Background : Pre-eclampsia is a common syndrome that occurs in the second half of pregnancy and often manifest with hypertension and significant proteinuria. It occurs in up to 10% of pregnancies and is the second cause of maternal mortality worldwide accounting for 17% of maternal deaths in Nigeria. Aim : This study was performed to compare the serum lipid levels of pregnant normotensive and pre-eclamptic women. Methods : It was a case control study involving 50 normotensive and 50 preeclamptic women at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, making a total of 100 participants. Their venous blood (5mls) was collected after an overnight fast of 8-12 hours and this was analysed for cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) using standard enzymatic methods. Results : The study showed that there was a significantly higher levels of triglyceride, VLDL-C and HDLC in the pre-eclamptic compared to the normotensive group (P Conclusion : Lipids therefore have an important role in the aetiopathogenesis of pre-eclampsia and could be estimated during the conservative management of patients with preeclampsia. Key Words : Serum lipids; hypertension; pre-eclampsia; normotensive women; Nigerian women


To solve the heterogeneous image scene matching problem, a non-linear pre-processing method for the original images before intensity-based correlation is proposed. The result shows that the proper matching probability is raised greatly. Especially for the low S/N image pairs, the effect is more remarkable.


receiving mixtures of short and intermediate acting insulins (19 January, p 204) have no influence on overall glycaemic control in clinical practice. This was concluded from a UK multicentre study in which glycaemic control achieved with soluble plus lente and that achieved with soluble plus isophane insulins were compared.' The overall glycaemic control was not significantly different on either regimen. We think that it is not justified to use the results of their study, which was not designed to study insulin kinetics, as an argument against the possible clinical consequences of our study. The main differences in the glycaemic profiles presented by Dr Edwards and colleagues were a lower fasting blood glucose concentration and a greater rise of the blood glucose concentrations after breakfast and the evening meal during the lente regimen than in either isophane group. The higher fasting blood glucose values during the isophane treatment may have been a result of the shorter duration of action of isophane compared with lente, whereas the greater postprandial rise of the blood glucose values may have been due to precipitation of soluble insulin by the excess of zinc present in lente insulin. This latter effect is further suggested by the fact that there was a tendency for the ratio of short to intermediate acting insulins in the morning injections to be higher in the lente group than in either isophane group. Although Dr Edwards and colleagues may be correct in concluding that in clinical practice overall glycaemic control as assessed by HbAs is at least as good with a soluble plus lente as with a soluble plus isophane insulin regimen, it certainly is not proved by the data given in their letter. Taken together, the glycaemic profiles presented by Dr Edwards and his colleagues, which have to be interpreted with the necessary caution, support only the conclusions of our miscibility studies.2 3 ROBERT HEINE


Crushing behaviors of luffa sponges were studied through mechanical experiments. Controlled by four-order hierarchical and anisotropic structures, luffa sponges exhibit anisotropic responses along axial, radial, and circumferential directions. The ultra-thin but stiff inner surface layer dominates the crushing behavior, endowing the axially compressed luffa cylinder with structural integrity, enhancing the elastic deformation and yielding strength. In radial, circumferential, and lateral compressions, after removing the inner surface layer, luffa sponges are compliant and have large quasi-linear deformation before densification, without a plateau characterized by yielding and deformation. Immersed into water, crushed luffa sponge cylinders recover their geometry completely. However, compression strength is only partially restored. Gradual damage of the inner surface layer in water immersing/drying cycles greatly weakens the compression strength. In the case of removal of the inner surface layer, crushed luffa sponge cylinders completely restore their quasi-linear deformation ability during the water immersing/drying cycles.


STUDY OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the response to therapy aimed at achieving supranormal cardiac and oxygen transport variables (cardiac index [CI] > 4.5 L/min/m2, oxygen delivery [DO2] > 600 ml/min/m2, and oxygen consumption [VO2] > 170 ml/min/m2) in a heterogenous group of critically ill patients and to assess its relationship to outcome.

DESIGN
Patients were divided retrospectively into two groups. Group 1 (n = 15) achieved supranormal values for CI, DO2 and VO2 simultaneously during the first 24 h. Group 2 (n = 17) failed to achieve these goals simultaneously at any time point.

SETTING
General intensive care units in a teaching and a district general hospital.

PATIENTS
Thirty-two patients at risk of developing multiple organ failure were studied prospectively.

INTERVENTIONS
Patients received volume expansion and then, if necessary, dobutamine (5 to 200 micrograms/kg/min) to increase CI and DO2 until all three goals were achieved simultaneously.

RESULTS
In group 2, target VO2 could never be reached despite the fact that 11 (65 percent) patients achieved target CI and DO2 simultaneously. In this group, lactate levels did not fall and 16 patients died. In contrast, in group 1, attainment of all goals was associated with a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in blood lactate levels, and all but one of these patients survived. The persistently raised lactate levels in group 2 were associated with significantly higher venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) and lower oxygen extraction ratio (OER); in these patients, SvO2 rose and OER fell in response to increases in DO2.

CONCLUSION
These results suggest that failure to increase VO2 was related predominantly to an inability of the tissues to extract or utilize oxygen rather than a failure to increase DO2. These findings support the hypothesis that in order to survive a critical illness, patients must achieve a high level of VO2. An inability to do so is reflected in persistently elevated blood lactate levels and an extremely poor prognosis.


Curves and surfaces are two of the most fundamental types of objects in computer graphics. Most existing systems use only the 3D positions of the curves and surfaces, and the 3D normal directions of the surfaces, in the visualization process. In this dissertation, we attach moving coordinate frames to curves and surfaces, and explore several applications of these frames in computer graphics and scientific visualization.
Curves in space are difficult to perceive and analyze, especially when they are densely clustered, as is typical in computational fluid dynamics and volume deformation applications. Coordinate frames are useful for exposing the similarities and differences between curves. They are also useful for constructing ribbons, tubes and smooth camera orientations along curves.
In many 3D systems, users interactively move the camera around the objects with a mouse or other device. But all the camera control is done independently of the properties of the objects being viewed, as if the user is flying freely in space. This type of domain-independent navigation is frequently inappropriate in visualization applications and is sometimes quite difficult for the user to control. Another productive approach is to look at domain-specific constraints and thus to create a new class of navigation strategies. Based on attached frames on surfaces, we can constrain the camera gaze direction to be always parallel (or at a fixed angle) to the surface normal. Then users will get a feeling of driving on the object instead of flying through the space. The user's mental model of the environment being visualized can be greatly enhanced by the use of these constraints in the interactive interface.
Many of our research ideas have been implemented in Mesh View, an interactive system for viewing and manipulating geometric objects. It contains a general purpose C++ library for nD geometry and supports a winged-edge based data structure. Dozens of examples of scientifically interesting surfaces have been constructed and included with the system.


We present a 397-nm frequency-doubling system with a quasi-phase-matched KTP crystal (PPKTP) which features tunable, narrow linewidth, high power, and excellent mechanical stability. Using 20-mm and 30-mm-long PPKTP crystals, we establish two experimental setups based on different external cavity parameters. By testing the beat signal of these two lasers, the linewidth for the system is measured to be less than 2.5 MHz. The maximum power of blue light can be achieved up to 40 mW. With these performance characteristics, the constructed blue laser system is useful for applications in cold atom physics and precision measurements.


Structural biology education commonly employs molecular visualization software, such as PyMol, RasMol, and VMD, to allow students to appreciate structure–function relationships in biomolecules. In on‐ground, classroom‐based education, these programs are commonly used on University‐owned devices with software preinstalled. Remote education typically involves the use of student‐owned devices, which complicates the use of such software, owing to the fact that (a) student devices have differing configurations (e.g., Windows vs MacOS) and processing power, and (b) not all student devices are suitable for use with such software. Smartphones are near‐ubiquitous devices, with smartphone ownership exceeding personal computer ownership, according to a recent survey. Here, we show the use of a smartphone‐based augmented reality app, Augment, in a structural biology classroom exercise, which students installed independently without IT support. Post‐lab attitudinal survey results indicate positive student experiences with this app. Based on our experiences, we suggest that smartphone‐based molecular visualization software, such as that used in this exercise, is a powerful educational tool that is particularly well‐suited for use in remote education.


insights into implications at local and population scales. Marine Science, 76: 501– From 2010 to 2012, 246 data storage tags were deployed on European seabass in the Iroise Natural Marine Park, a marine protected area (MPA) off west Brittany, France. A return rate of 14.6% associated with long time series of data provided new information on fish ecology (e.g. maximum experienced depth greater than 225 m, temperature range 6.80–21.87 (cid:2) C). Depth and temperature series were used to infer individual migration using an innovative hidden Markov model (HMM) especially developed for seabass geolocation. Reconstructed fish tracks revealed that seabass is a partially migratory species, as individuals exhibited either long-distance migrations towards the Bay of Biscay or the Celtic Sea, or residency behaviour in the Iroise Sea. Fidelity to summer feeding areas and to winter spawing areas was demonstrated. These results suggest that the population is spatially structured. The Iroise Sea is likely a mixing zone for different stocks or sub-populations, and may also shelter a resident population. At the population scale, such findings may impact ICES stock assessment and the resulting decisions from EU managers. At the local scale, conservation action could be taken by MPA managers. Besides, this study demonstrates the high potential of archival tags for investigating multi-year behavioural patterns such as site fidelity to offshore spawning areas.


INTRODUCTION In the area of motor learning, ecological task analysis uses a dynamic system approach to examine the change of a performer's movement pattern as a result of dynamic interactions between the performer, environment and task constraints, and the performer may use multiple movement patterns to achieve a task goal [1]. In the area of biomechanics, coordination is defined as proper movement sequencing and a shared positive contribution (SPC) technique may be used for assessment [2-3]. A sports biomechanics research study may follow a traditional task analysis concept that there is only one best possible movement pattern without considering the influence of constraints that are imposed on the movement [1]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use an interdisciplinary approach that is guided by the ecological task analysis in the motor learning area and to utilize biomechanics principles and techniques to assess movement coordination patterns on the skill of slo-pitch hitting technique with the influence of constraints on task goal (stride technique) and environment (pitch location).


Osteitis pubis is a well known complication of urologic procedures but its association with herniorraphy is poorly documented in the literature. We report a case of osteitis pubis after coelioscopic cure of hernia. It is too early to know its frequency in coelioscopic repair. The choice of this technic might be discussed if it appears that with this technic the frequency is higher than in traditional surgery where it was rare.


Three-dimensional vortical flow and separated flow topology near the casing wall in an axial flow fan having two different tip clearances have been investigated by a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow simulation. The simulation shows that the tip leakage vortex formed close to the leading edge of the blade tip on suction side grows in the streamwise direction. On the casing wall, a separation line is formed upstream of the leakage vortex center due to the interference between the leakage vortex and main flow. The reverse flow is observed between the separation line and the attachment line generated downstream of the trailing edge, and increased with enlarging tip clearance. The patterns of a leakage velocity vector including a leakage flow rate are also analyzed according to two tip clearances. It is noted that the understanding of the distribution of a limiting streamline on the casing wall is very important to grasp the characteristics of the vortical flow in the axial flow fan.


As part of a project to identify FGFR4 selective inhibitors, scaffold morphing of a 2-formylquinoline amide hit identified series of 2-formylpyridine ureas (2-FPUs) with improved potency and physicochemical properties. In particular, tetrahydronaphthyridine urea analogues with cellular activities below 30 nM have been identified. Consistent with the hypothesized reversible-covalent mechanism of inhibition, the 2-FPUs exhibited slow binding kinetics, and the aldehyde, as the putative electrophile, could be demonstrated to be a key structural element for activity.


Atomically thin layered materials such as MoS2 and graphene have attracted a lot of interest as protective coating layers for micro- and nano-electromechanical devices based on their superior mechanical properties and chemical inertness. In this work, the frictional characteristics of single layer MoS2 and graphene prepared by the mechanical exfoliation method were quantitatively investigated using atomic force microscopy. The results showed that both MoS2 and graphene exhibited relatively low friction forces of 1-3 nN under normal forces ranging from 1 to 30 nN. However, a higher increase in the friction force as the normal force increased was observed in the case of MoS2. The differences in the adhesion characteristics and mechanical properties of atomically thin layered materials may influence the puckering of the layer, which in turn influences the frictional behavior.


Organisational culture is an important dimension in the field of strategic management. This study begins by presenting different constructs and measures of organisational culture. The primary goal of this paper is to investigate the relations between organisational culture, innovation and performance in tourism firms. Recent studies reveal the importance of organisational culture and its influence on innovation and thus on business performance. In this context, the aim of this study is to identify the effects of organisational culture on business performance. To reach this aim, a questionnaire survey is administered in the tourism firms in Slovenia, a small Mediterranean country. The data were collected from 64 tourism firms and analysed using SPSS 19 and EQS 6, afterwards the hypotheses were tested employing multivariate data analyses techniques. The results suggest that power distance is negatively related, while individualism, uncertainty avoidance and empowerment are positively related to innovativeness. Findings also suggest that innovativeness has a significantly positive affect on firm performance. In terms of managerial implications, this study clarifies the role of organisational culture dimensions for the innovativeness and for firm performance. There is no doubt that managers should focus on the development of organisational culture to promote firm innovativeness and consecutively improve firm performance.


We studied the electronic state of UGa3 by measuring the electrical resistivity under pressure. When pressure is applied to UGa3, the Neel temperature TN = 67 K decreases steeply and becomes zero around 2.6 GPa. Correspondingly, the coefficient A in the electrical resistivity ρ = ρ0 + AT2, which is characteristic for Fermi liquid, increases steeply with increasing pressure. Around a magnetic quantum critical point of 2.6 GPa, a non-Fermi-liquid behaviour is found, showing a linear T-dependence of the resistivity, although the Fermi-liquid behaviour recovers above 4 GPa and the A-value decreases with increasing pressure. Furthermore, a resistivity drop, which might be related to superconductivity, was found below 0.3 K at 1.5 GPa, where the residual resistivity ρ0 has a maximum.


To establish a new three-dimensional (3D) digital design method for osteotomy and assess its application value in the surgical treatment of hemivertebrae. Preoperative 3D digital designs for osteotomy of the hemivertebrae were performed, which included computer simulation of the osteotomy and the internal fixation process, and computer-assisted design (CAD) of the templates for osteotomy of the hemivertebrae, pedicle screw positioning, and internal fixation rods. Template-guided osteotomy of the hemivertebrae plus pedicle screw and rod internal fixation were accurately implemented. The preoperative use of this new computer-aided 3D digitized and paperless surgical design can improve the safety, accuracy, and operative time for osteotomy in the treatment of hemivertebrae.


Bone grafting procedures have become common due in part to a global trend of population aging. Native bone graft is a popular choice when compared to various synthetic bone graft substitutes, owing to superior biological activity. Nonetheless, the insufficient ability of bone allograft to induce new bone formation and the insufficient remodeling of native bone grafts call for osteoinductive factors during bone repair, exemplified by recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP2). We previously developed a modular bone morphogenetic peptide (mBMP) to address complications associated with the clinical use of rhBMP2 as a bone graft substitute. The mBMP is designed to strongly bind to hydroxyapatite, the main inorganic component of bone and teeth, and to provide pro-osteogenic properties analogous to rhBMP2. Our previous in vivo animal studies showed that mBMP bound to hydroxyapatite-coated orthopedic implants with high affinity and stimulated new bone formation. In this study, we demonstrate specific binding of mBMP to native bone grafts. The results show that mBMP binds with high affinity to both cortical and trabecular bones, and that the binding is dependent on the mBMP concentration and incubation time. Importantly, efficient mBMP binding is also achieved in an ex vivo bone bioreactor where bone tissue is maintained viable for several weeks. In addition, mBMP binding can be localized with spatial control on native bone tissue via simple methods, such as dip-coating, spotting, and direct writing. Taken together with the pro-osteogenic activity of mBMP established in previous bone repair models, these results suggest that mBMP may promote bone healing when coated on native bone grafts in a clinically compatible manner.


Coupling between two microstrip lines through a rectangular slot in a common, electrically thick ground plate is analyzed. The results are applied to examine the properties of a vertical, noncontact line-to-line transition. An efficient and accurate design model is constructed. The model allows insight into the coupling characteristics of the device with minimal computational effort. Measured results are used to verify the efficacy of the solution. Analytical or highly convergent forms of the model parameters are derived whenever possible. >


Hemostasis research in India has a long history considering the fact that it is one of the youngest specialities in the world. If we take creation of prothrombin time (PT) test as one of the beginning of modern hemostsis research, then the specialty is no older than 60 years. School of Tropical Medicine Kolkata, Banaras Hindu University, All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Delhi, Christian Medical College at Vellore, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research at Chandigarh, and KEM Hospital at Mumbai contributed substantially in defining various bleeding disorders in our country. Unfortunately, some of these institutes are no longer as active in the field as they used to be. Currently, the Institute of Immunohaematology at Mumbai, Chrstian medical College at Vellore, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Delhi are actively engaged in hemostsis research in India. Developing prenatal diagnostic technologies, mutation detection of various hemostatic disorders, developing low-cost management technologies for hemophilia, and other bleeding disorders are becoming important present day research activity in the area of hemostasis in addition to age old areas of prevalence and unusual case description studies. Entry of many new corporate hospitals, development of structured postgraduate training program in hematology, and easy availability of instruments and reagents are likely to foster further growth in this area of medical research in India in future.


Thallium (Tl) is a toxic trace element with a highly negative effect on the environment. For phytoextraction purposes, it is important to know the limitations of plant growth. In this study, we conducted experiments with a model Tl-hyperaccumulating plant (Sinapis alba L., white mustard) to better understand the plant tolerance and/or associated detoxification mechanisms under extreme Tl doses (accumulative 0.7/1.4 mg Tl, in total). Both the hydroponic/ semi-hydroponic (artificial soil) cultivation variants were studied in detail. The Tl bioaccumulation potential for the tested plant reached up to 1% of the total supplied Tl amount. Furthermore, it was revealed that the plants grown in the soil-like system did not tolerate Tl concentrations in nutrient solutions higher than ~1 mg/L, i.e., wilting symptoms were evident. Surprisingly, for the plants grown in hydroponic solutions, the tolerable Tl concentration was by contrast at least 2-times higher (≥ 2 mg Tl/L), presumably mimicking the K biochemistry. The obtained hydroponic/semi-hydroponic phytoextraction data can serve, in combination, as a model for plant-assisted remediation of soils or mining/ processing wastes enriched in Tl, or possibly for environmental cycling of Tl in general.


Advertisers are continuously searching for new ways to persuade children; current methods include fully integrating commercial content into media content, actively engaging children with the commercial content, and increasing the number of commercial messages children are confronted with at one moment in time. This poses a challenge for how children cope with embedded advertising. This conceptual article aims to develop a theoretically grounded framework for investigating how children process embedded advertising. More precisely, it sheds light on previous research and conceptualizations of advertising literacy and provides suggestions for future research. The article examines conceptual and methodological issues and discusses the need for research on how to improve children's coping with embedded advertising by emphasizing the value of persuasive intent priming and implementation intentions. To conclude, future research directions are discussed regarding strategies to strengthen children's coping skills and their dispositional (i.e., associative network consisting of cognitive, moral, and affective beliefs related to advertising) and situational (i.e., actual recognition of and critical reflection on advertising) advertising literacy.


SystemC's growing community for system-level design exploration is a result of SystemC's capability of modeling at register transfer level (RTL) and above RTL abstraction levels. However, a synthesis path from SystemC at abstraction layers above RTL is still in its infancy. A recent extension of SystemC, which is called Bluespec-SystemC electronic system level (BS-ESL), counters this difficulty with its model of computation employing atomic rule-based specifications and synthesis to Verilog. In order to simulate a model consisting of one part designed in SystemC and another using BS-ESL, we require an interoperability semantics and implementation of such a semantics. To illustrate the problem, we formalize the simulation semantics of BS-ESL and discrete-event simulation of RTL SystemC, and provide a solution based on this formalization.


This paper adopts the idea that nationally observed commemorative events are pivotal in the enactment of identity. Exemplified by Anzac Day, collective mnemonic narratives are implicated in the process of producing particular conceptions of what is normative and valued within a legal and political community. The notion of collective memory's contribution to the production of normative and formative frames, and associated senses of belonging and recognition, is brought into conversation with the theorisation of the plurality of law. Interview data from a project examining the experiences of expatriate homosexual Australian men is introduced in order to explore the entanglement of Anzac Day commemoration and law in the elastic quality of normative frames to tolerate difference while also being inherently exclusionary.


Ground Water in the City of Varanasi, India: present status and prospects The city of Varanasi is short of water. The city obtains a total of 270 million litres water from the river Ganga and tubewells. Yet every fifth citizen lacks drinking water. The ground water is polluted due to nitrate and faecal coliform. A further problem is the plan to settle the growing population in a new township nearby under the integrated development plan of Greater Varanasi, a part of the Jawajarlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. To fulfill the growing demand of fresh water, new water bearing horizon of the most affected part of the city i.e. southern part is to be identified. This paper reports a study of the variation in the grain size attributes of an aquifer material taken from different depths from the affected region in order to establish the generalized hydrological properties and recommend the depth of the well accordingly. From the grain size analysis and hydrological study it may be concluded that water bearing zones are mainly found in three horizons at the depths 44-56 m; 56-87 m; and 87-165 m. The third water bearing horizon (total thickness being 78 m) can act as a good potential ground water horizon for a new township. Due to its greater depth, the water would be relatively fresh being characterized by very low concentration of dissolved solids. Therefore, this horizon is strongly recommended for utilizing the water resource for the township.


This comment of the "Report on Private International Law" prepared by the Private International Law Committee of the Civil Code Revision Office is in answer to the Committee's request for voiced reactions to its project. The comments follow the draft's order and constitute, after a short survey, a series of remarks and suggestions for improvement.


The plastic response of beryllium was investigated during loading by laser-induced shock waves, using surface velocimetry and in-situ x-ray diffraction. Results from loading by thermal x-rays (hohlraum) were consistent with more extensive studies using laser ablation. Strong elastic waves were observed, up to ~1 km/s in free surface speed, with significant structure before the arrival of the plastic shock. The magnitude and shape of the precursor could be reproduced with a plasticity model based on dislocation dynamics. Changes in lattice spacing measured from the x-ray diffraction pattern gave a direct measurement of uniaxial compression in the elastic wave, triaxial flow from the decay of the precursor, and triaxial compression in the plastic shock; these were consistent with the velocity data. The dynamic strength behavior deduced from the laser experiments was used to help interpret surface velocity data around the onset of shock-induced melting. A model of heterogeneous mixtures is being extended to treat anisotropic components, and spall.


The aim of this study is to perform a geostatistical estimation of hydrogeological parameters to compose the intrinsic vulnerability map for an aquifer. The study presents an exploratory analysis of well data extracted from the Groundwater Information System (SIAGAS), which refer to parameters such as degree of confining, lithology and static level. Therefore, initially, among other procedures, we look for inconsistent data, we produce descriptive statistics and we also apply a normality test to the dataset. The following steps were to make up the primary space description of the respective parameters based on the corresponding identified patterns, randomness and grouping of well data in addition to exploring the existence of a tendency along certain directions. After the preliminary steps, the geostatistical methodology is then applied divided into three phases. The first refers to the variogram study, characterized by the construction of the experimental variograms. In the second phase, automatic adjustment is made to these variograms for three mathematical models: spherical, exponential and gaussian. Then, by cross validation, the performance is estimated for the different models adjusted using statistical indicators. After validation of these models, the last phase takes place, in which we perform the geostatistical estimation by kriging. The estimated values of hydrogeological parameters, when jointly multiplied, composes the estimation of the intrinsic vulnerability index illustrated in the form of a map. This proposal was applied in an area partially covering the city of Belem. The results showed that the methodological approach represents an excellent planning and management tool for the protection of groundwater aquifers.


Disclosed is a method for controlling the flame front during the in situ combustion of a subterranean carbonaceous stratum which involves monitoring the extent and movement of said flame front to determine the location of one or more segments of the flame front which exhibit unfavorable combustion characteristics, and injecting one or more gases into the vicinity of one or more of said segments to control and optimize the combustion in said segment.


The iloprost lung cancer chemoprevention trial is the first to meet a primary endpoint of improvement in endobronchial histology, which is currently considered to be the best intermediate endpoint for chemoprevention (Keith et al, Cancer Prev Res, 2011). This placebo-controlled study offers the opportunity for discovering other surrogate endpoints and predictive biomarkers to incorporate into chemoprevention trials. We compared miRNA expression in follow-up (FU) versus baseline biopsies in relation with histology change or not globally and stratified by treatment arm and smoking status. In the 152 patients randomized in the iloprost trial, the paired baseline and FU biopsies were available in 125 patients: 40/35 current/former smokers in the iloprost arm and 25/25 current/former smokers in the placebo arm, respectively. We planned to analyze 500 biopsies: four biopsies from each of the 125 patients, 2 biopsies at baseline (worst and best diagnosis) and 2 biopsies at FU at the same site after six months of treatment with iloprost or placebo. We selected and analyzed 14 miRNAs differentially expressed during squamous cell lung carcinogenesis in our previous study (Mascaux et al, Eur Resp J, 2009). In total, 496/500 biopsies with appropriate tissue were available. For every biopsy, total RNA was extracted from 8 adjacent 4 um cuts of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) adjacent to the diagnostic section. A good reproducibility of the previously published data for the expression changes in the 14 miRNA accross lung preneoplasia stages was shown in the current study in baseline samples. This new study identifies significant changes in miR-34c expression between paired samples when histology is up- or downgraded. miR-34c is significantly down-regulated in paired biopsies when histology is up-graded and inversely. This correlation between miR-34c expression and histology changes is shown including all samples (r spearman correlation=0.23 p=0.0003), but also consistently in subgroups (iloprost.arm, current r=0.26, p=0.041 and former smokers r=0.24, p=0.066, placebo arm, current (r=0.23, p=0.046)). In contrast, miR-9 was significantly down-regulated in follow-up as compared with baseline biopsies, but was not correlated with histology changes. The down-regulation of miR-9 in follow-up versus baseline samples was found in all samples (t test, p<0.0001) and was consistent in all and significant in most of subgroups (iloprost arm, all patients (p=0.0007) and current smokers (p=0.0023) and placebo arm, all patients (p=0.001), current smokers (p=0.047) and former smokers (p=0.0071). In conclusion, miR-34c, a transcriptional target of p53 which is down-regulated by hypermethylation in lung cancer, is down-regulated when histology changes from the normal bronchial mucosa to high-grade bronchial lesions, and inversely, independently of treatment and smoking status. miR-34c expression is a good reflection of baseline histology and histology changes. Alternatively, miR-9 is systematically down-regulated in follow-up biopsies 6 months later at the same site independently of histology, treatment and tobacco status. This suggests that the down-regulation of miR-9 in the follow-up samples may be related to the biopsy: this miRNA could be involved in the tissue repair.


This paper presents a new approach to the distribution system state estimation in wide-area networks. The main goal of this paper is to present a two-step procedure designed to accurately estimate the status of a large-scale distribution network, relying on a distributed measurement system in a multiarea framework. First of all, the network is divided into subareas, according to geographical and/or topological constraints and depending on the available measurement system. Then, in the first step of the estimation process, for each area, a dedicated estimator is used, exploiting all the measurement devices available on the field. In the second step, data provided by local estimators are further processed to refine the knowledge on the operating conditions of the network. To improve the accuracy of the estimation results, correlation arising in the first step estimations has to be suitably evaluated and considered during the second step. Performed analysis shows that existing correlations can be included in the estimation process with very low data exchange among areas, thus involving minimum communication costs. Both first and second steps can be performed in a decentralized way and with parallel processing, thus leading to reduced overall execution times. Test results, obtained on the 123-bus IEEE test network and proving the goodness of the proposed method, are presented and discussed.


Polymeric drift control agents are used to modify the droplet size distribution of pesticide sprays. These agents function by increasing the extensional viscosity of the spray liquid, enabling it to resist disruption as it emerges from the spray nozzle, usually leading to an increase in the median droplet diameter of the spray droplets. Extensional viscosity is often the most important physical property controlling the spray droplet size, especially when soluble polymers are present, but methods available for measurement of extensional viscosity of dilute solutions are complicated and are not generally available. This paper describes a simple, portable apparatus that can detect and quantify a relative extensional viscosity (screen factor) that is useful in evaluating the properties of drift control agents. The apparatus has been used to determine the screen factors of test substances used by the Spray Drift Task Force and to correlate them with independent measurements of extensional viscosity obtained using a Rheometrics RFX Extensional Rheometer. The method has been adopted as ASTM Method E 2408-04, "Relative Extensional Viscosity of Agricultural Spray Tank Mixes."


Early Pleistocene refers to the period from Pre-Gunz to either the end of Mindel or the end of Gunz glaciation, the latter being rather widely adopted in the field of geology and palaeontology. The most important man-like creatures so far known from the period are Australopithecines which accompany with the Villafranchian fauna in Africa. According to the finds at their living sites, it seems out of question that they had already acquired the bipedal locomotion and reached the level of tool-making.In 1931 Dr. N. Naora discovered a human coxal bone imbedded in an earth lump which he believed to have been dislocated down from the upper Lower or lower Middle Pleistocene deposit at a cliff on the coast of the Inland Sea near Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture. The bone was destroyed by fire in 1945, but a few years later its cast was studied by Dr. K. Hasebe, who found primitive characteristics of the bone and proposed a tentative name Nipponanthropus akashiensis. Besides the bone, Dr. Naora discovered crude stone implements from the layer comparable to that of Nipponanthropus. However, it remains controversial as yet whether the Pleistocene deposit had actually yielded the bone in question.


In some implementations of the Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping formulation for image registration we consider the motion of particles which locally translate image data. We then lift the motion of the particles to obtain a motion on the entire image. However, it is certainly possible to consider particles which do more than translate, and this is what will be described in this paper. As the unreduced Lagrangian associated to EPDiff possesses $\Diff(M)$ symmetry, it must also exhibit $G \subset \Diff(M)$ symmetry, for any Lie subgroup. In this paper we will describe a tower of Lie groups $G^{(0)} \subseteq G^{(1)} \subseteq G^{(2)} \subseteq...$ which correspond to preserving $k$-th order jet-data. The reduced configuration spaces $Q^{(k)} := \Diff(M) / G^{(k)}$ will be finite-dimensional (in particular, $Q^{(0)}$ is the configuration manifold for $N$ particles in $M$). We will observe that $G^{(k)}$ is a normal subgroup of $G^{(0)}$ and so the quotient $G^{(0)} / G^{(k)}$ is itself a (finite dimensional) Lie group which acts on $Q^{(k)}$. This makes $Q^{(k)}$ a principle bundle over $Q^{(0)}$ and the reduced geodesic equations on $Q^{(k)}$ will possess $G^{(0)} / G^{(k)}$-symmetry. Noether's theorem implies the existence of conserved momenta for the reduced system on $T^{\ast}Q^{(k)}$.


In this research cobalt nanowires were fabricated by porous alumina templates in an oxalic acid electrolyte. Cobalt nanowires were prepared by electrodeposition method. Then the effect of time and frequency of electrodiposition on the preparation of nanowires were studied. In this study it was observed that the time and applied frequency has an important role in preparation of nanowires, as we found that by decrease of electrodeposition frequency to 50 Hr and increase the time of electrodeposition to 20 min, the better nanowires were observed.


The purpose of this study is to determine the importance level of success criteria in management consulting operations in Turkey. A survey instrument was developed and posted on the Internet in order to reach as more respondents as possible for the study. A Likert scale of 10 was chosen to explain precisely the differences between the criteria. Eighty responses were returned. It should be stated that the respondents of the survey were all Turkish consultants. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted for the four main categories and their criteria. On the basis of a literature search, it was found reasonable to classify the success criteria for management consulting operations into four basic categories such as human resources, competitiveness, customer relations, and processes and methods. The study presents the ratings of four basic categories and their criteria, which essentially affect the success of consulting fi rms. The results of the research will serve consulting companies as guidelines to pinpoint improvement areas in their consultancy operations. The responses received from the consultants can be considered reliable and satisfactory. In addition, the important point that this study has revealed is the interest and willingness of the consultants for further studies.


This paper proposes a new measure for network performance evaluation called topology lifetime. The measure provides insight into which one of a set of topologies is likely to last the longest before more capacity must be installed. The lifetime measure is not single valued, but considers growth as a function of a set of demand shifts (perturbation). One network may be better able to support a uniform growth in the traffic, while another may support more growth when unexpected shifts in the load occur. The ability of a network to support unexpected changes in load is becoming more important because of: 1) current practices for installing fiber optics cables; 2) recent advances in dense wavelength division multiplexing; and 3) the increasing popularity of the Internet. The lifetime measure is applied to several topologies; a dual ring, a chordal ring, a Manhattan Street network and an hierarchical network. We also apply the measure to a realistic US IP Backbone network. In this paper, our objective is to show how to apply the measure to different networks, and to explain certain implications for comparisons between networks. We expect this measure to be useful both in the construction of new networks and in selecting between new links that may be added to an existing network.


There are many ways of synthesizing sound on a computer. The method that we consider, called a mass-spring system, synthesizes sound by simulating the vibrations of a network of interconnected masses, springs, and dampers. Numerical methods are required to approximate the differential equation of a mass-spring system. The standard numerical method used in implementing mass-spring systems for use in sound synthesis is the symplectic Euler method. Implementers and users of mass-spring systems should be aware of the limitations of the numerical methods used; in particular we are interested in the stability and accuracy of the numerical methods used. We present an analysis of the symplectic Euler method that shows the conditions under which the method is stable and the accuracy of the decay rates and frequencies of the sounds produced.


Analyzing SQL statements brings invaluable information that can be used in various applications such as program understanding and database reverse engineering. While static SQL statements are fairly easy to analyze, dynamic SQL statements most often require dynamic analysis techniques that may prove more difficult to implement. This paper addresses the problem of dynamic SQL query analysis in the context of software and database reverse engineering. It explores the use of dynamic analysis techniques such as aspect-based tracing and SQL trace analysis for extracting implicit information about both the program behavior and the database structure.


Early detection of overtaking vehicles is an important task for vision-based driver assistance systems. Techniques utilizing image motion are likely to suffer from spurious image structures caused by shadows and illumination changes, let alone the aperture problem. To achieve reliable detection of overtaking vehicles, the authors have developed a robust detection method, which integrates dynamic scene modeling, hypothesis testing, and robust information fusion. A robust fusion algorithm, based on variable bandwidth density fusion and multiscale mean shift, is introduced to obtain reliable motion estimation against various image noise. To further reduce detection error, the authors model the dynamics of road scenes and exploit useful constraints induced by the temporal coherence in vehicle overtaking. The proposed solution is integrated into a monocular vision system onboard for obstacle detection. Test results have shown superior performance achieved by the new method


To assess its usefulness, the peak version of color intensity projections (CIPs) was used to display a summary of the grayscale images composing a renogram as a single color image. Method For each pixel in a renogram, the time point with the maximum intensity was used to control the hue of the color of the corresponding pixel in the CIPs image. The hue ranged over red-yellow-green-light blue-blue with red representing the earliest time. Results For subjects with normal appearing kidneys, the injection site shows up in red, the kidneys in a red-yellow and the bladder in a green-blue. A late fill kidney typically appeared greener or bluer than a normal kidney indicating it reached its peak intensity at a later time point than normal. Conclusions Having the time and intensity information summarized in a single image promises to speed up the initial impression of patients by less experienced interpreters and should also provide a valuable training tool.


Multichannel electrical stimulation of the cochlear nerve can generate complex interactions between the individual channels. Experiments with human subjects implanted with scala tympani electrode arrays indicate that the spatial "spread" of excitation is a strong function of the stimulus and of the type of electrode (ie. bipolar or monopolar electrode configurations).


Arthrography was performed during steroid injection in 14 patients (22 joints) with noninflammatory conditions of the cervical facet joints. Two isolated spines were also studied. The capsular recesses were found to be quite large, especially near the intervertebral foramen. Though the appearance of the arthrogram was not clinically useful, it was helpful in positioning the needle for the steroid injection and confirming that the joint in question was abnormal. Distension of the capsule provoked pain in about 50% of cases; rupture of the distended capsule was rare but could account for leakage into the epidural space or foramen. Nine patients had significant relief of pain for three days to thirteen months.


True journalism differs from public relations and uncritically reproducing press releases. It involves doing background research into the context surrounding the finding being reported, seeking comments from independent experts, and highlighting the negative as well as positive aspects. In this article, I pull together information for medical writers interested in journalism or science writing.


A total of 260 samples from bakery dusts were investigated. The samples were taken in the great part with the sedimentation-method. A large concentration of moulds was found in the meal-room. The fungal flora was here charcterized by species of Rhizopus nigricans, Mucor and Circinella. With a new volumetric sampler a total quantity of 8 680 fungus spores of particles in 1 m3 was registrated. By a re-examination we found 4473. In the baker's rooms besides moulds (Aspergillus, Penicillium etc.) the yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida krusei) dominated. With the swab-method it was possible to found reservoirs of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus ochraceus, and Aspergillus niger. In the small bakeries the fungus Endomycopsis burtonii (Trichosporon variable) was most isolated.


S.G.Krein's conjecture concerning Birkhoff-regularity of dissipative differential operators has been proved in the even order case. As a byproduct an existence of the limit of characteristic matrix as λ → ∞ in the lower half-plane has been established. Up to multiplication by a nonvanishing matrix D this limit coincides with the ratio of the matrices of regularity determinants.


It has been known since the early 90s that apoptosis is the mode of death of cancer cells during chemotherapy.1 Propensity of cells to undergo apoptosis is modulated by the balance of pro-apoptotic versus anti-apoptotic members of Bcl-2 family proteins.2 Mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) which leads to release of cytochrome c and other apoptogenic factors triggering apoptosis occurs as a result of shift of this balance towards pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. Furthermore, constitutive prevalence of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins is considered to promote cancer development; the classic example is B-cell lymphoma. Anticancer strategies therefore, were designed that rely on promoting apoptosis of cancer cells via altering the balance among the interacting Bcl-2 proteins. One strategy involves the use of antisense oligonucleotides targeting anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. Preclinical and clinical investigations on the drugs developed along this strategy [e.g. Oblimersen (Genasense®)] are already well advanced. Another, attractive approach is to use agents that mimic the Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3) domains of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins (BH3 mimetics). Their mode of action involves competitive binding to surface hydrophobic grooves of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 members thereby releasing the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 molecules otherwise sequestered in complexes with the anti-apoptotic ones.2-4 The most investigated BH3 mimetic ABT-737 demonstrated distinct antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo against some leukemia types and solid tumors.3,5 In the article published in this issue of Cell Cycle6 Ponassi and her collaborators describe a novel BH3 mimetic, named 072RB, constructed by replacing specific moieties of Bim-BH3 with natural and non-natural aminoacids and adding an internalizing sequence. In elegant studies the authors convincingly demonstrate internalization and mitochondrial localization of 072RB followed by suppression of growth and apoptotic death of cells of leukemia cell lines. They also observed lethal ex vivo effects of 072RB on AML leukemic cells as well as remarkable inhibition of growth of xenografted human AML cells in NOD/SCID mice with no evidence of toxicity to normal tissue. Normal human lymphocytes, whether quiescent or mitogenically stimulated, were resistant to this BH3 mimetic. An important virtue of 072RB is resistance to proteolysis conferring its stability when used in vivo. The interplay between the pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members is rather complex because depending on cell type and the agent that induces apoptosis different members interact with each other. The mechanism of these interactions is still not fully understood. According to the "different affinity" model the BH3-only proteins Bad and Bmf target Bcl-2, Bcl-w and Bcl-xL, Noxa targets Mcl-1 and A1 whereas Bim and Puma target all the above pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins with comparable affinities.3 In the "direct activator" model Bim, tBid and Puma are the most downstream molecules, directly binding to Bax/Bak and thereby preventing their release, oligomerization and MOMP. In either of these models therefore, the Bim-activating BH-3 mimetic, such as 072RB, is expected to have wider spectrum of activity towards different cell types and different inducers of apoptosis than for instance ABT-737, as the latter, because of its Bad-like structure, does not target Mcl-1. It is too early to predict whether BH3 mimetics bestow the breakthrough in cancer therapy. Their unique mechanism of action specifically targeting apoptotic machinery raises hopes that this may be the case.3 The new BH3 mimetic 072RB described by Ponassi et al.6 has all attributes to become the leading member of this new class of anticancer drugs. 072RB definitely deserves further evaluation in clinical trials to reveal its therapeutic capabilities whether used as a single agent or in combinatorial therapy. ReferencesGorczyca W, at al. Leukemia 1993; 7:659-70.Fletcher JI, et al. Cell Cycle 2008; 7:39-44.Labi V, et al. Cell Death Differ 2008; 15:977-87.Wade et al., Cell Cycle 2008; 7:1973-82.Konoplewa M, et al. Cancer Cell 2006; 10:375-88.Ponassi R, et al. Cell Cycle 2008; In this issue.


The past decade transplants of human tumors in nude mice have been increasingly used as an experimental model for local tumor growth and dissemination. A few human melanoma cell lines have been described that give rise to metastases in nude mice after subcutaneous inoculation. First we give an overview of some relevant literature with respect to the pathogenesis of tumor metastasis, models to study human cancer metastasis, neoplastic progression and the detection of antigens involved in metastasis. Finally we describe our results concerning the morphological and immunohistochemical profile of six different human melanoma cell lines and their xenograft lesions in nude mice using a set of monoclonal antibodies recognizing different categories of human melanoma-associated antigens. From the data we conclude that the nude mouse mouse model appears suitable to study the role of melanoma-associated progression markers in the pathogenesis of metastasis.


Environmental issues tend to be a wicked problem, which is difficult to be solved by scientific approach only, because they are typically caused by a complex of natural and societal factors at diverse spatio-temporal scales from the global to the local, and because diverse societal actors, including governmental agents, industries, and residents, are usually involved as stakeholders. Solution of the issues may sometimes be obstructed by knowledge information gaps between actors. As a methodology to visualize and overcome such gaps, this paper presents the Knowledge Bridging Model, in which bridging agents, such as evangelists who lead transformation of value and life styles in the domain of ITC business, researchers in residence, data librarians in the context of open science, and science communicators, facilitate the mutual learning, trust, and understanding between societal actors by means of techniques for participatory equal dialogue such as unconference and hatenathon (questioning workshop) and tools for information visualization such as participatory GIS and ontological mapping. The discussion with participants of the poster session will contribute to elaborating this model.


SDS-PAGE and immunoblot technique with anti-FDP-D, -FDP-E, -fibrinogen antibody or anti-FDP-DD monoclonal antibody were applied to analyze FDP fragments prepared from cross-linked fibrin and fibrinogen with plasmic digestion in vitro. FDP fragments of DY(260K), DD(187K), X(245K), Y(166K), D(77K, 97K), E1(58K), E2(46K) and E3(40K) were identified from data of molecular weight and reactivity to four antibodies referred to reports of other investigators. Serum FDP fragments from five DIC suspected patients were analyzed by the same methods. In two patients' sera, DD fragment was a main component, and in the other three patients' sera, D fragment was a main fraction. Proportions of high molecular weight fragments of FDP were considerably different in patients' sera. Appearance of D fragment in our cases was considered to be derived from unstable fibrin (fibrin monomer and dimer) rather than from fibrinogen. Molecular weight of DD fragments from patients' sera had heterogeneity (160 approximately 180K), and the values were different from that (187K) prepared from cross-linked fibrin. In conclusion, SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analysis of serum fragments of FDP will be an useful technique to investigate the clinical and pathological condition of DIC.


The progress of medical imaging over the last decades has led to a better understanding of the upper airway structure in sleep-disordered patients. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA) is attributed to a functional narrowing of the upper airway, particularly of the oropharynx, during sleep. This narrowing is multifactorial. We have shown that in 60% cases, the maxilla (nasal pyramid) seems too narrow. A mandible retroposition may also play a dominant role in 30% of the cases. Both scenarios can be combined. Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) is a new medical imaging technique that permits to visualize the upper airway with less ionizing radiation than the conventional scanner. To date, only five authors have performed an upper airway's 3D analysis of sleep apnea patients with cone beam. A better understanding of the affected segment of the upper airway should help refine treatment options.


The results of the blanks hot rolling modeling in the «QForm 3D» program and the research on the deformed shape (DS) of metal by grid method are presented. Comparison of data obtained by different methods is made when analyzing the rolling of blanks for two passes using the circle-oval-circle scheme.


Re-entrainment of circadian activity of 3 avian species (Fringillidae: Fringilla coelebs, Carduelis chloris, Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and 4 mammalian species (Rodentia: Eutamias sibiricus, Funambulus pennanti, Glis glis, Mesocricetus auratus), subjected to 12:12 h light-dark (LD) cycles as zeitgeber, was studied after shifting the LD cycle by different amounts (hours) and in different directions (advances and delays). The properties of the zeitgeber were changed by varying light intensity during dark-time (ID) and/or light-time (IL). After 6 and 9-h advance and delay shifts of the LD cycle, the 3 species of finches similarly re-entrained their activity rhythms in the direction of the shifted zeitgeber. After 10.5 and 12-h shifts, the majority of individuals re-entrained by delay phase shifts of the rhythms. After two successive 6-h advance or delay shifts (resulting in inversion of the LD cycle) most finches responded by advances. Generally, the time needed for re-entrainment of 2/3 of the full shift (2/3 tr) in finches dependend on: (a) the direction of the phase shift ('asymmetry effect'), and (b) the phase-angle difference between onset of activity and light-on (psio) before the shift. After 12-h shifts, species-specific differences in the direction of re-entrainment and in the slope of the relationship between 2/3 tr and psio were found. In two rodents, the nocturnal golden hamster and the diurnal Siberian chipmunk, the direction of re-entrainment following inversion of the LD cycle depended on psio. In both species, 2/3 tr after inversion of the zeitgeber was significantly longer than in the common dormouse. In chipmunks, changes in 2/3 tr were correlated with changes in psio due to systematic variation of the zeitgeber properties (range and/or mean level). After 6-h phase shifts, the 'asymmetry effect' was opposite in the two nocturnal rodents, the hamster and the dormouse. It is suggested that the time course (direction and rate) of re-entrainment was influenced by differences in the characteristics of the circadian systems and their responses ('sensitivity') to light changes in the various species of birds and mammals.


Suitability of material comes forth in deciding for the right material together with the shape and size of the dynamometer to support the cutting load. Role of material strength with the size of dynamometer came into decision when fixing the maximum cutting load on the assembly parts in the same way as role of shape of deforming element came into decision when setting up the maximum permissible deformation taken up by the dynamometer. Present work aims at verifying the selection of the size, shape and material under a target cutting load that are used by various researchers in designing the cutting dynamometers successfully. Research has been done to devise cutting dynamometers with varying shapes and sizes of deforming elements made with different materials. SOLIDWORKS is employed to model the material deformation and study is conducted to compare the values obtained for the maximum deflection, strain and total von-Mises stress developed at the most heavily stressed point through SOLIDWORKS with the corresponding theoretical or experimental values obtained by the researchers.


Her memory is very defective; she displays little interest in her surroundings, and is slow in responding to questions and instructions. The visual fields are much contracted, but she gets about without difficulty. The pupils are dilated and very sluggish in reaction to light and on convergence. The fundi are normal. Conjugate movement of the eyes is defective. The upper limbs show some intention tremor, slight ataxia, and weakness. The lower limbs are tremulous on voluntary movement; the tendon reflexes are all brisk; there is no abnormality in sensation, gait and superficial reflexes. The asthma and bronchitis have much abated while she has been in hospital, but the general condition has not changed.


We investigate the possibility of using longer multi-shot spiral readouts to accelerate balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) at ultra-high field (UHF) for functional imaging. The reconstruction is performed with the full signal model accounting for spatial B0 inhomogeneity and gradient imperfections. We present the activation maps from flickering checkerboard stimulus experiment and discuss challenges of spiral bSSFP at UHF.


Background Surgical resection is not usually recommended for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients with bone metastases. However, the criteria for surgery are constantly being adjusted and there is a need to focus on the prognostic role of cancer-directed surgery (CDS) for bone metastatic LUAD patients investigate the factors influencing survival of CDS. We determined the survival benefit of CDS for LUAD patients with bone metastases and to develop a prognostic nomogram to predict overall survival (OS) for patients after surgery. Methods LUAD patients with bone metastases from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2010–2015 were included and divided into CDS and non-CDS groups. The propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance baseline characteristics. We used Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests to compare cancer-specific survival (CSS) and OS between the two groups. Patients underwent CDS were randomly divided into training and validation cohorts to develop and validate a nomogram model to predict postoperative prognosis outcome–OS. Results Patients who underwent CDS had a better OS and CSS than those who did not underwent CDS (e.g., 1-year OS rate: 56.9% vs. 30.1%). Independent prognostic factors were selected by Cox regression analysis for CDS patients including age, sex, race, histological grade, N stage, and chemotherapy, and a nomogram was constructed to predict 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS after surgery according to the prognostic factors. The calibration curve and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the nomogram showed the model had a high predictive accuracy. [Area under the curve (AUC) at 1, 2, and 3 years in the training cohort were 0.735, 0.756 and 0.782, and in the validation cohort were 0.703, 0.758 and 0.836, respectively]. In addition, patients were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups based on prognostic scores, and Kaplan-Meier curves showed significant differences in prognosis between the two groups. Conclusions These results indicated that patients with bone metastasis of LUAD received survival benefit from CDS. The prognostic nomograms could assist clinicians in specifying individualized assessments, but further research is needed.


From a strain lacking adenyl cyclase and the catabolite-sensitive gene activator protein, two mutants were isolated that can synthesize tryptophanase. Each mutation is extremely closely linked to the tryptophanase structural gene. The mutations differ from one another in the rate of synthesis of tryptophanase that they permit in the genetic background in which they were isolated; they differ from one another and also from the wild type in the maximum rate of synthesis of tryptophanase that they permit in a genetic background with intact adenyl cyclase and catabolite-sensitive gene activator protein. Both mutations appear to lie in the tryptophanase promoter.


We present a hermetically encapsulated breathe-mode ring resonator with very high quality factor (∼473,000) and frequency at 10.65 MHz and 13.29 MHz. The resonator's nonlinear behavior is experimentally characterized and theoretically analyzed for the first time. The maximum current handling is measured and verified using two different methods. We find that material nonlinearity (nonlinear Young's modulus of silicon) limits the device's maximum output current. The theoretical analysis presented here is valid for any type of MEMS resonators, and the results provide guidance for future design of high current handling devices.


Integrating humor into counseling situations can be beneficial to the counseling process. This article presents and discusses some of these benefits and their applications as well as precautions to take into consideration when using humor in clinical settings. The therapeutic uses of humor are examined from the perspective of invitational theory. The author suggests that humor is a clinical tool that is inherently inviting, and thus has high potential for utility in invitational counseling.


To the Editor:— I would suggest that myocardial glycopenia due to hypoglycemic attacks be seriously entertained. In studying scores of comparable challenging cases, I have demonstrated the presence of diabetogenic hyperinsulinism in the vast majority (Clin Res13:28, 1965). Occasionally, it could be convincingly documented only by the method of afternoon glucosetolerance testing (J Amer Geriatric Soc12:423, 1964) because of the cyclic intensification of insulinogenesis as the day advances. Major coronary artery stenosis or occlusion was not found in several such patients who experienced nocturnal exacerbations of typical angina pectoris, either by careful angiographic studies or direct examination at the time of surgery. The institution of a corrective diet aimed at preventing severe reactive hypoglycemia day and night promptly ameliorated and indefinitely prevented or minimized both nocturnal angina pectoris and associated abdominal or leg cramps in most of these patients, notwithstanding previous refractoriness to divers therapeutic measures.


A heavy growth of Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from kidney abscesses in rats from 2 inbred strains treated with corticosteroids. The S. aureus phage types which caused the abscesses are endemic in the rat breeding colonies. One strain of rat was more sensitive to the action of the corticosteroids.


This book aims to meet the demands on teaching and learning in the twenty-first century, and in specific, how teacher education may transform pedagogical approaches and didactic methods to support future teachers in enhancing needful skills. In particular, it focuses on the pedagogical approach of Storyline, and how a Storyline can be applied in teacher education. It argues that teacher education benefits from the potency of various disciplines while applying an interdisciplinary methodology. Storyline is a problem-based, cross-curricular approach, based on learning through an evolving narrative, created in collaboration between teacher and students. It includes a variety of didactic tools, and inclusiveness towards different learners. Using Storyline in teacher education arranges for teacher educators to integrate alternative structures, that enable interdisciplinary cooperation and topic-based teaching.   The authors have incorporated Storyline in many different ways, which contextualizes throughout the book. The book provides an overview of Storyline and introduces improved and new theoretical perspectives on this approach, including many practical examples.


In this paper, we propose the Cross-Domain Adversarial Auto-Encoder (CDAAE) to address the problem of cross-domain image inference, generation and transformation. We make the assumption that images from different domains share the same latent code space for content, while having separate latent code space for style. The proposed framework can map cross-domain data to a latent code vector consisting of a content part and a style part. The latent code vector is matched with a prior distribution so that we can generate meaningful samples from any part of the prior space. Consequently, given a sample of one domain, our framework can generate various samples of the other domain with the same content of the input. This makes the proposed framework different from the current work of cross-domain transformation. Besides, the proposed framework can be trained with both labeled and unlabeled data, which makes it also suitable for domain adaptation. Experimental results on data sets SVHN, MNIST and CASIA show the proposed framework achieved visually appealing performance for image generation task. Besides, we also demonstrate the proposed method achieved superior results for domain adaptation. Code of our experiments is available in this https URL.


This study presents the use of a multi-channel opto-electronic sensor (OEPS) to effectively monitor critical physiological parameters whilst preventing motion artefact as increasingly demanded by personal healthcare. The aim of this work was to study how to capture the heart rate (HR) efficiently through a well-constructed OEPS and a 3-axis accelerometer with wireless communication. A protocol was designed to incorporate sitting, standing, walking, running and cycling. The datasets collected from these activities were processed to elaborate sport physiological effects. t-test, Bland-Altman Agreement (BAA), and correlation to evaluate the performance of the OEPS were used against Polar and Mio-Alpha HR monitors. No differences in the HR were found between OEPS, and either Polar or Mio-Alpha (both p > 0.05); a strong correlation was found between Polar and OEPS (r: 0.96, p < 0.001); the bias of BAA 0.85 bpm, the standard deviation (SD) 9.20 bpm, and the limits of agreement (LOA) from −17.18 bpm to +18.88 bpm. For the Mio-Alpha and OEPS, a strong correlation was found (r: 0.96, p < 0.001); the bias of BAA 1.63 bpm, SD 8.62 bpm, LOA from −15.27 bpm to +18.58 bpm. These results demonstrate the OEPS to be capable of carrying out real time and remote monitoring of heart rate.


Dosidiscus gigas and Doryteuthis gahi are the most abundant squids in the Humboldt Current System (HCS). These species have contrasting life histories. To determine the genetic structure and diversity of these species, we collected samples from different places in the HCS and amplified a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase I gene. The molecular analysis of D. gigas revealed low genetic diversity, absence of population structure and evidence for a demographic expansion during the transition from the last glacial period to the current interglacial. These results suggest that D. gigas is composed of one large population with high levels of gene flow throughout the HCS. In the case of D. gahi, the sequences indicated the presence of two population units in the HCS, one in south-central Chile and one in Peru. The Chilean unit had greater genetic diversity, suggesting that it is an old, relatively stable population. In the Peruvian unit there was less genetic diversity and evidence of a recent demographic expansion. The changes in distribution ranges and population sizes of the squid populations may be related to historical variations in productivity along the HCS. The different dispersion and migration capacities of these species may explain the differences in their structure; however, the genetic diversity of both species appears to be more related to historical variations in their distribution ranges and the biogeographic origin of each.


Species PISY; No of rings 112; Begin 1301; End 1412; Data are shown on a relative timescale as the chronology is still floating. A tentative match on the INTCAL04-timescale is given in Kromer, Friedrich et al. Radiocarbon 46(3), 2004. Data from DEKLIM-project PROSIMUL I (http://www.prosimul.de/)


Severe plastic deformation is a new method to produce ultrafine grain materials with enhanced mechanical properties. The main objective of this work is to investigate whether accumulative roll bonding (ARB) is an effective grain refinement technique for two engineering materials of pure copper and interstitial free (IF) steel strips. Additionally, the influence of severely plastic deformation imposed by ARB on the mechanical properties of these materials with different crystallographic structure is taken into account. For this purpose, a number of ARB processes were performed at elevated temperature on the materials with 50% of plastic deformation in each rolling pass. Hardness of the samples was measured using microhardness tests. It was found that both the ultimate grain size achieved, and the degree of bonding depend on the number of rolling passes and the total plastic deformation. The rolling process was stopped in the 4th cycle for copper and the 10th cycle for IF steel, until cracking of the edges became pronounced. The effects of process temperature and wire-brushing as significant parameters in ARB process on the mechanical behaviour of the samples were evaluated.


RX J1713.7−3946 is a prototype in the γ-ray-bright supernova remnants (SNRs) and is in continuing debates on its hadronic versus leptonic origin of the γ-ray emission. We explore the role played by the diffusive relativistic protons that escape from the SNR shock wave in the γ-ray emission, apart from the emission of high energy particles from the inside of the SNR. In the scenario that the SNR shock propagates in a clumpy molecular cavity, we consider that the γ-ray emission from the inside of the SNR may either arise from the IC scattering or from the interaction between the trapped energetic protons and the shocked clumps. The dominant origin between them depends on the electron-to-proton number ratio. The surrounding molecular cavity wall is considered to also produce γ-ray emission due to the "illumination" by the diffusive protons that escaped from the shock wave during the expansion history. The broadband spectrum can be well explained by this two-zone model, in which the γ-ray emission from the inside governs the TeV band, while the outer emission component substantially contributes to the GeV γ-rays. The two-zone model can also explain the TeV γ-ray radial brightness profile that significantly stretches beyond the nonthermal X-ray emitting region.


In a prospective study we examined the strength of association between preoperative left ventricular performance measured by radionuclide cardiography in patients with cardiac or pulmonary insufficiency (high‐risk patients) and cardiopulmonary complications associated with anaesthesia and surgery. Detailed pre‐, intra‐and postoperative data collected for 7306 anaesthetized patients were included in the study. One hundred and thirty‐one patients (1.8%) were classified as high‐risk patients, and 95 patients were examined with radionuclide cardiography. The results demonstrated a 58% incidence of cardiovascular complications for high‐risk patients when the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was abnormal (<50% or 70%) compared with 12% when LVEF was normal (50–70%). In addition, high‐risk patients with left ventricular end‐diastolic volume (LVEDV) > 140 ml developed cardiovascular complications in 37% of the cases. Patients admitted to major surgery with LVEF < 50 or > 70% were at greater risk than patients with LVEF = 50–70% as demonstrated by a significant increase in the total incidence of cardiopulmonary complications, 70% vs. 17%. It is appropriate to measure LVEF in patients admitted for major surgery who have an increased risk of cardiopulmonary complications as clinically evidenced by heart failure or severe ischaemic heart disease. As the predictive information given by LVEDV was less than that given by LVEF, there are no clinical reasons for measurement of LVEDV.


The present study deals with the formulation and evaluation of surfactant coated and uncoated chitosan nanospheres containing Arecoline for the targeted delivery to the brain. Nanospheres were prepared by a modified spontaneous emulsification method and di optimized. 0.5 % of chitosan gel and 2.5ml of gluteraldehyde saturated toluene per 25mg of polymer were selected as the optimum concentrations of polymer and cross linking agent, which yielded nanospheres of discrete nature, with an average size range of 151.00 proportional relationship between the drug loading capacity and drug concentration up to a concentration of 20mg drug /50mg of polymer, thereafter, an inverse relationship was observed. behavior from all the drug loaded batches was found to be biphasic with an initial burst release followed by a sustained release over a period of 24hr. Surfactant coated nanospheres were prepared by adsorption method, the in vitro release study of which showed a delay in the initial burst release. Mechanism by which the drug is being released was found to be a non Fickian analomous diffusion, and the drug release was followed by first order kinetics. The drug loaded batches showed good stability temperature for 60 days. Hence the formulated Tween 80 coated nanospheres can be used as an alternative and cheaper carrier for the targeted delivery of Arecholin to the brain, especially for the treatment of Alzheimer's.


A study was conducted from October 1994 to March 1996 to assess groundwater dynamics and quality in relation to landuse and farm input of nitrogen fertilizer in a highly diversified and intensive agricultural area at Magnuang, Batac, Ilocos Norte. Monthly groundwater depths, nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), chloride (Cl−), bicarbonate (HCO3−), electrical conductivity (EC) and pH were determined in 19 agricultural and domestic wells. In the dry season, sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum) had a higher irrigation requirement and caused more groundwater level decline than other crops. EC (700–3000 μmho cm−1) and HCO3− (90–500 ppm) in all wells exceeded the FAO threshold quality for irrigation but were not related to farm management practices. Eight wells showed near or above the World Health Organization NO3-N limit (10 ppm) for drinking water. High nitrogen fertilizer input increased the mean NO3-N (r2 = 0.45, p < 0.002). The percentage of the wells' service area under rice cultivation in the wet season accounted for 84% (p < 0.001) of the variation in NO3-N among the wells. The mean NO3-N declined as the percentage of service area under rice increased. This was related to the denitrification process in the flooded fields and the lower levels of nitrogen fertilizer for rice compared with other crops.


Pinocytosis was studied in cultured human skin fibroblasts in order to obtain more information about uptake in these cells of non-specific ligands with different net surface charge. The fibroblasts were obtained from a normal person and a patient homozygous for familial hypercholesterolemia. No ultrastructural differences were observed between the two cell types. The ratio between coated and smooth pits at the cell surface was about 1:6. Freeze-fracture revealed that whereas smooth pits were devoid of intramembrane particles, the coated pits occupying 1-5% of the total cell surface area showed numerous intramembrane particles. Cationized ferritin (pI = 8.5) bound to the cell surface and to coated pits of both types of fibroblasts at 4 degrees C. Either type internalized CF at 37 degrees C. Vacuoles (lysosomal elements) containing CF were seen already after 5 min at 37 degrees C, but were much numerous after 30 min of incubation at 37 degrees C, and appeared with the same frequency in both cell types. Smooth (uncoated) pits at the cell surface remained unlabeled. In contrast to CF, native ferritin (pI = 4.6) was internalized to a very limited extent in both cell types, even after 3.5 h of incubation at 37 degrees C. These results indicate that both normal and FH fibroblasts internalize CF exclusively by coated pits, and adsorptive uptake mechanism that apparently is nonspecific but clearly cation-selective.


The iterated conditional sequential Monte Carlo (i-CSMC) algorithm from Andrieu, Doucet and Holenstein (2010) is an MCMC approach for efficiently sampling from the joint posterior distribution of the $T$ latent states in challenging time-series models, e.g. in non-linear or non-Gaussian state-space models. It is also the main ingredient in particle Gibbs samplers which infer unknown model parameters alongside the latent states. In this work, we first prove that the i-CSMC algorithm suffers from a curse of dimension in the dimension of the states, $D$: it breaks down unless the number of samples ("particles"), $N$, proposed by the algorithm grows exponentially with $D$. Then, we present a novel"local"version of the algorithm which proposes particles using Gaussian random-walk moves that are suitably scaled with $D$. We prove that this iterated random-walk conditional sequential Monte Carlo (i-RW-CSMC) algorithm avoids the curse of dimension: for arbitrary $N$, its acceptance rates and expected squared jumping distance converge to non-trivial limits as $D \to \infty$. If $T = N = 1$, our proposed algorithm reduces to a Metropolis--Hastings or Barker's algorithm with Gaussian random-walk moves and we recover the well known scaling limits for such algorithms.


A concordant memory-array design incorporates device fluctuation statistically into the signal-to-noise ratio analysis in DRAM and represents the failed bits in a chip. The proposed technique gives us a quantitative evaluation of the memory array and assures the operation of the 1.4 V array of a 100 nm - 1 Gb DRAM. The calculated dependence of failed bit counts on the array voltage is in good agreement with the experimental results of a 512 Mbit DRAM chip.


ABSTRACT: Rice bran is a by-product of the rice milling process, found worldwide in abundance and highlighted due its protein content. This study optimized the conditions for ultrasonic-assisted extraction of protein from defatted rice bran (DRB) and characterized the rice bran protein concentrate (RBPC). A sequential strategy of experimental design was employed; the effect of pH, temperature, ultrasound exposure time, and amplitude were evaluated regarding the percentage of protein extraction by a Full factorial design (FFD) with a fixed frequencies (FFD-A: 37 kHz; FFD-B: 80 kHz). Subsequently, the percentage of protein extracted was optimized employing a Central composite rotatable design (variables: pH and ultrasound exposure time) and RBPC obtained was characterized regarding chemical and functional properties. The pH and ultrasound exposure time had positive effect (P ≤ 0.05) on percentage of protein extraction; moreover, 37 kHz frequency was more effective in protein extraction. The optimized condition (frequency: 37 kHz; temperature: 30 °C; pH: 10; ultrasound exposure time: 30 min; and amplitude: 100%) allowed 15.07% of protein recovery and the RBPC presented 84.76 g 100 g-1 of protein. Magnesium and copper were the main mineral in RBPC (34.4 and 25.5 µg g-1, respectively), while leucine was the limiting amino acid (0.42) and threonine presented the highest chemical score (1.0). The RBPC solubility was minimal at pH 4 and higher at pHs 6-10; the water and oil absorption capacity were higher than bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the emulsifying capacity was comparable to BSA, with a suitable stability. It was possible to obtain a higher purity RBPC than described in the literature, due to the optimization in the extraction process steps, with functional properties suitable for application in food products, especially emulsified ones.


Recent times have witnessed the rise of anti-phishing schemes powered by deep learning (DL). In particular, logo-based phishing detectors rely on DL models from Computer Vision to identify logos of well-known brands on webpages, to detect malicious webpages that imitate a given brand. For instance, Siamese networks have demonstrated notable performance for these tasks, enabling the corresponding anti-phishing solutions to detect even"zero-day"phishing webpages. In this work, we take the next step of studying the robustness of logo-based phishing detectors against adversarial ML attacks. We propose a novel attack exploiting generative adversarial perturbations to craft"adversarial logos"that evade phishing detectors. We evaluate our attacks through: (i) experiments on datasets containing real logos, to evaluate the robustness of state-of-the-art phishing detectors; and (ii) user studies to gauge whether our adversarial logos can deceive human eyes. The results show that our proposed attack is capable of crafting perturbed logos subtle enough to evade various DL models-achieving an evasion rate of up to 95%. Moreover, users are not able to spot significant differences between generated adversarial logos and original ones.


Large mandibular defects caused by trauma, infection or resection of a tumour are still a major problem for plastic and maxillofacial surgeons. The modern concept of tissue engineering combines the osteoinductive effects of osteogenic cells with a suitable scaffold structure to promote differentiation of osteoblasts and optimal matrix production. Critical size mandibular bone defects were therefore made to investigate the osteogenic potential of periosteal cells and a bioabsorbable polymer fleece (Ethisorb 510 ® ) in minipigs. Periosteal cells were isolated from four minipigs, expanded in vitro and seeded with fibrin glue into Ethisorb 510 ® fleeces. Tissue constructs were used to repair critical size mandibular defects and compared with two minipigs with untreated bone defects. Bone healing was evaluated after 90 and 180 days by radiographs and a histological scoring system. The radiographs showed increased radiodensity of defects filled with the cell-fibrin-fleece-constructs compared with the untreated control group after 90 and 180 days in vivo. The defects repaired by the cell-fibrin-scaffolds (180 days in vivo) obtained the highest histological mean score 2.9 (range 2-3), while defects filled by cell-fibrin-scaffolds (90 days in vivo) achieved a mean score of 2.1 (range 2-3). In contrast, the control group ( n r = r 2) scored 1 and 2. The results show that a combination of periosteal cells and polymer fleeces may be a promising approach for clinical mandibular augmentation.


We agree with Jacques Rancière when he says "the act of writing is more than the exercise of a competence; it is a way of occupying the sensible and of providing meaning to this occupation" (2017). In the Recôncavo da Bahia, bodies and gazes are influenced by the experience of a black ancestral territory of oral tradition whose images and narratives were contained by an excluding Brazil. The UFRB, present in the region since 2006, offers a humanistic education, which fosters cultural entrepreneurs able to break the barrier of the hegemonic discourse and to give voice to images silenced and erased by history. It was in this powerful context that the directors Glenda Nicácio and Ary Rosa, through their own grammar and a local prosody, found a way of occupying this space and of taking the images of the Recôncavo to other spaces. Até o fim (2020), their third full-length movie, brings to the fore four black women, the Arcanjo sisters, who meet again after 15 years to toast the death of their father and to face their phantoms. Characters forged in ordinary life experiences help us denaturalize the blindness of these somber times. The narrative of death and the construction of "in-between" images (BOGADO, 2017) are film strategies that point to a form of fight and resistance. Facing an improbable country, the cinema asks us: how can we leave that island of embezzlement without drowning?


A study was carried out to determine the level of heavy metals in garri and cassava flour in the month of August, September and October 2007 at Imolisa village and the adjoining sale point along Lagos- Ibadan Expressway. The results obtained showed that only lead was detected in the two foodstuff in both locations with the highest value of 0.444 mg/kg and the least value of 0.074 mg/kg while cadmium, nickel and zinc were not detected. Statistical analysis showed that the levels of lead was not significant (p > 0.05) with reference to the safe limit and location. However, some levels were above the permissible level. This could be attributed to emissions from automobiles using leaded fuel plying the road and other anthropogenic activities. Regulatory agencies should enlighten farmers, processors, transporters, marketers and consumers in the cassava value chain on the need for proper handling, storage and consumption of garri and cassava flour devoid of lead. There is also a need for period evaluation and monitoring of heavy metals in these foodstuffs to ensure safety. Keywords: Heavy metals, vehicular emission, expressway, quality, impact.


The company needs to maintain and create knowledge assets originating from employees to be one of the keys to success in the era of knowledge economy. Knowledge assets owned enterprise employees need to be managed systematically in order to increase the leverage of the achievement of the target. Assessment of the level of readiness required an enterprise knowledge management to knowledge management better. One way of knowledge management readiness assessment through surveys. The study was confined to the Directorate of Human Capital & CSR PT ANTAM (Persero) Tbk using knowledge management assessment survey of nine competency-based models. Results of the assessment showed that the general level of preparedness of the organization is in its early stages so-so. Ninth organizational competence should be encouraged more strongly to increase leverage the achievement of value-added organization aligned with its business strategy. Assessment results are used for mapping organizational knowledge management initiatives opportunity and become one of the inputs in the preparation of the road map knowledge management company. One of the initiative is to build the capacity to create basic tallent pool and networking infrastructure through expertise locator to strengthen the foundation of knowledge management. Keywords. Knowledge; knowledge based organization; expertise locator; knowledge management.


The diagnosis of a case of ear canker in a dog by bacterial-colony displacement is described. In this case, the causative mite was detected on the primary plates inoculated from a bacterial swab. This result indicates that the phenomenon of bacterial-colony displacement should be noted and investigated in diagnostic laboratories, as it indicates the presence of a range of motile metazoan parasites which may prove to be of clinical significance.


The Antamok and Acupan gold vein systems of the Baguio district have produced approximately 3 X 10 5 kg of gold and represent one of the major gold-producing complexes of the circum-Pacific belt. The deposits are of late Tertiary age and may have formed during the Pleistocene. At the present time there is considerable geothermal activity in the area and investigations of these thermal waters form an integral part of this study.The intrusive, volcanic, and sedimentary rocks that host the veins are typical of island-arc assemblages. The veins average about 1 m in thickness and consist mostly of quartz with subordinate pyrite. Significant tonnages of ore are also found in breccias adjacent to a fragmental volcanic plug in the Acupan mine. The Baguio erosion surface, now deeply dissected, appears to have been the extant surface at the time of mineralization and the veins tend to die out upwards as they approach it. Alteration assemblages are dominated by chlorite.Fluid inclusion studies on quartz indicate deposition throughout the vein systems in the range 250 degrees to 300 degrees C, by low salinity fluids (0-6 equiv. wt % NaCl). Gas analyses of fluid inclusions demonstrate that CO 2 , CO, H 2 , NO, H 2 S, SO 2 , and CH 4 were present in the fluids but that the combined total of these gases was always less than 1 mole percent relative to H 2 O.Chemical and isotopic analyses of the modern geothermal waters and isotopic analyses of vein and host-rock material suggest considerable similarities between the ore fluids and present thermal waters. The delta D values of fluid inclusion waters range from --72 to --82 versus --58 to --75 for the modern waters. The delta 18 O values of vein quartz (3.2-6.1) are light, given the temperature of quartz deposition. Complex partial mixing patterns of the modern geothermal waters are suggested by the isotopic data, and similar conditions probably prevailed during the earlier gold mineralization.The source of the gold in the vein systems could be either the country rocks, older low-grade gold-copper mineralization within them, or contributions from magmas at depth. The gold/silver ratios in the ores, however, are much higher ( approximately 1:1) than they are in the host rocks ( approximately 1:130).


In recent years, high atomic number nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as promising radio-enhancer agents for cancer radiation therapy due to their unique properties. Multi-disciplinary studies have demonstrated the potential of NPs-based radio-sensitizers to improve cancer therapy and tumor control at cellular and molecular levels. However, studies have shown that the dose enhancement effect of the NPs depends on the beam energy, NPs type, NPs size, NPs concentration, cell lines, and NPs delivery system. It has been believed that radiation dose enhancement of NPs is due to the three main mechanisms, but the results of some simulation studies failed to comply well with the experimental findings. Thus, this study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the physical, chemical, and biological factors of the NPs. An organized search of PubMed/Medline, Embase, ProQuest, Scopus, Cochrane and Google Scholar was performed. In total, 77 articles were thoroughly reviewed and analyzed. The studies investigated 44 different cell lines through 70 in-vitro and 4 in-vivo studies. A total of 32 different types of single or core-shell NPs in different sizes and concentrations have been used in the studies.


In her provocative article, 'Agency, Truth and Meaning: Judging the Hutton Report', Diana Coole makes two important claims: first, that 'political inquiry is impoverished to the extent that theorists … ignore the more mundane reports and statements that help constitute everyday political life'; and secondly, that a theoretical analysis of the Hutton Report shows it to have been informed by a particular conception of truth (Lord Hutton's own conception) that largely guaranteed its conclusions and served to make Dr Kelly and the BBC 'victims of a particular sense of truth'. I share Coole's belief that political theorists should contribute more to the analysis and understanding of 'mundane' texts, but I have grave reservations about the kind of analysis she favours, and about its implications in this particular case. It seems to me that her focus on truth is de-politicizing, while her conclusion that Dr David Kelly was a 'victim' rests upon a simplistic understanding of moral agency and responsibility. If we wish to bring the resources of theory to bear on everyday political texts, we do better, I suggest, to focus on moral and political philosophy than on epistemology. TRUTH Coole claims that the conclusions of the Hutton Report were informed (even determined) by a 'positivist-juridical (empiricist-legalistic)' conception of truth, one which displayed 'antipathy towards the idea that truth is a matter of interpretation and hence dependent on subjective judgements'. As this conception worked its way through the inquiry it 'guaranteed' partisan conclusions that were at odds with the self-understanding of other protagonists in the affair, most notably that of Dr David Kelly.