Detailed quantitative values are obtained for the critical values of the salt Rayleigh number for both linear and nonlinear stability, for a simplified model appropriate to the onset of buoyant, relatively fresh water motion in a layer of salty subsea sediments. The geophysical problem that motivates this work arises because of the formation of substantial permafrost around the Earth's shores some 18000 years ago. With the rise of sea levels the permafrost has responded to the relatively warm and salty sea, which has created a thawing front and a layer of salty sediments beneath the sea bed. This phenomenon has been studied extensively off the coast of Alaska by W. Harrison and coworkers and our analysis is based on a model developed by W. Harrison and D. Swift. From the mathematical viewpoint the analysis reduces to studying convection in a porous medium with a nonlinear boundary condition. We find the critical Rayleigh number for convection according to linear theory, but our main thrust is directed toward the nonlinear problem. Here we use an energy method to determine a critical Rayleigh number below which convection cannot develop. We first show there is a critical Rayleigh number close to that of linear theory, which guarantees unconditional nonlinear stability. Then we demonstrate conditional nonlinear stability (i. e. conditional upon the existence of some finite threshold amplitude, which we calculate) provided the critical Rayleigh number of linear theory is not exceeded. The latter analysis requires two approaches according to whether the two-dimensional or three-dimensional problem is considered. In particular, a novel energy has to be introduced to make the three-dimensional problem tractable.


Spatial applications often require the ability to perform similarity search over a collection of point sets. For example, given a geographical distribution of a disease outbreak, find k historical outbreaks with similar spatial distributions from a data collection D. In this paper, we study the problem of similarity search over a collection of point sets using the Hausdorff distance, which is a measure commonly used to determine the maximum discrepancy between two point sets. To avoid computing the Hausdorff distance for all point sets S in D, one may compute an optimistic estimate (i.e., lower bound value) of the actual Hausdorff distance HausDist(Q,S) for each S to rule out sets that are obviously dissimilar to Q. In our investigation, we observed that a commonly used method (called BscLB) to compute an estimate may not produce a result which is indicative of the actual Hausdorff distance. Consequently, we propose a method (called EnhLB) which produces a tighter estimate than the existing one. We then formulate a similarity search algorithm which uses a combination of BscLB and EnhLB to find similar point sets efficiently. In addition, we also extend our method to support an outlier-resistant variant of the Hausdorff distance called the modified Hausdorff distance. We compare our proposed algorithm with an algorithm using only BscLB. The results of our experiments show a reduction in computation time of 72% for searches using the Hausdorff distance and a reduction of 53% using the modified Hausdorff distance.


Wrangellia is a fundamental component of the North American Cordillera and contains significant mineral deposits, including Myra Falls (Nyrstar N.V.), which is currently the largest producing volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit in western Canada. Understanding the evolution of Wrangellia is therefore important for understanding the crustal growth and metallogenic history of the North American continent, and in doing so, facilitating the discovery of new mineral wealth. Geochronological, lithogeochemical and Nd and Pb isotopic studies of the Paleozoic Wrangellia arc (PWA), Vancouver Island have significantly revised our understanding of the terrane, suggesting that the PWA comprises a progressively rifting Late Devonian through Early Permian oceanic volcanic arc complex developed above an east dipping subduction zone (modern coordinates) with Late Devonian through middle Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian through Early Permian pulses of bimodal volcanism and associated VMS mineralization. The relatively primitive lithogeochemical and Nd isotopic signatures of PWA intrusive and volcanic rocks indicate that the PWA originated in an oceanic arc environment close enough to a continental margin to undergo slight contamination via the subduction of continent derived sediments. Recently recognized, Pennsylvanian-Early Permian aged, VMS associated bimodal volcanic rocks in the PWA have lithogeochemical and Nd isotopic signatures indicative of derivation from more primitive and significantly hotter source melts than their Late Devonian counterparts, suggesting that Late Paleozoic volcanic rocks in the terrane are prospective for VMS mineralization. Lead isotope geochemistry of newly discovered VMS style mineralization in the PWA indicates that host areas for the new mineral occurrences are prospective for Myra Falls-like VMS deposits of Late Devonian-Early Mississippian age. Lead isotope geochemistry for recently recognized Pennsylvanian-Early Permian VMS mineralization in the PWA supports lithogeochemical and Nd isotopic arguments which suggest that Late Paleozoic bimodal volcanic rocks in the PWA were derived from more primitive melts than their Late Devonian-Early Mississippian counterparts, reflective of an origin in a progressively rifting, oceanic island arc environment.


The aim of current study takes an interdisciplinear perspective to address the investigation of brain localization in adult second language learning process. This study was conducted on 10 native speakers of English who were trained on intensive Turkish as a second language at Indiana University Programme of Turkish Flagship, from initial exposure to high proficiency during 6 months. Participants were recorded by using fMRI while performing picture matching nd production tasks. Brain activation was found in areas associated with first language processing and parietal cortex, suggesting that adult second language learners have access to first language regions. Additional areas were engaged, suggesting that first language mechanisms are not sufficient for second language learning and processing. At early stages of learning, hippocampal activation was found for both vocabulary and grammar. At later stages, basal ganglia activation was observed for grammar, particularly in the caudate nucleus. The findings reccomend that early word and grammar learning relies on declarative memory, but that grammar later relies on procedural memory. These results highlight the importance of integrating neural and behavioral methods in second language research.


Transportation improvements cannot have caused anything close to the factor of 16 in British economic growth. By Harberger's (and Fogel's) Law, an industry that is 10% of national product, improving by 50 percent on the 50% of non-natural routes, results in a mere one-time increase of product of 2.5% (= .1 x .5 x .5), when the thing to be explained is an increase of 1500%. Nor is transport rescued by "dynamic" effects, which are undermined by (1.) the small size of the static gain to start them off and (2.) the instable economic models necessary to make them nonlinear dynamic. The same holds for many other suggested causes of the modern world: enclosure, for example, or the division of labor or the Kuznets-Williamson Hypothesis of reallocation from agriculture to industry, country to town. Wider geographical arguments, such as Diamond's or Sachs', turn out to be ill-timed to explain what we wish to explain. And "resources," such as oil or gold, have both the Harberger Problem and the timing problem. Not even coal---the favorite of Wrigley, Pomeranz, Allen, and Harris---can survive the criticism that it was transportable and substitutable. The factor-bias arguments of Allen have the old problem of the Habbakuk Hypothesis, namely, that all factors are scarce. Even if we add up all the static and quasi-dynamic effects of resources, they do not explain Britain's lead, or Japan's or Hong Kong's catching up.


Following the Flannagan (2008) review of policing, a county police force introduced a Restorative Justice and Values Based Decision Making model to resolve minor incidents by using community resolutions. Its purpose was to restore officers' discretion, reduce bureaucracy and increase public confidence. The research aimed to evaluate the approach by analysing the types of incident addressed by the initiative, assessing how it was applied by officers and analysing the outcomes. Primary qualitative data was captured from semi-structured interviews with front line officers whilst secondary quantitative data was examined from existing police crime reports covering a twelve month period.

Effective use of the approach was found for low level offences of violence, criminal damage and theft. Officers benefitted from a reduction in bureaucracy and extra time made available by not using established criminal justice process. Improvements could be made by increasing face to face restorative meetings and considering the initiative for Domestic Abuse, Hate Crime and more serious offences. Its increased use for Theft by Shoplifting should be reconsidered.

In conclusion a consistent approach is required by United Kingdom police forces rather than a post code lottery by geography that currently exists with each force approaching community resolutions differently. As important is the need for officers to change their existing culture to make best use of the valuable extra time available to them, rather than continuing to be 'busy being busy'.


Earthquake has severe effect on all kinds of structures. Usually, seismic isolation is done in case of high-rise buildings. But from the past experiences it can be observed that the effect of earthquake is not only restricted to high rise framed structures, but also to the low rise unreinforced masonry structures. In developing nations, it is very expensive to finance earthquake isolation measures to safeguard buildings which are not classified as important buildings, such as houses or other minor structures, making the adoption of this type of system almost unfeasible. By incorporating low horizontal stiffness devices into the structure, it is possible to reduce the impact of seismic loads on those structures. The elastomeric bearings, sliding bearings and hybrid systems are the most commonly used type of base isolators. Due to the presence of synthetic or natural rubber and high strength reinforcing cords, the Scrap Tyre Pad (STPs) exhibits substantial vertical stiffness and horizontal flexibility. Hence it can be used as a suitable seismic isolation material for structures. In the present study, experimental evaluation of variation of vertical stiffness of STPs is conducted and an empirical modal relating the percentage increase in stiffness to percentage increase in aspect ratio is proposed.


The influence of plasma inhomogeneity on the quasilinear dynamics of a spatially limited electron beam is investigated. It is shown that the electron beam propagates in a plasma of decreasing density as a beam-plasma structure with a decreasing velocity. Plasma inhomogeneity leads to the beam-plasma structure having energy losses.


In this paper, we discuss the implementation and testing of a film bulk acoustic-wave resonator (FBAR) comprising an AlN piezoelectric thin film sandwiched between two metal electrodes and located on a silicon substrate with a low-stress silicon nitride (Si3N4) support membrane. In the present study, we choose molybdenum as the bottom electrode rather than the conventionally used Pt/Ti, Au/Cr or Al because it has a low acoustic attenuation and a good electrical conductivity, and provides a good adhesion between the thin AlN film and the low-stress Si3N4 membrane. We investigate the influence of AlN film thickness and top-electrode thickness on the resonance frequency of the FBAR device. The results indicate that decreasing the thickness of either the AlN film or the top electrode increases the resonance frequency. This suggests the potential of tuning the performance of the FBAR device by the carefully controlling AlN film thickness. Furthermore, it is also determined that the resonance frequency of the device can be increased by specifying a higher RF power for the magnetron sputtering process used to deposit the AlN film. This study employs an X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique to investigate the influence of AlN film thickness and RF power on the c-axis orientation of the thin film. It is shown that increasing either the thickness of the AlN film or the power of the RF sputtering process improves c-axis orientation. However, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results reveal that a thicker AlN film exhibits a rougher surface and a larger grain size, both of which decrease the coupling factor of the FBAR device.


Each year millions of children and teenagers experience the humiliation and devastating effects of bullying. According to different studies bullying begins in preschool years, peeks in early adolescence, and continues, but with less frequency, into the high school years. The main aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between physical bullying and age in Albanian teenagers. The participants in this study were 400 students of senior year from High Schools of Tirana, Shkodra, Elbasan, DurrA«s and KorA§a. The approach for this study was quantitative and statistical analyses for this research were performed using the SPSS program. For gathering the data the retrospective bullying questionnaire was used. For this article only closed-ended questions are considered. The relationship between the perceptions of senior students about physical bullying and their age was revealed using Spearman's rho coefficient correlation. In conclusion, from the statistical analysis it was revealed that there is a strong negative correlation between the physical bullying and age, rs =.-865, n = 400, p = .000; p .0005, that indicates that growth in age strongly correlates with the decrease of physical bullying.


Although the surgical morbidity and mortality conference (SMMC) has been a core educational venue for surgical education and quality assurance (QA), its current format focuses mainly on human errors rather than system failures, which are responsible for the vast majority of medical errors. To avoid having surgeons seemingly put on trial, root cause analysis (RCA) can be used as an effective way of analyzing system failures and of finding possible solutions for them. Preliminary data confirm the value of RCA in that respect and promise a great potential for improving patient safety away from the culture of blame. Bringing the findings of RCA to the SMMC has the advantage of having both perspectives--human errors and systems failures--thus enhancing surgical education, improving QA, and hopefully improving patient safety. However, although this seems to be a novel approach, several factors should be considered before its implementation, such as the quality of analysis, cost-effectiveness, and actual impact on patient safety. We believe that to maximize learning, sentinel events that currently require RCA should not be discussed in SMMCs until the findings of RCA are available for review. The use of some of the tools of RCA should be considered when discussing nonsentinel events during SMMCs.


The aim of the present study was to determine the blood flow dynamics of the testes of pre and post pubertal clinically normal Barki rams. Rams (n=8) were divided into two equal groups according to age. The first group was pre-pubertal rams (aged 4-6 months) and the second group was post pubertal sexually mature rams (aged 18-24 months). Doppler indices such as resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI) of the supra-testicular artery (STA) and marginal artery (MA) were measured by color and spectral Doppler ultrasonography of the scrotum and spermatic cord region. Blood samples were collected and serum testosterone level was evaluated. Results revealed that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the two age groups of Barki rams in blood flow parameters of supra-testicular artery and marginal artery. Even though, Serum testosterone was significantly higher in the post pubertal group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the sexual maturity in the rams was associated with significant changes in testosterone concentration but not in Doppler indices. Moreover, Doppler ultrasound can be used during the breeding soundness reproductive examination and before reproductive surgical interference in Barki rams.


Can translation be regarded merely as a bridging of a gap between national languages? Is it not an act with which to produce difference, inscribe borders and thereby identify the unity of a language? It is in the eighteenth century that the modern regime of translation – a conventional representation of translation we take for granted today – was introduced. Accordingly, a regime for the modern representation of translation is construed in terms of the schema of co-figuration. Here translation is understood not only as the bridging of a gap or distance between two language communities. It is also an ambiguous act of creating continuity out of discontinuity; it pertains to a certain power which generates a new type of community in imagination. This community is called "the nation." Translation is investigated with a view to bordering.


Solution studies have demonstrated the existence of two functionally distinct isomers of empty class II MHC: an active isomer that binds peptide and an inactive isomer that does not. Empty MHC molecules on the surface of APCs can load antigenic peptides directly from the extracellular medium, facilitating the generation of a diverse peptide repertoire for T cell presentation. In this report, we examine I-Ek on the surface of Chinese hamster ovary cells with respect to the active and inactive isomers. As in the case of purified soluble active I-Ek, active I-Ek on the cell surface is unstable, decaying to the inactive form in ∼14 min. Evidence is presented suggesting that at steady state <1% of the total cell surface I-Ek is active and that a significant fraction of these active molecules originates from intracellular pools as well as reactivation of inactive cell surface I-Ek.


Introduction Invasive aspergillosis in lung transplant recipients on immunosuppression is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus (FK506) inhibits the calcineurin-NFAT axis, which impairs the innate response to fungal infection.1 Dendritic cells (DC's) play a pivotal role in signalling to the adaptive immune system in infection – immature DC's phagocytose antigen, leading to maturation into DC's capable of stimulating T-cells. We investigated the effect of FK506 on DC function in invasive aspergillosis by assessing phenotypic maturation of DC's in response to Aspergillus fumigatus (AF) infection. Methods Healthy volunteer PBMC's negatively isolated by Ficoll® gradient were differentiated into DC's with GM-CSF and IL-4. Day 5 cells were matured with IFN-γ. Day 7 cells were treated with FK506 and/or inoculated with swollen conidia of A.fumigatus (MOI 1:1). Cells were then stained with PE-bound anti-CD83 (a late maturation marker) and PerCP-Cy5.5-bound anti-CD-209 (a DC-specific marker) and analysed by the ImageStream® imaging flow cytometer. Statistical analysis was performed with Graphpad Prism v6.0, using unpaired t-tests with Welch correction. Results 5000 cells/condition were analysed. DC's were subsetted by gating for CD-209 positivity. FK506 was not toxic to cells (similar cell viability between groups). We demonstrated up-regulation of CD83 (measured by mean fluorescent intensity) with IFN-γ stimulation of DC's (12534 ± 799.3 vs. 26228 ± 1462, p < 0.0001; mean fluorescent units +/-SEM), AF infection of unstimulated DC's (12534 ± 799.3 vs. 29888 ± 1393, p < 0.0001) and for AF infection of IFN-γ-stimulated DC's (26228 ± 1462 vs. 36778 ± 1356, p < 0.0001).Abstract S83 Figure 1 CD83 mean fluorescent intensity was reduced with FK506 treatment of IFN-γ-stimulated DC's (26228 ± 1462, vs. 20219 ± 846.0, p = 0.0004), AF-infected unstimulated DC's (29888 ± 1393 vs. 24289 ± 1253, p = 0.0028), and AF-infected, IFN-γ-stimulated DC's (36778 ± 1356 vs. 30159 ± 1279, p = 0.0004), but unchanged for unstimulated, un-infected DC's (12534 ± 799.3, vs. 11942 ± 762.5, p = 0.5921). Conclusion Both A.fumigatus infection and IFN-γ stimulation promote phenotypic maturation of DC's in vitro, and treatment with FK506 inhibits maturation in this context. This suggests an inhibitory effect of FK506 on innate antigen presentation to T-cells and may impair the adaptive immune response to invasive aspergillosis in lung transplants recipients. Reference 1 Herbst S, Shah A, Mazon Moya M, et al. EMBO Mol Med. 2015;7(3):240–58


The value of in-class Internet technologies to student attentiveness, engagement, and learning remains both controversial and filled with promising potential. In this study, students were given the option to use LectureTools, an interactive suite of tools designed specifically for larger classes. The availability of these tools dramatically changed the mechanics of the course as over 90% of students attending lecture voluntarily brought their laptops to class. On one hand, surveys over multiple semesters show that students believe the availability of a laptop is more likely to increase their time on tasks unrelated to the conduct of the course. On the other hand, the surveys also ascertained that students felt more attentive with the technology, significantly more engaged, and able to learn more with the technology than in similar classes without it. LectureTools also led to a dramatic increase in the number of students posing questions during class time, with more than half posing at least one question during class over the course of a semester, a percentage far higher than achieved in semesters prior to the use of this technology. These results suggest that while having laptops in the classroom can be a distraction to students, students of today show confidence that they are capable of productive multitasking, showing that they not only can handle this technology when applied through "deliberate engagement" using tools like LectureTools, but thrive with it, as seen through improved attentiveness, learning, and overall engagement even in larger classes.


Avian influenza occurs worldwide and not only affects domestic poultry, but also infects a wide range of feral birds covering 88 species and 22 families, occurring most prolifically in migratory waterfowl. Type A influenza virus can also infect various species of mammals (including humans). The main reservoir of infection is thought to be wild ducks, gulls and shorebirds. Infections in poultry can be unapparent, i.e. low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI), or cause mild to severe respiratory disease, decreases in production, decreases in food or water intake, or cause a rapidly fatal systemic disease known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Important economic losses occur as a result of mortality, but also due to egg production loss, to retardation of growth, bad feed conversion, diminished quality and cost of medical treatment for secondary bacterial infections.


Model-driven development has the potential to reduce the design complexity of real-time embedded systems by increasing the abstraction level, enabling analysis at earlier phases of development, and automatic generation of code from the models. In this context, capabilities of schedulers as part of the underlying platform play an important role. They can affect the complexity of code generators and how the model is implemented on the platform. Also, the way a scheduler monitors the timing behaviors of tasks and schedules them can facilitate the extraction of runtime information. This information can then be used as feedback to the original model in order to identify parts of the model that may need to be re-designed and modified. This is especially important in order to achieve round-trip support for model-driven development of real-time systems. In this paper, we describe our work in providing such monitoring features by introducing a second layer scheduler on top of the OSE real-time operating system's scheduler. The goal is to extend the monitoring capabilities of the scheduler without modifying the kernel. The approach can also contribute to the predictability of applications by bringing more awareness to the scheduler about the type of real-time tasks (i.e., periodic, sporadic, and aperiodic) that are to be scheduled and the information that should be monitored and logged for each type.


This paper studies modern methods of producing and using callus, suspension cells and root cultures of medicinal plants in vitro. A new solution for natural product production is the use of an alternative source of renewable, environmentally friendly raw materials: callus, suspension and root cultures of higher plants in vitro. The possibility of using hairy root cultures as producers of various biologically active substances is studied. It is proven that the application of the genetic engineering achievements that combine in vitro tissue culture and molecular biology methods was groundbreaking in terms of the intensification of the extraction process of compounds significant for the medical industry. It is established that of all the callus processing methods, suspension and root cultures in vitro, the Agrobacterium method is the most widely used in practice. The use of agrobacteria has advantages over the biolistic method since it increases the proportion of stable transformation events, can deliver large DNA segments and does not require special ballistic devices. As a result of the research, the most effective strains of agrobacteria are identified.


In the current work, we introduce a brand new line of versatile, flexible, and multifunctional MEA probes, the so-called Nano Neuro Net, or N3-MEAs. Material choice, dimensions, and room for further upgrade, were carefully considered when designing such probes in order to cover the widest application range possible. Proof of the operation principle of these novel probes is shown in the manuscript via the recording of extracellular signals, such as action potentials and local field potentials from cardiac cells and retinal ganglion cells of the heart tissue and eye respectively. Reasonably large signal to noise ratio (SNR) combined with effortless operation of the devices, mechanical and chemical stability, multifunctionality provide, in our opinion, an unprecedented blend. We show successful recordings of (1) action potentials from heart tissue with a SNR up to 13.2; (2) spontaneous activity of retinal ganglion cells with a SNR up to 12.8; and (3) local field potentials with an ERG-like waveform, as well as spiking responses of the retina to light stimulation. The results reveal not only the multi-functionality of these N3-MEAs, but high quality recordings of electrogenic tissues.


Vancomycin was given during cardiopulmonary bypass to 12 anaesthetised patients undergoing open heart surgery. Injection of vancomycin 1 g within 60 s via the venous inlet of the oxygenator resulted in a moderate and transient decrease of mean arterial pressure. This minimal reaction may be attributed to dilution of vancomycin by the extracorporeal circuit volume, to the bypassing of the lungs which are a major site of storage of vasoactive substances, or to the maintenance of adequate perfusion flow during cardiopulmonary bypass. The results suggest that the haemodynamic adverse reactions to vancomycin, given as antibiotic prophylaxis, may be decreased by its administration after initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass.


Background: Nitroglycerin is suggested to improve flap survival based on promising results; however, there are no data on the effectiveness of treatment initiation time. This study aimed to compare the effect of various nitroglycerin treatment initiation times on partial flap survival. Materials and Methods: The study included 50 Sprague-Dawley rats. Modified McFarlane flaps were elevated on the dorsum of each rat. Group A received placebo treatment. Groups B, C, D, and E received topical nitroglycerin 2% starting 1 day before surgery, on the day of surgery, postoperative d 2, and postoperative d 4, respectively. After 7 days, the flap survival rates were calculated. Afterward, the severity and extent of inflammation and ischemia, and the severity of edema were evaluated histologically. Results: The flap survival rate was highest in group B, followed by groups C, D, E, and A. The difference between groups B and C was not significant, whereas the difference between group B and groups A, D, and E was. In addition, the difference between groups A, D, and E was not significant. Histological analysis showed that inflammation was less severe in groups B and C than in groups A, D, and E. Ischemia was the most severe in groups A and D and was the least severe in group C. Conclusion: Topical nitroglycerin treatment increases flap survival when initiated before or on the day of surgery, but has no benefit when initiated on postsurgery d 2 or 4. Preoperative initiation of nitroglycerin treatment positively affects flap survival.


The chemical determination of vitamin A in the blood has been simplified so that it can be carried out in any clinical laboratory. Apart from the changes of the plasma vitamin A in nutritional vitamin A deficiency there are well defined variations of the plasma vitamin A content in many diseases. These variations, not related to nutritional deficiency, appear more interesting since secondary, conditioned 1 or endogenous 2 vitamin deficiencies (due to processes within the organism) are as significant in medical practice as primary or exogenous due to reduced nutritional intake. Two questions arise: 1. What determines the plasmavitamin A level? 2. How may a knowledge of this level be useful to the clinician? We attempt to answer these questions on the basis of information gained from the literature and from observations on 2,673 vitamin A determinations on 454 patients. In a statistical evaluation a t value 3 of 2.5


Abstract : Heritage space telescope mirror technology-i.e. large, monolithic glass primary mirrors-has reached an upper limit on allowable aperture diameter given launch vehicle volume and mass constraints. The next generation of space telescopes will feature lightweight, actively controlled, segmented primary mirrors in order to achieve the advances in angular resolution and sensitivity that larger aperture diameters permit. Active control via embedded surface-parallel electrostrictive actuators provides the capability to change a mirror segment's optical prescription on orbit, to correct either quasi-static disturbances or manufacturing errors. Commanding low-order prescription changes (e.g. radius of curvature) using discretely-placed actuators, however induces high spatial frequency residual error in the mirror surface figure, resulting in wavefront error (WFE) that degrades optical performance. A key challenge is reducing this actuator-induced high frequency WFE to below acceptable levels while simultaneously commanding a particular change in global shape. This thesis considers a new set of geometric design variables that affect high-spatial frequency residual error in an effort to mitigate actuator-induced WFE. Specifically less conventional variations in rib height, actuator geometry, and rib-to-facesheet intersection geometry are exploited to achieve improved performance in silicon carbide (SiC) mirrors. A parametric finite element model is used to explore the trade space among these new parameters and to predict performance improvements. Simulation results show that these additional geometric considerations reduce actuator-induced WFE while keeping mirror mass and complexity constant.


SQL-based languages are widely used for Software-based Complex Event Processing (CEP) systems. This paper proposes a FPGA acceleration framework to compile a SQL-based event processing language, which is based on the ANSI standard proposal to support event processing, into a high-performance CEP engine on FPGAs. Besides the SQL's primitives such as partitioning, windowing, aggregation and pattern matching, the proposed framework allows C/C++ functions to implement complex algorithms required by real-world applications. The CEP engine also scales very efficiently processing multiple streams in parallel by making use of inexpensive block memories. Experimental results show that our proposed CEP engine, which is compiled for a financial analysis application calculating a popular trading benchmark to capture meaningful market trends, achieves 150M events/sec (20Gbps) processing performance for over 16,000 streams.


. The rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) technique can significantly ac-celerate the diagnostic workflow of pancreatic cancer by immediately analyzing the fast-stained cytopathological images with on-site pathologists. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) using the deep learning method has the potential to solve the problem of insufficient pathology staffing. However, the cancerous patterns of ROSE images vary greatly between different samples, making the CAD task extremely challenging. Besides, due to different staining qualities and various types of acquisition devices, the ROSE images also have complicated perturbations in terms of color distribution, brightness, and contrast. To address these challenges, we proposed a novel multiple instance learning (MIL) approach using shuffle patches containing the instances, which adopts the patch-based learning strategy of Vision Transformers. With the re-grouped bags of shuffle instances and their bag-level soft labels, the approach utilizes a MIL head to make the model focus on the features from the pancreatic cancer cells, rather than that from various perturbations in ROSE images. Simultaneously, combined with a classification head, the model can effectively identify the general distributive patterns across different instances. The results demonstrate the significant improvements in the classification accuracy with more accurate attention regions, indicating that the diverse patterns of ROSE images are effectively extracted, and the complicated perturbations of ROSE images are significantly eliminated. It also suggests that the MIL with shuffle instances has great potential in the analysis of cytopathological images.


Heating induced by an oscillating modulation of the interaction strength in an atomic Fermion pair condensate is analyzed. The coupled fermion-boson model, generalized by incorporating a time-dependent intermode coupling through a magnetic Feshbach resonance, is applied. The dynamics are analytically characterized in a perturbative scheme. The results account for experimental findings which have uncovered a damped and delayed response of the condensate to the modulation. The delay is due to the variation of the quasiparticle energies and the subsequent relaxation of the condensate. The detected damping results from the excitations induced by a nonadiabatic modulation: for driving frequencies larger than twice the pairing gap, quasiparticles are generated and, consequently, heating sets in.


Local distinct structural elements, called motifs, in RNA sequences are strictly correlated with their function. Due to the enormous increase of genomic data in recent times, highly effective computational algorithms are in greater demand for identification of such motifs in RNA sequences. In this work, a digital signal processing approach using statistically optimal null filter (SONF) is developed for finding specific motifs in an RNA sequence. The instantaneous matched filter in SONF determines the degree of local alignment between the motif and the windowed RNA sequence being compared. Through example the effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated. In particular, the proposed method is highly efficient in identifying similar motifs in large RNA sequences.


We outline an early-semester social activity designed to engage students with course material at an early point in the semester, but also to foster social and academic connections. Social engagement among students has been shown to have a positive impact on learning and the move to remote and online teaching has placed students in an environment lacking social opportunities. We provide formal and informal feedback of the events as well as extensions for additional social events that could be completed throughout the semester.


The cracking due to hydration heat in mass concrete must be resolved to improve the stability and durability of concrete structures. In this study, the economic efficiency was improved by replacing a copper pipe with a steel one for the heat pipe, and the heat pipe was standardized to significantly improve the operation efficiency, such as the processing, transport, assembly, and construction time. As a result of the experiment, the peak temperature of the ICSHP, ISSHP, and ISUHP specimens decreased by about compared to the OPC specimen and the probability of a thermal crack being generated in the ICSHP, ISSHP, and ISUHP specimens decreased by up to 84~88%.


. Net C 02 assimilation (A) rates of 'Duncan' grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.) and 'Pineapple' orange (C. sinensis L.) seedlings grown under 3 different photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD), were measured in an open gas exchange system under controlled environmental conditions. Apparent quantum yield (0), mesophyll conductance to C 02 (Gm), leaf conductance to H20 vapor (Gx), transpiration (E) and water use efficiency (WUE) also were examined. Leaves of both species grown under high PPFD (full sunlight) had the greatest maximum rates of A, but the low PPFD (90% shade) leaves had the highest 0. The WUE of low PPFD grapefruit leaves was less than that of the high PPFD leaves but increased within 2 weeks after being moved into full sunlight. Transferring seedlings from low to high PPFD decreased 0 of grapefruit but not of orange leaves. Changes in A were more strongly correlated to Gm than to Gr. Carbon dioxide assimilation rate was positively correlated to total leaf nitrogen content. Citrus leaf photosynthetic characteristics and resources use efficiency not only acclimate to the light regimes under which they expand and mature, but leaves are capable of acclimating to new light regimes, even after full maturation.


Metastases in the gastrointestinal tract are uncommon. In autopsy studies in patients with advanced cancer, fewer than 5% of patients have identifiable metastases in the gastrointestinal tract. These metastases are located in the small bowel, stomach and colon in an approximate ratio of 3:2:1. For metastases in the small bowel and stomach, the most common primary sites are malignant melanoma, breast and lung. For metastases in the colon, common primary sites include the lung and breast. The majority of gastrointestinal metastases are multiple and usually occur in the setting of known metastases in other organs. Single metastases restricted to the gastrointestinal tract appear to be rare.At colonoscopy, some metastases have an unusual polypoid appearance while others are indistinguishable from early colorectal cancer. We report a rare example of an isolated colonic metastasis associated with cancer of the parotid gland. A 78-year-old man was investigated because of the development of a lump in his neck. Histological evaluation of a fine needle aspirate revealed cancer of the parotid gland. Because of anemia, he was also investigated by colonoscopy. This revealed a polypoid lesion, 10 mm in diameter, in the transverse colon (Fig. 1). The lesion had the appearance of a polypoid adenoma but was harder than a typical adenoma when palpated with biopsy forceps. Furthermore, the polyp had an irregular lobulated surface and, at chromoendoscopy, there was a clear demarcation line that separated the polyp from normal adjacent mucosa. Histological evaluation of colonic biopsies showed a malignant neoplasm with similar features to the primary parotid cancer (Fig. 2). The patient was treated with chemotherapy. Surgical resection for a presumed isolated intestinal metastasis is often appropriate in the setting of malignant melanoma and renal carcinoma but is of uncertain benefit for metastases from other malignant neoplasms. Contributed by K Fu,*


Infrared character of aircraft is one important factor to estimate the ability of breaching the defense of enemy, this paper firstly analyzed the method of infrared calibration with collimator and energy factors composing the sky background, propose one method of deleting energy of background within current image; furthermore, the paper points out that the parameters of calibration with collimator can't be directly applied to computing Infrared character of flying target, and based on that propose the method of deleting energy of background with another background image measured before mission.


It has become easier to find early esophageal carcinomas, which are localized in the mucosa or submucosal layer, by progress of X-ray technology. The term 'superficial esophageal carcinoma' is applied to tumours in which infiltration is limited to the submucosal layer. If there is no lymph node metastasis, we use the term "early carcinoma". In our hospital, we have resected 88 cases of superficial esophageal carcinoma including 55 early esophageal carcinoma cases. Five year-survival rate of early carcinoma is 61%. In contrast, 5 year-survival rate of superficial esophageal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis is only 13%. Therefore, from a prognostic point of view, it would be valuable to be able to detect the presence of lymph node metastasis in patients with superficial esophageal carcinoma. From X-ray findings, we divide superficial carcinoma into 5 types. In superficial flat type, there is no lymph node metastasis, but in other types there is no correlation between the types and lymph node metastasis. The condition of the surface of superficial esophageal carcinoma (smooth or irregular), however, has a close connection with lymph node metastasis or vascular invasion. To improve the prognosis of resected esophageal carcinoma cases, we should read X-ray films thoroughly before operation so that we can predict lymph node metastasis or vascular invasion and choose the most effective operative method.


Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (steroid-induced ONFH) is characterized by increase of intraosseous pressure because of lipid metabolism disturbance such as elevation of adipogenesis and fat cell hypertrophy in the bone marrow, subsequently leading to disturbances of coagulation-fibrinolysis system in the femoral head and finally resulting in bone ischemia. Pravastatin has been demonstrated to be useful in preventing steroid-induced ONFH in animal models. However, its exact mechanisms acting on this disease have not been fully elucidated. To address this problem, steroid-induced ONFH rat model was constructed to evaluate the effects of pravastatin treatment on the osteonecrotic changes and repair processes. Then, Micro-CT-based micro-angiography was performed to assess the effects of pravastatin treatment on vascularization. In addition, serum lipid levels were detected by haematological examination. After that, the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), Wnt3a, low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5), β-catenin and runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) at both mRNA and protein levels were further detected by immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative PCR, and Western blot analyses. The results, the ratio of empty lacuna, adipose tissue area, and adipocyte perimeter in the bone marrow were dramatically lower in the pravastatin treatment groups than in the model group (all P < 0.05). Moreover, by micro-CT quantification, pravastatin treatment dose-dependently increased vessel volume, vessel surface, percentage of vessel volume, and vessel thickness of the femoral heads of steroid-induced ONFH rats. Importantly, pravastatin treatment could prevent steroid-induced ONFH by suppressing the expression of PPARγ, and increasing the expression of Wnt3a, LRP5, β-catenin, and RUNX2, at both mRNA and protein levels, in the femoral heads of steroid-induced ONFH rats. In conclusion, Pravastatin may prevent steroid-induced ONFH by suppressing PPARγ expression and activating Wnt signaling pathway.


We revisit the performance of the classic gradual magnitude pruning (GMP) baseline for large language models, focusing on the classic BERT benchmark on various popular tasks. Despite existing evidence in the literature that GMP performs poorly, we show that a simple and general variant, which we call GMP*, can match and sometimes outperform more complex state-of-the-art methods. Our results provide a simple yet strong baseline for future work, highlight the importance of parameter tuning for baselines, and even improve the performance of the state-of-the-art second-order pruning method in this setting.


From all reports, expected utility theory is dead. The reports are greatly exaggerated. This study makes two modifications which revive expected utility theory. Rather than directly modelling risk preferences by a von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function of wealth, risk preferences and the expected utility of wealth are derived from consumption and investment decisions over time. Rather than using future wealth as the reference point for evaluation risk preferences, current wealth is used instead. The revived theory is both normative and descriptive. It specifies how rational people ought to make decisions under risk and explains the major empirical findings about how people actually make decisions. For example the Allais Paradox and its variations, preference reversals and framing effects all result from rational decisions by uniformly risk-averse people. Moreover, apparently risk-seeking behaviour can result from risk-averse people with low rates of time preference taking risks to save for the future. The revived theory also shows why eliciting certainty equivalents cannot measure peoples' risk preferences but leads to new procedures for measuring both time and risk preferences. (JEL D81, D91).


A new catfish species belonging to genus Trichomycterus Valenciennes (Trichomycteridae) is described. Trichomycterus sketi n. sp. was collected in Cueva del Indio located in the upper rio Opon basin, Magdalena river system, in the Andean Cordillera, Santander department, Colombia. The new species differs from other species of the genus by having posterior fontanel divided into two widely separated portions; head wider than body; body thin, nearly as deep as wide. The new species is compared with cave species of the genus having restricted distributions in South America and with epigean species from Colombia.


We report a scanning probe technique that can be used to measure charging of localized states on conducting or partially insulating substrates at room temperature under ambient conditions. Electrostatic interactions in the presence of a charged particle between the tip and the sample is monitored by the second order flexural mode, while the fundamental mode is used for stabilizing the tip-sample separation. Cycling the bias voltage between two limits, it is possible to observe hysteresis of the second order mode amplitude due to charging. Results are presented on silicon nitride films containing silicon nanocrystals.


Abstract: According to the enemy release hypothesis (ERH) the spread of invasive species will be facilitated by release from their enemies as they occupy new areas. However, the ERH has rarely been tested by comparing populations of native (non-invasive, long established) species with expanding or shifting ranges, to the same species as invasive in another area. We tested the ERH with respect to blood parasite levels (prevalence and intensity of Plasmodium spp. and Haemoproteus spp.) of (a) two closely related, widely distributed species of thrush (Turdus leucomelas and T. merula), and (b) an invasive sparrow (Passer domesticus) whose range has expanded from the Old World to the New World since the 18th century. A total of 158 birds were sampled in Portugal and 99 in Brazil. All bird species were parasitized, and 55% of the individuals collected were parasitized, and the mean intensity of infection was of 28 parasites per 10,000 erythrocytes. We assessed whether differences in levels of infection (prevalence and intensity) were due to site (tropical/New World and temperate/Old World) or host species. The ERH was supported: Passer domesticus and Turdus merula had higher levels of parasitism in the Old World than in the New World. Thus, P. domesticus seems to be benefitting from its "recent" range expansion, compared to T. leucomelas, through ecological release from its native parasites and because the parasites of the recently invaded area seem to be infesting native species instead.


Two approaches to achieving long timescale stabilization of the ideal kink mode with a real, finite conductivity wall are considered: plasma rotation and active feedback control. DIII-D experiments have demonstrated stabilization of the resistive wall mode (RWM) by sustaining β greater than the no-wall limit for up to 200 ms, much longer than the wall penetration time of a few milliseconds. These plasmas are typically terminated by an m = 3, n = 1 mode as the plasma rotation slows below a few kilohertz. Recent temperature profile data show an ideal MHD mode structure, as expected for the RWM at β above the no-wall limit. The critical rotation rate for stabilization is in qualitative agreement with recent theories for dissipative stabilization in the absence of magnetic islands. However, drag by small amplitude RWMs or damping of stable RWMs may contribute to an observed slowing of rotation at high β, rendering rotational stabilization more difficult. An initial open loop active control experiment, using non-axisymmetric external coils and a new array of saddle loop detectors, has yielded encouraging results indicating a delayed onset of the RWM.


The lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae grown in type 1 (T1) and 4 (T4) colony forms have been isolated. LPS from T4 colony type cells on mild hydrolysis gave a lipid A and a core oligosaccharide composed of 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose, D-glucose, D-galactose, L-glycero-D-manno-heptose and 3-deoxy-D-manno-octuosonic acid that appeared to be common to all the strains examined. LPS from T1 colony type cells on mild hydrolysis gave a lipid A and high molecular weight O polysacc,arides which showed considerable differences in glycose composition for each strain examined. In those strains examined, T4 cells appear to produce a common "R" type LPS whereas T1 cells produce an "S" type LPS with structurally different O polysaccharide structures which probably account for serologically differentiated strains of N. gonorrhoeae.


Abstract Geophysical survey is a very useful and popular tool used by engineering geologists to examine landslides. We present a case study from the Kapušany landslide, Eastern Slovakia, where a broad spectrum of geophysical methods were applied along two perpendicular profiles in order to compare the ability of the methods to detect as many structural features of the landslide as possible. The 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography inverse model was capable of defining the geological structure of the landslide and defining the shear zone, however the resolution of the inverse model does not allow us to identify cracks or other minor features of the landslide. These, however, were well recorded in the results of Dipole Electromagnetic Imaging and the Self Potential method. In addition microgravimetry, Gamma-Ray Spectrometry and Soil Radon Emanometry were experimentally employed to validate the results obtained from electrical methods and afterwards final geological models, based on the integrated interpretation of all involved methods were constructed.


Tuberculosis is one of the first human diseases of which there is evidence, it´s very harmful and easy to spread through the air. One way to detect tuberculosis is by chest x-rays, by analyzing the x-ray you can obtain the detection of any abnormality (parenchymal, ganglionic or pleural). This paper presents a method that allows the presence of tuberculosis in medical X-ray images to be identified. Three methods of classification were implemented for the evaluation of the method: Support Vector Machine, Logistic Regression and K-Neighbors Classifier. Two classification scenarios were implemented: cross validation and training and test sets. The results obtained allow us to see the viability of the proposed method.


Abstract—This research examines the performance of a hybrid passive control device for enhancing the seismic response of steel frame structures. The device design comprises a damper which employs a viscoelastic material to control both shear and axial strain. In the design, energy is dissipated through the shear strain of a twolayer system of viscoelastic pads which are located between steel plates. In addition, viscoelastic blocks have been included on either side of the main shear damper which obtains compressive strains in the viscoelastic blocks. These dampers not only dissipate energy but also increase the stiffness of the steel frame structure, and the degree to which they increase the stiffness may be controlled by the size and shape. In this research, the cyclical behavior of the damper was examined both experimentally and numerically with finite element modeling. Cyclic loading results of the finite element modeling reveal fundamental characteristics of this hybrid viscoelastic damper. The results indicate that incorporating a damper of the design can significantly improve the seismic performance of steel frame structures.


A new dual-band planar filter has been proposed. It is shown that the two transmission bands can be excited and designed using proposed resonators which combine different size of open-loop resonators. The main resonators control the low-band resonant frequency and the sub resonators control the high-band resonant frequency. Two passbands can be easily and flexibly designed by adjusting the length of resonators. The proposed dual-band filter will find applications in wireless communication circuits.


In this study, silver nanoparticles were synthesized from aqueous silver nitrate through a simple and eco-friendly route using a combination of two reducing agents: sodium citrate and tannic acid. By this method, the obtained Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were stable within the studied period of six months. Besides, both TEM images and UV-Vis results showed that the size of silver NPs could be controlled by changing the concentration of tannic acid. The antibacterial ability of Ag NPs with different sizes were also examined. In detail, the smaller the Ag NPs were, the more efficient their antibacterial activity was.


New thiol-functionalized carboxylate ionic liquids (ILs), varying both for the cation and for the anion structures, have been prepared as new potential redox switching systems by reacting either 3-mercapto propionic acid (3-MPA) or N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) with commercially available methyl carbonate ILs. Different ratios of thiol/disulfide ILs were obtained depending both on the acid employed in the neutralization reaction and on the reaction conditions used. Surprisingly, the imidazolium ILs displayed limited thermal stability which resulted in the formation of an imidazole 2-thione and a new sulfide ionic liquid. Conversely, the formation of the imidazole 2-thione was not observed when phosphonium disulfide ILs were heated, thus confirming the involvement of the imidazolium ring in an unexpected side reaction. An insight into the mechanism of the decomposition has been provided by means of DFT calculations.


Background: the opinion of the students is only one element among several to consider when evaluating teaching performance, but it contributes to accountability and to raising the quality of professional training in medical education. Objective : to assess the perception of fourth-year students of the Dentistry degree on the teaching performance in the elective course Sports Activity and Oral Health in Adolescence. Methods : a cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out from February to July of the 2018-2019 academic year, at the Sancti Spiritus University of Medical Sciences. Theoretical methods were applied to support the research work; empirical ones: survey in the form of a questionnaire and statistical methods. An addictive Likert-type scale was applied, consisting of 11 items before which the student was asked his opinion about the teacher in the development of the teaching-learning process. Results : the teacher's teaching performance in the elective course Sports Activity and Oral Health in Adolescence was favorably evaluated according to the perception of the students, with a predominance of the categories Strongly agree and Agree in each of the items, only the sufficient and updated scientific literature provided by the professor showed some opinions of disagreement. Conclusions: this experience constituted a tool for the continuous improvement of the teacher and the quality training of the students, which has repercussions in better dental care for the population.


Rationale: Accurate mediastinal staging is a cornerstone in the management of patients with lung cancer. For patients with radiographically normal mediastinum, current lung cancer guidelines recommend invasive mediastinal staging when tumors are centrally located. However, definitions of central tumors are nonspecific, and there are discrepancies among guidelines (e.g., some use the inner one‐third of the hemithorax, whereas others use the inner two‐thirds). Objectives: To describe the definitions of central tumors used by pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons in their practices. Methods: An online questionnaire was e‐mailed to members of the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology and members of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Network. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 218 participants completed our survey (12% response rate). Most common definitions for central tumors were: inner one‐third of the hemithorax (55%), in contact with hilar structures (29%), and inner two‐thirds of the hemithorax (15%). Of note, 29% of participants chose a definition fabricated specifically for this survey and not supported by guidelines. Regarding the method to delineate the thirds of the hemithorax, 182 (84%) participants chose a system of concentric lines arising in the hilum, whereas 31 (14%) chose straight lines in the sagittal plane of the chest. We found strikingly similar responses in members of both societies. Conclusions: A uniform definition of tumor centrality is currently lacking, and should be formulated. Studies using objective measurements that evaluate the ability of these different definitions of central lung tumors to predict N2 disease are needed to construct a clear and evidence‐based definition.


Two pathological specimens are presented in which the morphological left ventricle contains the right atrioventricular ostium, completely or in its major portion and, totally, the left atrioventricular ostium. It is suggested from a consideration of these cases and of the pathological material available in the literature that this constitutes an entity that can be usefully separated from the heterogeneous group of single ventricle with which it has previously been classified. The entity is called double-inlet left ventricle and is defined as existing when two separate atrioventricular ostia open in a morphological left ventricle.An ontogenetic explanation is presented based on the study of normal human embryos. These cases resemble the heart of the embryo during the horizons XIII to XVI of Streeter. It is suggested that there has been a partial arrest in the widening of the atrioventricular canal and the changing relation of the atria with the ventricles at these stages.It is noted that both atria open into the morphological left ventricle whether situated to the left or to the right. This is an expected finding, since the left ventricle is derived from the primitive ventricle and the primitive ventricle is always connected with both atria during the early stages of embryological development.Other malformations include transposition of the great arteries in both cases and ventricular inversion in one.


On the base of the investigations carried out during ten years, the population of Wild boar inhabiting 8,000 ha forest area in western Poland has been characterised. Such parameters as reproductive ratio, mortality and longevity are described. The reproductivity ratio of population depends on the high degree on the age structure of females. This population consisted of 49% of piglets, 35% 1-2 years old animals and only 16% older than 2 years.Total productivity of population reached about 190% of number of sows. The mortality ratio of piglets during the first 3-5 months of life was about 27% of number of young born. The average length of life was estimated to 1.5year


There is little doubt that nanotechnology will revolutionise peoples' approaches to areas as diverse as the structure of materials, production engineering, biotechnology and medicine. Currently there are a number of companies that are exploiting micro- and nanotechnology, mainly using a top-down approach, i.e. through miniaturisation. As new products are created from the new technologies there must be methods, developing in parallel, for ensuring product reliability and quality assurance. It is asserted that this can only be achieved through the development of a metrology infrastructure. This paper will describe some of the advances that have been made in the UK in developing such an infrastructure.


A classical result about Markov jump processes states that a certain class of dynamical systems given by ordinary differential equations are obtained as the limit of a sequence of scaled Markov jump processes. This approach fails if the scaling cannot be carried out equally across all entities. In the present paper we present a convergence theorem for such an unequal scaling. In contrast to an equal scaling the limit process is not purely deterministic but still possesses randomness. We show that these processes constitute a rich subclass of piecewise-deterministic processes. Such processes apply in molecular biology where entities often occur in different scales of numbers.


Background and objective: Coronary atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease that may be caused by numerous factors. One of the most important factors is obesity; there are high concentrations of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in obese patients. This study aimed to assess the levels of proinflammatory markers IFN-γ and high sensitive C- reactive protein (Hs-CRP) in obese coronary atherosclerotic patients and determine its correlation with lipid profiles.
Methods: The present case-control study was carried out between December 2017 and May 2018 in the Cardiac Center-Surgical Specialty Hospital in Erbil city. It included 49 coronary atherosclerotic patients, 25 males and 24 females, and 39 controls. The sera were subjected to estimate of some inflammatory biomarkers including IFN-γ, Hs-CRP, and lipid profile such as total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low- density lipoproteins (VLDL-C).
Results: Serum concentrations of IFN-γ and Hs-CRP in coronary atherosclerotic patients were increased significantly than controls (P = 0.031, P = 0.001), respectively. Indeed the same above results were seen in obese coronary atherosclerotic patients and controls than non-obese coronary atherosclerotic patients controls. The mean concentration of lipid profile in obese coronary atherosclerotic patients was decreased than non -obese coronary atherosclerotic patients and controls, with no significant differences (P ≥0.05). There was a weak negative significant correlation between IFN-γ and HDL-C in obese coronary atherosclerotic patients (r= -0.456; P = 0.040).
Conclusion: Proinflammatory cytokine as IFN-γ played a vital role in the pathophysiology of obese atherosclerotic patients in combination with Hs-CRP and LDL-C, which could be used as predictors for progressive the disease.


We report that Bim has an apoptotic function through Bax/mitochondrial apoptosis signaling in the p53-independent mode, which is somewhat additive to the effects of p53. Bim-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells were resistant to the apoptotic effects of Myc, while loss of Bim accelerated lymphoma development. Furthermore, Bim was overexpressed at the same frequency in Myc-initiated lymphomas, irrespective of p53 status, suggesting that Bim resides in a pathway separate from p53. Loss of Bim further augmented resistance to apoptosis in p53-/- MEFs. Mice with p53 knockdown exhibited exacerbated malignancies in the absence of Bim. The combined loss of these proteins promoted more severe spontaneous tumorigenesis. Thus, Myc-induced apoptotic signals through Bim and p53 must bifurcate to activate Bax, suggesting that the activation of Bim and p53 significantly contribute to apoptosis. Our results, therefore, establish that p53 and Bim are effective key initiators of apoptosis in lymphoma cells, particularly when combined.


Many parasites of significant public health importance assume skin residency without causing overt pathlogy. How immune and stromal cells respond to such "cryptic" infections and how exposure to UVB alters such responses in poorly understood. We combined scRNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics and inferential network analysis to address these questions in a model of cryptic skin infection by Leishmania donovani. In infected C57BL/6 mice, p-selectin and CXCL12 interactions dominate intercellular communication between leucocytes, fibroblast and endothelial cells, but effector T cell function remains muted. Following UVB exposure, increased numbers of IFNγ+ CD4+ Th1 cells and NK cells enter the skin, communicating with stromal cells via CCL5-CCR5 and LFA-1-ICAM1/2. However, spatial mapping indicated that Th1 cells and macrophages occupied distinct niches after UVB exposure, likely limiting effector function. Our data provide the first holistic view of the immune landscape during cryptic L. donovani infection and demonstrate how UVB exposure fundamentally reshapes this response. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Abstract The objective of the present study was to design and develop a formulation for orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) of carbamazepine using quality by design principles. The target product profile (TPP) and quality target product profile (QTPP) of ODTs were identified. Risk assessment was carried out by leveraging prior knowledge and experience to define the criticality of factors based on their impact by Ishikawa fishbone diagram and preliminary hazard analysis tool. Box–Behnken response surface methodology was used to study the effect of critical factors on various attributes of ODTs. The independent factors selected were compression pressure (X1), concentration of sublimating agent (volatile material) (X2), disintegrant concentration (X3) and the responses were tablet crushing strength, tablet porosity, disintegration time, water absorption time, tablet friability and drug dissolution. ANOVA and lack of fit test illustrated that selected independent variables had significant effect on the response variables, and excellent correlation was observed between actual and predicted values. Optimization by desirability function indicated that compression pressure, X1 (1534 lbs), ammonium bicarbonate concentration, X2 (7.68%) and Kollidon® CL-SF concentration, X3 (6%) were optimum to prepare ODT formulation of carbamazepine of desired attributes complying with QTPP. Thus, in the present study, a high level of assurance was established for ODT product quality and performance.


mRNA localization and transport are integral in regulating gene expression. In Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, the maternally inherited mRNA erm-1 (Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin) concentrates in anterior blastomeres. erm-1 mRNA localizes within those blastomeres to the plasma membrane where the essential ERM-1 protein, a membrane-actin linker, is also found. We demonstrate that the localization of erm-1 mRNA to the plasma membrane is translation-dependent and requires its encoded N-terminal membrane-binding (FERM) domain. By perturbing translation through multiple methods, we found erm-1 mRNA localization at the plasma membrane was maintained only if the nascent peptide remained in complex with the translating mRNA. Indeed, recoding the erm-1 mRNA coding sequence while preserving the encoded amino acid sequence did not disrupt erm-1 mRNA localization, corroborating that the information directing mRNA localization resides within its membrane-binding protein domain. A smiFISH screen of 17 genes encoding similar membrane-binding domains identified three plasma membrane localized mRNAs in the early embryo. Nine additional transcripts showed apparent membrane localization later in development. These findings point to a translation-dependent pathway for localization of mRNAs encoding membrane-associated proteins. SUMMARY STATEMENT In C. elegans, erm-1 mRNA localization to plasma membranes requires translation of the ERM-1 membrane-binding domain


High sampling rate realizations of the least mean squares (LMS) adaptive filtering algorithm require that the inherent recursive computational bottleneck in the impulse response updating be broken by introducing algorithmic delays into the error feedback path. The well known delayed LMS (DLMS) technique achieves this by convolving delayed error samples with delayed input samples. This paper proposes a possible realization that convolves delayed error samples with undelayed input samples, motivated by systolization and pipelining requirements that use only the delays introduced in the error feedback path. We provide a convergence analysis of this delayed error LMS (DELMS) algorithm along with experimental simulations that prove the stability of this adaptation technique under desired operating conditions and improved tracking performance in nonstationary environments, compared with the DLMS algorithm.


The paper presents the method of recycling and quality management in the recycling process of polymeric materials. Recycling of mixed polymer materials is one of the most complex processes in manufacturing. It is important to be able to manufacture the materials of the secondary properties of an acceptable degree of mixed polymer waste. In this way have been eliminated long and costly separation processes. Properties of such materials are polymers which are disadvantageous because constitute them mainly PE, PP, PS, PVC, PET etc. are incompatible and form a multi-component system in which the individual phases do not exhibit significant adhesion. In addition, other materials present different types paper, metals, dyes act as contaminants and contribute to the further deterioration of mechanical properties. In almost all cases, the properties of the mixture are worse than the properties of the individual components. If you need to produce products that must meet high requirements for mechanical properties is not the possibility of using recycled material. They are used so other methods of recycling as raw materials and energy, including paralysis method, hydrocracking and gasification. Management quality now plays an increasingly important role in the recycling of plastics. The quality of the production becomes an important element of competition, which increasingly can decide the success of the recycling industries.


The salivary glands of Drosophila saltans (saltans group, saltans subgroup) analyzed in an advanced stage of programmed cell death showed the appearance of a single, round, nucleolar corpuscle inside the highly altered nucleus of every gland cell, at a time during which the integrity of the original nucleolus was already lost and the original nucleolar material apparently disappeared. In the same nuclei, which already had also lost the characteristic chromosome structure, some delicate chromosome threads were maintained. In many cells, the new nucleolar corpuscle and these chromosome threads are associated. These findings are novel. However, the hypothesis put forward concerning their meaning remains dependent on other studies.


Quantifying gradients of anthropogenic stress can inform the development of sample designs, provide an important covariate in modeling relationships of response variables, identify reference and highly-disturbed sites, and provide a baseline and guidance to restoration and remediation efforts. We describe development of SumRel, a composite index of anthropogenic stress, for the U.S. and Canadian Lake Superior basin. Key elements of the project include development of high-resolution watersheds throughout the basin, summarization of the major point and non-point stressors within these watersheds, and creation of tools for scaling the watersheds and stressor summaries. SumRel was calculated at two spatial scales: for high resolution subcatchments within the Lake Superior basin (mean watershed area = 93 ha) and for coastal watersheds of Lake Superior. An assessment of subcatchments within Minnesota's St. Louis River watershed showed a correlation between the degree of disturbance, as indicated by SumRel, and impaired water quality, as evidenced by in-stream conductivity. These data and tools allow identification and visualization of reference and highly-disturbed sites at multiple spatial scales, providing decision support for individual agency and binational monitoring, assessment and restoration initiatives across the Lake Superior basin.


Four cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris L. were studied in a growth chamber experiment to determine the effect of high temperature stress on pollen viability and pollen tube growth in styles. Compared with an optimal growing temperature (25/20°C, day/night), stress temperatures (35/20°, day/night or 35° constant) reduced the percentage of viable pollen for all cultivars, but cultivar differences were apparent. Beans generally produced only small quantities of pollen under normal growing temperatures but much more under high temperatures, again with cultivar differences. Finally, stress temperatures did not reduce the ability of pollen tubes to grow to the base of the style. Our results suggest that injury to pollen at high temperatures up to 35° is not likely to hinder the ability of beans to set pods.


Large impact‐melt pockets in shergottites contain both Martian regolith components and sulfide/sulfite bleb clusters that yield high sulfur concentrations locally compared to bulk shergottites. The regolith may be the source of excess sulfur in the shergottite melt pockets. To explore whether shock and release of secondary Fe‐sulfates trapped in host rock voids is a plausible mechanism to generate the shergottite sulfur bleb clusters, we carried out shock recovery experiments on an analog mixture of ferric sulfate and Columbia River basalt at peak pressures of 21 and 31 GPa. The recovered products from the 31 GPa experiment show mixtures of Fe‐sulfide and Fe‐sulfite blebs similar to the sulfur‐rich bleb clusters found in shergottite impact melts. The 21 GPa experiment did not yield such blebs. The collapse of porosity and local high‐strain shear heating in the 31 GPa experiment presumably created high‐temperature hotspots (~2000 °C) sufficient to reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+ and to decompose sulfate to sulfite, followed by concomitant reduction to sulfide during pressure release. Our results suggest that similar processes might have transpired during shock production of sulfur‐rich bleb clusters in shergottite impact melts. It is possible that very small CO presence in our experiments could have catalyzed the reduction process. We plan to repeat the experiments without CO.


Aiming to strong nonlinear variations of smart grid, this paper presents a method of bilinear models-based short-term load rolling forecasting. Firstly, daily loads in adjacent days are defined to be input signals and daily loads at the same day in adjacent weeks are defined to be output signals, which result in the bilinear mathematic models of short-term load. Secondly, the fading memory recursive least square method is used to update the parameters in the model based on measurements of daily loads. Then, the updated measurements of daily loads are used to forecast short-term load of smart grid rolling. Finally, the competition load data of European Intelligent Technology Network (ENUNITE) are exploited to illustrate the effectiveness of the method proposed here.


Wafer-scale graphene field-effect transistors are fabricated using benzocyclobutene and atomic layer deposition Al2 O3 as the top-gate dielectric. The epitaxial-graphene layer is formed by graphitization of a 2-inch-diameter Si-face semi-insulating 6H-SiC substrate. The graphene on the silicon carbide substrate is heavily n-doped and current saturation is not found. For the intrinsic characteristic of this particular channel material, the devices cannot be switched off. The cut-off frequencies of these graphene field-effect transistors, which have a gate length of 1 μm, are larger than 800 MHz. The largest one can reach 1.24 GHz. There are greater than 95% active devices that can be successfully applied. We thus succeed in fabricating wafer-scale gigahertz graphene field-effect transistors, which paves the way for high-performance graphene devices and circuits.


Abstract. The potential of instability indices in assessing atmospheric instability is examined for the areas of Attica, Thessaly and Central Aegean and Crete, Greece. Generally, many indices have been developed to estimate the troposphere's stability for forecasting purposes. At this study several instability indices, commonly used in Meteorology, are computed based on radiosonde data. Firstly, the indices are computed for several months based on the 00:00 and 12:00 UTC radiosonde data during the period 1981–2003. Statistical methods were used to compare and test the effectiveness of these indices in the described area using meteorological data from seventeen meteorological stations of Greece. Thus, the potential of monitoring the atmospheric instability conditions is examined. The next stage of this study is an effort to test the thresholds of the existing indices in order to improve the results of these indices. It seems that this effort can make a good simulation to the assessment of instability, contributing to local level weather forecasting.


Ancient social systems have exhibited constructs of scholarships based on social configurations and requirements that have involved tribal, temple, village or palace elders teaching and developing their apprentices using oral communication such as storytelling, recitation of recipes, formulas and chants, plus work in the field itself as young people developed as midwives, shamans, carpenters, and so on. While writing is a mighty technological achievement of some 5,000 years ago, perhaps even mightier is that of the printing press about 500 years ago. It is generally held to be the development that marked the end of Medieaval times, and has had an even more profound an effect than the first moon landing, so much did it shake the foundations of society. For one thing, the same elders entrusted with the education of the young were able to use print as part of their education protocols. This in itself enabled a shift in constructs of scholarship, as it was possible to record in print what had formerly been kept in memory. The possibilities that emerged were those of teaching learners how to develop knowledge from information, and not rely on information alone. Such possibilities have not really been taken up until fairly recent times. Emerging new paradigms present scholarship in the light of information work whose dependence on information storage systems has already transformed the relationship between scholarship and libraries to a stage where the dominant partner is the library, scholarship becoming marginalised in the so-called information age. Such a sea change requires a major adjustment on the part of both partners in what has for so long been a most productive relationship. To be able to understand the magnitude and order of the change, it is necessary to take a close look at what has underpinned it for so long.


We solve a model problem from single crystal plasticity.We consider 4 slip systems in the plane with orthogonal slip-directions and equal slip rates, forward as well as backwards. We compute the associated dissipation distance by solving an optimal control problem. It turns out that from a computational point of view computing the distance is inexpensive. We put special emphasis on visualization of the metric spheres and the associated length-minimizing curves.
As a byproduct we also solve a related problem, optimal path planning for a car driving forwards and backwards with limited turning radius in the hyperbolic plane. This is a hyperbolic version of the Reeds-Shepp-Car-Problem first discussed in (Pac. J. Math. 145:367-393, 1990).


School recess provides a unique opportunity for children to be active. However, many children perceive smartphones as a key barrier for engaging in physical activity during recess. The aim was to investigate if a ban on smartphone usage during recess changed children's physical activity. During August–October 2020, children from grades 4–7 (10–14 years) at six Danish schools were banned from using their smartphones during recess for a four-week period. Questionnaire and systematic observation (SOPLAY) data were collected from 814 children before intervention (baseline) and 828 during the last week of intervention (follow-up). The mean frequency of physical activity significantly increased from baseline to follow-up (odds ratio = 1.370), as did physical activity on a moderate level (odds ratio = 1.387). Vigorous physical activity significantly decreased (odds ratio = 0.851). The increase in physical activity was found among both schools having outdoor and indoor recess, among both boys and girls, and nearly equally among grades 4–7. This suggests that implementing a ban on smartphone usage during recess would improve the everyday conditions for health among a broad range of schoolchildren. Future studies are needed to further investigate the association between recess physical activity and smartphone usage.


Epistemic logic with non-standard knowledge operators, especially the "knowing-value" operator, has recently gathered much attention. With the "knowing-value" operator, we can express knowledge of individual variables, but not of the relations between them in general. In this paper, we propose a new operator Kf to express knowledge of the functional dependencies between variables. The semantics of this Kf operator uses a function domain which imposes a constraint on what counts as a functional dependency relation. By adjusting this function domain, different interesting logics arise, and in this paper we axiomatize three such logics in a single agent setting. Then we show how these three logics can be unified by allowing the function domain to vary relative to different agents and possible worlds. A multiagent axiomatization is given in this case.


This essay builds on research within Contrastive Rhetoric (CR) and other areas to delineate the main attributes and broad features of a model to help writing center tutors decide the kind of role they should play with second language (L2) acquisition of their clients. The main attributes of such a model would be as follows. The clients' discourse-level CR patterns as manifested through first language (L1) and original culture are the dependent variable. There are three intervening variables: 1) the role of the tutor; 2) client agency; and, 3) contextual factors (client's language skills, audience and requirements of the discipline). The independent variable is the level of accent in L2 output. This is just the preliminary research outlining the main characteristics of the model based on work experience and the literature. The full development and testing of the model will have to come at a later point.


Abstract Manufacturing has been rejuvenated by automation and digitalization. This has brought forth the new industrial era also called Industry 4.0. During the last few years, we have collaborated with companies from various industries that have all been going through this transformation. Through these collaborations, we have collected numerous examples of (sometimes troublesome) experiences with Big Data applications of production analytics. These experiences reflect the current state of production data and the challenges it poses. Our goal in this paper is to share those experiences and lessons learned in dealing with practical issues from data acquisition to data management and finally to data analytics.


COVID-19 has shown that today the world is more interconnected, yet it is more hierarchical and stratified riddled with disproportionate systemic structural socio-economic inequalities. The global humanitarian disaster has highlighted the despaired state of human rights affairs across the planet. It has exposed the supremacy of the neoliberal, nationalist paradigm that is deeply entrenched affecting the poorest of the poor. The pandemic has also indicated how capitalism is eroding democratic values endangering the lives of billions. Today, the high-income countries and the pharmaceutical companies are advancing their strategic interest, whereas the persons in the middle and low-income countries are being deprived of their basic requirements. Inequities in vaccine distribution are obstructing the effective response to the pandemic at the global level. Discrimination in access to the vaccine is adversely affecting the marginalized. This essay argues for respecting human rights as global health justice and suggests affordable, accessible, and quality vaccination and treatment for all in line with reasoning that health inequalities and cross border issues are morally and ethically troubling and therefore are morally justified. Based on positive duties to create conditions for the availability of health rights for all humans, it argues that no rich country or resourceful persons will be safe until the last person is safe. These moral duties, in turn, generate duties of cooperation and obligations at international and domestic levels to better align with the principles of global health governance. Leaving a large section of the population in the Third world behind is not going to eliminate the threats of the spread of the epidemic.


There are several methods available to visualize fluid flows when one has optical access. However, when optical access is limited to near the boundaries or not available at all, alternative visualization methods are required. This paper will describe flow visualization using an X-ray system that is capable of digital X-ray radiography, digital X-ray stereography, and digital X-ray computed tomography (CT). The unique X-ray flow visualization facility will be briefly described, and then flow visualization of various systems will be shown. Radiographs provide a two-dimensional density map of a three dimensional process or object. Radiographic images of various multiphase flows will be presented. When two X-ray sources and detectors simultaneously acquire images of the same process or object from different orientations, stereographic imaging can be completed; this type of imaging will be demonstrated by trickling water through packed columns and by absorbing water in a porous medium. Finally, local time-averaged phase distributions can be determined from X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging, and this will be shown by comparing CT images from two different gas-liquid sparged columns.


&NA; This article summarizes a comprehensive literature review and explores research of coping strategies used by survivors of homicide and suicide decedents. The relationship of these survivors' coping strategies to the development of complicated grief is also examined.


Office-based workers spend a large proportion of the day sitting and tend to have low overall activity levels. Despite some evidence that features of the external physical environment are associated with physical activity, little is known about the influence of the spatial layout of the internal environment on movement, and the majority of data use self-report. This study investigated associations between objectively-measured sitting time and activity levels and the spatial layout of office floors in a sample of UK office-based workers. Participants wore activPAL accelerometers for at least three consecutive workdays. Primary outcomes were steps and proportion of sitting time per working hour. Primary exposures were office spatial layout, which was objectively-measured by deriving key spatial variables: 'distance from each workstation to key office destinations', 'distance from participant's workstation to all other workstations', 'visibility of co-workers', and workstation 'closeness'. 131 participants from 10 organisations were included. Fifty-four per cent were female, 81% were white, and the majority had a managerial or professional role (72%) in their organisation. The average proportion of the working hour spent sitting was 0.7 (SD 0.15); participants took on average 444 (SD 210) steps per working hour. Models adjusted for confounders revealed significant negative associations between step count and distance from each workstation to all other office destinations (e.g., B = −4.66, 95% CI: −8.12, −1.12, p < 0.01) and nearest office destinations (e.g., B = −6.45, 95% CI: −11.88, −0.41, p < 0.05) and visibility of workstations when standing (B = −2.35, 95% CI: −3.53, −1.18, p < 0.001). The magnitude of these associations was small. There were no associations between spatial variables and sitting time per work hour. Contrary to our hypothesis, the further participants were from office destinations the less they walked, suggesting that changing the relative distance between workstations and other destinations on the same floor may not be the most fruitful target for promoting walking and reducing sitting in the workplace. However, reported effect sizes were very small and based on cross-sectional analyses. The approaches developed in this study could be applied to other office buildings to establish whether a specific office typology may yield more promising results.


Bertalanffy's equation is commonly used to model indeterminate growth. Bertalanffy claimed that this growth pattern results from growth potential decreasing with age. An alternative approach provided by life history theory predicts that indeterminate growth is optimal for organisms in a seasonal environment and results not from decreasing growth potential but from allocating increasingly less energy with age into growth, and more into reproduction. Bertalanffy's curves are the result of evolutionary optimization and should not be used in optimization models as an assumption, but they can be used as a tool to describe the indeterminate growth pattern phenomenologically.


This guide serves as a portal to key resources for the interdisciplinary field of health services research. This guide is in Beta Mode.


This article considers the ideal of living simply, critically exploring the practical realisation that achieving simplicity in life is a complex and skill-laden business. Particular, localised versions of living simply are subject to consideration, centring on the lived experience of dwelling as exhibited in huts and bothies, a historic feature of contemporary rural landscapes in Scotland. The article considers the kinds of skilled practices associated with these built forms, and the embodied expertise understood by users and owners as emerging from time spent in simplified structures where modern conveniences do not come as standard. As such, it seeks to place skill within the 21st century but also question where skill is located physically, morally and imaginatively. In doing so, this discussion queries why a situated version of skill needs to be cast as personalised and place-based and subsequently introduces the adapted concept of a 'skillscape' after Ingold (2000).


Circuit clustering algorithms fit synthesised circuits into field programmable gate array (FPGA) configurable logic blocks (CLBs) efficiently. This fundamental process in FPGA CAD flow directly impacts both effort required and performance achievable in subsequent place-and-route processes. Circuit clustering is limited by hardware constraints of specific target architectures. Hence, better circuit clustering approaches are essential for improving device utilisation whilst at the same time optimising circuit performance parameters such as, e.g. power and delay. In this study, the authors present a method based on multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) to facilitate circuit clustering. They address a number of challenges including CLB input bandwidth constraints, improvement of CLB utilisation, minimisation of interconnects between CLBs. The authors' new approach has been validated using the 'Golden 20' MCNC benchmark circuits that are regularly used in FPGA-related literature. The results show that the method proposed in this study achieves improvements of up to 50% in clustering, routability and timing when compared to state-of-the-art approaches including VPack, T-VPack, RPack, DPack, HDPack, MOPack and iRAC. The key contribution of this work is a flexible EDA flow that can incorporate numerous objectives required to successfully tackle real-world circuit design on FPGA, providing device utilisation at increased design performance.


Based on a summary of prior literature, I conclude that tests of statistical significance harm scientific progress. Efforts to find exceptions to this conclusion have, to date, turned up none. Even when done correctly, significance tests are dangerous. I show that summaries of scientific research do not require tests of statistical significance. I illustrate the dangers of significance tests by examining an application to the M3-Competition. Although the authors of that reanalysis conducted a proper series of statistical tests, they suggest that the original M3 was not justified in concluding that combined forecasts reduce errors and that the selection of the best method is dependent upon the selection of a proper error measure. I show that the original conclusions were justified and that they are correct. Authors should try to avoid tests of statistical significance, journals should discourage them, and readers should ignore them. Instead, to analyze and communicate findings from empirical studies, one should use effect sizes, confidence intervals,replications/extensions, and meta-analyses.


323 Background: Sorafenib, approved in Japan in 2009, is the first systemic therapy demonstrated to significantly improve overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In Japan, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), which directly delivers high concentrations of cytotoxic agents to liver tumors, has been offered to patients with advanced HCC since before sorafenib was approved. HAIC is particularly used in patients without extrahepatic metastases (EHM). This study aimed to compare the outcomes of patients with advanced HCC who received HAIC and sorafenib. Methods: Consecutive patients with advanced HCC who received sorafenib or HAIC as the first-line systemic therapy were enrolled from 10 Japanese centers. The statistical analysis plan included pre-defined propensity score matching method and risk factors. All statistical analyses were performed by an independent biostatistician. Results: Between June 2009 and May 2016, 2006 patients were enrolled (sorafenib: 1465 patients, HAIC: 541 patients). The mean OS of patients with macrovascular invasion (MVI) and without EHM was significant longer in the HAIC group compared with the sorafenib group. After propensity score matching, there were 172 patients in each cohort. The OS was 9.1 months for the sorafenib group and 10.1 months for the HAIC group (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.668 [95% CI: 0.475–0.935], P = 0.018). There was no significant difference in OS between patients without both MVI and EHM. After propensity score matching, there were 76 patients in each cohort. The OS was 15.4 months for the sorafenib group and 12.2 months for the HAIC group (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.227 [95% CI: 0.699–2.155], P = 0.475). Conclusions: HAIC might be a potential initial treatment for patients with advanced HCC with MVI (without EHM). Currently, several new drugs appear clinically beneficial for patients with advanced HCC. Although this study only focused on sorafenib as the chemo-agent, additional studies should be conducted to confirm the benefits associated with HAIC in a limited population of patients with advanced HCC.


In this letter, a new output combining network for the implementation of a Doherty Power Amplifier (DPA) is presented. The proposed topology simultaneously allows the active load modulation and the output matching, by adopting more realizable elements than the standard DPA, especially when high output power levels are required. The innovative design approach is demonstrated through a practical prototype realization based on GaN-HEMT devices. Experimental results have shown a 65%-48% efficiency at about 42-36 dBm output power with a gain compression lower than 1.5 dB from 1.95 to 2.25 GHz.