Background: Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow (BM) of breast cancer patients (pts) were shown to be an independent prognostic factor with regard to reduced PFS and OS. Although this negative prognostic impact has been related to chemotherapy resistant and stem cell-like cells, the microenvironment of the primary tumor might also influence tumor cell spread and thus, outcome of the disease. After a ten year follow-up, we here analyzed the prognostic significance of infiltrating leukocytes in the tumor (TILs) and stroma (SILs) with regard to PFS and OS as well as their association with DTCs in 163 pts with primary breast cancer, diagnosed between 2001 and 2004. Patients and Methods: Tissue microarrays (TMA) were stamped from paraffin embedded specimens and 5µm thick sections were subjected to immunohistochemistry using antibodies against CD3 (DCS, Hamburg, Germany), CD68, CD20, CD8 (all Dakocytomation, Glostrup, Denmark), CD4 (Zytomed Systems, Berlin, Germany) and CD45R0 (Labvision, Fremont, USA), respectively. Each TMA has been evaluated for TILs and SILs assessing intraepithelial and stromal tumor areas occupied by respective immune cells separately: score 0: no staining; score 1: ≤ 10%; score 2: 11-60%; score 3: ≥61%, respectively, using light microscopy at magnifications of x100-200. Statistical analysis was conducted with the R programming language (version 3.20) and Cox proportional hazard regression and the Kruskal-Wallis test. DTCs were studied at the time of primary diagnosis using immunocytochemistry, applying the pan cytokeratin (CK) antibody A45-B/B3. Results: Univariate analyses showed significant associations between prolonged OS and high rates of CD8TIL (p=0.01) and CD4TIL (p=0.028). In the subgroup of triple-negative carcinomas, CD3 TIL and CD8SIL were positively correlated with OS (p=0.038 and p=0.046, respectively), whereas CD8TIL was predictive in HR+/HER2- tumors (p=0.029). In a multivariate model, only CD4TIL was significantly associated with longer OS (p=0.049) in the total group of 163 pts, whereas in the triple-negative subgroup, CD3TIL was significantly correlated with favorable outcome (p=0.044). In contrast, no significant associations were found between TILs/SILs and PFS. The results for DTCs were available for 92/163 pts resulting in a positivity rate of 53%. Intriguingly, despite failing overall associations between DTCs and TILs/SILs, an unfavorable CD4SIL/CD8SIL ratio in the tumors of DTC-positive pts predicted significantly shorter PFS and OS (p=0.009 and p=0.018, respectively). In the DTC-negative subgroup, high CD4SILs were a prognostic marker for shorter OS. Notably, no significant associations were found between CD20, CD45R0 and CD68 and any parameter tested. Conclusion: Analyzing a variety of leukocyte subtypes, we here demonstrate that especially the distribution of CD4 and CD8 in the primary tumor and their ratio seems to be involved in the prognosis of DTC-positive as well as DTC-negative primary breast carcinomas. Since the results for DTCs were only available in a subgroup of pts, further studies will have to prove these findings. Citation Format: Kasimir-Bauer S, Spiekermann A, Friedrich CM, Hoffmann O, Schmid KW, Kimmig R, Bankfalvi A. Association between tumor infiltrating immune cells and disseminated tumor cells in the bone marrow of patients with primary breast cancer: A ten year follow-up. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-04-07.


In studies of patients having maintenance treatment for heroin addiction (stabilized with methadone hydrochloride in high doses of 80 to 120 mg daily), we found minimal side effects and no toxic effects. These studies have included a prospective study of the first consecutive 214 patients admitted to methadone treatment and reevaluation of the 129 patients of this group still in treatment after three or more years. In addition, we studied 1,435 methadone maintenance patients retrospectively and performed special studies on a smaller group. Abnormalities in liver function and serum protein tests, which were found in 57% and 49% of patients at admission, persisted without significant change during treatment. Increased sweating was reported by 48% and persistent constipation by 17% of patients after methadone treatment for three or more years.


Abstract. This study was the continuance of the prior research of psychological intervention of patiens with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, intervention was given to caregivers who caring of their family members in chronic illness. This consideration was chosen based on many feedbacks from community and health care personnels. This research was conducted as a solution to help caregivers of chronic illness deal with their stressful situation. Caregivers are required to care their family members optimally eventhough they are also vulnerable to stress. Based on this condition, the purpose of this research is to test the effectiveness of stress management to reduce stress level in 20 caregivers used experimental design, one group pretest-posttest design. Data collection used Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire by Cohen. Data analysis used paired sample t-test with SPSS 20 showed that there was a significant difference of stress level between before and after stress management intervention. The result revealed that stress management is effective for reducing stress in caregivers.
Keywords: Caregiver; chronic illness; stress management


This article explores the representations of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Mary Karooro Okurut's The Switch (2016). In this article, I investigate why the fictional communities depicted in the selected novel engage in FGM practice. The key method used to obtain data is a close reading of the primary text. The secondary texts of both print and electronic forms from relevant works were also consulted. The data was collected with the guidance of the research objective. The study involved the examination of documents guided by a textual checklist as the major research instrument. This study adopted the cultural feminist literary theory. In the study, I discover that different communities engage in FGM as a way to regulate their women's sexual behaviour and as a norm to transform them from childhood to adulthood. The author has tactfully used techniques like diction, setting and description among others to clearly bring out her message


Family history of breast cancer (BC) is a strong predictor for developing female BC. Whether this excess familiality differs within morphological BC subgroups remains unclear. We assessed the risk of lobular breast cancer (LOB) and any BC among relatives of probands with LOB. We used the Utah Population Database (UPDB) to estimate familial relative risks (FRR) as well as average relatedness, using the genealogical index of familiality (GIF) statistic. The UPDB, a population‐based resource, links genealogical data from over 2 million individuals to the Utah Cancer Registry. Consistent with other studies, analysis of all BC cases showed significantly increased risk of BC to relatives (first‐degree relative [FDR]: FRR = 1.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.75–1.90). Morphology‐specific risks showed that relatives of LOB probands had an increased risk of LOB (FDR: FRR = 4.51, 95% CI = 2.79–6.89) and an increased risk of any BC (FDR: FRR = 2.47, 95% CI = 2.12–2.85); both measures were significantly greater than the all BC FRR estimates, and surpassed even generalized early‐onset BC risk. GIF analyses corroborated the FRR results and indicated that the excess relatedness of LOB cases extended to third‐degree relatives. Our findings suggest that LOB has a heritable component and may represent a genetically homogeneous form of BC. Pedigrees with excess LOB may be useful in isolating additional BC predisposition genes. Relatives of women with LOB are at higher risk for BC than relatives of other BC subtypes; a more rigorous BC screening regime may be warranted for these individuals. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In the early 1990s, at the watershed age of thirty, Marilyn Abildskov decided she needed to start over. She accepted an offer to move from Utah to Matsumoto, Japan, to teach English to junior high school students. "All I knew is that I had to get away and when I stared at my name on the Japanese contract, the squiggles of katakana, my name typed in English sturdily beneath, I liked how it looked. As if it - as if I - were translated, transformed, emerging now as someone new." The Men in My Country is the story of an American woman living and loving in Japan. Satisfied at first to observe her exotic surroundings, the woman falls in love with the place, with the light, with the curve of a river, with the smell of bonfires during obon, with blue and white porcelain dishes, with pencil boxes, and with small origami birds. Later, struggling for a deeper connection - "I wanted the country under my skin" - Abildskov meets the three men who will be part of her transformation and the one man with whom she will fall deeply in love. A travel memoir offering an artful depiction of a very real place, The Men in My Country also covers the terrain of a complex emotional journey, tracing a geography of the heart, showing how we move to be moved, how in losing ourselves in a foreign place we can become dangerously - and gloriously - undone.


Land-surface hydrology has been examined for the Off-line Land-surface GEOS Assimilation (OLGA) system and Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-1) data assimilation system using a river routing model. The GEOS-1 land-surface parameterization is very simple, using an energy balance prediction of surface temperature and prescribed soil water. OLGA uses atmospheric data from GEOS-1 to drive a more comprehensive parameterization of the land-surface processes. Using a global river routing model, OLGA's hydrology is evaluated against GEOS-1 (which serves as a control case) and observations. The river routing model moves monthly mean climatologic source runoff through river networks to simulate the river discharge from many river basins around the world, which can be compared to observed climatologic river discharge. Because of the soil hydrology, the OLGA system shows a general improvement in the simulation of river discharge, compared to the GEOS-1, by slowing the discharge of water. Snowmelt processes included in OLGA also have a positive effect on the annual cycle of river discharge and source runoff. The timing of the snowmelt in river discharge, however, still needs improvement in the annual cycle. Preliminary tests of a coupled land-atmosphere model indicate improvements to the hydrologic cycle compared to the uncoupled system. The river routing model has provided a useful tool in the evaluation of the GCM hydrologic cycle and has helped quantify the influence of the more advanced land-surface model.


ABSTRACT Our modelling strategy assesses model uncertainty explicitly and aims to identify the main drivers of differences in digital variables at the household and individual levels in 99 European NUTS-2 regions. Several economic and demographic covariates are found to be robust predictors of these variables. Our benchmark projection results indicate that historical convergence trends in variables related to the access to digital technologies (broadband and internet use) are expected to continue, but that in the absence of particular policy impulses, the digital divide existing in Europe for international e-commerce and e-government interactions is not expected to disappear in the coming years.


Streptomyces coelicolor produces three distinct catalases to cope with oxidative and osmotic stresses and allow proper growth and differentiation. The major vegetative catalase A (CatA) is induced by H2O2 and is required for efficient aerobic growth. In order to investigate the H2O2-dependent regulatory mechanism, an H2O2-resistant mutant (HR40) overproducing CatA was isolated from S. coelicolor A3(2). Based on the genetic map location of the mutated locus in HR40, the wild type catR gene was isolated from the ordered cosmid library of S. coelicolor by screening for its ability to suppress the HR40 phenotype. catR encodes a protein of 138 amino acids (15319 Da), with sequence homology to ferric uptake regulator (Fur)-like proteins. Disruption of catR caused CatA overproduction as observed in the HR40 mutant, confirming the role of CatR as a negative regulator of catA expression. The levels of catA and catR transcripts were higher in HR40 than in the wild type, implying that CatR represses transcription of these genes. Transcripts from the catA andcatR genes were induced within 10 min of H2O2 treatment, suggesting that the repressor activity of CatR may be directly modulated by H2O2. A putative CatR-binding site containing an inverted repeat of 23 base pairs was localized upstream of the catA and catR gene, on the basis of sequence comparison and deletion analysis. CatR protein purified in the presence of dithiothreitol bound to this region, whereas oxidized CatR, treated with H2O2 or diamide, did not. The redox shift of CatR involved thiol-disulfide exchange as judged by modification of free thiols with 4-acetamido-4′-maleimidylstilbene-2,2′-disulfonate. From these results we propose that CatR regulates its downstream target genes as a repressor whose DNA binding ability is directly modulated by redox changes in the cell.


To enable the application of optical fiber sensors to aerospace vehicles, the sensor interrogation or data acquisition system has to meet small size and low weight requirements. This paper presents the developmental work of an echelle diffractive gratings (EDGs) demultiplexer-based optical fiber sensor interrogation system. The operation principle of this system and its application to fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation are presented. The experimental results have shown that the developed interrogator (not including the electronic controller) weighs less than 60 g and provides better than 1 pm measurement resolution and better than plusmn10 pm measurement accuracy.


Thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRA) was estimated as a measure of TSH binding inhibitory immunoglobulin (TBII) in 48 persons. These included (i) 14 controls; (ii) 23 patients with Graves' disease who were tested for TRA within 3 months of commencing treatment with carbimazole of which 13 were studied serially; (iii) 5 patients with toxic nodular goitre; (iv) 4 with euthyroid exophthalmos; and (v) 2 neonates of thyrotoxic mothers. TRA was measured with an RIA system, while total thyroxine (T4), free thyroxine concentration (FTC) and TSH were also estimated along with TRA. All controls showed undetectable TRA levels; 87 per cent of patients with Graves' disease were TRA positive within 3 months of starting carbimazole therapy. In the serial study, 5 patients with Graves' disease who had undetectable TRA initially remained so while on treatment. Seven out of the remaining 8 patients showed a decline of TRA levels to normal over 3 to 18 months. This decline coincided with clinical and biochemical recovery.


In order to control the exoskeleton robot effectively, movement capture of the lower limbs and gait recognition is required. Joint angle change contains huge amount of motion information during the movement of human lower limbs, so that optical fiber can be used as an effective method to measure the joint angle of lower limb to achieve gait recognition. In this paper, fractal theory is used for feature extraction based on measured limb angle data. Then, Support Vector Machine (SVM) which has brilliant classification performance for small sample size problems is used for pattern recognition. At last, six motions of human lower limb are identified by the system which are walk, run, squat, stand, uphill and downhill for specific. Experimental results show that the proposed method has distinguished recognition performance.


CONTEXT
Bacteria within biofilms are resistant to host defenses and antibiotics. The presence of bacterial biofilms within the tissue and crypts of inflamed tonsils may explain the chronicity and recurrent characteristics of some forms of tonsillitis.

OBJECTIVE
To determine if microbial biofilms occur within clinically abnormal tonsils.

DESIGN
In this study, we evaluated the histomorphological appearance of 19 human tonsils for evidence of biofilm formation using light and transmission electron microscopy.

SUBJECTS
Human tissues were collected during surgical tonsillectomy. Fifteen specimens were removed because of a history of repeated infections, and 4 were removed because of hypertrophy and obstruction.

INTERVENTIONS
No interventions were used in this study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Histological and ultrastructural evidence of bacterial biofilms within the crypts of tonsils.

RESULTS
Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria were seen within otherwise acellular deposits among crypts of 11 of 15 infected tonsils. Regions of accumulated bacteria possessed the ultrastructural appearance of typical amorphous polysaccharide biofilm matrix. Small clusters of bacterial colonies were seen in 3 of 4 tonsils removed because of hypertrophy.

CONCLUSIONS
There is strong anatomical evidence for the presence of bacterial biofilms in chronically diseased tonsils. Because sessile bacteria within biofilms are resistant to host defenses and antibiotics, bacterial biofilms within tonsils may explain the chronicity and recurrent nature of some forms of tonsillitis.


Due to the increased frequency, scale, and danger of malicious attacks carried out by Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs), anti-ram bollards have become a key element in the protection of critical structures. This study focused on the evaluation of above grade load sharing members in a steel anti-ram bollard system in an attempt to develop efficient load sharing mechanisms that improve the structure's ability to resist vehicle impacts, while concurrently remaining aesthetically pleasing to the general public. A computational assessment was completed using calibrated LS-DYNA finite element models to determine if effective load sharing member configurations and designs could be established so that further optimization of the entire anti-ram system was possible. It was determined that efficient above-grade load sharing could improve the crashworthiness of the anti-ram bollard systems that were studied. Of the configurations that were investigated, the most effective load sharing member design was a single HSS member connecting the vertical bollards near their exposed free ends.


Back ground : Anemia affects 1.62 billion people (24.8%), among which 56 million are pregnant women. It is a major public health problem particularly among poorer segments of the population in developing countries where 95% of the world anemic pregnant women are residing. Anemia is one of the most commonly encountered medical disorders during pregnancy. According to WHO estimates, up to 56% of all women living in developing countries are anemic. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and practice regarding Prevention of anemia among pregnant mothers attending ANC in Governmental hospitals at west shoa zone, Ethiopia. Method: Hospital based cross sectional study was employed in three public hospitals found in West Shewa Zone to find out the level of knowledge and practice regarding prevention of anemia dung pregnancy among women attending ANC. A total of 286 pregnant mothers were interviewed by using pretested structured questionnaire from three hospitals. Simple random sampling procedure was carried out to attain the required sample size. Data was entered and processed in to the computer using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 286 pregnant women were participated on the study. Among them only 57.3% and 50% were found to have good knowledge and poor practice respectively regarding prevention of anemia during pregnancy. Crude and adjusted odds ratio done revealed that educational status, living in urban, having nuclear family type, previous history of anemia and good practice were significantly associated with knowledge, while educational status and having good knowledge also found to be significantly associated with prevention of anemia during pregnancy. Conclusions: Based on study findings, half of the study participants attending ANC at West Shoa Zone Governmental Hospitals have Poor Knowledge and poor skills regarding prevention of anemia during pregnancy. Multiple factors such as education, residency, having nuclear type of family and previous anemia history found to affect knowledge and practice regarding prevention of anemia during pregnancy significantly. Therefore, Policy makers would be better consider those factors contributed in prevention of anemia during pregnancy. Keywords: Knowledge, Practice, Prevention, Anemia, Pregnant Women, Antenatal Care.


Society's perception of people with different physical capabilities is that people with various physical capabilities might bring about nothing but catastrophe. Therefore, inclusive education implementation has related to society's problem perception should be improved. One way to improve the implementation of inclusive education is to pursue the development of the education system, evaluation system and career system to improve the productiveness so that the life quality might be better. In relation to the statement, the present study's objective is to identify the effectiveness of the sports massage and the circulo massage toward people productiveness with different physical capability based on the educational degree. During the study's conduct, the approach that had been adopted was the quasi-experimental approach with the factorial 2 x 2 design. The data were taken from the people with different physical capability who attended the training programs in the Integrated Rehabilitation Center for the People with Different Physical Capability. The samples were selected from the population by using the Purposive Sampling Technique. Then, in order to measure the productiveness, the researcher distributed a questionnaire to each sample. After the data had been gathered, the data were analysed using multivariate analysis with a significance level of 0.05. The results of the study show that the massage method that has shown the greatest improvement for the work productiveness is the one that has the following sequence: (1) sports massage for with school education; (2) circulo massage without school education; (3) sports massage without school education; and (4) circulo massage with school education. As a result, it might be concluded that the sports massage method with the school education has been the most effective method for improving the work productiveness, which consists of motivation, knowledge, skills, attitude and independence.


This study aimed at finding out the human resources management practices as predictors of teachers" job security in secondary schools in Enugu State. The study adopted a survey research design and was carried out in the 25 public secondary schools in Udi Education Zone, Enugu State. The population comprised 50
respondents (19 male and 31 female) secondary school teachers randomly sampled from the schools. The study was guided by three research questions and three null hypotheses. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire, sectioned; A, B and C. The instrument was validated by experts while the reliability of the
instrument was determined by the use of Cronbach Alpha formula which yielded reliability co-efficient of 0.76. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while t-test was used to analyze the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance and appropriate degree of freedom. The null hypotheses tested showed no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female teachers on the training,compensation, and performance appraisal practices which contribute to secondary school teachers" job security. It was found among others that training, compensation and performance appraisalwhich are human resource management practices studied; contribute to teachers" job security. Therefore, this human resource management practices contribute to teachers" job security in secondary schools in Enugu State. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers" training practices should be enhanced since it enhances teachers" job security. Teachers should be promoted as at when due and their salaries paid promptly to enhance their job security.


We undertook an epidemiological survey based on a representative sample of 793 rural schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia to assess the prevalence of certain cardiovascular disease risk factors. The prevalence of hypertension (11.2%), hypercholesterolaemia (2.9%), hypertriglyceridaemia (1.0%), high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.6%) and obesity (4.0%) showed no statistically significant difference based on sex. However, smoking (4%) showed a significant gender difference (boys: 7.3%; girls 1.2%). The relatively low cardiovascular disease risk factor profile of Tunisian children needs to be encouraged through to adulthood. Thus a school programme of heart health promotion should be established.


Centrifugal compressors are suited for high pressure applications. Generally, many centrifugal compressor stages are stacked together in order to guarantee the overall pressure ratio implying larger machines. With the aim of more compact machines, it is possible to design high pressure ratio stages, thus reducing the total number of components. In this case, the impeller rotates at high speed to obtain an adequate work input. That in turn implies that the flow exits the impeller and enters the following diffuser with a large tangential velocity.
 Vaned diffusers are thus more effective in this context to obtain a high-pressure recovery keeping the widest operating range. Ideally, fixed diffuser vanes should not have any gap between the tip of the blade and the casing however, due to assembly tolerances, the diffuser has a clearance impacting performance.
 On these premises, this paper presents the optimization of a vaned diffuser exploiting artificial neural networks as a surrogate model. The maximum clearance value allowed by the manufacturing tolerances is taken into account during the optimization. The optimized geometry shows a large improvement in the diffuser performance ensuring an extended operating range. Moreover, the optimized diffuser is more gap insensitive, since the performance lay in a narrow range of variability demonstrating an improved robustness with respect to the clearance values. The performance of the optimized geometry is assessed within a preliminary experimental campaign carried out on the compressor stage. Finally, the developed design rules are validated by means of an extensive experimental campaign on a full-scale model test.


Introduction/Background Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is a rare but particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. It represents about 1–5% of all breast cancers. It is characterised by a particular geographical distribution, being described as more common in the region of North Africa, with particular characteristics in comparison to locally advanced breast cancer. The objective of this study is to describe the clinical and progressive characteristics of inflammatory breast cancer within Mohamed VI center for the treatment of cancer, CHU Ibn Rochd, Casablanca. Methodology In a cross-sectional study, covering the period from January 2010 to December 2015, including all cases of inflammatory breast cancer, clinically diagnosed according to the definition of the AJCC (American Cancer Joint Committee). It excluded the tumors locally advanced. Results A total of 57 patients had an IBC, and were taken care of within the Center with an average of 50.2±11.8 years old with extremes (32–90 years old), 22.8% of cases used oral contraceptives, The histological type the more common was the infiltrating ductal carcinoma in 82.5% of cases. The histological grade SBR 3 was the most common in 47.4 of cases. A positivity of the estrogen receptors was observed in 59.5% of cases and of progesterone receptors in 40.5% of cases. Her2 was overexpressed in 50.0% of cases. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy for localized tumors, 64% of patients had a clinical objective response (COR) and 20% had a histological Complete response (PCR). The survival without relapse (SWR) and overall survival (OG) to five years were respectively 44.5% and 27.4%. Conclusion IBC is an aggressive form of breast cancer. It represents 1.7% of cases in our center, with more pejorative criteria in comparison to the noninflammatory Breast Cancer : more youth, more negative ER, more positive HER2, high SBR grade, lymphatic ganglions and The metastatic dissemination. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.


The objectives were to investigate the ovarian dynamics and hormonal profiles during the oestrus cycle, and to characterize the ovarian and uterine blood flow (OBF versus UBF) indices on the extent of vascular perfusion towards the dominant follicle (DF) or corpus luteum (CL) during the peri-ovulatory follicular wave in Sahiwal cows. In experiment 1, cyclic cows (n = 21) were selected at their spontaneous oestrus (day 0) and subjected to B-mode ultrasonography throughout the oestrus cycle. In experiment 2, cyclic cows (n = 9) were randomly selected at day 0, and categorized according to the intra-ovarian patterns as ovaries with DF (n = 3), CL (n = 3) or both (DF+CL; n = 3) to characterize the OBF and UBF indices using Doppler ultrasonography. The length of the oestrus cycle (days), number of follicular waves (n) and size (mm) of DF and CL were 20.1 ± 0.9, 2.1 ± 0.2, 14.7 ± 0.7 and 15.9 ± 2.5, respectively. The concentrations (ng/mL) of plasma progesterone increased linearly, and a peak was attained at day 12.2 ± 1.0. However, it reduced linearly with the onset of luteolysis at day 16.4 ± 0.3 of the oestrus cycle. The plasma progesterone (P4) concentrations and the diameter of CL correlated throughout the oestrus cycle. The mean OBF and UBF indices did not differ between intraovarian patterns. Taken together, this information on reproductive physiological parameters could be used to develop synchronization protocols to improve reproductive management in Sahiwal cows.


PURPOSE
To validate the accuracy of ventricular function analysis using a single breath-hold real-time steady sate free precession (SSFP) cine MR method and demonstrate its application during adenosine stress imaging in children with congenital heart disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-eight subjects with congenital heart disease were studied (mean age 12.4 +/- 2.3 years) with MR imaging at 1.5 T. Short-axis images covering the entirety of both ventricles were acquired at rest, with a conventional segmented SSFP cine sequence acquired over multiple breath-holds and a single breath-hold real-time SSFP sequence. Seventeen subjects were given an infusion of adenosine, and the single breath-hold real-time short-axis stack was repeated during stress. Two independent observers performed the ventricular function analysis. Data was compared between the 2 acquisition methods at rest and between the single breath-hold acquisition at rest and during adenosine stress.

RESULTS
There was good agreement between the multiple breath-hold and single breath-hold methods for measurement of end-diastolic volume (r = 0.95 and 0.96, p < .0001) and end-systolic volume (ESV) (r = 0.76 and 0.90, p < .0001) for the left and right ventricles respectively, and the left ventricular mass (r = 0.97, p < .0001). Adenosine was administered safely to all subjects. During stress there were significant changes in the heart rate and ESV, which led to a significant increase in cardiac output (mean 1.5 +/- 1.0 L/min, p < .001).

CONCLUSION
Single breath-hold real-time SSFP cine imaging is robust and accurate in assessing cardiac function in children with congenital heart disease. An application of this method is the rapid assessment of cardiac function during adenosine stress.


This paper introduces a multirobot cooperation approach to solve the "pursuit evasion'' problem for mobile robots that have omnidirectional vision sensors. The main characteristic of this approach is to implement a real cooperation between robots based on knowledge sharing and makes them work as a team. A complete algorithm for computing a motion strategy of robots is also presented. This algorithm is based on searching critical points in the environment. Finally, the deliberation protocol which distributes the exploration task among the team and takes the best possible outcome from the robots resources is presented.


Neutral to the right (NTR) processes were introduced by Doksum in 1974 as Bayesian priors on the class of distributions on the real line. Since that time there have been numerous applications to models that arise in survival analysis subject to possible right censoring. However, unlike the Dirichlet process, the larger class of NTR processes has not been used in a wider range of more complex statistical applications. Here, to circumvent some of these limitations, we describe a natural extension of NTR processes to arbitrary Polish spaces, which we call spatial neutral to the right processes. Our construction also leads to a new rich class of random probability measures, which we call NTR species sampling models. We show that this class contains the important two parameter extension of the Dirichlet process. We provide a posterior analysis, which yields tractable NTR analogues of the Blackwell-MacQueen distribution. Our analysis turns out to be closely related to the study of regenerative composition structures. A new computational scheme, which is an ordered variant of the general Chinese restaurant processes, is developed. This can be used to approximate complex posterior quantities. We also discuss some relationships to results that appear outside of Bayesian nonparametrics.


In the first publication on the disease sporotrichosis (Schenck, 1898) it was shown that, (i) the disease was caused by a fungus which belongs to the genus Sporotrichum Link 1809; (ii) the parasite could not be detected in material from the lesions of the patient, but could be found in abundance in material from the lesions of experimentally infected animals; and (iii) the morphology of the form of the fungus found in tissue was different from that of the form which grew on ordinary agar media. The same findings were reported by Hektoen and Perkins (1900-1901) in their study of the second published case of sporotrichosis, and have been repeatedly confirmed during succeeding years. Thus from the beginning, it has been recognized that Sporotrichum schenckii Matruchot 1910 occurs in two distinct morphologic forms: yeastlike, and mycelial. Lutz and Splendore (1908) demonstrated that S. schenckii could be cultured in its yeast phase in vitro. Numerous investigators subsequently described a variety of media and cultural conditions by which this same result could be accomplished (Davis, 1913; Gougerot, 1913; Taylor, 1913; Campbell, 1945; Salvin, 1947; Drouh6t and Mariat, 1952; Larsh, Hinton, and Silberg, 1956). Although the environmental factors controlling the expression of cultural dimorphism by the fungus have been determined (Salvin, 1947; Drouhet and Mariat, 1952), the morphological changes which occur during the transition of the organism from the mycelial to the yeastlike phase have not been described in detail. The transformation of the mycelial phase to the yeast phase of Histoplasma capsulatum and Blastomyces dermatitidis has been studied in tissue culture (Howard, 1959; Howard and Herndon, 1960). Since these two fungi share with S. schenckii the property of cultural di-


Android security has become a very important issue with regard to mobile phone development: Android gives great freedom to developers to create and publish their apps for free in the PlayStore. The security mechanism of Android is based on an instrument that gives users the information about permissions that the application requests before installing it. This authorization system provides an overview of the application, and this can help to raise awareness of its risks. However, standard users still do not have enough information to understand clearly these requested authorizations and their implications on their security. In this article, we present a tool called "Permission watcher" that combines dynamic and static analysis. Our proposed tool allows users to install any application with only the necessary permissions instead of accepting all permissions requested or cancel the installation completely.


Abstract Background When anti-cancer treatments have been given market authorization, but are not (yet) reimbursed within a healthcare system, physicians are confronted with ethical dilemmas. Arranging access through other channels, e.g., hospital budgets or out-of-pocket payments by patients, may benefit patients, but leads to unequal access. Until now, little is known about the perspectives of physicians on access to non-reimbursed treatments. This interview study maps the experiences and moral views of Dutch oncologists and hematologists. Methods A diverse sample of oncologists and hematologists (n = 22) were interviewed. Interviews were analyzed thematically using Nvivo 12 qualitative data software. Results This study reveals stark differences between physicians' experiences and moral views on access to anti-cancer treatments that are not (yet) reimbursed: some physicians try to arrange other ways of access and some physicians do not. Some physicians inform patients about anti-cancer treatments that are not yet reimbursed, while others wait for reimbursement. Some physicians have principled moral objections to out-of-pocket payment, while others do not. Conclusion Oncologists and hematologists in the Netherlands differ greatly in their perspectives on access to expensive anti-cancer treatments that are not (yet) reimbursed. As a result, they may act differently when confronted with dilemmas in the consultation room. Physicians working in different healthcare systems may face similar dilemmas.


Abstract Acrylamide (ACR) is a potential neurotoxin commonly found in the environment, as well as in food repeatedly exposed heat processing, but the mechanism underpinning ACR-induced neurotoxicity remains unclear. This study investigated the potential association and underlying signal transduction of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy associated with ACR-triggered neurotoxicity. Therefore, U87-MG cells were treated with varying ACR concentrations, while the cell activity reduction depended on the specific dosage and time parameters. Biochemical analyses showed that ACR significantly increased the reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and Ca2+ levels while decreasing the glutathione (GSH) levels and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), finally leading to a higher cell apoptotic rate. Moreover, ACR induced U87-MG cell apoptosis and autophagy via ROS-triggered expression in the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, NF-κB activation, and autophagosome accumulation. In addition, the autophagosome accumulation induced by ACR could probably be ascribed to blocked autophagic flux, inhibiting the autophagosomes from combining with lysosomes, while the inhibition of autophagy caused by ACR further promoted the initiation of apoptosis. In conclusion, the results indicated that the apoptotic and autophagic pathways responded to ACR-induced neurotoxicity. However, inhibited protective autophagy further promoted apoptotic progression. New insights may be derived from these cellular responses that can help develop diverse pathway strategies for assessing the risk posed by ACR. HIGHLIGHTS ACR induced mitochondrial- and caspase-dependent apoptosis in U87-MG cells. ACR regulated the autophagic markers and blocked autophagic flux in U87-MG cells. ACR inhibited protective autophagy and promoted apoptotic initiation in U87-MG cells.


Optical absorption of amorphous V2O5-Bi2O3 thin film prepared by thermal evaporation technique has been studied in the wave length rang 200 to 800 nm. It is found that the fundamental optical absorption edge rather sharp as in crystalline materials. It is also found that the optical energy gap EOPT is about 4.07 eV and the mechanism of transition is direct forbidden transition.


We describe here a novel scheme for recognition of online handwritten basic characters of Bangla, an Indian script used by more than 200 million people. There are 50 basic characters in Bangla and we have used a database of 24,500 online handwritten isolated character samples written by 70 persons. Samples in this database are composed of one or more strokes and we have collected all the strokes obtained from the training samples of the 50 character classes. These strokes are manually grouped into 54 classes based on the shape similarity of the graphemes that constitute the ideal character shapes. Strokes are recognized by using hidden Markov models (HMM). One HMM is constructed for each stroke class. A second stage of classification is used for recognition of characters using stroke classification results along with 50 look-up-tables (for 50 character classes).


Changes in the oesophageal diameter and function together with changes in body weight, feed intake and the cardiac pulmonary flow index were investigated during experimentally induced poisoning with Geigeria ornativa and subsequent recovery. This was performed under varying conditions for individual sheep. Results showed an increase in the oesophageal diameter index (ODI) during vermeersiekte, accompanied with a decrease in oesophageal function (OF). Cessation of G. ornativa intake resulted in a considerable although incomplete recovery of the ODI. Recovery of the OF for the different sheep, however, varied between 0 and 100%. Detrimental changes in the oesophageal diameter and function were also measured in sheep receiving only subclinical doses of G. ornativa. Decreases in body weight and feed intake commenced 1 to 3 weeks before the onset of vermeersiekte, while indications of a decline in these 2 parameters were also noticed with ingestion of subclinical amounts of G. ornativa. An increase in the cardiac pulmonary flow index (CPFI) to a value indicating the onset of heart failure was found in 1 of the sheep showing clinical signs of vermeersiekte. The CPFI returned to normal after termination of G. ornativa intake.


Aiming to solve the problem whereby the damping process effect is significant and difficult to measure during low-speed machining of titanium alloy thin-walled parts, the ploughing coefficient of the flank face is obtained based on the frequency-domain decomposition (FDD) of the measured vibration signal and the energy balance principle, and then the process-damping prediction model is obtained. Aiming to solve the problem of non-linear change of dynamic characteristics of a workpiece caused by the material removal effect in the machining of titanium alloy thin-walled parts, a prediction model of dynamic characteristics of a workpiece is established based on the structural dynamic modification method. Meanwhile, the effect of material removal on the process-damping coefficient is studied, and the internal relationship between the process-damping coefficient and the dynamic characteristics of the workpiece is revealed. The stability lobe diagram is obtained by the full discretization in the titanium alloy milling process. The correctness of the model and stability prediction is verified by experiments under different working conditions. It is found that the coupling characteristics of process-damping and workpiece dynamic characteristics control the stability of the milling process. The research results can provide theoretical support for accurate characterization and process optimization of titanium alloy thin-walled workpiece milling.


The Nature group of journals announced last week that it was extending its policy on disclosure of financial interests to include authors of review papers, in addition to authors of original research papers.

Writing in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience (2003;6: 997), the journals' editors announced that they were widening their policy on financial disclosure after controversy over a review article on mood disorders published last November.

In February Robert Rubin, professor of neurosciences and psychiatry at Drexell University College of Medicine, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, and Bernard Carroll, of the Pacific Behavioral Research Foundation, Carmel, California, wrote to the Nature group complaining …


Genetic variation in the genomic regulatory landscape likely plays a crucial role in the pathology of disease. Non-coding variants associated with disease can influence the expression of long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs), which in turn function in the control of protein-coding gene expression. Here, we investigate the function of two independent serum urate-associated signals (SUA1 and SUA2) in close proximity to lincRNAs and an enhancer that reside ∼60 kb and ∼300 kb upstream of MAF, respectively. Variants within SUA1 are expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) for LINC01229 and MAFTRR, both co-expressed with MAF. We have also identified that variants within SUA1 are trans-eQTL for genes that are active in kidney- and serum urate-relevant pathways. Serum urate-associated variants rs4077450 and rs4077451 within SUA2 lie within an enhancer that recruits the transcription factor HNF4α and forms long range interactions with LINC01229 and MAFTRR. The urate-raising alleles of rs4077450 and rs4077451 increase enhancer activity and associate with increased expression of LINC01229. We show that the SUA2 enhancer region drives expression in the zebrafish pronephros, recapitulating endogenous MAF expression. Depletion of MAFTRR and LINC01229 in HEK293 cells in turn lead to increased MAF expression. Collectively, our results are consistent with serum urate variants mediating long-range transcriptional regulation of the lincRNAs LINC01229 and MAFTRR and urate relevant genes (e.g., SLC5A8 and EHHADH) in trans.


Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are responsible for intense winter rainfall events impacting the U.S. West Coast, and have been studied extensively during CalWater and AR Recon field programs (2014–20). A unique set of 858 dropsondes deployed in lines transecting 33 ARs are analyzed, and integrated vapor transport (IVT) is used to define five regions: core, cold and warm sectors, and non-AR cold and warm sides. The core is defined as having at least 80% of the maximum IVT in the transect. Remaining dropsondes with IVT > 250 kg m−1 s−1 are assigned to cold or warm sectors, and those outside of this threshold form non-AR sides. The mean widths of the three AR sectors are approximately 280 km. However, the core contains roughly 50% of all the water vapor transport (i.e., the total IVT), while the others each contain roughly 25%. A low-level jet occurs most often in the core and warm sector with mean maximum wind speeds of 28.3 and 21.7 m s−1, comparable to previous studies, although with heights approximately 300 m lower than previously reported. The core exhibits characteristics most favorable for adiabatic lifting to saturation by the California coastal range. On average, stability in the core is moist neutral, with considerable variability around the mean. A relaxed squared moist Brunt–Väisälä frequency threshold shows ~8%–12% of core profiles exhibiting near-moist neutrality. The vertical distribution of IVT, which modulates orographic precipitation, varied across AR sectors, with 75% of IVT residing below 3115 m in the core.


INTRODUCTION:
Arthroplasty is an operation to restore pain- free motion to a joint and function to the muscles, ligaments and other soft tissue structures that control the joint. The goals of total joint arthroplasty are to relieve pain, to provide motion while maintaining stability and to correct deformity.
AIM:
The aim of this study is to analyse the short-term followup of functional results of 31 porous-coated uncemented total hip replacement surgeries prospectively, done in our institution during the period September 2003 to February 2006.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This is a prospective study conducted at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Government General Hospital, Chennai-3 during the period from September 2003 to February 2006. We had done 31 porous-coated uncemented total hip replacement surgeries in 29 patients for a variety of indications.
RESULTS:
All patients were evaluated clinically and radiologically preoperatively and at various followup periods. All the patients were analysed using Harris Hip Score evaluation, preoperatively and post operatively. In our study, 15 hips showed excellent results, 10 hips showed good results, 3 hips showed fair results and 3 hips showed poor results. All the patients were analysed radiographically also during various follow up periods. The femoral stem and acetabular cup were assessed for its position, loosening, migration or implant failure. one patient had subsidence of femoral stem of 3 mm in the proximal portion and the patient had thigh pain. One patient had migration of acetabular cup medially through the floor of the acetabulum.
CONCLUSION:
The uncemented total hip arthroplasty is the best choice of surgery for hip diseases in younger individuals with good bone quality. The learning curve for the total hip arthroplasty to produce better results of this surgery is fairly big. The preferred surgical approach is by lateral Hardinge approach and the position is supine position, especially for the surgeons in the learning curve, since the surgeon will have better three-dimensional orientation. The success of hip arthroplasty is predicted on proper patient selection, use of well designed implants and skilled technical execution of the procedure.


Numerically, we have analyzed the optical phase-conjugate characteristics of four-wave mixing signal pulses generated in semiconductor optical amplifiers by solving a modified nonlinear Schrodinger equation using the finite-difference beam propagation method. We have shown that the optical phase-conjugate characteristics of FWM signal pulses are strongly dependent on the input pump pulsewidths. It has clarified that the input pump pulsewidth wider than 3 ps is required for obtaining a nearly ideal phase-conjugate characteristics, when the chirped probe pulsewidth is ∼2.2 ps


A study was conducted in Jakarta on 903 women workers before going abroad through stool examination by Ritchie's technical method. Of the women workers studied, 640 subjects (70.87%) were found to be infected with intestinal parasites either helminthes, protozoa or combination. Out of those infected, 451 (70.47%) subjects were infected with intestinal helminthes, namely Ascaris lumbricoides (38.13%), Trichuris trichiura (28.13%), a combination of Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale (13.59%) and Enterobius vermicularis (4.84%). In addition 319 (49.84%) subjects were infected with intestinal protozoa namely Giardia lamblia (22.03%), Entamoeba histolytica (14.53%), Blastocystis hominis (6.56%) and Entamoeba coli (6.72%). The youngest age to be affected was 14 years old (14.19% of the subjects studied). Majority (72.09%) of the study subjects received junior high school level of education. Home yard (46.51%) and ground under the trees (22.09%) were places favourable for the habits of defaecation, whereas garbage disposal took place in 52.33% home yards and 25.58% creeks. This study revealed that various life style habits and indiscriminate defaecation were the causes of the continuous transmission of intestinal parasitic infections. The different parasites that were found in women workers before going abroad relate to the various epidemiological aspects of intestinal parasites in women workers in Indonesia who came from different islands in the country and possessed different life style patterns, socioeconomic status, geographical condition and cultures.


By focusing on drink as a central feature of working-class culture in early-twentieth-century Russia, this article provides a new context in which to examine Temma Kaplan's assertion that collective protest by women is motivated by "female consciousness." Finding support for Kaplan's thesis, this study emphasizes that, whether in their daily lives or during more unusual moments of collective protest, women's actions toward drink were rooted in their assessment of alcohol's impact on the family economy. The limited, individualistic methods working women normally used to ensure their families' economic health were transformed into overt, collective action during revolutionary upheavals, but the character that women's day-to-day struggles to defend the family economy assumed both before and after 1917 suggests that women's family concerns were not substantively incorporated into the agenda of the new state.


Spin blockade[1] is commonly employed in double quantum dot devices as the critical element in the spin to charge detection process in spin qubit manipulation experiments. In Pauli blockade transport measurements in double quantum dots current flows freely in one direction, but is blockaded in the other due to the Pauli exclusion principle. The blockade is found to be not perfect at zero magnetic field due to a mixing of singlet and triplet states in a field gradient resulting from the hyperfine interactions. These leakage currents are dramatically suppressed when a small external field splits off triplet states from the singlet one. In this talk equivalent process in triple quantum dots in series will be discussed. We will show novel leakage mechanisms due to coherent transport in triple quantum dot states. In triple dots it has been predicted [2,3] current only flows when four configurations are degenerate, i.e. at quadruple points. When a bias is applied in a magnetic field spin blockade is observed where current is suppressed independent of the bias direction [5]. As the field is reduced to zero spin blockade leakage resonances appear within the transport region. We focus on two very sharp resonances which correspond to a configuration when states in the left and right dot but not the center dot align. The resonances are found to result from a purely quantum coherent effect: electrons occupy states that involve their transference from one extreme to the other of the triple quantum dot without ever visiting the center. Such states have been invoked theoretically for possible applications such as spin bussing or quantum rectification [4]. Our calculations, based on the density matrix formalism, accurately reproduce the experimental transport features for the different configurations that unambiguously show bipolar spin blockade. The inspection of the off diagonal elements of the stationary density matrix proves that in fact, the left-right resonances stem from a purely coherent process between the left and right dots, that almost entirely avoids the passage of an electron tunneling through the center dot. We will describe these coherent superpositions, often known as Dark states, in different triple quantum dots configurations[6].


Art history and art criticism belong in a wider sense to the humanities, whose aim is the interpretation and comprehension of human actions and intellectual work. Both fields draw their basic methodological tools from the hermeneutical tradition. Their central analytic category is comprehension (verstehen) that seeks to ascribe meaning to the spirit of these actions, or to works of art. The intention of the art historian is to analyse and integrate artistic works in a wider intellectual and social frame, while the aim of the art critic is to examine the values connected with artistic creations. Their roles are not always distinguishable, as analysis, comprehension, interpretation and evaluation often co-exist in the studies of both fields. However, the approach of the art historian should have a scientific character, aiming at objectively valid formulations, while the critic should give equal consideration to subjective factors, acknowledging international artistic values, often taking on the additional role of philosopher or theorist of art. In my paper I examine the varying degrees of subjectivity in the approaches of art historians and art critics. I give emphasis to the methods and language both use, while I approach the categories of artistic values (aesthetic, moral, cognitive) according to their subjective usage, but also to their role in the comprehension and evaluation of art. My conviction is that art history and art criticism are complementary activities, as the former creates fertile conditions for the latter's complete and essential evaluations. [


The development of geo-engineering applied to the oceans-ocean fertilization, trapping and geological storage of CO2-has put two areas of international environmental law in tension: climate law and international law of the marine environment. This study aims to think about the role that the international environmental law could or should play toward the development of the geo-engineering. The discussions on geo-engineering that have taken place in international fora are rich in lessons about these rights themselves, with regard to their effectiveness and efficiency, but also to their articulation, and they allow to understand the position of the different organizations a front of these new techniques. Thus, the question of the " good governance" of this new challenge raises. It is therefore a question of presenting the various possibilities offered by international law to frame-even forbid-these new practices.


Why are some species geographically restricted? Ecological explanations suggest that endemic species may have restricted distributions because limited phenotypic variability results in narrow niches. However, studying variability of traits independently may not fully explain the interactions within and between complex phenotypes and environments. Here, we hypothesize that endemic species are restricted to a narrow range of habitats due to strong phenotypic integration (i.e. strong correlations among traits), strong environmental integration (i.e. strong correlations among the environments occupied) and strong correlations among trait–environment combinations.


The peaking phenomenon of the Bayes recognition accuracy of pattern classifiers with unknown underlying statistics is addressed. It is shown that this effect, known as the Hughes paradox, arises from improper comparisons of statistically incomparable models. A formalization of the notion of comparability is introduced, and some of the results obtained in the literature are revisited in this context.


Currently, extremism and terrorism is a real threat to the national security of the Russian Federation. Extremism and terrorism are extremely dangerous, which can undermine any, even the most prosperous and stable society. One of the main areas of the fight against extremist and terrorist manifestations in the social environment in favor of prevention. Especially important to carry out such preventive work among young people, as it is this social group, due to a number of factors, the most vulnerable to the negative effects of exposure to a variety of anti-social and criminal groups.


The culture-loaded words are a special vocabulary of all kinds of language.And its translation has been one of the most difficult problems in the academic field.When culture-loaded words are being translated from the source language into the target language,the translator should have a clear knowledge of the differences in understanding the same culture-loaded word of both the source language reader and the target language reader.This paper deals with strategies for optimizing the translation of culture-loaded words,especially translating Chinese culture-loaded words into English.Alienation translation favors communicating the characteristics and connotation of Chinese and English culture.


Abstract A non-invasive myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) diagnostic model would allow for care while avoiding invasive bone marrow examinations (BME). BME-established MDS patients were compared to non-MDS (BME-excluded) patients. Variables (gender, age, hemoglobin (Hb), mean red blood cell corpuscular volume (MCV), platelet (PLT), and white blood cell (WBC)) were combined with multivariate logistic regression; a probability score (Y) was calculated. MDS (n = 48) and non-MDS (n = 63) patients were used to establish the model. The ROC was drawn, giving an AUC of 0.748 (95% CI: 0.656–0.84). Two cutoff values were used for Y. Y ≥ 0.633: high likelihood (positive predictive value (PPV) = 85%); Y ≤ 0.288: low likelihood (negative predictive value (NPV) = 81%) of MDS. The first group is defined as probable MDS (pMDS); the second, probably not MDS (pnMDS). The model was validated with 40 additional patients (20 with and 20 without MDS). Using clinical and lab data, we could diagnose or exclude MDS in about half of the patients, avoiding BME. Future work will use larger cohorts of patients to improve and further validate the model.


OBJECTIVE
To validate the vasoactive inotropic score as a predictor of the severity of compromised systemic circulation and mortality in preterm infants.

METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted on preterm infants with Compromised systemic circulation [hypotension±lactic acidosis±oliguria] who received a cardiovascular support, we calculated the vasoactive inotropic score (VIS) and cumulative exposure to cardiovascular medications over time (VISct). Receiver operator curve was constructed to predict the primary outcome which was death & refractory hypotension.

RESULTS
VIS had an area under the curve of 0.73 (95% CI 0.85-0.98, p <  0.001). A VIS cut off of 25 has sensitivity and specificity of 66% and 92%, and positive and negative predictive values of 78.5% and 83%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
High VIS predicts the severity of Compromised systemic circulation and mortality rate in preterm infants.


The Arab world exhibits a fascinating linguistic case that is worth investigating. Likewise Algeria Arab speaking countries implement the policy of Arabization in order to preserve the image of Arabic from any type of threat. Hence, colonialism had not expired without an impact; Linguistic diversity is by far the outcome. The present paper aims at shedding light on the sociolinguistic phenomena such as: Diglossia, bilingualism, and borrowing with reference to the situation of the Arabic language. It tries to raise the question of the utility of the Quran's language in correspondence to our globalized era


A critical examination has been made of the ideas about the mechanism of influence of catalysts for electrochemical catalytic hydrogen evolution (particularly alkaloids) on the electroreduction of various organic compounds and on the induction of optical activity when prochiral compounds participate the electrochemical reaction. Particular attention has been paid to processes occurring at electrodes modified by chiral compounds and to the preparation of optically active products in media containing asymmetric cosolvents. The bibliography includes 98 references.


As the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affect every aspects of human life, it is urgent to provide a data for further researches. We, therefore, introduce a dataset named Sound Dr Database which provides not only quality sounds of coughing and breathing but also metadata for relevant-respiratory illness or diseases. Creating proof-of-concept systems is effective for the detection of abnormalities in the respiratory sounds of patients. These solutions will serve as effective tools to assist physicians in diagnosing respiratory disorders.


AIMS
To evaluate the frequency and outcomes of workplace incivility in healthcare for nursing management.

BACKGROUND
Incivility in the workplace is a significant problem that is important to nurse managers, as it goes directly against the fundamental values and ethics of providing high-quality care to patients. The Joint Commission (2021) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center have called on healthcare organizations to identify and intervene in the problem of workplace incivility.

EVALUATION
Studies included in this scoping review were those that measured and analyzed the frequency and outcomes of workplace incivility in healthcare. Four databases were searched, and 28 articles were reviewed. Evaluation was based on general quality, including study characteristics, instruments, and statistical analyses.

KEY ISSUES
Studies used a quasi-experimental design, and most focused on the Registered Nurse population. The Workplace Incivility Scale was the most commonly used instrument to measure workplace incivility frequency. The most frequently studied work-related outcomes were burnout, satisfaction, and turnover.

CONCLUSIONS
Although the frequency of workplace incivility in healthcare is not clear, its consequences are substantial. Multiple studies have revealed significant relationships between workplace incivility and work-related outcomes that are important to nurse managers. Research is needed on non-nursing healthcare professionals, and validation studies are needed on instruments used to measure workplace incivility frequency.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
The findings of this review can help nurse managers better understand the phenomenon, frequency, and impact of workplace incivility in the healthcare setting and move toward addressing the problem of workplace incivility among nurses and other healthcare professionals.


Patterns of polyploid evolution in the taxonomically controversial Dactylorhiza incarnata/maculata groups were inferred genetically by analyzing 399 individuals from 177 localities for (1) four polymorphic plastid regions yielding aggregate haplotypes and (2) nuclear ribosomal ITS allele frequencies. Concordance between patterns observed in distributions of plastid haplotypes and ITS alleles renders ancestral polymorphism an unlikely cause of genetic variation in diploids and allopolyploids. Combining the degree of concerted evolution in ITS alleles (thought to reflect gene conversion) with inferred parentage provides support for a quadripartite classification of western European allopolyploid dactylorchids according to their respective parentage and relative dates of origin. The older allotetraploids that generally exhibit only one parental ITS allele can be divided into those derived via hybridization between the divergent complexes we now call D. incarnata s.l. and D. fuchsii (e.g., D. majalis) and those derived via hybridization between D. incarnata s.l. and D. maculata (e.g., D. elata). Similarly, the younger allotetraploids that maintain evidence of both parental ITS alleles can be divided into those derived from hybridization between D. incarnata s.l. and D. fuchsii, or perhaps in some cases a diploid species resembling D. saccifera (e.g., D. praetermissa, D. purpurella, D. traunsteineri s.l., D. baltica), and those derived from hybridization between the D. incarnata s.l. and D. maculata groups (e.g., D. occidentalis, D. sphagnicola). Older allotetraploids are inferred to have passed through glacially induced migration bottlenecks in southern Eurasia, whereas at least some younger allotetraploids now occupying northern Europe are inferred to have originated post-glacially and remain sympatric with their parents, a scenario that is largely in agreement with the morphology and ecology of these allotetraploids. ITS conversion is in most cases biased toward the maternal parent, eventually obscuring evidence of the original allopolyploidization event because plastid haplotypes also reflect the maternal contribution. Gene flow appears unexpectedly low among allotetraploids relative to diploids, whereas several mechanisms may assist the gene flow observed across ploidy levels. There is good concordance between (1) the genetically delimited species that are required to accurately represent the inferred evolutionary events and processes and (2) morphologically based species recognized in certain moderately conservative morphological classifications previously proposed for the genus. Further research will seek to improve sampling, especially in eastern Eurasia, and to develop more sensitive markers for distinguishing different lineages within (1) the remarkably genetically uniform D. incarnata group (diploids) and (2) locally differentiated populations of (in some cases unnamed) allotetraploids. (Less)


Data collection or generation is the primary way that the majority of volunteers advance the scientific goals of citizen science projects, but other activities such as data consumption also may influence learning, civic, and conservation outcomes. Project designers and managers balance goals for multiple outcomes and thus need to consider the influence of all project-related activities on outcomes. In a study of the kayak-based Citizen's Water Quality Testing (CWQT) Program in New York City, we compared the characteristics, perceptions, and behaviors of those collecting and using CWQT data (data collectors) and those solely using the data (data consumers). Data collectors (n = 40) and consumers (n = 24) were similar in gender and political orientation, but collectors were younger, devoted more time to the project, and experienced far more face-to-face interactions related to the project. Data collectors and consumers had similar motivations for participation, except that collectors were more likely motivated by recognition for their efforts. Lack of free time was the largest barrier to participation for both types of participants, and a significantly greater barrier for consumers. Data collectors and consumers trusted volunteer-collected data more than government-collected data. Collectors and consumers both recognized multiple scientific, environmental, and social benefits associated with the project, and both were equally likely to use volunteer-collected data for a variety of purposes, such as informing decisions about conservation and recreation. Importantly, both groups were equally likely to undertake a suite of conservation behaviors. We synthesize and expand current conceptual frameworks of citizen science participation and outcomes, highlighting the need for further study to understand mechanisms and linkages between the varied activities of citizen science projects and broader social and ecological impacts. To achieve conservation goals, project managers should broaden the definition of participant to include those carrying out activities other than data collection (such as data use) and explicitly manage for potential benefits derived by consumers of citizen science.


This paper aims to delve into Desdemona's mind in Shakespeare's Othello. In this paper, Desdemona's utterances are perused through conceptual metaphor analysis. The objective of this study is to disclose Desdemona's cognitive complexity, and conceptual metaphor analysis offers an opportunity to enter Desdemona's cognitive world notwithstanding the degradation of her speech. These conceptual metaphors will follow three major axes of scrutiny: body, emotions, and ethics. The findings of this paper demonstrate that a cognitive exploration of the character reveals a structured system of thoughts where corporeal passions, emotional acuity, and ethical choices are culminated in a coherent and dynamic female protagonist. Desdemona's conceptual metaphors confirm a sensual and wilful persona who broke an ascetic image of femininity associated with conditioning and interdictions. The study aspires to demonstrate how Desdemona would become a haunting presence on stage, triumphant even as all other characters fell, and how she would reach from beyond the grave to hold the audience in the throes of empathy. The intent of the paper is also to point out that conceptual metaphor analysis, with its ties to cognitive poetics, can furnish character criticism with dissimilar readings.


In consideration of new trends in cognition science, learning, technology and human life, we have put forward the concept of social group collaborative learning (SGCL) in our previous work. This paper first presents the architecture of SGCL system which is divided into user layer, system layer and storage layer. The user layer helps individuals construct their cognitions. The system layer aggregates individual cognitions into group cognition and discover relations among the knowledge, users and the resources. The storage layer stores necessary information. Then this paper describes how the system supports cognition constructing, modeling and aggregating. There are four elements in SGCL system, which are learners, knowledge, resources and relations between two of the pervious elements. At last, this paper analyzes the network made of the four elements and explains how the system discovers knowledge group, resources group and learners group so as to help learners to construct their cognition maps. Keywords-collaborative learning; cognitive aggregation; knowledge sharing; social software


An investigation was conducted to examine the effects of diamond-like carbon (DLC) overcoats on the wear durability of the VCR head and the signal dropout caused by wear debris while the VCR is in operation. Approximately 40-nm-thick DLC films were deposited directly on the Mn-Zn ferrite head pole by an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) system using CH/sub 4/ source gas. The deposition temperature was maintained at below 100/spl deg/C to prevent deterioration of the epoxy resin attached to the head. From the experiment we were able to discover that DLC films accumulated successively from the bottom of the grooves on the head surface smoothing out the surface. In general, DLC heads outperformed the bare heads. The head life is increased significantly by the wear durability of DLC films and the continuous supply of lubricating DLC films. We were also able to discover that leftover DLC films along the head edge provide continuous lubricity on the rubbing head surface during use. Furthermore, most of the wear debris was more readily expelled from the DLC head surface than from the bare head. Therefore, the onset time of the signal dropouts was found to be delayed six times in DLC heads in the still frame mode.


The use of X-ray crystallography to derive three-dimensional structures for structure-aided drug design (SADD) is a common activity in drug discovery today. In this process, the structures of inhibitors or other ligands of interest complexed with their macromolecular target are solved and the structural information is used iteratively to design new molecules. The ability to form cocrystal complexes between a target protein and a ligand is essential to this process and therefore is of considerable interest to anyone practicing in this field. In the course of obtaining the necessary ligand-protein crystals, even with crystallization conditions well established for a protein of interest, obtaining co-structures with inhibitors either through cocrystallization or soaking is too often not successful. There are numerous potential reasons for this lack of success and this article outlines a number of possible factors that may be involved and discusses considerations that should be taken into account when designing successful experiments to obtain iterative costructures.


Background: We obtained conflicting results regarding the relationship between the genetic role of the rs1138272 C/T polymorphism of the GSTP1 (Glutathione S-Transferase pi) gene and the risk of various cancers. Methods: Using the presently available data, a meta-analysis was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the genetic relationship between the GSTP1 rs1138272 polymorphism and cancer susceptibility. Results: A total of 43 studies including 15,688 cases and 17,143 controls were recruited into our quantitative synthesis. In the overall population, we observed an increased risk of overall cancer cases, compared with unrelated controls, in the genetic models of allele T vs. allele C (P-association = 0.007, OR = 1.17), carrier T vs. carrier C (P-association = 0.035, OR = 1.11), TT vs. CC (P-association = 0.002, OR = 1.45), TT vs. CC+CT (P-association = 0.009, OR = 1.42), and CT+TT vs. CC (P-association = 0.027, OR = 1.13). We detected similar positive results within the Asian population. Additionally, there was a significant increase in the incidence of cancer for Africans under all genetic models (all P-association < 0.05, OR > 1). When targeting the Caucasian population, we detected a positive association with the TT vs. CC and TT vs. CC+CT models in the "Colorectal cancer" (P-association < 0.05, OR < 1) and "Head and neck cancer" (P-association < 0.05, OR > 1) subgroups. For the "Lung cancer" subgroup, we observed a slightly increased risk in Caucasians under the models of allele T vs. allele C, carrier T vs. carrier C, CT vs. CC, and CT+TT vs. CC (P-association < 0.05, OR > 1). Conclusion: The TT genotype of the GSTP1 rs1138272 polymorphism is likely related to the susceptibility to overall cancer in the Asian and African populations and, specifically, "Colorectal" and "Head and neck" cancers in the Caucasian population. In addition, the CT genotype of the GSTP1 rs1138272 polymorphism may be linked to the risk of lung cancer in Caucasians. Additional evidence is required to confirm this conclusion.


The protista Acanthamoeba is a free-living amoeba existing in various environments. A number of species among protista are recognized as human pathogens, potentially causing Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), and chronic granulomatous lesions. In this study, 10 rhizosphere samples were collected from maize and alfalfa plants in experimental station at Institute of Genetics, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Szent István University. We detected Acanthamoeba based on the quantitative real-time PCR assay and sequence analysis of the 18S rRNA gene. All studied molecular biological methods are suitable for the detection of Acanthamoeba infection in humans. The quantitative real-time PCR-based methods are more sensitive, simple, and easy to perform; moreover, these are opening avenue to detect the effect of number of parasites on human disease. Acanthamoeba species were detected in five (5/10; 50%) samples. All Acanthamoeba strains belonged to T4 genotype, the main AK-related genotype worldwide. Our result confirmed Acanthamoeba strains in rhizosphere that should be considered as a potential health risk associated with human activities in the environment.


Open Source Software (OSS) becomes one of the mainstream software development methodology competing with commercial and proprietary software development. One of the distinct characteristics of OSS projects is the existence group of contributors who joined the project voluntarily called OSS Communities. In this study, the statistical analysis of 263 popular OSS Projects and their communities is performed. The popularity of the OSS Projects is determined from suggestion from selected websites found from Google search engine. The analysis covers information such as OSS Project's name, description, category, repository, community type, number of contributors, and the start year. There are four important findings of the statistical analysis. First finding is that most of the category of the OSS Projects is computer and networking related. The other findings are that most of the project is in Ad Hoc state and the different trends in the number of contributors in Foundation and Commercial Company of OSS Communities. The last finding is that most of the OSS Projects are using Github, Sourceforge and Ohloh as their source code repositories. These results provide important insights about the structure and activities of OSS Projects and their communities.


In previous columns, we have discussed the roadmap to Meritbased Incentive Payment System (MIPS) strategy and documentation. Your documentation may be subject to an audit so, you will need to provide information to verify your MIPS participation. This column will begin to discuss the data validation and audit criteria. In the next column, we will review a sample MIPS Audit Checklist. The following information is excerpted from https://qpp.cms.gov/about/resource-library (select hyperlink to MIPS Validation Criteria, April 26 zip file). The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 streamlines a collection of programs with a single system where you can be rewarded for better care. You will be able to practice as usual, but you may receive higher Medicare payments based on performance. The 2 paths in this program are MIPS and Advanced Alternative Payment Models: Under MIPS, 4 connected performance categories will affect your Medicare payments: Quality, Improvement Activities, Advancing Care Information, and Cost. This fact sheet provides a high-level overview of 3 of the MIPS performance categories for the transition year. Detailed criteria are included in an accompanying spreadsheet (https://qpp.cms.gov/about/resourcelibrary/, MIPS Data Validation Criteria [zip file]). Note that criteria will be released incrementally according to the following schedule: Improvement ActivitiesVSpring 2017 QualityVSummer 2017 Advancing Care InformationVSummer 2017 The Quality Payment Program Final Rule with comment requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide the criteria we will use to audit and validate measures and activities for the transition year of MIPS for the Quality, Advancing Care Information, and Improvement Activities performance categories. Data validation is the process of ensuring that a program operates on accurate and useful data. The MIPS requires allpayer data for all data submission mechanisms with the exception of claims and the CMS Web Interface. The data from payers, other than Medicare, will be used for informational purposes to improve future validation efforts and will not be the only source of data used to make final determinations on whether you pass or fail an audit in the transition year. Under MIPS, the CMS will conduct an annual data validation process. You could receive a request from CMS for an audit, which requires an initial response within 10 business days. For the transition year, third-party intermediaries such as Qualified Clinical Data Registries, health information technology vendors, qualified registries, or CMS-approved Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems for MIPS survey vendors are required to comply with several procedures as a condition of their qualification and approval to participate in MIPS as a third-party intermediary, including providing the contact information for you and all individual clinicians or groups on behalf of whom it submits data. All entities must provide your phone number, address, and, if available, your e-mail. In accordance with the False Claims Act, you should keep documentation up to 10 years, and CMS may request any records or data retained for the purposes of MIPS for up to 6 years. The Quality performance category within MIPS assesses health process and outcomes through quality measures. MIPS-eligible clinicians should demonstrate improved quality above a baseline level (the performance benchmark), which is based on historical orperformanceperiod data(orpotentially based on 2017 performance data for quality measures with no historic benchmark). For the transition year, the CMS data validation process for the Quality performance category will apply for claims and registry submissions to validate whether you submitted all applicable measures when submitting fewer than 6 measures, or when you do not submit the required outcome measure or other high-priority measure, or submit less thanthefull setofmeasures intheapplicablespecialtyset. The MIPS Advancing Care Information performance category replaces the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program for eligible professionals, also known as Meaningful Use. The MIPS Advancing Care Information performance category promotes patient engagement and the electronic exchange of information using certified electronic health record technology. Under this performance category, eligible clinicians will have greater flexibility in choosing measures to report. You should retain documentation to support their submission for the Advancing Care Information performance category. The MIPS Improvement Activities performance category assesses how much you participate in activities that make clinical practice better, such as activities related to ongoing care coordination, clinician and patient shared decision-making, regular use of patient safety practices, and expanding practice access. Under this performance category, you can to choose from many activities to show your performance. It also includes incentives to help you participate in certified patient-centered medical homes and Advanced Alternative Payment Models. Your documentation used to validate your activities should demonstrate consistent and meaningful engagement within the period for which you attested. For the transition year of MIPS, the Cost performance category is not assessed. The Quality Payment Program Service Center can be reached at 1-866-288-8292 (TTY 1-877-7156222) or via email at QPP@ cms.hhs.gov.&


Depth-Bounded Boolean Logics (DBBL for short) are well-understood frameworks to model rational agents equipped with limited deductive capabilities. These Logics use a parameter k>=0 to limit the amount of virtual information, i.e., the information that the agent may temporarily assume throughout the deductive process. This restriction brings several advantageous properties over classical Propositional Logic, including polynomial decision procedures for deducibility and refutability. Inspired by DBBL, we propose a limited-depth version of the popular ASP system \clingo, tentatively dubbed k-lingo after the bound k on virtual information. We illustrate the connection between DBBL and ASP through examples involving both proof-theoretical and implementative aspects. The paper concludes with some comments on future work, which include a computational complexity characterization of the system, applications to multi-agent systems and feasible approximations of probability functions.


Background: In this study, we investigated the associations between various systemic and ocular comorbidities and skin cancer, in a nationwide cohort of South Koreans. Method: We reviewed the data of 1,103,302 individuals in the South Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database from 2002 to 2015. Of these, 1202 individuals diagnosed with skin cancer from 2004 were included in the study group. The control group was matched in a 1:5 ratio based on propensity scores. Results: The prevalence rates of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer increased from 2004 to 2015. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that, among the various systemic conditions, hypertension was significantly associated with skin cancer, while among ocular comorbidities, macular degeneration showed a significant association with skin cancer. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate associations between skin cancer and various systemic and ocular comorbidities. The results suggest that hypertension and macular degeneration may increase the risk of skin cancer development, or vice versa. Further studies are needed to evaluate the causal relationships between these conditions.


A new approach to model order selection is proposed. Based on the theory of sufficient statistics, the method does not require any prior knowledge of the model parameters. It is able to discriminate between models by basing the decision on the part of the data that is independent of the model parameters. This is accomplished conceptually by transforming the data into a sufficient statistic and an ancillary statistic with respect to the model parameters. It is the probability density function of the ancillary statistic when adjusted for its dimensionality that is used to estimate the order. Furthermore, the rule is directly tied to the goal of minimizing the probability of error and does not employ any asymptotic approximations. The estimator can be shown to be consistent and, via computer simulation, is found to outperform the minimum description length estimator.


So far religious encounters in migratory settings have been largely examined in relation to the pluralizing of religious cultures, the emerging of syncretisms as well as religious conversions. However, many migrants choose to live more than one religion at the same time and integrate themselves into several religious communities with different and sometimes opposing religious agendas. This article concentrates on the Haitian migrant community in Montreal, Canada. On the basis of the parallelisms between Vodou and Catholicism it first examines the parallels between different religious concepts and performances and second, the significance of particular Vodou spirits which act as mediators between different cultures. The article questions the idea of exclusive belongings and highlights the meaning of space as a differentiating factor in the diversification of religious meanings and messages in multicultural settings.Keywords: Vodou, Haitian diaspora, space, spirit possession, syncretism, religious parallelism


Objective. We aimed to research abilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in determination of the contents of the cysts, including fat suspension. Methods. MRI study of patient with mesenteric chylous lymphangioma and experimental MRI study of a fantom containing fat suspension were done. Results. MRI study of patient revealed non organic abdominal cystic lesion with significant decrease of MR-signal intensity on out-of-phase GRE images. MRI imaging of fantom with fat suspension also showed low MR-signal intensity on out-of-phase images. Conclusion. Opposed-phase GRE sequences can be used not only for determining high content intracellular fat in tissues, but for determining lipids in fat containing suspensions as well. Homogeneous decrease of signal intensity on out-of-phase images in extraorgan abdominal cystic lesion indicate its chylous character. That is why cystic lesion, presented in this article, most likely to be chylous cyst or mesenteric lymphangioma.


Abstract:This essay describes the publications of Leonard Becket, stationer and publisher, and presents a history of his publishing business. Becket built this business upon the success of the miscellany, A help to discourse; or, A miscellany of merriment. The article outlines the gradual development and expansion of A help to discourse through its many editions. This development appears in the light of Becket's eclectic and distinctive publications. The essay draws attention to the shared features of this corpus, notably the pervasive memento mori consciousness, the conduct book genre, the duodecimo form, the use of expansions as a marketing ploy, and the insistent tendency to appropriate contemporary verse for illustrative purposes. The essay first describes the various books that Becket sponsored and then offers a company history, one that explains how the enterprise felt its way towards the creation of its most valuable commodity and how it thereafter exploited its success.


BACKGROUND
In pest management research, harmonic radar systems have been largely used to study insect movement across open or vegetation-poor areas because the microwave signal is attenuated by the high water content of vegetation. This study evaluated whether the efficacy of this technology is sufficient to track insects in vegetative landscapes.

RESULTS
Field efficacy data were collected using portable harmonic microwave radar and electronic dipole tags mounted on adults of three economically important pests: Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (LeConte) [corrected] and Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst. Detection and recovery of tagged Colorado potato beetles, plum curculios and western corn rootworms was high within and among potato plants, moderate within apple trees and high within, but not between, corn plants respectively. The efficacy of the radar depends on the ability of the operator to move around the host, scanning for a signal 'sightline' with the tagged insect among plant structures.

CONCLUSION
The detection rate of tagged insects by harmonic radar systems is high enough to track the walking path of pests through low row crops such as potato, tall row crops such as corn or tall but well-separated trees of orchard-type crops by adapting the scanning procedure to the vegetative architecture.


The application of cold produces effects varying naturally with the skin's resistance, the temperature of the agent used at the time of contact, the amount of pressure applied and its duration. These effects are useful in a variety of dermatologic conditions. The local action of solid carbon dioxide has been well known for many years. Since 1906, when I was working in Dr. George Henry Fox's clinic (the Vanderbilt clinic) under Jackson and saw various uses to which solid carbon dioxide was put, I have been using this agent. At that time, to increase the cold, ether was added. Liquid air, being twice as cold, proved somewhat more useful than solid carbon dioxide, but it has always been difficult to obtain and to keep. For the past few months I have been using a new agent in this field, a freezing gas consisting of butane, isobutane and propane. When sprayed


Because of economic issues, public awareness, and patients' desires, current dental practice embodies an array of preventive and therapeutic endeavors for the treatment of periodontal diseases. Evaluation of clinical research and practice experiences documented several findings regarding soft-tissue management. Soft-tissue management can be successful, even in advanced cases of disease, when performed by technically proficient clinicians. Perfect plaque control is not required for the long-term preservation of attachment levels if there is compliance with a strictly supervised maintenance regimen. Although soft-tissue management can be considered a practical, even preferred treatment, it is not uniformly successful for every periodontally diseased site.


The purpose of this paper is to delve into the Chicago public high school system to extract information on demographics and academics. The methods used are common in machine learning and discrete mathematics and seek to bring helpful visualizations and interpretations of education disparity. Not only is the goal to analyze the current state but also how these demographic and academic factors have changed over time for certain school groups. This can accomplish this using graphical models and create visualizations to show key factors and how the change over time. In addition, one can see how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools in this system. Lastly, the correlations between these factors will be presented along with discussion.


Human alpha 1-m microglobulin (alpha 1-m), a low molecular weight plasma protein, was found to exert mitogenic effects on mouse lymphocytes from lymph nodes and spleen. The stimulatory effects appeared to be strain-restricted: alpha 1-m induced a varying degree of proliferation of lymphocytes from three strains, whereas one strain responded poorly. Experiments with lymphocyte subpopulations showed only weak stimulatory effects of alpha 1-m on purified T and B lymphocytes cultivated alone. The addition of mitomycin-treated cells of the other subpopulation could not restore the proliferative responses in either T or B lymphocytes. Strong stimulations were recorded only when both T and B lymphocytes were present, indicating that the T and B lymphocytes cooperate to achieve the proliferation. However, FACS studies on cultured splenocytes indicated that the proliferating cells are predominantly B lymphocytes. These data extend our earlier findings of a mitogenic effect of alpha 1-m on guinea pig lymphocytes. Furthermore, results were obtained indicating the presence of a receptor on mononuclear cells. Iodine-labelled alpha 1-m was bound to mononuclear cells prepared from spleens, and the binding could be blocked by an excess of non-labelled alpha 1-m. Scatchard plotting of the data gave an equilibrium constant of 0.7 x 10(5)/M for the binding between alpha 1-m and the receptor. Together with the documented inhibitory activity of alpha 1-m on antigen-driven proliferation of lymphocytes, these results suggest an immunoregulatory role for alpha 1-m.


The water decoction of leaves of kumis kucing, Orthosiphon aristatus (BL.) MIQ (Lamiaceae) which has been prescribed in Javanese traditional medicine (jamu) for the treatment of hypertension etc., was partitioned into a mixture of chloroform and water. The chloroform-soluble portion showed an inhibitory effect on the contractile responses on rat thoracic aorta smooth muscle stimulated with KCl beforehand, while the water-soluble portion showed no effect. The chloroform-soluble portion was separated to afford a new benzochromene [orthochromene A (7)], two new isopimarane-type diterpenes [orthosiphonone A (10), orthosiphonone B (11)], and two novel migrated pimarane-type diterpenes [neoorthosiphol A (12), neoorthosiphol B (13)], together with eight known compounds (1-6, 8, 9). Among those thirteen substances, it was found that a major constituent in the water decoction of leaves, methylripariochromene A (5), exhibited a continuous decrease in systolic blood pressure after subcutaneous administration in conscious stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP).