The goal of this work was to better understand how molybdate and trivalent cations can be used as additives to pH neutral electrolytes to activate the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER). Special emphasis was laid on the chlorate process and therefore also to some of the other effects that the additives may have in that particular process.Cathode films formed from the molybdate and trivalent cations have been investigated with electrochemical and surface analytical methods such as polarization curves, potential sweep, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), current efficiency measurements, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis.Trivalent cations and molybdate both activate the HER, although in different ways. Ligand water bound to the trivalent cations replaces water as reactant in the HER. Since the ligand water has a lower pKa than free water, it is more easily electrochemically deprotonated than free water and thus catalyzes the HER. Sodium molybdate, on the other hand, is electrochemically reduced on the cathode and form films which catalyze the HER (on cathode materials with poor activity for HER). Molybdate forms films of molybdenum oxides on the electrode surface, while trivalent cation additions form hydroxide films. There is a risk for both types of films that their ohmic resistance increases and the activity of the HER decreases during their growth. Lab-scale experiments show that for films formed from molybdate, these negative effects become less pronounced when the molybdate concentration is reduced.Both types of films can also increase the selectivity of the HER by hindering unwanted side reactions, but none of them as efficiently as the toxic additive Cr(VI) used today in the chlorate process. Trivalent cations are not soluble in chlorate electrolyte and thus not suitable for the chlorate process, whereas molybdate, over a wide pH range, can activate the HER on catalytically poor cathode materials such as titanium.


Background: Surgical treatment of humeral mid-distal shaft fractures is controversial. The purpose of this case-match controlled comparison study was to determine the safety and effectiveness of applying the MIPO technique compared with conventional ORIF for treating humeral mid-distal shaft fractures.Methods: This study was conducted from January 2012 to December 2016, and patients of mid-distal humeral shaft fractures were eligible for this study. The patients were followed up for a minimum period of 1 year. The clinical and radiographic outcomes were evaluated. The inclusion criteria were age between 18 to 60 years and acute displaced mid-distal humeral shaft fracture. The exclusion criteria were intra-articular fractures of the elbow, vascular insufficiency of the upper limb, pathological fracture and multiple or open fractures. The medical records and radiographs of all eligible patients during hospitalization and follow-up after discharge were reviewed. We use a 1:2 (MIPO/ORIF) case-match based on gender and age. All patients had at least 3 years of postoperative follow-up.Results: In total, 216 patients with mid-distal humeral shaft fracture underwent surgery at the departments of orthopedics of the Seventh Medical Center of PLA General Hospital and Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Of them, 28 underwent MIPO and 56 case-matched controls underwent ORIF; all of them had complete 3-year follow-up data. No significant differences were observed in baseline characteristics between both groups. UCLA scores and MEPS were significantly higher in the MIPO group than in the ORIF group. Furthermore, UCLA score and MEPS grades in the MIPO group were significantly superior to those in the ORIF group. There was no statistically significant difference in major complication rates between both groups; however, the total major complication rate was significantly different between both groups.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that MIPO has a statistically significant clinical benefit over ORIF, including better shoulder and elbow joint function, with few overall major complications after at least 3 years of postoperative follow-up. MIPO is a safe and effective method for treating mid-distal humeral shaft fractures when surgery is indicated.


This contribution offers a brief survey of funerary archaeology undertaken in the central and southern Aegean over the course of the last 25 years. Major construction projects and salvage and systematic excavations have brought to light some 1,700 new Late Bronze Age tombs (i.e. 27% of the extant corpus). Despite these discoveries, however, very few tombs have received a final publication and few of these projects are context driven. New data are and will continue to be desirable – but it is the quality of the recording of these data, our research questions and the careful application of new methodologies, during and after excavation, that will open up new interpretative avenues and debates. With the number of secure archaeological contexts dwindling fast, not least because of the constant threat of looting, developing new approaches (for example understanding site formation and episodes of use) is crucial if we are to recover as much as possible and advance our knowledge of the multivalent roles played by burials within ancient societies.


In crowd behavior understanding, a model of crowd behavior need to be trained using the information extracted from video sequences. Since there is no ground-truth available in crowd datasets except the crowd behavior labels, most of the methods proposed so far are just based on low-level visual features. However, there is a huge semantic gap between low-level motion/appearance features and high-level concept of crowd behaviors. In this paper we propose an attribute-based strategy to alleviate this problem. While similar strategies have been recently adopted for object and action recognition, as far as we know, we are the first showing that the crowd emotions can be used as attributes for crowd behavior understanding. The main idea is to train a set of emotion-based classifiers, which can subsequently be used to represent the crowd motion. For this purpose, we collect a big dataset of video clips and provide them with both annotations of "crowd behaviors" and "crowd emotions". We show the results of the proposed method on our dataset, which demonstrate that the crowd emotions enable the construction of more descriptive models for crowd behaviors. We aim at publishing the dataset with the article, to be used as a benchmark for the communities.


Background In the United States, calls for emergency medical services (EMS) have increased approximately 20% each year. A major challenge confronting EMS is understanding the organizational, mental health, and safety burden that providers experience as they respond to increasing community demand. An understudied aspect of this demanding work is the impact of violence from patients against EMS responders. A multitude of best practices to address violence are outlined in industry trade journals, but none are organized in a way that first responders and leadership can readily implement. Objective To develop a multi-level industry-specific systems checklist of policies and procedures for preventing and mitigating violence against fire-based EMS responders. Methods Initial content and format of draft checklist items were informed by a previously published systematic literature review. Fire and EMS leaders, academic researchers, front line workers, and labor representatives were convened for a two-day consensus building conference to establish agreement on checklist items. ThinkTank and ThinkLets technology facilitated brainstorming, convergence, organization, evaluation, and consensus building activities. A brief processing period followed, and a final review of the checklist then proceeded amid a large-group facilitated session. Findings We will present the resultant systems checklist, a comprehensive inventory of best practices, policies, and procedures for all levels of the fire department including dispatch, EMS responders, leadership, and union officials. Strategies and barriers to consensus building will be discussed as well as a timeline for checklist implementation and evaluation. Conclusions and policy implications A multi-disciplinary consensus building process led to a systems checklist that speaks to each phase of emergency response. The checklist has the potential to reduce injury exposures from violence, impact self-reported mental health metrics, and improve organizational outcomes (e.g., burnout, job satisfaction, engagement). These improvements- intended to benefit the worker- may also lead to improved patient outcomes and quality of care.


This paper proposes an indirect matrix converter (IMC) Topology with dual three-phase outputs and its effective carrier -based phase shifted pulse width modulation (PWM) method.. The proposed IMC topology can independently supply ac power for two three-phase loads from a single three-phase ac power source. This converter consists of a rectifier stage used in traditional three-phase IMC and a fiveleg inverter. Besides a proposed IMC topology, the carrier based PWM method suitable for this converter is introduced. The proposed PWM method is easily implemented by using only one symmetrical triangular carrier signal to generate the PWM signals for a rectifier and five-leg inverter. Proposed IMC topology features the advantages of conventional three-phase IMC, such as sinusoidal input/output current waveforms, controllable input power factor, and simple commutation at the rectifier stage. Analysis, simulation, and experimental results are provided to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed IMC topology with dual three-phase outputs and to validate the effectiveness of the applied modulation strategy.


BACKGROUND
 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel virus of beta coronavirus genus originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019, resulted in the pandemic spread of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. This genus also contains SARS-CoV (originated in China 2002-2003) and MERS-CoV (found in Saudi Arabia 2012). The nucleotide sequences of SARS-CoV-2 is closer to SARS-CoV (with approximately 80% identity) than to MERS-CoV. Despite these similarities, SARS-CoV-2 has two main features over the other coronaviruses. The first is the high contagious rate and the second is the immune response evasion. The higher transmission ability makes this virus quickly spread worldwide with a high mortality rate and more economic losses. This review will provide an overview of the current knowledge on the role of some viral and host cell factors in higher transmission and contagious spread of SARS-CoV-2.


Space-time block codes (STBCs) are designed to obtain the full diversity gain. However, STBCs are not designed to achieve an additional coding gain. Therefore, STBCs need to be concatenated with an outer code which provides a significant coding gain. Turbo product codes (TPCs) are a kind of high-efficient coding scheme with low latency decoding, which do not suffer from an error floor associated with turbo codes. This article considers the concatenation of TPCs with STBCs and sets up coded OFDM system to improve the reliability of the wireless communication systems. Finally, the paper presents simulating environment and results of experiment testing.


P{enk is one out of 21 localities of ancient roasting sites in the woods surrounding Idrija and one of the largest localities of roasting vessels fragments. The most abundant pottery remains are found in the central western part of the area, which is about 60 m long and up to 50 m wide and is supposed to be the location of the roasting process itself. Detailed soil sampling was performed on 210 x 180 m big area. 156 soil (0–15 cm and 15–30 cm) and humus samples were collected from 73 sampling points. 3 soil profiles were sampled to determine vertical distribution of Hg in soil. The prevailing soil types are Cambisols with the typical A-B-C layers sequence. In general soils are rich in organic matter to the depth of 30–40 cm; deeper the clayey loam prevails. The determined Hg contents in soil and humus samples of the investigated area are in the range 1.6–8,600 mg/kg with the median of 62.5 mg/kg. At the area of supposed roasting site the Hg contents range between 20 and 8,600 mg/kg with the median of 580 mg/kg. Spatial distribution of mercury in humus and soils of the investigated area show the highest Hg concentrations at the supposed roasting site area where the largest quantity of pottery fragments were found and to the east of this area, at the narrow tract between the footpath on the north and the bed of La~na voda brook on the south. Extremely high Hg contents were found in profile P4 where it riches 37,020 mg/kg at the depth of 20–30 cm; in general Hg concentrations in all three studied profiles show a gradual decrease with depth. The soils of the investigated area are enriched with mercury to a high degree. Further investigations on Hg speciation are needed to determine the mobility and bioavailability of Hg in soil.


The extended homogeneous balance method is used to construct exact traveling wave solutions of the Maccari system, in which the homogeneous balance method is applied to solve the Riccati equation and the reduced nonlinear ordinary differential equation. Many exact traveling wave solutions of the Maccari system equation are successfully obtained.


Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive, heterogeneous subtype of breast cancer, which is more frequently diagnosed in African American (AA) women than in European American (EA) women. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of social determinants in racial disparities in TNBC. Data on Louisiana TNBC patients diagnosed in 2010–2012 were collected and geocoded to census tract of residence at diagnosis by the Louisiana Tumor Registry. Using multilevel statistical models, we analyzed the role of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage index (CDI), a robust measure of physical and social environment, in racial disparities in TNBC incidence, stage at diagnosis, and stage-specific survival for the study population. Controlling for age, we found that AA women had a 2.21 times the incidence of TNBC incidence compared to EA women. Interestingly, the incidence of TNBC was independent of neighborhood CDI and adjusting for neighborhood environment did not impact the observed racial disparity. AA women were more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and CDI was associated with more advanced stages of TNBC at diagnosis. CDI was also significantly associated with poorer stage-specific survival. Overall, our results suggest that neighborhood disadvantage contributes to racial disparities in stage at diagnosis and survival among TNBC patients, but not to disparities in incidence of the disease. Further research is needed to determine the mechanisms through which social determinants affect the promotion and progression of this disease and guide efforts to improve overall survival.


The author explores the legal aspects of network space risks, when legal imperatives are laid for the transportation and stay of a consignment of dangerous goods on board a ship. It is concluded that it is difficult to choose the law to be applied. In this regard, the material norms that make up the operational risk space can serve as a guide. Their selection is often a precursor to earning assets net operating profit. At the same time, the variety of legal facts with which the acquirer on arrival of property associates his right to file an ownership claim is formulated either in the contract of connection or accession. Therefore, separate prerequisites for the emergence of business and legal risks at the stage of abandoning consumer insurance in favor of its property qualification are highlighted. The paper shows types of encumbrances that accompany the problems of optimizing the costs of insurance against cyber risks. Even if insurance companies find their offer profitable for customers, the basis of the risk of financial loss is still the recovery of lost data. The insurer is forced to dispose of advanced analytical developments, such as, for example, blockchain or smart contracts that are very common today. Policyholders, in turn, use digital distribution and other virtual service models to not only reduce costs to a minimum, but also gain competitive advantages. The author analyzes the norms of the Convention acts on the transboundary shipping of dangerous goods. The International standards of TV and radio communications ISO/IEC 11801 and ISO/IEC 27001 (ISMS — 2018) are studied, and the conclusion is made that the threat to technological resources is identified with a comprehensive legal strategy for owner protection.


A system of two parallel queues is considered, where each customer must leave after service through a common gate G. It is assumed that service times at the two stations I and II are independent and identically distributed, and that exit service takes a fixed length of time. A I-customer may be served at station I only if the previous I-customer has completed exit service. Integral equations are formulated from which the distribution of the total service time may be obtained when the two queue sizes are infinite. These equations are solved for exponential and generalized erlangian service times. Extensions to the case of k parallel queues and to the case of Poisson arrivals and finite queue sizes are discussed briefly.


301 fetuses with a final diagnosis of atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) were identified from records of 14,726 pregnancies in which fetal echocardiography was performed over an 11-year period. Associated anatomical features, extra-cardiac abnormalities date of diagnosis and outcome were established. Kaplan-Meier analysis, the logrank test and Cox's proportional hazards model were applied to compare the outcome of continuing pregnancies according to these factors. Parents elected to terminate 175 pregnancies (59%). Chromosome abnormality, complex cardiac anatomy and extra-cardiac abnormality were not significantly commoner in this group than in those continuing, but there was a significant decrease over time in the proportion terminating their pregnancy. For those intending to continue, Kaplan-Meier estimates were 82% for live-birth, 55.2% for 1-month and 37.8% for 3-year survival. A negative relationship to survival was shown for ventricular dominance, absence of pulmonary obstruction, extra-cardiac abnormalities, fetal bradycardia and hydrops, but was significant only for the latter two. Survival was unrelated to the presence of isomerism, chromosome abnormality or anteriorly positioned aorta. On multivariate analysis, the only independent variables adversely affecting survival were fetal hydrops and earlier year of diagnosis. Three-year survival in a sub-group with isolated heart defects and uncomplicated anatomy was only 55.4%. Associated cardiac and extra-cardiac abnormalities may identify fetuses with AVSD who have particularly poor outlook, but despite some improvements over time, the prognosis for survival is poor even in the absence of such features.


The philosophy of the U.K. Thermal Imaging Common Module programme, TICM, envisaged from the outset that future requirements that could not be met by using the basic module suite would be met by developing "stretched" or enhanced versions of the modules. The design of the system took that into account. The philosophy has been completely justified by the success of the many stretch programmes. In the ten years since the first class II imager was produced, the inventory of enhanced, "stretched" modules has grown to include higher sensitivity, improved spatial resolution, alternative line standards, reduced size, multi spectral variants and latterly an all digital version of the imager. This paper reviews those and other related stretch programmes.


Many refinements of Nash equilibrium yield solution correspondences that do not have closed graph in the space of payoffs or information. This has significance for implementation theory, especially under complete information. If a planner is concerned that all equilibria of his mechanism yield a desired outcome, and entertains the possibility that players may have even the slightest uncertainty about payoffs, then the planner should insist on a solution concept with closed graph. We show that this requirement entails substantial restrictions on the set of implementable social choice rules. In particular, when preferences are strict (or more generally, hedonic), while almost any social choice function can be implemented in undominated Nash equilibrium, only monotonic social choice functions can be implemented in the closure of the undominated Nash correspondence. Copyright Econometric Society, 2002.


This paper presents a step-by-step approach in statistical and genetic analysis applied in diallel mating design using Griffing's experimental Method II, Model II. A two-step approach is developed and implemented in order to assist the researchers in statistical and genetic analysis of diallel crossing using Griffing's experimental Method II, Model II. The approach is exemplified on the corolla diameter of Calendula officinalis L. Descriptive and inferential approaches of statistical analysis on experimental data are applied. Statistical analyses describe experimental Sorana D. Bolboacă, Lorentz Jäntschi, Adriana D. Baciu and Radu E. Sestraş 32 data and compare means among progenies as well as between the crossover mean and the overall mean. The ANOVA results proved the appropriateness of the ANOVA test for combining ability. Statistically significant differences among progenies were identified. Since the ANOVA statistics identified a statistically significant model, the genetic analysis proved to be appropriate. The genetic analysis was able to identify the appropriate parent(s) needed to obtain plants with larger corolla diameter.


Hot-mix asphalt (HMA) remains the predominant material for pavement surfacing. Mixing is performed at about 180 °C, depending on the bitumen used. Environmental concerns in terms of emissions and energy demand are fostering new sustainable technologies in road construction. Warm-mix asphalt (WMA) and half-warm-mix asphalt (HWMA) mixtures meet current expectations in that they are produced at lower temperatures, 100–130 °C, ensured by foaming the bitumen with water. The extent of temperature reduction requires that the mixture has adequate moisture and frost resistance, which is particularly important in countries that have a low-temperature climate. Asphalt concrete AC 8 S with 50/70-grade foamed bitumen modified with 0.6 wt.% surface-active agent (SAA) was used in the tests. To provide the AC mixture with the required resistance to climatic factors (water, temperature below 0), hydrated lime was added at 0, 15, 30, and 45 wt.% as limestone filler replacement. The influence of the hydrated lime addition on the air void content and resistance to moisture and frost damage was investigated according to the WT-2 2014 methodology based on EN 12697-12: 2008 and to the modified AASHTO T283 method. The optimum content of hydrated lime for filler replacement was determined through statistical analysis of the test results. With the optimum hydrated lime replacement of 30%, the required level of moisture and frost resistance of HWMA concrete with foamed bitumen is achieved. The results of this study confirmed the suitability of HWMA concrete with foamed bitumen for application in road construction practice.


The droplet-vitrification protocol, a combination of droplet-freezing and solution-based vitrification was applied for cryopreserving garlic bulbil primordia. The highest survival and regeneration percentages of cryopreserved primordia (90.1 to 95.0 percent and 82.7 to 85.0 percent, respectively) were achieved after preculture for 2-4 days at 10 degree C on solid medium with 0.1 - 0.3 M sucrose, loading for 50 minutes in liquid medium with 2 M glycerol + 0.5 M sucrose, dehydration with PVS3 vitrification solution for 90-150 min, cooling primordia in 5 microl droplets of PVS3 vitrification solution placed on aluminum foil strips by dipping these strips in liquid nitrogen, warming them by plunging the foil strips into pre-heated (40 degree C) 0.8 M sucrose solution for 30 s and further incubation in the same solution for 30 minutes. The optimized droplet-vitrification protocol was successfully applied to bulbil primordia of five garlic varieties originating from various countries and to immature bulbils of two vegetatively propagated Allium species, with regeneration percentages ranging between 77.4 - 95.4 percent.


Most new entrants into the mobile commerce marketplace are faced with a paradox; how can we attract users without merchants, and how can we attract merchants without customers? Without a huge investment in marketing to build consumer recognition, starting a new m-commerce service is risky. In this paper we analyse how successful companies on the Web have managed to create successful payment services by utilising the brand recognition and ubiquity of the popular card networks. Attempts to marry credit cards and mobile phones are not new - encrypted phone wallet systems have been bundled with devices for a number of years. However, use of these wallet systems remains limited as the public failed to embrace shopping via WAP, frustrated by slow speeds and poor user interfaces. With mobile terminals more suited for browsing, and higher speeds from mobile data becoming the norm, we present a system to enable remote macropurchases using existing credit card technology.


We present the results of measurements of the penetration depth anisotropy in pulverized, ceramic La2-xSrxCuO4. The measurements were carried out for x = 0.08, 0.1, 0.125, 0.15 and 0.2. The powdered samples, immersed in wax, were magnetically oriented in a static magnetic field of 10 T. The penetration depth in the a-b plane, ab, and perpendicular to it, , were derived from alternating-current susceptibility measurements. For underdoped samples they both vary linearly with temperature (for the low-temperature region), while for the samples from the overdoped region the measured points can be fitted by an exponential function. These results support Uemura's picture (Uemura Y J 1997 Physica C 282-287 194) of crossover from Bose-Einstein condensation to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer mechanism of superconductivity. The penetration depth values extrapolated to T = 0 may be described by a quadratic function of the strontium concentration (for both ab and ). The anisotropy of the penetration depth as a function of the substitution shows a similar dependence to the critical temperature Tc(x).


Since the introduction of automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) in the late 1990s, acceptance levels for fabrication flaws in girth welds have in the main been established using fracture mechanics. The specific advice required for engineering critical assessment (ECA) where pipeline installation methods involve plastic strain, is already available in company specifications, and general standards and guidance. Although each subsea development is typically comprised of a number of pipelines with widely ranging functions, materials and geometry, the combination of small diameter and thin-wall linepipe is normally associated with MEG antifreeze pipelines and gas lift lines. In 2005, a thin wall was considered to be 9.9 mm while projects currently being engineered for installation in 2008–10 push the limit down to 6.9 mm. Despite the existence in some standards of a lower limit on pipe wall thickness below which ECA is no longer required — arguably 13mm in the case of DNV OS-F101 — assessments are nonetheless often performed for thinner-wall flowlines. Such analyses are required in order to provide case-specific confirmation of prescriptive workmanship-based acceptance criteria. These limits on fabrication flaws are not necessarily arbitrary and may originally have been derived from some form of general fracture mechanics study, although certainly not for thin pipes. Set against the backdrop of some recent projects on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), including Ormen Lange and Tyrihans, this study presents the background to the mechanical testing and assessment methodologies developed to overcome the challenges posed by thin-wall flowlines. Brittle fracture is not expected, either in the pipeline or during fracture mechanics testing, especially with constraint-matched single edge notched tension (SENT) specimens. This is primarily due to crack tip stress fields being dominated by plane stress conditions, more than is the case in thicker sections. The resulting material behaviour is characterised by ductility and is controlled by strength properties, not by fracture toughness. Specimen dimensions scale according to wall thickness and can be sufficiently small to make handling and testing difficult; the correspondingly small loads and attachment of instrumentation requiring specialised test equipment and laboratory procedures in order to obtain accurate and reproducible results. Pipes with low D/t values — typical for plastic strain installation — place even more stringent limitations on testing as specimen thickness is further restricted by pipe curvature. The paper covers the particular aspects of testing and analysis in the ECAs for installation we perform for thin-walled pipe. The estimation of crack driving force using finite element (FE) simulations is also discussed where important differences are noted between tolerable flaw dimensions from these and BS7910-based assessments. We even tentatively argue for the qualified use of existing fracture mechanics SENT data obtained on similar linepipe grades and weld procedures. Comparative evaluation can be made of material and weld tensile properties to ensure equivalence. Although WPQ testing, notched cross-weld tensile tests and segment testing are all that are required, limited fracture mechanics testing may also be performed to calibrate against the reference R-curves should further confidence be necessary.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


— NoSQL (Not only SQL) is a database used to store large amounts of data. NoSQL databases are distributed, non-relational, open source and are horizontally scalable (in linear way). NoSQL does not follow property of ACID as follow in SQL. Improving the performance of a database system is one of the key research issues now a day. As publications of context is rising day by day. So to handle increasing dataload, we use partitioning schemes. In this paper we discussed about partitioning schemes, existing work which comprises XCOA-XMPP context architecture which explains how the context is stored using non relational databases as we employs vertical partitioning scheme which gives better results as compared to horizontal partitioning to handle better dataload and to improve performance in all tradeoff using non relational databases as an approach. So we proposed an algorithm which comprises vertical partitioning scheme using couchdb as a non relational database which gives better results as compared to existing work in context management platform.


The high mortality of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is due to associated pulmonary hypoplasia, which resembles that seen in premature newborns with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). By use of successful therapies extrapolated from RDS, quantitative stereologic morphometry techniques were applied to evaluate pulmonary development following prenatal hormonal therapy in rats with nitrofen-induced CDH. Antenatal hormonal therapy was administered on Days 18.5 and 19.5 prior to delivery on Day 21.5 (term = Day 22), using dexamethasone (Dex), thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), Dex-TRH, or normal saline (NS) as vehicle control. Lungs from CDH rats (n = 5) and non-nitrofen-fed controls (n = 5) were studied, and 10 morphometric airspace parameters were determined by point counting 18-30 fields/lung/animal. Indices of maturation, including total internal surface area (SA), airspace volume fractions (V(Valv)), duct fractions (V(Vducts)), and radial alveolar count (RAC), were improved by Dex and Dex-TRH compared with NS-CDH controls (P = 0.0001), as were five other morphometric airspace parameters (P < 0.05). Strikingly, Dex and Dex-TRH treatment corrected average airspace volume (AAV) and the volume fraction of air-conducting elements (V(Vducts)) toward normal values seen in non-nitrofen-fed control animals. TRH therapy alone had minimal beneficial effects. Prenatal steroid +/- TRH thus improved multiple morphometric parameters of lung maturity in CDH rats, supporting the potential use of in utero hormonal therapy to treat humans with antenatally diagnosed CDH.


Provision of a Violence Brief Intervention (VBI) to young men undergoing treatment for a violent injury may represent a teachable moment for the prevention of future interpersonal violence in Scotland. Prior to intervention design, a rapid review of the research literature was necessary to examine existing programmes. After title and abstract screening, eight distinct VBIs were identified from full texts. Whilst none of the programmes were a perfect match for our intervention goals, they did demonstrate the potential effectiveness of brief interventions for violence prevention at both cognitive and behavioural levels. Key themes of successful interventions included brief motivational interviewing as an effective method of engaging with at-risk participants and encouraging change, the utility of social norms approaches for correcting peer norm misperceptions, the usefulness of working with victims of violence in medical settings (particularly oral and maxillofacial surgeries), the importance of addressing the role of alcohol after violent injury, the advantages of a computer-therapist hybrid model of delivery, and the need for adequate follow-up evaluation as part of a randomised control trial. This information has been used to design a VBI which is currently under evaluation.


BACKGROUND
There is little information on the psychometric properties of instruments for assessing family care burden in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The aim of this study is therefore to analyse the usefulness of the 'Subjective and Objective Family Burden Interview' (SOFBI) in the assessment of principal caregivers in Spain.

METHODS
The SOFBI was administered to 166 principal caregivers of adults with ID in a vocational centre. The psychometric analysis included: internal consistency, inter-rater and test-retest reliability, construct validity, convergent validity with the World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule II, and feasibility.

RESULTS
The Cronbach's alpha was 0.88 for the overall interview and always above 0.7 in the quantitative subdomains. The Kappa coefficients for test-retest were between 0.5 and 0.8, whereas inter-rater agreement was nearly perfect. Maximum-likelihood factor analysis showed four well-defined factors, which fitted the previously designed domains. Feasibility was also good.

CONCLUSIONS
The SOFBI is a multi-domain, modular instrument which is feasible, reliable and valid for measuring the burden of family caregivers to adults with ID living in the community.


Benzodiazepine receptors were studied in rats with hepatic encephalopathy due to fulminant hepatic failure induced by galactosamine. [3H]-Diazepam binding studies on brain synaptic membranes of rats with mild and severe encephalopathy show a significant increase in the number of receptors in both stages of coma. [3H]Diazepam binding to synaptic membrane preparations from rats in the mild or severe stage of encephalopathy hyper-responded to the stimulatory effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) applied in vitro at doses which for control rat preparations were in a subthreshold range. The effect of GABA was shown to be specific, since it was blocked by bicuculline methiodide. The sensitivity of benzodiazepine receptors in hepatic encephalopathy to nanomolar concentrations of GABA, which induced a significant increase in their affinity, seems to indicate a functional supersensitivity of benzodiazepine receptors in vivo in both mild and severe stages of encephalopathy. The phenomena described may be attributed to a partial degeneration of nerve terminals in hepatic encephalopathy, leading to a supersensitivity of benzodiazepine receptors, which parallels the previously described denervation supersensitivity of GABA receptors present in this animal model of fulminant hepatic failure. These findings may account for the brain hypersensitivity to sedatives administered to patients with liver diseases. The administration in vivo of a benzodiazepine antagonist, 2-phenylpyrazolo[4,3-c]-quinolin-3(5H)-one, counteracted the hypersensitivity of benzodiazepine receptors in the mild stage of encephalopathy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


BACKGROUND
Stevioside is one of the most important food additives that has become well known for its sweetness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of Stevioside on the heart.

METHODS
4-day-old embryonated chickens eggs were inoculated with Stevioside and kept until hatching. Shortly after, the heart tissue samples were taken to examine organ Oxidative stresses by measuring Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels, ferric reducing /antioxidant power (FRAP) and cupric ion reducing assay (CUPRIC).

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in glutathione level, lipid peroxidation, FRAP, and cupric assay.

CONCLUSION
It was suggested that stevioside did not cause marked damages to heart tissues in chicken embryo model.


The authors report the first Fukuyama type congenital progressive muscular dystrophy case described in Brazil, and confirmed through clinical findings and complementary tests. Emphasis is given to the presence of early fibrotendinous retractions and impairment of the central nervous system, which constitute the fundamental characteristics of this affection. This disease is very common in Japan but very seldom described in other countries. Its etiopathogeny has not yet been defined.


This study shows how the organizational culture of fisheries cooperative impacts with empowerment and organizational effectiveness. Result of this study would be utilized in organization management for fisheries cooperative. sample design is based on fisheries cooperative which are registered in korea from October 24 through November 17 in 2012. and total of 195 questionnaires are collected through a personal visit. The result of empirical analysis, organizational culture factor which have an effect on empowerment and organizational effectiveness is the biggest influence to them. At the same time. Sympathy of empowerment factor which have an effect on organizational effectiveness is the biggest influence to it.


Abstract Background Scrub typhus and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) are the 2 most common tick-borne infectious diseases in Korea. Every year, an increasing number of cases are reported, which is a public health concern. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of SFTS–scrub typhus coinfection in patients with SFTS. Methods Clinical samples were collected from 129 patients with SFTS. One-step reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to identify the SFTS virus (SFTSV), and real-time PCR followed by nested PCR was performed to detect the Orientia tsutsugamushi gene for scrub typhus. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted to confirm the evolutionary relationships among different species. Results Among 129 SFTS cases, 2 patients with SFTSV were positive for O. tsutsugamushi with a prevalence of coinfection of 1.6% (95% confidence interval, .001–.06). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed these as O. tsutsugamushi strain Boryong. Conclusions Our study found that 1.6% of patients were coinfected with SFTS and scrub typhus infection. We believe that this information will add a new dimension to clinical diagnosis, which should be considered for better public health management. Further research is needed to better understand the ecological transmission dynamics and geographical distribution of SFTSV and O. tsutsugamushi in endemic countries.


The use of a metallic adhesion layer is known to increase the thermo-mechanical stability of Au thin films against solid-state dewetting, but in turn results in damping of the plasmonic response, reducing their utility in applications such as heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). In this work, 50 nm Au films with Ti adhesion layers ranging in thickness from 0 to 5 nm were fabricated, and their thermal stability, electrical resistivity, and plasmonic response were measured. Subnanometer adhesion layers are demonstrated to significantly increase the stability of the thin films against dewetting at elevated temperatures (>200 °C), compared to more commonly used adhesion layer thicknesses that are in the range of 2-5 nm. For adhesion layers thicker than 1 nm, the diffusion of excess Ti through Au grain boundaries and subsequent oxidation was determined to result in degradation of the film. This mechanism was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on annealed 0.5 and 5 nm adhesion layer samples. The superiority of subnanometer adhesion layers was further demonstrated through measurements of the surface-plasmon polariton resonance; those with thinner adhesion layers possessed both a stronger and spectrally sharper resonance. These results have relevance beyond HAMR to all Ti/Au systems operating at elevated temperatures.


subtopic had been dealt with more concisely. In effect, Terhoeven offers a book about the RAF's communication strategy within a book that deals with the Italian–German case. The sixth chapter offers a return to the main case study: the author analyses the reception of the ''German autumn'' in Italy in an exemplary and profound manner. Although she is not the first to write about it, it is fascinating to see how throughout Europe Germany obtained the unwanted status of a police state projecting a ''German model'' and disciplining its neighbours – in this case in Italy. After this, a rather short conclusion with a surprisingly strong focus on what the problem of left-wing terrorism actually meant for Germany concludes the book. All in all, Terhoeven has written a book of great significance for the study of the RAF and its constituency in Germany and beyond. It also gives rich insights into the Italian radical left and its armed organizations. Its main flaw is that the author presents us with slightly too much for one book. But this should not discourage anyone from studying it as an important contribution to our understanding of terrorism as a transnational phenomenon.


PURPOSE
To report a giant retinal pigment epithelium rip in a patient with a bullous retinal and choroidal detachment.

METHODS
Case report with widefield imaging, fundus autofluorescence, and optical coherence tomography of the retina.

RESULTS
This 62-year-old patient had a history of advanced glaucoma, trabeculectomy, blebitis, and endophthalmitis. He had cataract surgery 6 weeks before presentation. He was found to have a large bullous retinal and choroidal detachment with a large retinal pigment epithelium tear at the limit of the choroidal detachment. After vitrectomy for retinal detachment repair, the tear was observed to extend inferiorly at the margins of the choroidal detachment.

CONCLUSION
This case report demonstrates that large retinal pigment epithelium rips can be found associated with large bullous choroidal and retinal detachments. These tears seem similar to tears that have been observed after trabeculectomy.


Within- and between-group observer variability can confound scientific discovery. If observer variability can be quantified and is addressed, data collected by participants with wide ranges of experience and training can yield more reliable inferences. The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is a mammalian sentinel of climate change that has received consideration for listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. As a result, numerous pika monitoring initiatives have been started throughout the mountains in western North America. Some initiatives employ research teams of biological science technicians (professionals), whereas many rely on networks of citizen scientists, or volunteers, for data collection. To date, few studies have quantified observer variability during pika surveys; none have explored the reliability of professional crews or volunteers. We conducted pika surveys in Glacier National Park, Montana, to quantify observer variability. We investigated observer variability 1) among a crew of professionals, 2) among volunteers, and 3) between professionals and volunteers. Professionals were more consistent at identifying pika signs and estimating potential home ranges and consistently found more pika signs than did the volunteers, with the exception of pika sightings. Estimates of pika occupancy were consistent at each site among volunteers conducting sitting surveys. We suggest that sitting surveys conducted by volunteers can reliably detect pika site occupancy. However, data on population dynamics of pikas (e.g., density) should be collected by professionals. Observer variability analyses of this nature should be common practice for wildlife-resource managers and scientists, especially with observers of varying levels of experience and motivation. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.


We investigate the complex dynamics of a SIRS epidemic model incorporating media coverage with random perturbation. We first deal with the boundedness and the stability of the disease—free and endemic equilibria of the deterministic model. And for the corresponding stochastic epidemic model, we prove that the endemic equilibrium of the stochastic model is asymptotically stable in the large. Furthermore, we perform some numerical examples to validate the analytical finding, and find that if the conditions of stochastic stability are not satisfied, the solution for the stochastic model will oscillate strongly around the endemic equilibrium.


This research paper summarizes the results of the cost-effectiveness study of apixaban vs enoxaparin, in the prevention of venous thromboembolism, after knee and hip orthopedic surgery. The cost-effectiveness analysis, performed assuming the National Health System perspective, and considering a time horizon of three months, adopted an analytical decision model in the form of a decision three. The data associated with clinical effectiveness was retrieved from prospective, controlled clinical trials, that compared head-to-head apixaban and enovaparin. Clinical practice and resource use were derived from literature, and validated with an clinical expert. The unit cost associated to the health resources was based in official data sources from the Portuguese Health Ministry (Portaria no 839-A/2009, de 31 de julho; INFARMED; and ACSS). For knee replacement therapy, apixaban was the dominant option, when compared to enoxaparin. Apixaban was a dominant alternative when compared with Enoxaparin for both types of orthopedic surgery.


A firm's entrepreneurial orientation (EO) refers to a firm-level strategic orientation that reflects its strategic choices, managerial styles, and organisational behaviours that are entrepreneurial in their basis. The majority of previous studies on a firm's EO investigate its three most common characteristics – innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness – attempting to measure and analyse their effects on business performance on a unidimensional basis while claiming a generally and overall positive impact. However, this approach is different from Lumpkin and Dess' (1996) superior development of the conceptualisation of EO as being driven by five (not three) dimensions (they added autonomy and competitive aggressiveness). These five dimensions were conceived to vary on an independent basis, each potentially relating differently to various firm performance measures (such as sales growth, gross-profit-margin, market share, and return on assets), while being determined by both internal and external factors. Consequently, even though Lumpkin and Dess' (1996) EO theory has rarely been previously considered empirically in the literature on the subject, it has presented a more plausible development of the conceptualisation of EO, making it highly relevant to the current entrepreneurial research. Therefore, this thesis employs the five-dimensional approach with the aim to investigate four research questions: (1) whether and how a firm can achieve an ideal profile of EO dimensions and the manner in which this fit may vary across industrial contexts, (2) whether and which dimensions may be more beneficial towards the contingency of firm performance as opposed to their counterparts when considering factors such as different industry types (high-tech versus less-tech intensive firms) as well as (3) environmental conditions (industry turbulence and munificence), and, ultimately, (4) whether the effects of EO may last longer than their initial investment period.

In brief, the proposed hypotheses were tested across a sample of US companies drawn from the Standard & Poor 500 that were selected to provide a relatively equal representation of high-technology and less-technology intensive companies, as determined by their industry types. This study pioneers a new research approach by examining the levels of the five EO dimensions through computer-aided text analysis along with a set of keywords advanced from Short et al.'s (2009) paper to extract values from the letters to shareholders and 10-K filings in the firms' annual reports. Performance indicators and information related to the moderator and control variables were sourced from COMPUSTAT.

In describing an EO's contextuality regarding configurational, contingency, environmental, and temporal aspects, this thesis contributes to the current knowledge of EO in the following ways.

Firstly, relating to research question 1, this study found that EO is associated with high performance in the set of ideal profile firms whereas deviance is associated with mediocre outcomes in the remaining group. Inconsistencies in the EO-performance linkage, therefore, are perceived to be driven by a poorer configuration of the EO multi-dimensions. Furthermore, it was examined to what extent the configuration associated with optimal performance remains the same across both the industry types. Herein, it was discovered that the ideal profiles do not differ across the two industry types of high-tech and less-tech.

Secondly, relating to research question 2, within the context of this study, it was discovered that EO is, in fact, to be conceived as a multi-dimensional construct comprising of five dimensions as each has either a positive or a negative impact on individual performance measures (here under consideration of the contingency approach). However, such a linkage generally does not differ with respect to the industry types of high-tech and less-tech (except for two dimensions related to the market share measure).

Thirdly, pertaining to research question 3, it was discovered that industry turbulence regarding employee stability positively moderates the EO-performance linkage for the performance indicator of market share. In contrast, for industry munificence, characterised by employee growth, a negatively moderating effect on the EO-performance relationship was observed for the same performance indicator. Thus, both employee variables are considered as central environmental influencers towards the EO-firm performance linkage regarding market share. Even so, with respect to the remaining studied performance indicators, no such effect was observed.

Lastly, relating to research question 4, innovativeness was the sole dimension that positively affected the performance indicator of gross-profit-margin over a period of two years. Moreover, an adverse effect for risk-taking on return on assets was also found over the same time-span. As a consequence, EO, when considering the nuanced research within this thesis (cross-sectional of firms and/or industry types and conditions), was neither linked with generally positive nor superior firm performance as has been assumed across earlier studies but was instead associated with varying levels of the EO-performance linkage over time.

Implications for scholarship, firms and top-level managers, limitations of this study, as well as recommendations and directions for future EO-based research close the work.


Simple analytical methods were developed for the extraction and determination of four pharmaceuticals and per- sonal care products (PPCPs) from water, sediments, and biota. PPCPs were determined using tandem LC-MS in electro- spray ionization mode, and interactions with matrix co-eluents were investigated. Extractions of water samples were performed using solid-phase extraction (SPE), sediments were extracted by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), and biota was extracted by liquid extraction. The selected analytical methods yielded recoveries ‡ 61% in all matrixes. Matrix inter- actions were investigated throughout the linear range of quantification of each compound, revealing that dissolved salts had relatively minor effects on ionization (between 14% suppression to 12% enhancement), but that sediment and biota ex- tracts caused significant matrix effects (ranging from 56% suppression to 25% enhancement). The direction and magnitude of matrix interactions reflected the physico-chemical properties of each analyte, particularly their pKa. Among the com- pounds analyzed in electrospray positive mode, carbamazepine was insensitive to matrix interactions, because it is a strong proton acceptor (pKa = 14.0). In contrast, atorvastatin (pKa = 4.5), a weaker proton acceptor, was particularly sensitive to matrix effects. For those compounds analyzed in negative-ion mode, sample alkalinity was found to be important. With a pKa of 10.4, 17a-ethinylestradiol generally exhibited matrix enhancement with increased sample alkalinity. However, the presence of acidic co-eluents contributed to matrix suppression. Lastly, TCS was particularly sensitive to matrix suppres- sion, as its circumneutral pKa (7.9) caused even slight changes in sample pH to considerably impact ionization. We con- clude that while different matrixes have clear impacts on ionization of these PPCPs, matrix effects can be quantified and overcome.


Three metal complexes, [M(II)Cl2(4NOPy-OMe)2] (M = Cu (1), Ni (2), and Co (3)), were prepared by mixing the corresponding metal chloride and 4-(N-tert-butyloxyamino)-2-(methoxymethylenyl)pyridine, 4NOPy-OMe, in 1:2 ratio. Complex 1 has two structures (complexes A and B) with similar coordination geometries, compressed octahedrons. In the crystal structure, complexes A and B locate alternately in short distances (C(radical)...C(beta) = 3.17 and 3.23 A) to form a 1-D chain structure. Complexes 2 and 3 are isomorphous and have a slightly distorted octahedral structure. In the crystal structure, both complexes have intermolecular short contacts (C(radical)...C(alpha) = 3.46 and 3.52 A for 2 and 3, respectively) to form the 2-D structures. The temperature dependence of the chi(mol)T values for the three complexes indicated that the magnetic interactions between the radicals and the metal ions within the complexes were ferromagnetic. By fitting a modified Fisher 1-D model to the data of the chi(mol)T vs T plot for 1, we estimated the intra- and intermolecular (intrachain) exchange coupling constants to be J1/kB = 60.2 and J2/kB = -7.02 K, respectively. On the other hand, complexes 2 and 3 showed steep increases of the chi(mol)T value below ca. 3 K, indicating that the long-range magnetic ordering is operating. The 1/chi(mol) vs T plot for 2 was analyzed by a Curie-Weiss model to give theta = 6.25 K and C = 2.02 cm3 K mol(-1) with g(Ni) = 2.25. Complex 3 was investigated in more detail using an orientated sample. Magnetic behavior strongly depends on the direction of the applied field, in which the c axis perpendicular to the ab plane is an easy axis for magnetization. Direct current (dc) and alternating current (ac) magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed that complex 3 had a magnetic phase transition of T(c) = 2.14 K and exhibited a glasslike magnetic behavior below T(c).


A homogeneous boundary condition is constructed for the equation (I − Δ)u = f in an arbitrary bounded or exterior domain Ω ⊆  (I and Δ being the identity operator and the Laplacian), which generates a boundary value problem with an explicit formula of the solution u. The problem creates an isomorphism between the appropriate Sobolev spaces with an explicitly written inverse operator. In the article, all results are obtained not just for the operator I − Δ but also for an arbitrary elliptic differential operator in of an even order with constant coefficients. As an application, the usual Dirichlet boundary value problem for the homogeneous equation (I − Δ)u = 0 in a bounded or exterior domain is reduced to an integral equation in a thin boundary layer. An approximate solution of the integral equation generates a rather simple new numerical algorithm solving the 2D and 3D Dirichlet problem.


Transmit antenna subset selection in spatial multiplexing systems is considered. In particular, selection algorithms aiming to minimise the error rate when linear detectors are used at the receiver are proposed. Previous work on antenna selection has considered capacity and post-processing SNR selection criteria. However, a geometrical interpretation of the decoding process which also permits development of a suboptimal algorithm that yields a considerable complexity reduction with only a small loss in performance, is considered.


Quantum adiabatic algorithm is a method of solving computational problems by evolving the ground state with a slowly varying Hamiltonian to reach the required output state. This paper proposes a new variation method for the phase functions, quadric variation method. The experiments are carried out solving random instances of 3-SAT problems with three variation methods: linear, cubic, and quadric. The experiment's result has revealed that the overall search costs with the quadric variation are less than those for other methods with higher probability of finding the solutions on average.


Introduction: It is evident that slight changes in the diameter of a vessel cause tremendous changes in its ability to conduct blood when the blood flow is streamline. The conduction of vessel increases in proportion to the diameter. Asymmetry of the vertebral arteries, with a larger left than right vessels has been described, but only few authors has recorded the dimensions.
Aim: The present study was carried out to measure and compare Inner and Outer diameter of left and right vertebral artery.
Material and Methods: 300 transverse annuli (sections) of vertebral artery were studied from 30 embalmed cadavers. Transverse annuli were processed and stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin. Stained slides were studied under the trinocular research microscope using 40x magnifications and the images obtained under microscope were transferred to computer and histological parameters were taken on computer images using Image-proplus software version 5.1. Inner and Outer diameter of transverse annuli were measured. Comparisons of left and right vertebral artery diameters were made using paired t test by SPSS version 15 software.
Results: Inner diameter of left vertebral artery was 2.74 ± 0.46 mm and right vertebral artery was 2.64 ± 0.45 mm, the difference is statistically significant. Outer diameter of left vertebral artery was 3.16 ± 0.54 and right vertebral artery was 3.03 ± 0.51, hence the difference is statistically significant. Conclusion: The left sided vertebral artery was found to be dominant than the right side.


The fruit morphological structures of the Cornaceae of China and related taxa were studied using the wax GMA semi-thin section method and other methods to identify characters useful in delimiting clades circumscribed in previous molecular phylogenetic studies. Maximum parsimony analyses of 27 fruit structural characters resulted in a generally poorly resolved strict consensus tree, yet one whose major clades matched those revealed previously. Cornaceae of China and related taxa are recognized in four significant clades with the following fruit structural features: (1) Helwingia, fruits lack trichome, the abdominal vascular bundles are close to the endocarp, and the endocarp sclereid is elongated; (2) Aucuba, single-cell lanceolate trichomes, pericarp without secretory structure; (3) Torricellia, polygon and elongated sclereids in the endocarp, pericarp without crystal and tannin; and (4) Cornus sensu lato, the trichome is T-shaped, the abdominal ventral bundle is absent, and the endocarp sclereid is nearly round. In Cornus sensu lato, this document supported that the cornelian cherries (CC, subg. Cornus) and the big-bracted dogwoods (BB, subg. Syncarpea) are sister groups. The dwarf dogwoods (DW, subg. Arctocrania) are sister to them, and the blue- or white-fruited dogwoods (BW, subg. Kraniopsis, subg. Yinquania, and subg. Mesomora) are the base of the Cornus sensu lato clade. The number of cell layers of endocarps and the types of crystals afford sound evidence for identifying their relationship. This study indicated that the fruit structures of Cornaceae might provide morphological and anatomical evidence for molecular phylogeny.


NL-201 is a potent, selective, and long-acting computationally designed alpha-independent agonist of the IL-2 and IL-15 receptors that is being developed as an immunotherapy for cancer. NL-201 binds to the beta and gamma subunits, selectively stimulating dose-dependent expansion and tumor infiltration of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, thereby enhancing the immune response to the tumor. Absence of binding to the IL-2 alpha subunit reduces the undesirable effects of traditional IL-2 therapies, such as vascular leak syndrome and expansion of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. In this abstract, we demonstrate that NL-201, alone or in combination, demonstrates robust antitumor activity in preclinical models of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
 We have previously demonstrated that NL-201 has marked antitumor activity in multiple syngeneic tumor models, including the A20 lymphoma model. These observations in lymphoma have been extended to explore the effects of NL-201 in combination with anti-mPD-1 checkpoint inhibitor therapy in vivo. In this model, NL-201 and anti-mPD-1 demonstrated tumor growth inhibition and increased median survival (21 days each vs 17 days as observed in control) when given alone. In combination, NL-201 and anti-mPD-1 resulted in increased antitumor activity and significant prolongation of survival (>51 days). We have also demonstrated that NL-201 does not directly induce signaling or cell death in B cell−derived NHL, suggesting that the observed antitumor activity is due to activation of non-malignant host immune cells.
 Additional in vitro and in vivo NHL models are being tested to enhance understanding of the interaction between NL-201 and other approved therapies within the hematopoietic tumor microenvironment. These data will be used to design future clinical trials of NL-201 in novel regimens to treat hematological malignancies.

 Huard: Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company, Patents & Royalties. Tatalick: Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc.: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Independent paid nonclinical consultant for Neoleukin. Walkey: Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company. Swanson: Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Patents & Royalties.


The goal of this assessment was to identify and evaluate waste minimization alternatives (WMAs) as they may apply to natural gas industry (NGI) operations. Economic evaluations were performed to document WMAs that may or may not bc cost effective for use by the NGI. Because many NGI operations and resulting waste streams occur in various segments of the industry, WMAs identified for waste streams generated from a particular NGI segment may be applicable to similar waste streams generated in other NGI segments (e.g., waste oils from compressors at compressor stations, gas plants, and storage reservoirs). Approximately sixty waste stream categories were identified from drilling/exploration, production, processing/conditioning, compression and transmission, and underground storage operations. From the 60 waste stream categories, approximately 30 priority waste stream categories and 170 potential waste minimization alternatives were identified for further evaluation using a priority screening process. A computer model (GRI WMIN-Econ) was developed for performing consistent economic analyses. Using the DOS executable economic model, operators and/or managers can modify the parameters in the assessments, or create new evaluations using a new set of parameters and assumptions. Economic assessments were performed and documented for 16 priority WMAs. Of the 16 cases evaluated, seven showed positive economic benefits based on the assumptions used. Three alternatives were not economically feasible. Six alternatives, while not economically feasible under certain assumptions, can be economic depending on thc specific case assumptions. The overall technical approach taken for this waste minimization assessment is presented in Fig. 1.


The present study investigates the preparation of celecoxib-loaded albumin microspheres and the biodistribution of technetium-99m (99mTc)-labeled celecoxib as well as its microspheres after intravenous administration. Microspheres were prepared using a natural polymer BSA using emulsification chemical cross-linking method. The prepared microspheres were characterized for entrapment efficiency, particle size, and in vitro drug release. Surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Biodistribution studies were performed by radiolabeling celecoxib (CS) and its microspheres (CMS) using99mTc and injecting arthritic rats intravenously. The geometric mean diameter of the microspheres was found to be 5.46 μm. In vitro release studies indicated that the microspheres sustained the release of the drug for }6 days. Radioactivity measured in different organs after intravenous administration of celecoxib solution showed a significant amount of radioactivity in the liver and spleen. In case of celecoxib-loaded microspheres, a significant amount of radioactivity accumulated in the lungs. No significant difference (P>.1) in the radioactivity was observed between the inflamed joint and the noninflamed joint following intravenous injection of99mTc-CS. However, in case of the microspheres (CMS), the radioactivity present in the inflamed joint was 2.5-fold higher than in the noninflamed joint. The blood kinetic studies revealed that celecoxib-loaded albumin microspheres exhibited prolonged circulation than the celecoxib solution.


Abstract In bacteria, the assembly factors tightly orchestrate the maturation of ribosomes whose competency for protein synthesis is validated by translation machinery at various stages of translation cycle. However, what transpires to the quality control measures when the ribosomes are produced with assembly defects remains enigmatic. In Escherichia coli, we show that 30S ribosomes that harbour assembly defects due to the lack of assembly factors such as RbfA and KsgA display suboptimal initiation codon recognition and bypass the critical codon–anticodon proofreading steps during translation initiation. These premature ribosomes on entering the translation cycle compromise the fidelity of decoding that gives rise to errors during initiation and elongation. We show that the assembly defects compromise the binding of initiation factor 3 (IF3), which in turn appears to license the rapid transition of 30S (pre) initiation complex to 70S initiation complex by tempering the validation of codon–anticodon interaction during translation initiation. This suggests that the premature ribosomes harbouring the assembly defects subvert the IF3 mediated proofreading of cognate initiation codon to enter the translation cycle.


The study aims to identify the role of digital electronic libraries in supporting the scientific research process to serve the educational process through the development of the skills of scientific research among students of graduate programs in Palestinian universities. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers used analytical descriptive method; the researchers built a questionnaire consisting of three main dimensions: 1. Use of digital libraries available in the university library. 2. Use of digital libraries available on the Internet. 3. The role of digital libraries in developing your research skills. The study's community included students of graduate studies in Palestinian universities Al-Azhar University Al-Quds Open University) in 2017/2018 Second Semester, The study sample in the research was chosen by the Stratified Random Sample method (S.R.S) to represent the study's community. The study reached the most important results: 1. The role of electronic libraries in the development of scientific research skills "was 81.08%, that is, the degree of approval was great, from the perspective of postgraduate students. 2. There are statistically significant differences between the average of the study sample and the role of the electronic libraries in developing the skills of scientific research according to the variable of the study stage (theoretical study preparation of the thesis) in most areas of the questionnaire and the total score.


Aneurysms are bulges in arteries which reflect unhealthy state of conduit in which blood is flowing. In the aorta, they are typically found in the abdominal region as well as thoracic region. Understanding the rupture risk of these vessels is critical to preventing failure and fatalities. In the current clinical practice, treatment modalities are initiated, when the out‐pouching exceeds maximum diameter (Dmax). However this approach is very crude as it does not account for the fluid mechanical forces and the attendant stresses. Since it is medically and ethically not possible to follow the patients to study the rupture risk potential, fluid structure interaction (FSI) modelling would be an apt tool to develop adequate understanding on various hemodynamic parameters. On the other hand, performing patient‐specific studies would demand adequate lead time and they are computationally expensive as well. In the present study, the shape of the aneurysm and its interaction with the flowing fluid are accounted through the shape indices to study the FSI effects on the hemodynamic parameters. Numerical simulation of Newtonian flow through five axi‐symmetric geometries with different shape indices coupled with a linear elastic vessel wall model is considered. From these simulations, it was observed that (Dmax) to height ratio (DHr) is the most significant shape index which influences the variation of all hemodynamic parameters, which makes it a potential candidate for predicting rupture risk. Wall acceleration due to pulsatile flow was found to cause the onset of re‐circulation zones at the centre of the aneurysm during early systole and the temporal deceleration resulted in the generation of near wall eddying structures during late diastole. Investigation of turbulence carried out with k‐ω Shear Stress transport turbulence model, predicts a turbulence intensity of greater than 1.5% in the diseased segment as well as the distal end of the aneurysm.


Some researchers have suggested that students in schools find mathematics classes boring, and that this attitude towards learning mathematics gets stronger as students grow older. Using reports of students and teachers, this study investigates how interest is used and developed in intermediate school mathematics classes. Five teachers and 101 Year 7 and 8 students from a single co-educational suburban state intermediate school participated in the study. One teacher and ten student focus group discussions to explore attitudes to and uses of interest in their mathematics classrooms were audio-taped. The results of these discussions were used to develop themes that formed the basis of separate student and staff questionnaires for all participants. Further data was obtained from a mathematics class journal kept by participants, and from individual interviews with all staff and seven randomly chosen students. The study showed that both teachers and students had similar ideas about what students found interesting, and revealed several aspects of classroom practices that heightened and/or developed interest in learning mathematics. The most notable of these were: using hands-on activities; teacher enthusiasm; group work and student progress. Mathematical content was rarely seen as interesting in itself, although probability, symmetry and transformations, geometry and problem solving were regarded as the most interesting sub-strands of the curriculum, while number, measurement and 'all of mathematics' garnered least support. Bookwork using textbooks or worksheets was usually considered boring, and activities such as external mathematics competitions and challenging or easy mathematics polarised student opinion. Interest has a complex and generally positive association with learning. Student reports suggest that two interest factors that have the potential to be used more effectively in mathematics lessons are teacher enthusiasm and group work. The catch phase of situational interest, the aspect of interest most frequently used, was rarely developed further. This study suggests that mathematics learning will benefit from further developing interest in mathematics classes by linking situational interest factors with mathematical content, student experiences and clarity about each student's progress. Teachers need professional development and resource support for this to happen.


Summary The fibrinolytic capacity of 121 patients with a history of venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism was studied by venous occlusion technique, at earliest 3 months after the last thromboembolic episode. After discontinuation of oral anticoagulation treatment the clinical course of the patients was followed and new thromboembolic episodes were noted. During the observation period of 56 ± 18.8 months 45 of 121 patients experienced recurrence of thrombosis. The recurrence-rate was significantly lower in patients with a post-occlusion ELT shorter than 60 min (4.8%/year) than in patients with an ELT longer than 60 min (10.3%/year). It is concluded that the fibrinolytic capacity is a useful parameter for determining the risk of recurrence in patients with venous thrombosis.


Herein, Solvent-free synthesis of 5-bromothiophene based 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-(1H)-thi(ones) was explored. The main advantages of this study are that pure product comes in hand with easy workup and without using any separation technique, a good amount of yield, and formation of product in crude form. We developed a single crystal of 4c, and we analysed crystal structure by Hirshfeld surfaces analysis. All the synthesised compounds were screened for antifungal and antibacterial assay. Among all synthesised compounds, 4a, 4b and 4j have potent antibacterial activity. While 4f, 4g, 4h and 4i show good antifungal activity among all synthesised compounds. We also carried out ADMET prediction for the 4(a-j), and calculated data show that all the compounds have prominent drug-like nature.


What does it mean to call something complex? This Review essay describes three recent books which take up complex problems and the problem of complexity: philosopher Angela Potochnik's Idealization and the Aims of Science (2017); science and technology studies (STS) scholar Nicole Nelson's Model Behavior: Animal Experiments, Complexity, and the Genetics of Psychiatric Disorders (2018); and historian of science Bruno Strasser's Collecting Experiments: Making Big Data Biology (2019). Taken together, these works lay out a refreshed analytic vocabulary and set of guiding concerns for thinking about what complexity is and does in medical research, and how complexity mediates public participation in science and medicine.


Obesity can be defined as a chronic disease with a serious impact on an individual's quality of life; moreover, it is a leading risk factor for global death. Bariatric surgery has already proven its efficacy in providing the patient with a healthier life. Nonetheless, failure of initiated treatment can occur in medical practice. We can and should offer our patients correct, patient-tailored revisional therapy conducted by an experienced surgeon in a high-volume hospital facility. In this article, current indications and strategies for secondary bariatric procedures were summarized.


Chloro(2,2':6',2"-terpyridine) platinum, a bulky, hydrophilic reagent, inhibited the renal sodium pump with a single exponential time course. K(+) increased the rate constant of the reaction by about twofold; the K(+) concentration dependence was monotonic, with a half-maximal effect observed at 1 mM, consistent with K(+) acting at a transport site. Na(+), Mg(2+), eosin, and vanadate did not significantly alter the rate of reaction. The results of proteolysis and mass spectrometer analysis were consistent with terpyridine platinum labeling of Cys452, Cys456, or Cys457. Because phenylarsine oxide reacts with vicinal cysteines and did not prevent terpyridine platinum modification, terpyridine platinum most likely modifies Cys452. This modification prevents ADP binding; interestingly, the analogous residue in sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) is on the exterior of the nucleotide-binding pocket. Thus it appears that the terpyridine platinum residue is more accessible in the presence of K(+) than in its absence and that terpyridine platinum modification prevents nucleotide binding.


In this article, we use the issue of immigration to explore the role of anxiety in responses to political appeals. According to previous literature, anxiety motivates citizens to learn and pay more attention to news coverage. Literature in psychology demonstrates that anxiety is associated with a tendency to pay closer attention to threatening information. We predict that anxious citizens will seek more information but that they will seek out and be attracted to threatening information. In an experiment, we induce anxiety about immigration and then subjects have the opportunity to search for additional information in a website designed to mimic online news sources. The website has both immigration and nonimmigration stories, and the immigration stories are split between threatening coverage and nonthreatening coverage. We find that anxious subjects exhibit biased information processing; they read, remember, and agree with threatening information.


This study was performed to determine whether epigenetic aberrant methylation of RASSF1A might be associated with hepatocarcinogenesis. Methylation specific-PCR was performed to identify RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation in 29 tumors and corresponding normal liver tissues. In addition, RASSF1A mRNA levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Aberrant methylation of RASSF1A was detected in 25 of 29 cases (86%), with loss of RASSF1A expression evident in 8 of 22 cases (36%). No correlation between loss of RASSF1A mRNA and promoter hypermethylation of the RASSF1A gene was observed. There was a significant correlation between the methylation status of RASSF1A and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who did not undergo chemotherapy (P = 0.03). Multivariate analysis, adjusted for tumor size, treatment, RASSF1A hypermethylation, and RASSF1A under-expression, showed RASSF1A hypermethylation to be assocaited with a better prognosis for HCC patients (HR= 0.089, 95%CI = 0.013-0.578; P = 0.012). Our findings showed that RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation occurs frequently, and may serve as a good prognostic factor.


Bimetallic catalyst system of ruthenium oxide (RuO2) and niobium oxide (Nb2O5) was prepared using the Adams method and the hydrolysis method. Physical and electrochemical characterizations of the catalysts were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammogram (CV) and polarization measurements. Nb2O5 addition to RuO2 was found to increase the stability of RuO2. In Adams method the sodium nitrate was found to be forming complex with Nb2O5 at high temperature reaction. This makes Adams method unsuitable for the synthesis of RuO2eNb2O5 bimetallic system. Hydrolysis method on other hand does not have this problem. But a proper mixture of two oxides was not obtained in hydrolysis method. A lower crystallite size for bimetallic system was obtained with Adams method compared to hydrolysis method. RuO2 prepared by Adams method had higher activity compared to the hydrolysis counterpart in electrolyzer operation with nafion membrane. A cell voltage of 1.62 V was obtained with RuO2 (A) at 1 A/cm . A higher stability for Ru0.8Nb0.2O2(A) compared to RuO2(A) was observed in continuous cyclic voltammogram and electrolyzer cell test. Copyright a 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) has been associated with an increased risk of HIV acquisition. In a longitudinal study, we investigated the impact of Depo-Provera use by healthy women on expression of immune markers for HIV preference and on HIV infection ex vivo at baseline (visit 1), 1 mo (visit 2), and 3 mo (visit 3) after Depo-Provera treatment. We found a significant increase in the frequency and expression of integrin α4β7 on CD4+ T cells at visit 2. Interestingly, Hispanic but not black women exhibited a significant increase in integrin α4β7 cell numbers and expression levels at visit 2, whereas black but not Hispanic women exhibited a significant change in CCR5 and CD38 expression levels between visit 2 and visit 3. The frequency of terminal effector memory CD4+ T cells was decreased significantly in black women from visit 1 to visit 3. Virus production following ex vivo HIV infection of PBMCs was increased at visit 3 compared with visit 1. In black women, the frequency of HIV p24+CD4+ T cells was higher at visit 3 than at visit 1. Expression of integrin α4β7 on HIV p24+CD4+ T cells following ex vivo infection at visit 2 was significantly less than at visit 1. These results demonstrate that Depo-Provera alters the immune profile of peripheral CD4+ T cells and increases susceptibility to HIV infection ex vivo. The observation that these effects differed between women of different ethnicities has implications for developing effective and targeted strategies for HIV prevention.


Objective There is an overwhelming abundance of genetic association studies available in the literature, which can often be collectively difficult to interpret. To address this issue, the Venice interim guidelines were established for determining the credibility of the cumulative evidence. The objective of this report is to evaluate the literature on the association of common glutathione S-transferase (GST) variants (GSTM1 null, GSTT1 null and GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism) and lung cancer, and to assess the credibility of the associations using the newly proposed cumulative evidence guidelines. Methods Information from the literature was enriched with an updated meta-analysis and a pooled analysis using data from the Genetic Susceptibility to Environmental Carcinogens database. Results There was a significant association between GSTM1 null and lung cancer for the meta-analysis (meta odds ratio=1.17, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–1.25) and pooled analysis (adjusted odds ratio=1.10, 95% confidence interval: 1.04–1.16), although substantial heterogeneity was present. No overall association between lung cancer and GSTT1 null or GSTP1 Ile105Val was found. When the Venice criteria was applied, cumulative evidence for all associations were considered 'weak', with the exception of East Asian carriers of the G allele of GSTP1 Ile105Val, which was graded as 'moderate' evidence. Conclusion Despite the large amounts of studies, and several statistically significant summary estimates produced by meta-analyses, the application of the Venice criteria suggests extensive heterogeneity and susceptibility to bias for the studies on association of common genetic polymorphisms, such as with GST variants and lung cancer.


Dementia has been an increasing trend with an increase in the population of elderly people, and WHO estimates that the number of individuals with dementia doubles every 20 years. There is no curative solution for dementia, but non-drug approaches can improve patient quality of life. In nursing homes (NH) almost 86% of patients with advanced dementia have problems eating and they need eating assistance. Patients with cognition impairment sometimes confuse food and they do not know when and how much they should eat and drink, so it leads to dehydration and malnutrition which cause weight loss, infection, decreased quality of life and increased risk of death. So, 24-hours caregivers are needed in this situation, and it is so hard for caregivers. Patients with dementia can live easier in the familiar environment, so ATs (Assistive Technologies) can help patients and caregivers to live in their own homes if possible. One of the approaches for monitoring eating activity of people with dementia is calculating calorie of food, the aim of this research is working on it. There are different approaches for measuring calorie of food but most of them depend on the user or they do not consider human value and ethical considerations in their design. Patients with dementia lose their autonomy, so they need an automatic system for calculating calorie of food. The objective of this research is to provide the state of art of the energy food estimation in elderly people with dementia. This study will be a good start for defining our own approaches in the domain.


The purpose of this research was to test the influences of of learning orientation, quality of training, sales force competence, smart working orientation toward sales force performance to achieve sales targets. 7/›e osage o/ these variables was able to solve the arising problem within PT. Nasmoco Central Java and DIY. The Research aims to analyze the influences of factors toward performance of sales force, based on the case, a theoretical model and 4 hypotheses are accomplished to be tested using Structural Equation Model (SEM). The sample of this research is 100 sales pemon ir› PT. Nasmoco Jawa Tengah and DIY. From the result of this analysis, Structural Equation Model has fulfilled criteria of Goodness Fit Index; W (chi square) 100,219, probability 0. 109 (e"0.05), RMSEA 0.044 (d"0.08), GFI 0.887 (e"0.90), A GFI 0.838 (e"0.90), TLI 0.985 (e"0.95), CFI 0.988 (e"0.95). The result of the analysis showed that learning orientation, quality of training, and sales force competence strongness an positive influence, which is significant to sales force performance and sales targets. The empirical result indicated that to increase sales targets of PT. Nasmoco Central Java and DIY, management need to pay attention on factors learning orientation, quality of training, sales fnrce competence, and sales force performance, because that is he factors that effect high or low level of achieving sales targets.


The effects on PGE2 release by lymphocytes obtained from adult thymectomized mice and from normal mice, after incubation with Thymosin alpha 1, were studied. Splenocytes from Tx mice release PGE2 at short time of incubation (15') using 4 micrograms/ml of Thymosin alpha 1 and at longer time of incubation (60'-180' using 4-8 micrograms/ml of Thymosin alpha 1. On the other hand thymocytes release the highest amounts of PGE2 after longer time of incubation (60'-180'). However lymphocytes obtained from normal mice do not release PGE2 amounts comparable with that released by the control samples. This effect shows an interesting interaction between thymic hormones and PGs.


Abstract Isolated rat liver mitochondria are capable of incorporating labeled deoxynucleoside triphosphates into DNA. The reaction is linear from 1 to 2 hours, is sensitive to high concentrations of actinomycin D, and requires oxidative phosphorylation and Mg2+. Deoxynucleoside triphosphates serve as better precursors than monophosphates, and a partial dependency on all four triphosphates is demonstrated. That the labeled product is DNA is shown by its complete lability to DNase, its complete resistance to RNase and alkali, its proper buoyant density in CsCl, and its increase and then decrease in buoyant density upon being subjected to denaturing and then reannealing conditions. That the labeled DNA is mitochondrial in origin is shown by the occurrence of the incorporation process in the virtual absence of bacteria, the absence of nuclei or nuclear membranes in the mitochondrial preparation, and the failure of added DNase to inhibit significantly the incorporation process. Moreover, the buoyant density of the denatured and reannealed labeled product is identical with that of similarly treated authentic mitochondrial DNA in contrast to nuclear DNA. That the incorporation process leads to "genuine" mitochondrial DNA, i.e. DNA of ordered structure, is suggested by the labeling being internal rather than solely at the 3'-OH end and by the results of nearest neighbor frequency analysis. Controls on the latter procedure show that added dGTP is rapidly broken down in mitochondria, which accounts for the particularly low incorporation of dGTP. Isolation of closed circular DNA from the total DNA labeled by the isolated mitochondria indicates that label is associated with this form of DNA.


Media streaming applications over wireless links face various challenges, due to both the nature of the wireless channel and the stringent delivery requirements of media traffic. In this paper, we seek to improve the performance of media streaming over an interference-limited wireless link, by using appropriate transmission and playout control. In particular, we choose both the power at the transmitter and the playout scheduling at the receiver, so as to minimize the power consumption and maximize the media playout quality. We formulate the problem using a dynamic programming approach, and study the structural properties of the optimal solution. We further develop a justified, low-complexity heuristic that achieves significant performance gain over benchmark systems. In particular, our joint power-playout heuristic outperforms: 1) the optimal power control policy in the regime where power is most important and 2) the optimal playout control policy in the regime where media (playout) quality is most important; furthermore, this heuristic has only a slight performance loss as compared to the optimal joint power-playout control policy over the entire range of the investigation


This chapter aims to provide a specific insight into the latest forms of modern teaching implemented at designated universities in the Slovak Republic. The main concern is to highlight the greatest benefits of modern educational approaches and then to present their pragmatic and practical applications in tertiary education. Furthermore, this chapter focuses on the provision of reliable data based upon authentic results generated through research projects which are closely linked both to e-learning and complementary web-based teaching practices. The overall scope of this chapter revolves around the following subjects: (1) latest achievements in advanced tertiary educational approaches at Slovak universities; (2) dissemination of gained results in the Leonardo da Vinci Project REDILEM; (3) practical utilisation of e-learning outcomes based upon applied research; (4) benefits of feedback provision in e-learning education; (5) knowledge management as a tool of assessing students' cognitive understanding and holistic comprehension; (6) major advantages and key obstacles in e-learning education; (7) complementary advanced teaching practices.


ABSTRACT Targeting is the most basic skill a gamer needs to master to survive from enemies, solve puzzles, and unfold a story in videogames. Before this simple gamer action happens, most game objects distributed in a game world are isolated in metastable states performing each predefined routine without causing any actual interaction with others. Therefore, in order to pull away these objects from their initial non-communication and to mobilize their interactions for the gamer's goal, the disturbance from the gamer's targeting is indispensable. In today's open-world videogames, the readiness of these objects for being aimed is aestheticized in the forms of aura they radiate when the player characters use certain magical/technological skills. In this genre, a gamer's narrative and ludic experiences, all triggered by his/her shooting the glittering objects, are thus translatable into the networking patterns of these objects under topological transformations. As an object-oriented approach in videogame studies, this essay examines how the recent videogame design for the open-world of objects redefines the cultural meaning of videogame.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the relationship between the dendritic cell (DC) subsets and abnormal expression of transcription factors Gata-3 and T-bet in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).

METHODS
The plasmacytoid DC (pDC) and myeloid DC (mDC) of 33 ITP (16 untreated, 17 remitted) patients and 12 healthy controls were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) . The expressions of Gata-3 mRNA and T-bet mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) .The levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) were measured by FCM in 33 ITP patients and 12 healthy controls.

RESULTS
The percentage of pDC in PBMNC was 0.49% ± 0.18% in untreated and it was higher than that in remitted ITP patients (0.27% ± 0.17%) and in controls (0.32% ± 0.13%) (both P < 0.05). The percentage of mDC in PBMNC was 0.23% ± 0.17% in untreated, which was lower than that in remitted ITP patients (0.33% ± 0.18)% and in controls (0.31% ± 0.11%), but no statistic difference in mDC expression existed among 3 groups (P > 0.05). pDC/mDC ratios was (3.15 ± 2.01) in untreated ITP patients and it was higher than that in remitted ITP patients (0.81 ± 0.32) and in controls (1.07 ± 0.44) (both P < 0.05). The relative mRNA expression levels of Gata-3 were 2775 ± 489, 1357 ± 307 and 652 ± 165 respectively. And the expression of Gata-3mRNA in untreated group was higher than that in remission group or healthy controls (both P < 0.05). The relative mRNA expression levels of T-bet were 782 ± 394, 583 ± 176 and 576 ± 120. No statistic difference in T-bet expression existed among 3 groups (P > 0.05). Gata-3mRNA/T-bet mRNA ratio was (4.13 ± 1.69 ) in untreated group and it was higher than that of remission group (2.45 ± 0.69) or controls (1.15 ± 0.27) (both P < 0.05). The level of IL-4 in the untreated group was 9.14% ± 4.34% and it was higher than that of remission group (4.78% ± 1.69%) or controls (4.86% ± 1.41%). The level of IFN-γ in the untreated group was lower than that of controls (P < 0.05). Significant positive correlations existed between Gata-3 and pDC/mDC ratio (r = 0.585, P < 0.01). Significant positive correlations existed between Gata-3 and IL-4 ( r = 0.463, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The mechanism of ITP may be due to a disorder of DC subsets and a high expression of Gata-3.


Indirect lighting (also Global Illumination (GI)) is an important part of photo-realistic imagery and has become a widely used method in real-time graphics applications, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), Augmented Reality (AR) and video games. Path tracing can already achieve photo-realism by shooting thousands or millions of rays into a 3D scene for every pixel, which results in computational overhead exceeding real-time budgets. However, with modern programmable shader pipelines, a fusion of ray-casting algorithms and rasterization is possible, i.e. methods, which are similar to testing rays against geometry, can be performed on the GPU within a fragment (or rather pixel-) shader. Nevertheless, many implementations for real-time GI still trace perfect specular reflections only. In this work the advantages and disadvantages of different reflection methods are exposed and a combination of some of these is presented, which circumvents artifacts in the rendering and provides a stable, temporally coherent image enhancement. The benefits and failings of this new method are clearly separated as well. Moreover the developed algorithm can be implemented as pure post-process, which can easily be integrated into an existing rendering pipeline.