possible close enough words for a given word. If the length of a given word is N, the approach systematically generates strings (subwords) from 1 to N-1 characters (Suen 1979). There are automatic tools available (e.g., Frequency Analysis (2016)) to generate N-gram for a given word. N-gram techniques are widely used for speech recognition, spelling correction, information extraction, etc. (N-gram (2016)). In our proposed approach, we rely on n-gram analysis of wording to insert an embedded message. For a given word of length N (N>2), we generate words of length N-1. Then, we choose the first subword and place a space between the subword and remaining character in ordinary text to encode binary zero. For example, the word "TEST" has length 4, and it will have the following two subwords generated by a tool from (Frequency Analysis (2016)) as shown in Figure 1. 2 KSU Conference on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice, Event 16 [] http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ccerp/2016/Student/16 Figure 1: Example of Trigram for the cover text "TEST" Table 1: Example of secret message encoding in cover text TEST Secret message Stego text 0 T EST 1 TES T Figure 2: Result of Trigram for the cover text "TEST" 3 Rico-Larmer: Cover Text Steganography: N-gram and Entropy-based Approach Published by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, 2016 To encode the secret message 0, the stego text will be "T EST", where we added a space between "EST" and the beginning character "T" (first row of Table 1). We choose the last element of the generated subword (TES from Figure 1) of length N1 to encode binary 1. Thus, a sender can encode a secret message up to the length of the number of words (as long as a character is at least 3 characters). The receiver needs to know the N-gram generator tool link to recover the secret text. ENTROPY BASED STEGANOGRAPHY Entropy (H) is a popular metric from information theory proposed by Shannon [9]. It calculates the amount of randomness present in a message. The formula shown in Equation (i) is commonly used to compute entropy. Let us assume that Q is a set of symbols (unique characters) found in a given word present in cover text. Here, qi is the occurrence of i th character of a given word found in cover text. Let us consider that p(qi) is the occurrence of probability of qi th element. Then, the entropy of Q is H(Q) = -Ʃqi*log2 P(qi) ... ... (i) To encode a secret message using entropy-based technique, we find two successive pair of words and compare their entropy level. To encode zero, we place the word having lower entropy at the front whereas, to encode one, we place the word having higher entropy at the front. If the entropy of two successive words are same, we skip the pair of words and move to the next. Let us assume the cover text is "Comparing inverted files and signature files for searching a large lexicon" and secret message to be encoded is "11010". Table 2 shows each of the words (top row) of the cover text and the corresponding entropy level (bottom row). There are available open source tools to compute entropy (see for example, Shannon Entropy Calculator (2016)). Table 2: Words and entropy level Comparing inverted files and signature files for searching a large lexicon 3.17 2.75 2.32 1.58 3.12 2.32 1.58 3.17 0 2.32 2.81 Table 3: Stego text generation example Comparing inverted files and files signature searching for a large lexicon 1 1 0 1 0 Table 3 shows encoding of the secret message "11010" based comparison of entropy level for two successive word pairs in cover text. For example, the 4 KSU Conference on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice, Event 16 [] http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ccerp/2016/Student/16 entropy level of "Comparing" and "inverted" is 3.17 and 2.75, respectively. So, to encode "1", we keep the order as is (the word having higher entropy is already at the front). The last word ("lexicon") is an orphan and in this case to be ignored by the receiver. The sender would require mentioning the size of the secret message to the receiver. EVALUATION We calculate Levenshtein Distance (LD) between plain text and stego text. The LD algorithm computes the least number of operations (substitution, insertion, and deletion) performed at character level to modify plain text to stego text [12]. We apply an online tool to measure the LD between plain cover text and stego text [11]. Table 4: Secret message and plain text Test# Secret Plain text 1 1101011100 Comparing inverted files and signature files for searching a large lexicon 2 1101011100 Normally the system probes the monitors and fills in the values 3 1101011100 Email enables you to communicate with users on the local system 4 1101011100 The keys back up and correct the shell command line 5 1101011100 The nature of value differs for different types of organizations 6 1101011100 Usually formal approval will solidify the sponsors of the project 7 1101011100 The focus will be on the managerial and business decisions 8 1101011100 Typical projects have six to ten designers submitting several designs 9 1101011100 Literally thousands of programmers have worked on Apache over the years 1


The results of computer simulation of thermophysical phenomena in the contact zone during blade cutting of metals with multi-layer composite wear-resistant coatings that ensure the adaptability of the cutting wedge to friction conditions are presented. On-site experimental studies of the cutting temperature during turning with various coatings, structural-phase analysis of the surface layer of the cutting tool to explain the mechanism of formation of secondary structures with a shielding effect – the effect of selforganization.


We study the spin current induced by an inhomogeneous spin-orbit coupling due to impurities by using the Keldysh Green's function formalism. In particular, we focus on the diffusive contributions and give their analytical expressions. A spin current is found to be generated in the presence of both a gradient in the spin-orbit strength and a gradient in the external electric field. The resulting diffusive spin current indicates the presence of spin-current absorption at the interface between the materials with different spin-orbit coupling strengths, which is exemplified with an experimentally-relevant setup.


ABSTRACT 1. Chicken ovoinhibitor has been reported to prevent contamination and affect storage for eggs. The objective of the present study was to conduct an association analysis between ovoinhibitor gene (OIH) polymorphisms and egg quality traits in the population of Xinhua E-strain chickens and explore its expression characteristics in different tissues. 2. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified and genotyped, in which one synonymous mutation was located in exon16 (G9810A), one in intron7 (A4363G) and one in intron14 (C8937G). The A4363G and C8937G polymorphisms significantly influenced Haugh unit (HU) and albumen height (AH), while HU and AH in AG and CT heterozygous birds were significantly higher than in birds with homozygous genotypes. Diplotype association analysis showed individuals with an H1H4 diplotype had the highest AH and HU values in the investigated population. 3. RT-qPCR results showed that the expression level of the OIH gene was higher in the oviduct and liver than other tissues. During the development of liver at different phases, a drastic decrease occurred during the period of first ovulation event, which suggests the regulation of some unknown factors effected it. 4. Our results indicated that OIH plays a vital role in egg quality. The combinations of A4363G and C8937G might be potential advantageous molecular markers for improving HU of chicken eggs.


Brillouin scattering-based distributed fiber-optic sensing is a powerful measurement tool that uses the inelastic scattering of incident light by an acoustic wave (phonon) to determine strain and/or temperature conditions of the fiber. Since the original Brillouin-time-domain-analysis (BOTDA) technique was proposed, several other analysis methods have been introduced to improve sensing performance in four key areas: spatial resolution; measurement accuracy; total sensing length; and measurement-acquisition time. The four factors are generally interrelated and improvements to one factor often come at the cost of one or more of the others. For example, one system might sacrifice spatial resolution for total sensing length, while another might sacrifice accuracy to gain acquisition speed. We present a BOTDA system based on dark-pulse scattering that provides improved resolution, accuracy, and acquisition time over conventional BOTDA systems, without the severe limitations on sensing length often imposed by other high-resolution techniques. Theoretical validation of the method is given, and experimental results are presented that demonstrate 20-mm resolution strain measurements with an accuracy of plusmn20 muepsiv, which is the highest spatial resolution yet reported for a BOTDA system


Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis a medical condition that is challenging for both parties involved-the one suffering as well as for the one treating. One major part of the challenge is what the medical practitioner faces connected with the difficulty in detecting and diagnosing this condition. For the patient the challenge is about expressing their plight so that their problem is understood and then treated appropriately. Global figures say that takes approximately 10 years for a patient to get a diagnosis in place. There is also data to show that that patient usually go through evaluation by an average of 10 doctors before the problem gets identified and treated. Evidently, IC/BPS is a medical condition deserving better attention and understanding from all the stakeholders-the patient medical professionals and the family members.


The soliton scattering by one single and two point impurities in a finite domain of an infinite phi 4 chain is analytically discussed. It is shown. For the single-point-impurity configuration, that the impurity causes the soliton to oscillate about the host site, whereas for the two-point-impurities configuration the soliton oscillates from one impurity wall to the other of the finite domain delimited by the two host sites. The oscillation frequency in each configuration has been estimated. We have also shown that in the second configuration the soliton falls into the finite domain with an exponentially increasing velocity and escapes at the transmitting wall with a velocity that decreases exponentially as the domain thickness increases.


In this paper, full and hollow fibers having round and trilobal cross-sectional shapes were produced in equal manufacturing conditions and bending, drapability and crease recovery behaviors of the woven fabrics produced from these fibers were investigated. The bending rigidities of the fabrics produced from hollow fibers were higher than the bending rigidities of the fabrics produced from full fibers. The highest bending rigidities were obtained in fabrics produced from hollow round fibers. The bending rigidities and drapabilities of the fabrics produced from fibers of similar cross-sectional shapes were in close relation with each other. The fabrics produced from full fibers had higher drapabilities than those produced from hollow fibers. The fabrics produced from full fibers had higher crease recovery angles than those produced from hollow fibers. Considering that the construction properties of the fabrics were kept constant, it could be concluded that the differences among the properties of the fabrics which were produced from full and hollow fibers (for both round and trilobal cross-sectional shapes) basically emerged from the very high differences between moments of inertia of full and hollow cross sections. It was also considered that another factor which caused differences between the fabric properties was the different bulkiness of the fibers and also the different bulkiness of the yarns with the same counts. The best results could be obtained with round and trilobal full fibers at fabrics in which drapability and crease recovery are desired.


OBJECTIVES
An explanation for an incomplete catch-up growth in children with coeliac disease has not yet been found. The marker of growth procollagen-III-propeptide could possible provide a better understanding of the actual regulation of growth in the situation.

METHODS
The investigation was made in children with established coeliac disease (n = 30). A commercial radioimmunoassay was used for the measurement of PC-III-P.

RESULTS
A close relationship (r = 0.75; P < 0.0001) was found between height velocity and PC-III-P in serum of coeliac children. There was also a good correlation (r = 0.54; P < 0.001; n = 72) with serum levels of alcaline phosphatase. Only weak correlations were found to insulin-like growth factor I (r = 0.33; P < 0.05; n = 62), to urinary calcium (r = 0.27; P < 0.05; n = 62), and to the maturation of bones (r = 0.25; P < 0.05; n = 54). In accordance with the good correlation between height velocity and PC-III-P normal results were found in normal growing children with coeliac disease. Reduced serum levels of PC-III-P were found in coeliac children who failed to show a complete catch-up growth while on a gluten-free diet.

CONCLUSIONS
Gluen challenge, as required for the confirmation of the diagnosis, led to a significant further decrease of the values of PC-III-P. Parallel investigations for IgA endomysium antibodies in serum suggest that besides dietary errors additional factors may impede growth, or in other words that disorders of growth regulation persist in some patients with coeliac disease even under treatment. This assumption will have to be tested by further investigations.


Arthropods from four genetically modified (GM) maize hybrids (coleopteran resistant, coleopteran and lepidopteran resistant, lepidopteran resistant+herbicide tolerant and coleopteran resistant and herbicide tolerant) and non-GM varieties were sampled during a two-year field assessment. A total number of 363 555 arthropod individuals were collected. This represents the most comprehensive arthropod dataset from GM maize, and together with weed data, is reasonable to determine functional groups of arthropods and interactions between species. Trophic groups identified from both phytophagous and predatory arthropods were previously considered non-target organisms on which possible detrimental effects of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins may have been directly (phytophagous species) or indirectly (predators) detected. The high number of individuals and species and their dynamics through the maize growing season can predict that interactions are highly correlational, and can thus be considered a useful tool to assess potential deleterious effects of Bt toxins on non-target organisms, serving to develop biosafety risk hypotheses for invertebrates exposed to GM maize plants.


Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is the fifth most cultivated plant in the world. One way to classify mango is according to the color of the skin; mangoes are classified as green,  yellow and red. Color is a visual attribute that defines consumer preference in some countries. This pigmentation diversity is defined by families of genes that encode for protein production, which lead to biosynthetic pathways responsible for the production of vitamins and vitamin precursors. In Mexico there is a wide range of colors in the native mango germplasm, which could represent an important source of antioxidants, pigments and would bring benefits to the human health of Mexicans, through the consumption of the fresh fruits, or the commercial/industrial exploitationof these. According to the literature, this diversity of colors represents a genetic richness that could be exploited in the genetic breeding programs of the species in the country, to generate new varieties with desirable characteristics in the national and international market. In order to gather and discuss information that contributes to the understanding of the biochemical and genetic processes that determine such pigmentation and the production of vitamins in mango, this review describes the main genes involved and the biosynthetic pathways of the most common pigments, considering the impact on human health when they are consumed, and highlighting the challenges and opportunities that could be derived from the utilization of pigmentsfrom the Mexican germplasm.


This study proposes an alternative solution for generating consistent yields in a world of low interest rates. The authors describe their experiences as they navigated the various available investment strategies in search of low-risk returns previously provided by banks and the public fixed-income markets. Having identified the private lending market as a source of consistent income, the authors explore different types of inherent investment strategies. They explain how they screen and choose strategies for potential inclusion in their investable universe by laying out their due diligence process. Finally, they outline their portfolio construction and optimization methodology and present the results from their investment into the strategy.


Objective The prognostic significance of troponin elevation following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains debated. This study aimed to evaluate the association between different thresholds of post-PCI cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and mortality. Methods From January 2012 to July 2017, 5,218 consecutive patients undergoing elective PCI with pre-PCI cTnI < 99th percentile of the upper reference limit (URL) were included. Levels of cTnI were measured before PCI and every 8 h for 24 h after procedural. The outcomes were 3-year cardiac mortality. Results Patients had a mean age of 66.2 years, 27.6% were women, 67.0% had hypertension, and 26.2% had diabetes mellitus. During the 3 years of follow-up, cardiac death occurred in 0.86%, 1.46%, 1.69%, 2.36%, and 2.86% of patients with cTnI < 1, ≥ 1 to < 5, ≥ 5 to < 35, ≥ 35 to < 70, and ≥ 70 times URL. The cardiac mortality rate was moderately increased with higher peak cTnI values, but the Kaplan–Meier curve demonstrated no significant association between any increment of cTnI and either cardiac or non-cardiac mortality. Isolated cTnI increment of ≥ 5 × URL, ≥ 35 × URL, and ≥ 70 × URL was occurred in 1,379 (26.4%), 197 (3.8%), and 70 (1.3%) patients, respectively. In multivariate Cox regression analysis and Fine-Gray model, none of the above cTnI thresholds was significantly associated with an increased risk of cardiac death. Conclusion In patients who underwent elective PCI, post-PCI cTnI elevation is not independently associated with cardiac mortality.


I am astonished! Here I thought that Monthly Review was a socialist, marxist-informed journal and then it publishes Lukin Robinson's "The Ontario Election and After." Where is an analysis of the reality of governing in a non-sovereign province within a capitalist state? Where is the comparison of the Ontario New Democratic Party's performance during a period of economic crises in comparison with that of social democratic parties in Great Britain, Germany, France, and New Zealand under similar circumstances? Where is an exposition of the difficulties created for the NDP by its Cold War origins which led to its eschewing of extra-parliamentary political activity and to its organizational and ideological weaknesses. And finally, where is the acknowledgement that the 1990 NDP victory, a fluke based on a 38 percent popular vote, produced an inexperienced caucus and a weak front bench?This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


The re-enactment of the context and the purposes of past laws obviates the resort to "principled forgetfulness", since South African law is recalled in manner that is connected to its morality. The discussion of officially recorded policy vis-à-vis Africans at the mines and other relevant spaces reveals that from its formation the Chamber of Mines had a strict policy of keeping African wages particularly low. Sanctioned policy and practices facilitated this outlook in the implementation of labour law. Additionally, unsatisfactory employment conditions routinely short-changed workers of the amounts due. This evaluation demonstrates how the prohibiting of Africans from reaping monetary advancement, from the profits of mining, was the cornerstone of economic development and attainment of prosperity by white society in South Africa.
The Industrial Conciliation Act is notable for banishing Africans from recognition as employees who could engage in collective bargaining, and served to further impair the already precarious position of African workers. Ironically, though Africans could not bargain, the determinations of industrial councils were permitted to change their employment conditions, in order to maintain the priviledge of white workers. Under this regime African wages remained extremely low, in line with supposed tribal needs, while the "civilised" community reaped far greater benefits. The effects of this were evident in the heightened economic pressure experienced by African workers and their dependants. By 1944 there had been hardly any increase in the wages of African mineworkers, but the working conditions had become more onerous. Invariably the rationale was that an improvement in the wages of African workers would have the effect of dislocating established economy processes, thereby impeding the welfare of the colony. This was the rationale despite evidence clearly showing that the wages of Africans were so inadequate that they resulted in the widespread hardship and worsening impoverishment of African communities.
This retelling of the historical law coupled with prevailing attitudes, that presented African workers as peripheral in the larger tale of productivity, has the objective and effect of rearranging the narrative somewhat. Undoubtedly the story of Africans is still being told through the colonial blueprint of labour and its management, but by reading the law focusing on Africans, rather than the community it was intended to serve, the noticeable spillage of vexed African presence disturbs the integrity of the law. A shift in consciousness is likely to occur as the counter-narrative, hidden within the hegemony, animates.


The purpose of the research is to find out the consumers' consideration in choosing a hospital. The researcher utilizes the approach by measuring the impact of motivation, reference group, and marketing mix toward consumers' decision to choose An-Nisaa' hospital. The research is a quantitative by applying cross sectional study. Then, the researcher needs for about two months to take 70 respondents, which are taken from outpatients of polyclinic and An-Nisaa' Hospital by utilizing questionnaire as a research instrument. By the research, the researcher applies independent and dependent variables. The independent variable consists of motivation, reference group, and marketing mix. The dependent variable consists of consumers' decision to choose An Nisaa Hospital. The data analysis applies doubled linear analysis by using SPSS program. The result of the research shows that there is a simultaneous effect of motivation, reference group, and marketing mixed toward consumers' decision in choosing An-Nisaa' Hospital. Marketing mixed has a dominant influence. However, motivation partially has no effect toward consumers' decision in choosing An-Nisaa' Hospital.


The temperature dependence of device performance is a critical factor that determines overall product power-performance. We show HKMG gate stacks drive significantly higher threshold temperature dependence over poly-Si/SiON. We further show that in SOI, the work-function engineering enabled by HKMG integration schemes can result in even higher Vt temperature sensitivity attributed to differences in floating body behavior. These combined effects, together with observed reduced mobility temperature sensitivity, result in higher drive current at elevated temperature. This is in contrast to poly-Si/SiON technologies where the low driven current, performance limiting corner is typically at high temperature.


The ferret is a reflex-ovulating species in which receipt of an intromission induces a prolonged (+/- 12 h) preovulatory LH surge in the estrous female. This LH surge is probably stimulated by a large release of GnRH from the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH). In Exp 1 we asked whether GnRH messenger RNA (mRNA) levels increase in response to mating so as to replenish the MBH GnRH stores needed to sustain the preovulatory LH surge. Estrous females were killed 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 14, or 24 h after the onset of a 10-min intromission from a male. Coronal brain sections ranging from the rostral preoptic area caudally to the posterior hypothalamus were processed for in situ hybridization using a 35S-labeled oligoprobe complementary to the human GnRH-coding region. We found no evidence of increased MBH GnRH mRNA levels during the ferret's mating-induced preovulatory LH surge. Instead, the number of GnRH mRNA-expressing cells dropped significantly in the arcuate region beginning 6 h after onset of intromission and remained low thereafter. Furthermore, cellular GnRH mRNA levels decreased in the arcuate region toward the end of the preovulatory LH surge. In Exp 2 we asked whether ovarian hormones regulate MBH GnRH mRNA levels in the female ferret. Ovariectomy of estrous females significantly reduced the number of GnRH mRNA-expressing cells in the arcuate region. This decrease was probably not due to the absence of circulating estradiol. Gonadally intact anestrous females had levels of MBH GnRH mRNA similar to those in estrous females even though plasma estradiol levels were equally low in anestrous females and ovariectomized females. Ovarian hormones other than estradiol may stimulate MBH GnRH mRNA levels in anestrous and estrous females.


We extend LDL to allow programs to call external procedures and vice versa. This extension allows the modularization of LDL, since external predicates are equivalent to external procedures written in LDL. External predicates are viewed as infinite relations so that the traditional semantics of logic programs remain applicable. To avoid computing infinite relations, wellformedness conditions for programs in extended LDL are given. The traditional optimization framework can still be used; it is only necessary to define a new set of cost functions capable of handling the infinite relations. The problem of interfacing LDL programs with external procedures—exchanging complex objects and returning multiple solutions—is discussed. Thus, we provide a general framework to allow logic programs to interact with external procedures without sacrificing amenities such as optimization, safety, etc. This approach forms the basis for the implementation of externals and modules in the LDL compiler and optimizer at MCC.


Introduction: Despite the controversies, surgical excision remains the mainstay modality of treatment for giant hairy cell nevi. Although staged excisions, skin grafting or free flaps are proposed as options, each inherit drawbacks. Hereby we present how good cosmetic results can be achieved by differ ent expanded flaps. Patients and Method: In the last two years we operated ten patients (five male, five female) with giant congenital melanocytic nevi using expanded forehead, neck, cheek, anterior thoracic wall and lomber flaps. The mean age of the patients was 18 (ranges 3-23 years) The mean follow up period was 13 months (ranges 6-48 months) Results: In all cases, the giant cell nevi were completely excised except in two patients. In one patient who had a large nevi on her midface extending into the left eyelid and into the medial canthal area, a nearly total excision was implemented to keep the marginal integrity and to preserve the eyelashes; in the other patient who had a nevi on the back, reconstruction with graft was planned. While the facial reconstruction was completed with one procedure, for the lomber and back area we needed two stage expander insertion. Minor additional revisions were required for five cases. No major complication is reported through our patients in the follow up stage. Conclusion: Tissue expansion is an optimal technique for the treatment of giant congenital melanocytic nevi with excellent tissue quality and satisfactory cosmetic results. Large flaps of color, thickness and texture matched skin can be har vested with minimal donor site disturbances. It also reduces operation time,needs no microsurgical expertise and does not necessitate additional donor area.


This study examined the effects of social influences in the lives of an ethnically diverse sample of fifth through eighth grade students with and without learning disabilities (LD) using survey data and academic achievement scores collected in 19 Chicago public schools from 1993–1997. Similarities and differences in student perceptions of school, family, and peer group contexts were examined. In addition, longitudinal data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to identify contextual influences on changes in student reading achievement over time. Comparisons of student responses confirm and extend existing findings in the literature concerning the perceptions of students with LD of their social environments. In particular, having a learning disability was associated with consistent, mostly negative, effects on social relations across the contexts of students' lives, regardless of gender, race, grade, and socioeconomic status. In addition, student perceptions of their friendship groups were found to have small, but significant, effects on their growth in reading achievement over the course of middle school. While students with and without LD had somewhat different views of their social contexts, the processes working within these environments appeared to affect their reading achievement in similar ways. The results suggest that careful attention should be paid to the social contexts of students' lives when planning academic interventions.


It was demonstrated that with increasing probe length the electron saturation current becomes more independent of the probe potential. This provides higher accuracy of measurements of the electron density and plasma potential in a strongly magnetized plasma (B>0.1 T). Long probes oriented parallel to the magnetic field yield better spatial resolution in the perpendicular direction. Parallel probes, however, are very sensitive to alignment errors. To avoid this problem, a cylindrical probe with a side surface coated by a thin insulating layer is proposed.