*Corresponding Author Androgen deficiency in the aging male has become a topic of increasing interest and debate throughout the world. The demographics clearly demonstrate the increasing percentage of the population that is in the older age groups. The data also support the concept that testosterone falls progressively with age and that a significant percentage of men over the age of 60 years have serum testosterone levels that are below the lower limits of young adults (age 20-30 years) men. The principal questions raised by these observations are whether older hypogonadal men will benefit from testosterone treatment and what will be the risks associated with such intervention. The past decade has brought evidence of benefit of androgen treatment on multiple target organs of hypogonadal men and recent studies show short-term beneficial effects of testosterone in older men that are similar to those in younger men. Long-term data on the effects of testosterone treatment in the older population are limited and specific risk data on the prostate and cardiovascular systems are needed. Answers to key questions of functional benefits that may retard frailty of the elderly are not yet available. The recommendations described below were prepared for the International Society of Andrology (ISA) and the International Society for the Study of the Aging Male (ISSAM) following a panel discussion with active participation from the audience sponsored by the ISA on the topic at the 4th ISSAM Congress in Prague in February 2004. The ISA Member Societies were requested to comment on the draft recommedations. Representatives of the European Association of Urology (EAU) participated in the final draft of this document. This document is not intended to provide evidence for each recommendation as review of pertinent studies have recently been comprehensively summarized in the Clinical Research Directions on "Testosterone and Aging" by the Institute of Medicine (Washington 2004). The recommendations will be subject to revision as larger-scale and longer-term data become available. In order to reach a large audience these recommendations are published in the International Journal of Andrology,the Journal of Andrology, The Aging Male and in European Urology. E Nieschlag * Institute of Reproductive Medicine University of Münster, Germany Email: email@example.com


Mirror writing is the simultaneous process of reversing individual letters and composing word strings in the reverse direction. This phenomenon appears rarely only after brain damage. We present the case of a 65-year-old, right-handed man with mirror writing following a left temporo-parietal lobe infarction. He preferred to write in the mirror direction with his left hand, but he did not show any visual-spatial disturbance and allochria. We think that damage to the dominant writing program of the brain, releases the normally suppressed contralesional writing program and this uninhibited program induces the mirror writing.


Let C be a boundedly weakly compact convex subset of a Banach space E. Suppose that each weakly compact convex subset of C possesses the fixed point property for nonexpansive mappings, and let T: C —» C be nonexpansive. In this note it is shown (by a very simple argument) that if a sequence of iterates of T (generated with the aid of an infinite, lower triangular, regular row-stochastic matrix) is bounded, then T has a fixed point.


Statistical matching, or data fusion, merges microdata from sample surveys. The goal is to create a synthetic file with a merged set of variables. A typical scenario is that variables (X,Y) are collected in Survey A, and variables (X,Z) are collected in Survey B. Statistical matching creates a synthetic microdata file from the Survey A and Survey B data, with values of X, Y, and Z on each record. Uncertainty occurs during statistical matching because information is lacking about the distribution of (Y,Z). A method to exhibit the uncertainty in estimates due to the statistical matching procedure is to allow a variety of assumptions to be made about the distribution of (Y,Z), carry out statistical matching to create a dataset corresponding to each assumption, and then assess the variation in estimates made from the group of datasets created by this procedure. This book describes innovations of previous work by Kadane (1978) and Rubin (1986) that implements the method correctly. Practitioners in the fields of applied statistics and microsimulation modeling who carry out statistical matching will find the methodologies described in this book to be useful for their work.


Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used to measure the glass transition temperature and the associated heat capacity increment for glasses was measured. The glass transition activation energy and the departure from Arrhenius behaviour (fragility m and stretching exponent ) were calculated. For all temperature - property dependences, a peculiarity was found at an average coordination number . This was associated with a change from a `less fragile' to `more fragile' glass caused by structural changes (topological transition from 2D to 3D structure).


Central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome (CAH), or Ondine's curse, is a very rare disease characterized by dysfunction of respiratory center in the brain stem. Here, we report a case of CAH associated with cerebral infarction. A 59-year-old man developed right facial sensory deficit at age 56. Then, the facial sensory deficit spread to the left side and dysarthria and dysphagia also developed. Since age 58, he often developed respiratory failure and consciousness disturbance. Arterial blood gas analysis revealed alveolar hypoventilation and respiratory acidosis. Disorders of peripheral organs such as lung, airway, thorax and neuromuscular diseases were ruled out. Brain MRI showed cerebral infarction in the brain stem. We diagnosed him as CAH associated with brain stem infarction.


The LOFT pressurizer self-actuating safety-relief valves are constructed to the present state-of-the-art and should have reliability equivalent to the valves in use on PWR plants in the U.S. There have been no NRC incident reports on valve failures to lift that would challenge the Technical Specification Safety Limit. Fourteen valves have been reported as lifting a few percentage points outside the +-1% Tech. Spec. surveillance tolerance (9 valves tested over and 5 valves tested under specification). There have been no incident reports on failures to reseat. The LOFT surveillance program for assuring reliability is equivalent to nuclear industry practice.


This article focuses on a particular subgenre of the petitionary letter: the supplicatory appeals made by women to the monarch or leading officers of state, imploring them either to intercede on behalf of their disgraced kinsmen, who were facing execution or long-term imprisonment as a consequence of their alleged treasonable activities, or to assist the women in their own suits as they attempted to salvage some portion of their husbands' confiscated estates. Using the letters composed by women whose male relatives were implicated in the Essex debacle (1601) or the Main Plot (1603) as a case study, it offers a close analysis of the rhetorical strategies they deployed and assesses the contribution such devices made to the moral and affective cogency of their suits. Specifically, it aims to show how the discursive performance of feminine weakness which characterizes the appeals of these female suitors may paradoxically have enhanced their "symbolic capital".


In collective classification, classes are predicted simultaneously for a group of related instances, rather than predicting a class for each instance separately. Collective classification has been widely used for classification on relational datasets. However, the inference procedure used in collective classification usually requires many iterations and thus is expensive. We propose stacked graphical learning, a meta-learning scheme in which a base learner is augmented by expanding one instance's features with predictions on other related instances. Stacked graphical learning is efficient, especially during inference, capable of capturing dependencies easily, and can be implemented with any kind of base learner. In experiments on eight datasets, stacked graphical learning is 40 to 80 times faster than Gibbs sampling during inference.


IN ITS ideal sense, the epidemiology of infant mortality transcends the mere recording of infant deaths. Rather, it extends back to the infants' births to determine the medical and social context into which they were born. Only then can health care workers identify weaknesses in maternal and infant care and design strategies to address these problems. Despite the importance of linking data from death certificates (age, cause of death, state, and race) with data from birth certificates (the infant's birth weight, live-birth order, length of gestation, and type of delivery and the mother's education, age, marital status, and prenatal care history), the years between 1960 and 1980 lapsed without a national linkage study. "One of the biggest issues of the 1980s was, which babies are dying? How can we characterize the ones that aren't going to do well? We can't answer that question without linking the deaths to the births,"


One of the proposals for delivering a cooled muon beam to a muon collider or a high intensity neutrino source uses an induction linac to phase rotate the muons that result from the decay of pions produced by a high intensity proton beam on a target. An induction linac with an acceleration gradient of 2 MV per meter is proposed to produce bunches of muons that have a momentum of 200 MeV/c. The induction accelerator is assembled around the 3 T superconducting solenoids needed to contain the muon beam. The superconducting solenoid must have a warm 100 mm gap at 1000 mm intervals down the phase rotation channel. The acceleration structure for the induction linac is around this gap. The superconducting solenoid will have an inside warm radius of 201 mm. The thickness of the superconducting magnet and its cryostat must be about 60 mm near the acceleration gap. An access region of 85 mm between induction linac sections is allowed for the superconducting coil cold mass supports, the electrical leads and the supply of cryogenic cooling. This report presents a design for a 3 T phase rotation induction linac superconducting magnet system, its cryostat, and its cooling system.


Selenium geochemistry and isotopic composition of sediments from the Cariaco Basin and the Bermuda Rise: a comparison between a restricted basin and the open ocean over the last 500 ka Andrew James Teignmouth Shore Broad changes in atmospheric oxygen have been identified for the last 4 Ga whereas changes in ocean oxygenation are not as well constrained. Mo isotope ratios have already been suggested as a potential global ocean palaeoredox proxy. However, a shorter oceanic residence time, theoretically greater isotope shifts, and no reliance on free H2S to alter its isotope composition, suggest Se isotope ratios could be a better global ocean palaeoredox proxy. The Cariaco Basin, on the Venezuela margin, has been the subject of numerous palaeoceanographic studies. Alternating laminated and non-laminated sediments indicate cyclical changes in water column oxygenation. It is therefore an ideal natural laboratory in which to study these effects on Se isotopes. A comparison with the Bermuda Rise, in the western North Atlantic, over the same time period, allows an evaluation of the spatial variations of sedimentary Se isotope signatures. Over the last interglacial-glacial transition, laminated (interglacial) sediments from the Cariaco Basin are characterised by high Se (~10 ppm) and high δ 82/76 Se (~0.03‰). In contrast, sediments from non-laminated (glacial) sediments have low Se (~0.5 ppm) and negative δ 82/76 Se (~-0.97‰). These end members result from two modes of Se cycling. Laminated sediments are dominated by organically-bound Se and low Se/Corg. Bioturbated sediments have a higher proportion of authigenic Se and higher Se/Corg. Over older interglacial-glacial cycles, the relationship between the two end-members and interglacial-glacial states becomes less clear. Similar end-members to those in the Cariaco Basin exist in the Bermuda Rise except the low δ 82/76 Se end-member has lower Se concentrations. As in the Cariaco Basin, variations are controlled by local climate rather than overall interglacial-glacial state. A comparison of the δ 82/76 Se values for the two sites show similarities which suggest that Se isotope ratios might not be just recording local changes.


ABSTRACT Air quality sensors are becoming increasingly available to the general public, providing individuals and communities with information on fine-scale, local air quality in increments as short as 1 min. Current health studies do not support linking 1-min exposures to adverse health effects; therefore, the potential health implications of such ambient exposures are unclear. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and Air Quality Index (AQI) on the best science available, which typically uses longer averaging periods (e.g., 8 hr; 24 hr). Another consideration for interpreting sensor data is the variable relationship between pollutant concentrations measured by sensors, which are short-term (1 min to 1 hr), and the longer term averages used in the NAAQS and AQI. In addition, sensors often do not meet federal performance or quality assurance requirements, which introduces uncertainty in the accuracy and interpretation of these readings. This article describes a statistical analysis of data from regulatory monitors and new real-time technology from Village Green benches to inform the interpretation and communication of short-term air sensor data. We investigate the characteristics of this novel data set and the temporal relationships of short-term concentrations to 8-hr average (ozone) and 24-hr average (PM2.5) concentrations to examine how sensor readings may relate to the NAAQS and AQI categories, and ultimately to inform breakpoints for sensor messages. We consider the empirical distributions of the maximum 8-hr averages (ozone) and 24-hr averages (PM2.5) given the corresponding short-term concentrations, and provide a probabilistic assessment. The result is a robust, empirical comparison that includes events of interest for air quality exceedances and public health communication. Concentration breakpoints are developed for short-term sensor readings such that, to the extent possible, the related air quality messages that are conveyed to the public are consistent with messages related to the NAAQS and AQI. Implications: Real-time sensors have the potential to provide important information about fine-scale current air quality and local air quality events. The statistical analysis of short-term regulatory and sensor data, coupled with policy considerations and known health effects experienced over longer averaging times, supports interpretation of such short-term data and efforts to communicate local air quality.


The purpose of this article is to examine the role of the Securities and Futures Investors Protection Center (SFIPC) in Taiwan in enforcing the duties of directors. To help shareholders or investors pursue a director for breach of company law or securities regulations, Taiwan created the SFIPC, a charity sanctioned by statutes, to bring class action or direct legal action on behalf of minority shareholders or individual investors. By conducting an empirical survey of judgments from lawsuits involving the SFIPC since its creation, we found that the SFIPC is generally very active in enforcing securities regulations but far less active in breaches of company law. This reflects the public nature of the institution as well as a fundamental defect regarding directors' fiduciary duties and statutory derivative action in Taiwan's company law. The SFIPC has shown strong performance in the civil courts but has a dismal record in the criminal courts. If the past is a guide, then regulators in Taiwan should reconsider the role of the SFIPC if its goal is to strengthen the enforcement of corporate director liability and address the shortcomings of derivative actions in company law.


Background. As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, lessons from responding to diseases that are endemic to Africa, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, yellow fever, Lassa fever and Ebola, can inform responses to the new challenge. Gaps in and successes of South Africa (SA)'s established tuberculosis (TB) management programme have potential to inform COVID-19 responses. Objectives. To present the findings of a 2019 study that assessed how communication can contribute to improving health outcomes among young women with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in SA. Methods. Primary qualitative data were collected from 20 purposefully selected participants in eThekwini Metro, KwaZulu-Natal Province. Data were collected through focus group discussions with women with MDR-TB, and key informant interviews with their family members, health workers and KwaZulu-Natal health department personnel. Results. The study assessed how age, gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location and comorbidity converge to influence susceptibility to communicable diseases and risk of mortality, and proposes that vulnerabilty factors be incorporated into both MDR-TB and COVID-19 responses. Conclusion. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, much is unknown about the incubation period and infection transmission modes, and there have been suggestions that asymptomatic people may be infectious. In highly populated urban areas, television and radio (local soap operas, dramas and hard news programmes), social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) and information from children are the best mediums for reaching young women to provide integrated public health education about both MDR-TB and COVID-19.


Abstract While a number of significant campaigns since the early 1990s have resulted in bans of particular weapons, at least as many equivalent systems have gone unscrutinized and uncondemned by transnational campaigners. How can this variation be explained? Focusing on the issue area of arms control advocacy, this article argues that an important influence on the advocacy agenda within transnational networks is the decision-making process not of norm entrepreneurs nor of states but of highly connected organizations within a given network. The argument is illustrated through a comparison between existing norms against landmines and blinding laser weapons, and the absence of serious current consideration of such norms against depleted uranium and autonomous weapons. Thus, the process of organizational issue selection within nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations (IOs) most central to particular advocacy networks, rather than the existence of transnational networks around an issue per se, should be a closer focus of attention for scholars interested in norm creation in world politics.


A fascinating property of the brain is its ability to reorganise as a result of experience. Practice-related change has been shown in grey and white matter as a result of for example juggling training, but tasks that require many interrelated skills such as very fine motor skills, mental rotation and tactile perception have not been examined yet. For Catheter-based interventions (e.g., Dotter treatments), where catheters are used to treat blood vessel disease, these skills are crucial: using the catheter, neither direct view nor direct access is granted. The only means to visualize the catheter's position in the blood vessel are x-ray images, which are imperfect and susceptible to geometric illusions. In this research project, we will use three MRI methods to examine whether the structure of white and grey matter and the intrinsic functional connectivity change as a result of developing the psycho-motor skills necessary for catheterisation. Participants will be 40 undergraduate medical students (of which 20 age and gender-matched controls). On day one, MRI pre scans (T1-weighted, diffusion-weighted and resting state fMRI) will be performed and a number of cognitive tests are taken. On day two, the experimental group will watch an instruction video and practice the psycho-motor skills of catheterisation for two hours on a high-fidelity catheter-lab simulator. On day three, the experimental group practices again for two hours on the simulator and takes a procedural test. Finally, structural and functional post MRI scans are performed and the cognitive test battery is administered again.


After a survey of the literature about etiological and physiopathological data or hypothesis, the different therapeutic possibilities are quoted. According to our experience we describe the occurrence of the Auriculotemporal Syndrome in a total of 157 parotidectomies performed in our clinic during the past seven years. One single post-traumatic case is commented. About 30% of our post-parotidectomic patients were incommodated by the syndrome, more specifically as an aggravating transpiration in the temporal region during meals. The greater number of patients experienced a distinct improvement applying a simple Scopolamin-salve; as a result we prefer this conservative therapy to a more aggressive treatment. However, whether we could prevent the appearance of the syndrome by using a more subtle surgical technique particularly in the region of the preauricular blood vessels, remains an open question.


Image reconstruction of ultrasound computed tomography based on the wave equation is able to show much more structural details than simpler ray-based image reconstruction methods. However, to invert the wave-based forward model is computationally demanding. To address this problem, we develop an efficient fully learned image reconstruction method based on a convolutional neural network. The image is reconstructed via one forward propagation of the network given input sensor data, which is much faster than the reconstruction using conventional iterative optimization methods. To transform the ultrasound measured data in the sensor domain into the reconstructed image in the image domain, we apply multiple down-scaling and up-scaling convolutional units to efficiently increase the number of hidden layers with a large receptive and projective field that can cover all elements in inputs and outputs, respectively. For dataset generation, a paraxial approximation forward model is used to simulate ultrasound measurement data. The neural network is trained with a dataset derived from natural images in ImageNet and tested with a dataset derived from medical images in OA-Breast Phantom dataset. Test results show the superior efficiency of the proposed neural network to other reconstruction algorithms including popular neural networks. When compared with conventional iterative optimization algorithms, our neural network can reconstruct a 110 × 86 image more than 20 times faster on a CPU and 1000 times faster on a GPU with comparable image quality and is also more robust to noise.


This paper presents a Preisach model of ferromagnetic hysteresis to simulate the vector hysteresis properties of ferromagnetic materials. Vector behavior has been studied using a single sheet tester with a round shaped specimen at low frequency, and the magnetic flux density vector has been controlled by a digital measurement system. Circular magnetic flux density pattern has been measured. An inverse vector Preisach hysteresis model has been developed and identified by applying the measured data. Finally, the inverse model has been inserted into a finite element procedure through the fixed point technique and the reduced magnetic scalar potential formulation. The applicability of the measurement system as well as the developed model has been proven by comparing measured and simulated results.


A family of reconfigurable parallel robots can change motion modes by passing through constraint singularities by locking and releasing some passive joints of the robot. This paper is about the kinematics, the workspace and singularity analysis of a 3-PRPiR parallel robot involving lockable Pi and R (revolute) joints. Here a Pi joint may act as a 1-DOF planar parallelogram if its lock-able P (prismatic) joint is locked or a 2-DOF RR serial chain if its lockable P joint is released. The operation modes of the robot include a 3T operation modes to three 2T1R operation modes with two different directions of the rotation axis of the moving platform. The inverse kinematics and forward kinematics of the robot in each operation modes are dealt with in detail. The workspace analysis of the robot allow us to know the regions of the workspace that the robot can reach in each operation mode. A prototype built at Heriot-Watt University is used to illustrate the results of this work.


: An improved method for the squashing of the brain cells permitting a good preservation of cell nuclei and their subsequent quantitative cytophotometric evaluation is presented. By this method a monolayer of the brain cells can be easily obtained. The method was tested in cytophotometric study of the DNA content in the Feulgen stained cells of the frog hypothalamic preoptic area. The proposed method can be used for the quantitative evaluation of different histochemical reactions in the brain cells.


Currently used methods for estimation of moisture content in paper pulp are restricted to levels of moisture concentration below 90%. Some of the existing methods require less practical double-sided contact measurements. A few other methods make restrictive assumptions, such as the constituents of the pulp that determine its conductance. This paper presents a technique that uses fringing field interdigital sensors to measure moisture concentration in paper pulp at levels as high as 96%. The method proposed in this paper uses single-sided measurements, offers high sensitivity, and does not require special operating conditions. The accuracy of the proposed method is also demonstrated. The repeatability and reproducibility of the sensor measurements are also shown.


Traditionally edges have been loosely defined as pixel intensity discontinuities with in an image. First order linear filters and second order linear filters are most widely used algorithms for detection of edges but all these algorithms are sensitive to noise. Edges can be finding using fuzzy logic algorithm with different levels of processing. Edge detection is one of the basic requirements for biometric based human identification system. In this paper we are trying to detect the edges of images by using fuzzy logic in MATLAB environment without determining threshold value. Fuzzy inference system is successfully developed which corresponds to nine input pixels of matrix values with one output and can detect edges of the images. Experimental results are obtained and shown.


Pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and the surrounding region constitutes a symptom of TMJ disorders. Various dental causes usually stimulate the trigeminal nerve, developing facial pain which triggers trigeminal neuralgia. However, trigeminal neuralgia may also arise from irritation of the endocranial root of the nerve, due to occult damage which has not yet manifested other symptoms, for example a meningioma. In this manner, the actual cause of pain in the ipsilateral half of the face may be interpreted incorrectly and may possibly be attributed to a TMJ dysfunction syndrome. This results in long-term frustration and burdening of the patient. The case of a 47-year-old woman is presented who complained of symptoms of a painful TMJ disorder. She was initially treated with the appropriate dental procedures and, upon continuation of the pain, was examined with CT scanning, which proved to be negative despite the existence of a cerebral lesion. Further investigation with MRI, however, revealed a meningioma of 5 mm size, in the region of the cerebellopontine angle.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the effects of precoated RetroNectin on the proliferation and cytotoxicity of natural killer cells (NK) from acute leukemia (AL).

METHODS
Mononuclear cells (MNCs) were isolated from peripheral blood of complete remission AL patients. The MNCs were cultured in vitro precoated with 50 µg/ml RetroNectin (group I), 25 µg/ml RetroNectin (group II) and by the traditional method (control group) to generate NK. The changes of growth rate, phenotypic characterization, secretion of cytokines of NK, cell cycle, apoptosis and cytotoxicity of NK were determined.

RESULTS
The amplification of NK in group I ((51 ± 9)×10(6)) and II ((79 ± 16) ×10(6)) were higher than that in control group ((37 ± 11)×10(6)) (both P < 0.05), and the amplification of NK in groupII was higher than that in group I (P < 0.05). There were no differences among three groups with regards to the phenotypic characterization of CD3(-)CD56(+). The secretions of interleukin 2, interleukin 12, tumor necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma in group I and II were higher than that in control group (all P < 0.05). The expression of CD25 positive cells in groups I (38.2% ± 4.1%) and II (37.5% ± 5.1%) were higher than that in control group (24.2% ± 5.8%) (both P < 0.05). The expression of NKG2D positive cells in groups I (81.6% ± 17.9%) and II (85.7% ± 20.1%) were higher than that in control group (63.6% ± 21.9%) (both P < 0.05). The percentages of G(1) stage cells in groups I (50% ± 10%) and II (49% ± 11%) were lower than that in control group (71% ± 15%) while the percentages of S stage cells in groups I (36% ± 14%) and II (37% ± 8%) were higher than that in control group (19% ± 10%) (all P < 0.05). But no difference existed between two groups (all P > 0.05). The expression of cell cycle regulatory genes p21 and p27 were reduced in groups I and II. The percentages of apoptotic cells in groups I (10.7% ± 2.1%) and II (9.4% ± 3.1%) were lower than that in control group (29.6% ± 10.3%) (both P < 0.05). The cytotoxicity to AL cells in groups I (82% ± 21%) and II (80% ± 18%) were higher than that in control group (61% ± 14%) (both P < 0.05) at the E/T scope 20:1. But no difference existed between two groups (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The proliferation and cytotoxicity of NK cells may be boosted by precoated RetroNectin.


Study Design. A cross-sectional study. Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of online scoliosis information available on the video sharing site YouTube. Summary of Background Data. The Internet is an increasingly utilized resource for accessing information about a variety of heath conditions. YouTube is a video sharing platform used to both seek and distribute information. Methods. A search for "scoliosis" was carried out using YouTube's search engine and data were collected on the first 50 videos returned. A JAMA score to determine currency, authorship, source and disclosure, and scoliosis-specific score that measures the amount of information on the diagnosis and treatment options (as devised by Mathur et al in 2005; scored 0–32) was recorded for each video to measure quality objectively. In addition, the number of views, number of comments, and feedback positivity was documented for each. Data analysis was conducted using R 3.1.4/R Studio 0.98 with control for the age of each video in analysis models. Results. The average number of views per video was 71,152 with an average length of 7 minutes 32 seconds. Thirty-six percent of the videos fell under the authorship category of personal experience. The average JAMA score was 1.32/4 and average scoliosis specific score was 5.38/32. There was a positive correlation between JAMA score and number of views (P = 0.003). However, in contrast, there was a negative correlation between scoliosis-specific score and number of views (P = 0.01). Conclusions. Online health information has historically been poor and our study shows that in an environment like YouTube that lacks a peer review process, the quality of scoliosis information is low. Further work is needed to determine whether accessing information on YouTube can play a role in patient care other than simple education pertaining to the disease and its management. Level of Evidence: 3


Since the nationalization of the oil industry, especially after the 1979 revolution, Iran has always encountered economic sanctions. The oil embargo and international financial sanctions are the most severe sanctions imposed on Iran and have had significant effects on Iran's macroeconomic variables. The current study aimed to analyze the effects of economic sanctions on Iran's macroeconomic variables using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model based on the new Keynesian approach. The simulation results showed that the intensification of the oil and international financial sanctions would 1) reduce foreign and government investment, technology innovation, export in the oil sector, and consequently oil production, 2) lead to a higher exchange rate and a decrease in the ratio of the central bank foreign exchange reserves to the monetary base, 3) reduce the GDP and non-oil exports and increase the inflation, which may cause stagflation, 4) increase household consumption and decrease household investment, 5) increase budget deficit, forcing the government to adopt policies to raise current expenditures and maintain housing and urban development budget, which, in turn, will lead to a budget deficit and bond sales. The analysis of various optimal monetary policies in the context of economic sanctions and considering the contingent business interruption (CBI) loss function showed that the optimal simple rule, in the form of the producer price index, targeting monetary policy, could reduce the loss function and increase the importance value of output coefficient in themonetary policy.


Accounting accruals are widely used in measuring the accounting earnings management although the literature showed a negative relationship between the accounting earnings management and the real earnings management. This study explored the effects of the accounting accruals on real earnings management in some of the Algerian companies. The study included a sample of 100 firm-year observations that concern 20 companies during the period 2015 2019. The hypothesis testing was based on a leaner regression model that relates real earnings management proxy with accounting accruals. The results indicated a statistically significant negative effect of accounting accruals on real earnings management, which is consistent with the hypothesis and confirmed the many previous studies on the negative relationship between accounting earnings management and real earnings management. The results also provide evidence on the behaviour of managers where many of whom resort to real earnings management in case of non-conformity with the accounting earnings management. The study provides confirmation to users in the real capture of the financial statements quality as well as auditors when certificating financial statements. Users of financial statements in the Algerian companies must carefully use accounting information and employ more than one accounting items when making decisions. Meanwhile, auditors are recommended to focus more on accounting accruals when examining and certificating financial statements.


Introduction: From an evolutionary perspective the system alert to threats of social relations shows evidence of having been linked to physical pain, especially in the affective component, which includes the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex in the dorsal portion. Literature Review: A neuroimaging study examined the neural correlates of social exclusion and tested the hypothesis that the brain bases of social pain are similar to those of physical pain.1 Physical pain experience can be subdivided into two components, which rely on different neural substrates. These two components include: a sensory component, which codes for the discriminative aspects of pain and an affective component, which codes for the unpleasant aspects of pain. The affective, rather than the sensory, component of pain would be more critical for understanding feelings of social pain.2 Chronic pain and depression are common and often overlapping syndromes. Over 75% of patients with depression experience chronic or recurring pain. Similarly, 30-60% of chronic pain patients report significant depressive symptoms.3 Reduced hippocampal size has been related in teenagers and adults exposed to early-life stress, and also in depressed people. Alternatively, the vulnerability to depression might be increased by interaction between hippocampal size and early-life adversity4; that might have a prominent effect on depression especially in individuals with a reduced hippocampal volume. Conclusion: The early-life adversity can interact with depression to induce changes in the hippocampus, being smaller hippocampal size related to depressed patients who experienced early-life adversity. In the same way, smaller hippocampus is a result of depressive illness, with greater decrease in size as the disease progresses.


BACKGROUND
Primary malignant lymphoma of the heart is extremely rare. Because its clinical signs and symptoms are typically nonspecific, it is often very difficult to detect cardiac involvement while the patient is alive. We describe a case of malignant lymphoma involving predominantly the heart and pericardium and diagnosed by pericardiac effusion cytology antemortem.

CASE
An 83-year-old woman presented with dyspnea on exertion. Echocardiography revealed a low-echoic tumor mass close to the right ventricular wall and massive pericardiac effusion. Diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was made by cytomorphologic examination and flow cytometry of the tumor cells obtained from the effusion. Although chemotherapy was instituted immediately, the patient died of progressive heart failure. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma predominantly involving the intracardiovascular region was confirmed at autopsy.

CONCLUSION
From the experience in this case, we conclude that cytopathologic examination of sonographically guided aspiration of the cardiovascular region is very useful for antemortem diagnosis of primary malignant lymphoma of the heart.


In two recent articles a method has been described for calculating the total energy of large molecules. The method is called the kernel energy method (KEM) and requires knowledge of the crystal structure of interest. Calculations are simplified by adopting the approximation that a full molecule could be represented by smaller kernels of atoms. The KEM was illustrated with peptides ranging in size from 4 to 19 amino acid residues, and was found to deliver accurate results. The use of the KEM does not depend upon a particular choice of basis functions and is applicable across quantum computational methods of differing levels of accuracy. These earlier investigations suggested that the KEM could be used to calculate the ab initio quantum mechanical energy of proteins. An application has been made with the protein insulin, composed of 51 aa. Accurate KEM Hartree-Fock energies are obtained for the separate A and B chains of insulin and for their composite structure in the full insulin molecule. A limited basis is used to make possible calculation of the full insulin molecule, which can be used as a standard of accuracy for the KEM calculation. The KEM result obtained is E(KEM) = -21104.7656 a.u. It differs from a full molecule Hartree-Fock result by only 0.000002%. The solvent molecules can be treated effectively as a separate kernel. The KEM result for the fully solvated insulin molecule is E(KEM) = -26275.4127 a.u., differing from the full molecule Hartree-Fock result by as little as 0.000023%.


The Gray-Wilson Personality Questionnaire (GWPQ) was translated into Hindi and administered to 246 male and 191 female university students. It measures six animal-learning paradigms corresponding to Gray's (1987) three-emotion systems model of personality. Sex differences previously reported from the United Kingdom and Japan were replicated: Women scored significantly higher on the Active Avoidance and Flight subscales, men on the Approach subscale. In the Indian sample, women scored higher than men on the Extinction subscale; this difference, although in the same direction, was not significant in the United Kingdom and Japan. In India, as in Japan and the United Kingdom, women were relatively punishment sensitive, and men were relatively reward sensitive. Consistent with Gray's model, scores on Fight and Flight subscales were positively correlated, as were Passive Avoidance and Extinction subscale scores; however, contrary to the model were the negative correlation between subscale scores for Approach and Active Avoidance and the positive correlation between subscale scores for Approach and Passive Avoidance, also observed previously in the United Kingdom and Japan.


Scheduling small satellite's mission must meet with two acquirements: one is that all real-time tasks must be complemented in time limit, the other is that it must have fault-tolerant capability. In this paper, an integration mission model of both periodical mission and non-periodical mission is built based on the characteristic of small satellite mission and a fault-tolerant scheduling algorithm of static scheduling and dynamic adjustment for small satellite is presented combined with mission allocate algorithm and partial dynamic scheduling algorithm of embedded processor. This algorithm combines both the technique of primary/backup copies and the Hopfield algorithm and sum up static assignment to planning and operation problem held in resource and time. Neural network algorithm is used in partial dynamic adjustment of non-periodical mission and backup mission copies that assures the reliability and temporal effectiveness of mission execution. Simulation results show that it achieves higher schedulability compared to some other methods. Further, in terms of scheduling length and load balancing, it is superior to that of conventional graphic algorithm


C(4) photosynthesis is normally associated with the compartmentation of photosynthesis between mesophyll (M) and bundle sheath (BS) cells. The mechanisms regulating the differential accumulation of photosynthesis proteins in these specialized cells are fundamental to our understanding of how C(4) photosynthesis operates. Cell-specific accumulation of proteins in M or BS can be mediated by posttranscriptional processes and translational efficiency as well as by differences in transcription. Individual genes are likely regulated at multiple levels. Although cis-elements have been associated with cell-specific expression in C(4) leaves, there has been little progress in identifying trans-factors. When C(4) photosynthesis genes from C(4) species are placed in closely related C(3) species, they are often expressed in a manner faithful to the C(4) cycle. Next-generation sequencing and comprehensive analysis of the extent to which genes from C(4) species are expressed in M or BS cells of C(3) plants should provide insight into how the C(4) pathway is regulated and evolved.


We discuss the important aspects of synthesis and crystal growth of MgB2 under high pressure (P) and temperature (T) in the Mg–B–N system, including the optimization of P–T conditions for reproducible crystal growth, the role of liquid phases in this process, the temperature dependence of crystal size and the effect of growing instabilities on single-crystal morphology. Extensive experiments have been carried out on single crystals with slightly different lattice constants and defect concentrations, which have revealed the possible effects of Mg deficiency and lattice strain on the superconducting properties of MgB2 (Tc, Jc, residual resistivity ratio, anisotropy, etc).


The heritage of civilizations in geopolitics is progressively used to consolidate the vision of a multipolar world and, thereby, to establish its important place in the arena of international affairs. Civilizational heritage and civilizational imagination become increasingly important geopolitical factors which begin to shape the relations between China, Russia, Turkey, the United States and the European Union. In global politics during the last decades, in one way or another, Samuel Huntington's ideas of the interactions between civilizations and their development externalised with the stress on the increase of civilizational conflicts. These ideas made great impact on political elites of main world powers. The author of this article—drawing attention to the importance of cultural and especially religious factors for civilizational processes and the interactions between civilizations, which were also raised by Huntington—examines the peculiarities of the Russian and Turkish civilizational and geopolitical discourses, and connects to those discourses the current geopolitics pursued by the political elites of these countries. The promotion of the current role of the civilization and its geopolitical legacy highlights the uniqueness of civilizations and creates an effort to strengthen the civilizational imagination and to use the civilizational imperial experience and its cultural heritage in current political events. The Russian discourse is characterised by the historical anti-Western and anti-European attitude of Eurasian Messianic civilizational distinctiveness, while the Turkish rhetoric is characterised by the elevation of the imperial Ottoman Islamic cultural and political heritage. Both the discourses are linked by an imperial mentality, orientation towards a multi-civilizational and multi-polar world as well as the demand to create a new world order in line with such an emerging worldview. The article also discusses some of the ideas prevailing in the European Union that underpin the policy of creating a post-national European cosmopolitan community. However, such discourse lacks a cultural, civilizational as well as religious heritage, which brings people together and can form a long-lasting sense of civilizational community.


This article presents a review of the literature regarding the communication problems of school-age children with HIV-infection and the impact of the psychosocial and emotional reactions of these children on their social relationships. An overview of the effects of HIV infection on the central nervous system is followed by descriptions of how hearing, oral motor function, speech, language, reading and written language may be affected.


The GGT enzyme, considered for years only as a marker of liver disease and alcohol abuse, has now revealed a risk of death for many causes. Through a molecular exclusion chromatography on FPLC system (Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography), it is possible to discriminate four fractions of GGT, defined according to the molecular weight: big-GGT, medium-GGT, small-GGT and free-GGT. The objective was to study the preventing meaning of GGT fractions for asbestos-related diseases. This study was conducted on 129 workers previously exposed to asbestos, 22 patients affected by Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma and 107 healthy workers. Our data demonstrated a statistical significant correlation between the fraction free-GGT with the presence of MPM, suggesting a possible role for this molecule as a biomarker for MPM diagnosis. However, being a preliminary study, further studies are warranted to confirm our results.


Knowledge acquisition and modification methods are described for building a quality diagnosis expert system. Knowiedge of a quality diagnosis expert is represented in a tabular form. The final quality properties are predicted from the operating conditions of the intermediate process and are compared with the target values. A pattern of deviations of the final quality properties from the target values is summarizec in a table. A data file in the form of knowledge table is created or revised by an editor in an actual quality diagnosis system, and a knowledge base in an if-then format is created by a knowledge generation program. The practical application of this procedure and the architecture and human interface of a silicon steel glass film quality diagnosis expert system are described.


The influenza virus non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is a multifunctional virulence factor that plays a crucial role during infection by blocking the innate antiviral immune response of infected cells. In contrast to the well-studied NS1 protein of influenza A virus, knowledge about structure and functions of the influenza B virus homologue B/NS1, which shares less than 25 % sequence identity, is still limited. Here, we report on a reverse genetic analysis to study the role of a highly conserved class II Src homology 3 domain-binding motif matching the consensus PxxPx(K/R) that we identified at positions 122-127 of the B/NS1 protein. Surprisingly, glycine substitutions in the Src homology 3 domain-binding motif increased virus replication up to three orders of magnitude in human lung cells. Enhanced mutant virus propagation was accompanied by increased gene expression and apoptosis induction linking this motif to the control of programmed cell death. A MS-based interactome study revealed that the glycine substitutions facilitate binding of B/NS1 to heat shock protein 90-beta (HSP90β). Moreover, recruitment of the viral polymerase basic protein 2 to the B/NS1-HSP90β complex was observed. Pharmacological inhibition of HSP90 reduced mutant virus propagation suggesting that the mutation-induced involvement of HSP90β enhanced viral replication. This study not only functionally characterizes a conserved motif within the B/NS1 protein, but also illustrates a rare example in which mutation of a highly conserved sequence within a viral protein does not result in high fitness costs, but rather increases viral replication via recruitment of a host factor.


This paper presents research into practical simulations of particle flow in inertial particle separators (IPS) for helicopters and tilt rotor aircraft. The flow field of the carrier gas is predicted by means of the two-equation k-ϵ turbulence model. An Eulerian methodology is used to trace the particle trajectories of foreign particles such as droplets, ice and sand. To predict the characteristics of particle wall bouncing in dilute particle flow, the velocity re-associated two-node quadrature-based method of moments (VR-QMOM) is used. The particle distribution in the IPS is predicted for various particle sizes and these are compared with results from a Lagrangian particle tracking method. The particle-wall interactions and the separation efficiencies are studied for solid particles bouncing off perfectly elastic walls and an IPS shell coated with the M246 alloy which changes the coefficients of restitution. The simulated separation efficiencies predicted by the Eulerian method are compared with the simulation using the Lagrangian method over a range of particle sizes. The VR-QMOM method is seen to reproduce the particle bouncing and trajectory crossing behavior and to agree well with the Lagrangian method for predicted separation efficiencies. The new VR-QMOM method is shown to be an accurate and convenient alternative to established Lagrangian approaches.


A systematic study is made of Early Cretaceous (late Aptian/earlyAlbian) ostracod assemblages from the Santo Antnio section. This section is characterized by sediment belonging to the post-rift sedimentary sequence of the Romualdo Formation in the southern-central region of the Araripe Basin, Brazil and represents on of the first marine ingression in the interior of the continent, during the beginning of the formation of the Atlantic Ocean. The Santo Antonio section presents ostracods in greater diversity than previously known. Nineteen samples were analyzed, yielding a total of 8,370 specimens. Fifteen taxa were identified, including six brackish ostracods: Pattersoncypris salitrensis, Pattersoncypris angulata, Pattersoncypris micropapillosa, Damonella grandiensis, Alicenula cf. leguminella and Theriosynoecum cf. quadrinodosum; and nine typically brackish-marine species, including seven new ones: Dicrorygma cf. minuta, Dicrorygma (Orthorygma?) dimorpha, Mongolianella aptianensis sp. nov., Mantelliana speculum sp. nov., Paracypris undulareventralis sp. nov., Microceratina retangularis sp. nov., Perissocytheridea oculusutilis sp. nov., Perissocytheridea poruslinearis sp. nov. and Perissocytheridea florisdorsalis sp. nov. Therefore, the detailed taxonomic study brings a new understanding of marine ostracods around the upper Aptian/lower Albian boundary of the Araripe Basin.


The main purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the presence of retrocochlear disease in a group of maintenance workers from a general hospital, who presents a history of noise exposure. Thirty one workers of three engineering sections with age range from 25 to 60 years and continuous noise exposure from 2 and 45 years, were examined. The evaluation included an audiometric occupational selection and auditory brainstem responses (ABR). ABR abnormalities were detected in seven patients (22.6%) and it was found latency increase of waves III (14.3%) and V (28.6%), and interpeak prolongation I-III (71.4%), III-V (28.6%) and I-V (85.7%). Among 35 ears with normal audition - right, left or both -, four (11,4%) ears presented retrocochlear disease. The high retrocochlear disease prevalence in workers exposed to noise lead us to suppose that this disturbance is more frequent than usually found; therefore it is underestimated in workers diagnostic evaluation. The presence of this kind of disturbance, even with the absence of audiometric alterations, suggests that ABR is more sensitive than the tonal audiometry for noise induced hearing loss investigation.


This paper proposes a framework for the statistical analysis of multiple related datasets on heterogeneous clusters. The set of processors assigned to the framework are partitioned into groups according to rack locations, with the group sizes being chosen to match the degree of concurrency in the analysis procedure. The datasets are initially divided among the groups. Dynamic loop scheduling is employed to address load imbalance arising from the differences in computational powers of groups, the variability of dataset sizes, and the unpredictable irregularities in the cluster environment. Results of preliminary tests indicate the effectiveness of the framework in fitting gamma-ray burst datasets with vector functional coefficient autoregressive time series models on 64 processors of a heterogeneous general-purpose Linux cluster


type="main" xml:lang="en"> This paper examines whether firms emerging from conglomerate stock breakups are able to affect the types of financial analysts that cover their firms as well as the quality of information generated about their performance. Our sample comprises 103 focus-increasing spin-offs, equity carve-outs, and targeted stock offerings between 1990 and 1995. We find that, after these transactions, sample firms experience a significant increase in coverage by analysts that specialize in subsidiary firms' industries, and a 30–50% increase in analyst forecast accuracy for parent and subsidiary firms. The improvement in forecast accuracy is partially attributable to expanded disclosure. However, forecast improvements for specialists exceed those for non-specialists, leading us to conclude that corporate focus can facilitate improved capital market intermediation by financial analysts with industry expertise.


The latter half of the 20th century saw the development of lightweight tensioned translucent membranes as shading devices and their increasing use in providing daylight control. The use of reliable tools for the prediction of the lighting environment experienced in daylit spaces has become essential. To date most analytic efforts related to predicting daylighting performance has concentrated on the analysis of light penetration through glass openings. Little attention has been paid to the light transmission through fabric membranes. The membranes itself are normally in tensioned creating double curvature shapes. The simulation of light transmitted through membranes involves the modelling of complex geometries, which places significant demand to their modelling. This book explores the daylighting performance of sports buildings that include translucent membranes as part of their daylighting strategy. Performance of these buildings has been assessed by field illuminance measurements, physical scale modelling in artificial sky and three-dimensional modelling using Radiance software. The accuracy of the simulation tools is assessed against the lighting data recorded in the field study.


Diffuse pulmonary ossification (DPO) is an uncommon diffuse lung disease characterized by metaplastic bone formation in the lung parenchyma and is rarely diagnosed in life. While DPO usually occurs as a secondary disease, idiopathic cases are extremely rare. We describe three cases of idiopathic DPO, two of which were definitively diagnosed by surgical lung biopsy. One case was observed in a 43-year-old man with a history of recurrent pneumothorax who developed pneumothorax after the surgical biopsy. Few reports have described cases of DPO with recurrent pneumothorax; however, pneumothorax should be considered as a potential complication when such patients are encountered.


A novel electro-acoustic chemical sensor, based on a TFBAR, is presented. The principle of operation is the same as the well known quartz crystal micro-balance, where the frequency of operation is extended from the limit of a few tens of MHz to several GHz. The larger sensor output signals, associated with higher frequency operation, is a condition used to develop devices with improved sensitivity. TFBARs have been implemented on [001] Si wafers, using Si/sub 3/N/sub 4//AlN membranes, obtained by anisotropic chemical etching from the back side of the Si substrate. The performance of the TFBAR sensor has been tested using a thin Pd chemical interactive membrane deposited on the etched side of the membrane and exposed to different concentrations of hydrogen in nitrogen. Time response upon different cycles of H/sub 2/ adsorption and desorption are reported together with the sensor calibration curve. The operation frequency of the device, in the GHz range, allows it to obtain large responses. The device is robust in construction and miniaturized in size. Time stability, repeatability and sensitivity have been tested and reported.


Case management is a growing phenomenon, being implemented across the continuum of care, employing a variety of models and approaches, and appearing in a spectrum of geographic locations. Implementing case management in rural communities involves unique dimensions. Consideration of these dimensions is critical to effective provision of quality health care services through case management.


Abstract Context: Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. & Coss. (Brassicaceae)] is reported to possess diverse pharmacological properties. However, limited information is available concerning its hepatoprotective activity and mechanism of action. Objective: To study the protective mechanism of mustard seed extract against acetaminophen (APAP) toxicity in a hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell line. Materials and methods: Hepatotoxicity models were established using APAP (2.5–22.5 mM) based on the cytotoxicity profile. An antioxidant-rich fraction from mustard seeds was extracted and evaluated for its hepatoprotective potential. The mechanism of action was elucidated using various in vitro antioxidant assays, the detection of intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and cell cycle analysis. The phytoconstituents isolated via HPLC-DAD were also evaluated for hepatoprotective activity. Results: Hydromethanolic seed extract exhibited hepatoprotective activity in post- and pre-treatment models of 20 mM APAP toxicity and restored the elevated levels of liver indices to normal values (p < 0.05). Post-treatment suppressed the generation of ROS by 58.37% and pre-treatment effectively prevented the generation of ROS by 90.5%. The mechanism of ROS suppression was further supported by antioxidant activity (IC50) data from DPPH (103.37 ± 4.2 µg AAE/mg), FRAP (83.26 ± 1.1 µg AAE/mg), ORAC (1115 µM GAE/ml), ABTS (83.05 µg GAE/ml), and superoxide (345.22 ± 5.15 µg AAE/mg) scavenging assays and by the restoration of cell cycle alterations. HPLC-DAD analysis revealed the presence quercetin, vitamin E, and catechin, which exhibited hepatoprotective activity. Discussion and conclusions: A phytoextract of mustard seeds acts by suppressing the generation of ROS in response to APAP toxicity.


Islet gene expression has been widely studied to better understand the transcriptional features that define a healthy β-cell. Transcriptomes of FACS-purified α-, β-, and δ-cells using bulk RNA-sequencing have facilitated our understanding of the complex network of cross talk between islet cells and its effects on β-cell function. However, these approaches were by design not intended to resolve heterogeneity between individual cells. Several recent studies used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) to report considerable heterogeneity within mouse and human β-cells. In this Perspective, we assess how this newfound ability to assess gene expression at single-cell resolution has enhanced our understanding of β-cell heterogeneity. We conduct a comprehensive assessment of several single human β-cell transcriptome data sets and ask if the heterogeneity reported by these studies showed overlap and concurred with previously known examples of β-cell heterogeneity. We also illustrate the impact of the inevitable limitations of working at or below the limit of detection of gene expression at single cell resolution and their consequences for the quality of single–islet cell transcriptome data. Finally, we offer some guidance on when to opt for scRNA-Seq and when bulk sequencing approaches may be better suited.


This document is a collection of technical reports on research conducted by the participants in the 2000 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This was the 16th year that a NASA/ASEE program has been conducted at KSC. The 2000 program was administered by the University of Central Florida in cooperation with KSC. The program was operated under the auspices of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) with sponsorship and funding from the Education Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., and KSC. The KSC Program was one of nine such Aeronautics and Space Research Programs funded by NASA in 2000. The NASA/ASEE Program is intended to be a two-year program to allow in-depth research by the university faculty member. The editors of this document were responsible for selecting appropriately qualified faculty to address some of the many problems of current interest to NASA/KSC.


Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprised of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is a common health problem both in the United States and worldwide, with significant associated morbidity and mortality. Despite multiple known genetic and situational risk factors, an estimated 30% of all events remain classified as idiopathic, demonstrating a significant knowledge gap in the pathophysiology VTE. While platelets are well established as an essential contributor to thrombus formation and there has been recent interest in the role of neutrophil extracellular traps, specific cell types and pathways involved in the pathogenesis of VTE remain uncertain. In this study, our primary aims were to define a unique transcriptional signature for VTE and to identify the types of cells and specific pathways involved in development of VTE.
 Whole blood was collected in PAX gene tubes and RNA sequencing for coding mRNA was performed in an unbiased manner in 201 patients with prevalent VTE as well as 43 healthy controls. We used a bioinformatics approach to develop a unique signature for VTE by identifying differentially expressed genes, developing cell-type modules, and ascertaining pathways driving differentially expressed transcripts. We performed additional analyses on subgroups of patients with idiopathic VTE, patients with incident VTE, and VTE patients matched to healthy controls by age and sex. We went on to use machine learning methods to learn models that best differentiate VTE patients from healthy controls and validated it on a left out test set within our VTE population.
 Genes specific to neutrophils, erythrocytes, and platelets, in that order, were most significantly upregulated in patients with VTE compared to healthy controls. Genes related to T-cells were downregulated. Pathway analysis revealed upregulated neutrophil activation and degranulation, erythrocyte differentiation and homeostasis, and platelet degranulation. A gene signature of 217 transcripts was outstanding at differentiating patients with VTE versus healthy controls (AUC 0.94). Following adjustment for age, sex, and race/ethnicity our genetic signature remained significantly robust at differentiating patients with VTE versus controls (AUC 0.83). Our expression signature remained stable across patients with idiopathic VTE (AUC 0.93), and in patients who went on to develop future VTE events (AUC 0.95).
 In summary, we have demonstrated a whole blood transcriptional signature for prevalent and incident VTE. Genes related to neutrophils, erythrocytes, and platelets are upregulated in patients with VTE and genes related to T-cells were downregulated. These findings suggest an active role of cell types once thought to be passively entrapped within thrombus and provide new areas of study to establish the pathophysiology of VTE.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Research suggests that the experience of sexual victimization leads to higher levels of psychopathology. It has been noted, however, that resource loss following the victimization, as opposed to the act of victimization itself, is the driving factor in adaptation following the victimization. The current study attempted to address the impact of resource loss following sexual victimization on resilience, as defined by a lack of psychology. In addition, the current study sought to gain a better understanding of the roles of social support and self-efficacy in this relationship. It is hypothesized that higher levels of resource loss following victimization will lead to lower levels of resilience. In addition, it is hypothesized that social support and selfefficacy will moderate this relationship. Data was collected using a female, undergraduate sample at Virginia Tech. Results indicated that total resource loss and personal characteristic loss were found to positively predict depression, anxiety and total psychopathology. It was also found to negatively predict school performance, and satisfaction with friends. Neither type of loss significantly predicted alcohol use, change in G.P.A., number of hookups and PTSD. No significant moderation was found for either social or support or self-efficacy. Implications of these results will be discussed.


Abstract The 2006 EU Directive established an EU-wide system for public oversight of the audit profession. In the UK, since 2008 the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published inspection reports for major audit firms, which include overall quality ratings for the individual audit engagements of each audit firm under review. This study examines the FRC's ratings, and measures their impact on audit fees and audit firm switching. A significant increase in audit fees is found when the audit firm has a higher proportion of engagements with deficient ratings, probably arising from the additional effort and resources needed to meet the FRC's requirements. This impact is more concentrated among clients with Big 4 audit firms. However, there is no evidence that FRC ratings affect clients' likelihood of switching audit firms, suggesting that inspection results may not signal audit quality, and thus do not affect clients' audit firm appointment decisions. The results provide evidence that inspection ratings may increase audit costs, but may not be valuable in distinguishing audit quality, and thus have no effect on audit committees' audit firm appointment decisions. This finding advances understanding of the effectiveness of the audit inspection regime, and provides auditing regulators with guidance on policy making.


Despite the utilization of anti-PD-1 therapy in gastric cancer (GC), the absence of a reliable predictive biomarker continues to pose a challenge. In this study, we utilized bioinformatic analysis and immunohistochemistry to develop a prediction model for activated CD4+ memory T cells, considering both mRNA and protein levels. An elevation of activated CD4+ memory T cells in GC was noted, which exhibited a strong association with the patients' overall survival. By utilizing WGCNA and DEG analysis, we discovered that BATF2, MYB, and CD36 are genes that exhibit differential expression and are linked to activated CD4+ memory T cells. Afterwards, a forecast model was built utilizing Stepwise regression and immunohistochemistry relying on the three genes. The model's high-risk score showed significant associations with a suppressive immune microenvironment. Moreover, our model exhibited encouraging prognostic value and superior performance in predicting response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy compared with the conventional CD8+PD-L1 model. In terms of mechanism, CD36 could function as a receptor upstream that identifies Helicobacter pylori and fatty acids. This recognition then results in the reduction of the BATF2-MYB protein complex and subsequent alterations in the transcription of genes associated with classical T cell activation. As a result, the activation state of CD4+ memory T cells is ultimately suppressed. The CD36-BATF2/MYB signature serves as a robust predictor of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy response in GC.


In order to gain sustainable competitive advantage in today's knowledge economy, organizations are looking beyond routine transactional workflow processes to support knowledge-intensive processes. Traditional business process management systems are effective in providing coordination support, but are not geared towards providing relevant knowledge support as well. Also, knowledge management systems are used in an ad hoc manner without explicitly linking them to the underlying organizational processes. Process-based knowledge management (PKM) systems have emerged as a potential solution to support knowledge-intensive processes. However, design guidelines for developing PKM systems are minimal. This paper highlights this research problem, identifies kernel theories governing the design and development of PKM systems, and synthesizes various kernel theories to propose a comprehensive design theory for PKM systems. Feasibility and a comparative evaluation of the proposed design theory are also discussed.


Comprehensive treatment, including pharmacotherapy, rehabilitation, psychotherapy and ultrasound stimulation of the lymphatic system by the method of Seltzer is given to multiple sclerosis patients at the hospital department for these patients. In the first year of treatment three courses of ultrasound sessions are given with 24 sessions in each course, in the second year two such courses are given, and in the following years one course is given yearly. The present material comprised 45 patients after 7 or 8 courses of treatment in the hospital. The neurological status of each patient was evaluated before the first course and after the last one using a score scale containing the most important clinical parameters. Is was found that these therapeutic methods had only a negligible effect on paresis of the extremities, but it seems that they influenced favourably eye signs, particularly nystagmus, and cerebellar tremor. The greatest improvement was obtained in sphincter disturbances, especially in pollakiuria and urinary incontinence. The effect of ultrasound alone on the obtained results could not have been assessed. Investigations would be necessary for this purpose which are not done in this hospital.


Microstructures of materials and devices greatly influence the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and other properties. In order to improve such properties, it is very important to understand the relationship between the microstructure and the properties. Atom probe tomography is a technique which can identify the position of individual atoms and can display the results as 3D tomography. Also, the atomic species are identified based on the time-of-flight measurement. Therefore, all the elements from hydrogen can be analyzed. Although there are several theoretical limitations of this method, the application area is spreading by complementing with other methods such as SEM, TEM and so on. In this paper, the principle and the limitations of the laser assisted atom probe tomography, efforts to improve performance, influence of measuring conditions such as laser wavelength and intensity, and examples of typical application are shown.


Abstract Basal cell adenocarcinoma is an unusual basaloid tumour that usually affects the parotid and very rarely involves the submandibular or minor salivary glands. It constitutes 1.6% of all salivary gland tumours and occurs as an asymptomatic freely mobile mass with occasional lymph node metastasis. Differentiation from benign salivary gland tumours like basal cell adenoma is accomplished by determining the depth of tumour invasion and patterns of growth or infiltration. Although it is categorised as a low-grade malignancy, it has a high propensity for recurrence. Surgical excision with a wide margin is the preferred course of treatment with radiotherapy being reserved only for tumours of the minor salivary glands with a diffuse pattern of infiltration. We present here a case of basal cell adenocarcinoma with a rare presentation in the minor salivary glands of the tongue which arose from a previously treated basal cell adenoma in the same site.


Backgroud : To establish reference values of serum cystatin C (CysC) in Chinese newborn infants. Methods: Serum CysC levels were measured in 1919 blood samples from 1044 newborns during their first 28 days of life. CysC levels were analyzed for association between subgroups dichotomized by postnatal age (PA) and gestational age (GA). Reference intervals of serum CysC were determined according to the PA and GA. The association between serum CysC level and other biochemical parameters as well as perinatal factors were also analyzed. Results: In this study, the mean GA was 35.75±2.90 weeks and birth weight was 2613.77±696.72 g. Reference ranges of serum CysC were determined and a general decreasing trend of CysC levels was observed as GA increased. CysC levels differed significantly among the PA and GA groups (P<0.001). Serum CysC levels were relatively stable throughout GA, except being impacted by white blood cell count within postnatal 24 hours. Moreover, their levels always correlated positively with serum creatinine concentrations (P<0.001). Conclusion: The reference level of serum CysC should be determined according to PA and GA. In contrast to creatinine, serum CysC is a dependable index for assessing renal function in neonate, for there are rare factors influencing it.


The aqueous solution behavior of novel polypeptide-based double hydrophilic block copolymers (DHBCs), namely, poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]-b-poly(glutamic acid) (PDMAEMA-b-PGA), exhibiting pH- and temperature-responsiveness is presented using a combination of scattering techniques (light and neutron) and transmission electron microscopy. Close to the isoelectric point (IEP), direct or inverse electrostatic polymersomes are generated by electrostatic interactions developing between the two charged blocks and driving the formation of the hydrophobic membrane of the polymersomes, with the latter being stabilized in water by uncompensated charges. Under basic conditions, that is, when PDMAEMA is uncharged, the thermosensitivity of the DHBCs relates to the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior of PDMAEMA around 40 degrees C. As a consequence, at pH = 11 and below this LCST, free chains of DHBC unimers are evidenced, while above the LCST the hydrophobicity of PDMAEMA drives the self-assembly of the DHBCs in a reversible manner. In this case, spherical polymeric micelles or polymersomes are obtained, depending on the PGA block length. These possibilities of variation in size and shape of morphologies that can be achieved as a function of temperature and/or pH variations open new routes in the development of multiresponsive nanocarriers for biomedical applications.


Sustainability certification schemes and standards are meant to prevent a range of unacceptable socioeconomic and environmental consequences, such as threats to biodiversity. While there is wide support for conserving biodiversity, operationalizing this support in the form of guiding principles, criteria/indicators, and legislation is complicated. This study investigates how and to what extent 26 sustainability standards (eleven for forest management, nine for agriculture and six biofuel‐related) consider biodiversity, by assessing how they seek to prevent actions that can threaten biodiversity as well as how they support actions aimed at biodiversity conservation. For this purpose, a benchmark standard was developed, meant to represent a case with very high ambitions concerning biodiversity conservation. Of the assessed standards, the biofuel‐related standards demonstrated the highest level of compliance with the benchmark. On average, they complied with 72% of the benchmark's component criteria, compared to 61% for the agricultural standards and 60% for the forestry standards. Fairtrade, Sustainable Agriculture Network/Rainforest Alliance (SAN/RA), Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) were particularly stringent, while Green Gold Label S5 (GGLS5), PEOLG, Global Partnership for Good Agricultural Practices (GLOBALGAP), European Union Organic (EU Organic), National Organic Program (NOP), Green Gold Label S2 (GGLS2), and International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) were particularly unstringent. All eleven forestry standards, six of the nine agricultural standards, and all six biofuel‐related standards addressed ecosystem conversion, ranging from requiring that high conservation value areas be identified and preserved to requiring full protection. Finally, key barriers to, and challenges for, certification schemes are discussed and recommendations are made for further development of sustainability standards. WIREs Energy Environ 2015, 4:26–50. doi: 10.1002/wene.118


Although genital exhibitionism has traditionally been almost exclusively associated with males, similar behavior may occur in certain women with a particular set of life circumstances and precipitants. A case report is presented of a woman whose emotional deprivation led to feelings of rejection and the inability to develop empathic relationships. Her self-esteem relied on success in her profession, and when she lost her position, she sought validation through exhibitionism. Despite the widely held view that genital exhibitionism producing arousal and stimulation in the subject occurs only in men, this case demonstrates that such phenomena may exist in women as well.


The purpose of this analysis was to assess the ability of the CPITN system to rate severity and prevalence of periodontal diseases in a population, in comparison with full mouth scorings using conventional clinical parameters (Plaque Index, Gingival Index, Retention Index, Pocket Probing Depth and Loss of Attachment). These parameters were collected in a randomly selected sample in Switzerland. The data were then transformed to fit the definitions of the CPITN. Furthermore, a comparison of the data set from Switzerland with data obtained from the Oral Global Data Bank of the WHO was made. By conversion of the Swiss data into the CPITN format, many details were lost, which were considered to be relevant to assess severity, prevalence and localization of periodontal diseases within a population. In addition, the transformed data generally overestimated the prevalence of periodontal destruction when compared with data from surveys in other industrialized countries in which the CPITN was used to evaluate the periodontal status. The comparison of the data before transformation into the CPITN, however, corroborated results from epidemiological studies in which conventional periodontal index systems were used. This indicates that data obtained to determine defined treatment needs (CPITN) may be of questionable value for the assessment of the true prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in a population.


Background Herbal medicine use is increasing and the global market is estimated to be US$107 billion by the year 2017. Objectives This study aimed at assessing community pharmacists' personal use, knowledge, attitude, dispensing practice, and the barriers regarding herbal medicines. Methods Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 47 community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, using a structured interviewing questionnaire. Results Nearly half of the respondents (n = 22, 46.8%) sometimes use herbal medicines. Although knowledge related to such preparations was self-rated as poor/acceptable (n = 34, 72.4%), majority (n = 44, 93.7%) of community pharmacists agree/strongly agree that herbal medicines have beneficial effects. Only 6 (12.7%) of them are sometimes/often engaged in dispensing herbal medicines and most of them (n = 34, 72.3%) rarely/never counseled clients regarding these preparations. Limited knowledge on and access to information regarding herbal medicines are the main barriers to the pharmacists' practice. Conclusion Although community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, commonly use and demonstrated good attitude towards herbal medicines, they are less involved in dispensing such products. They are also challenged with limited knowledge on and access to herbal medicine information. Thus, pharmacy educators, professional organizations, and the government shall pay more attention to solve the problem. Regulatory provisions on herbal medicine dispensing must be enacted and communicated very well.


The MacDowell Colony: A Musical History of America's Premier Artists' Community. By Bridget FalconerSalkeld. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005. [xi, 467 p. ISBN 0-81085419-8. $55.] Index, bibliography, illustrations. The MacDowell Colony for creative artists in Peterborough, New Hampshire has been fostering the careers of composers, writers, and visual artists for almost one hundred years. Some of the most distinguished names in American arts and letters are on its rolls: Aaron Copland, Thornton Wilder, Willa Gather, James Baldwin, and Leonard Bernstein number among them. The colony's underlying philosophy is based on Edward MacDowell's belief that artists working in different disciplines can benefit from contact with one another-a fact that makes it somewhat anomalous to single out music for study. Those who come to the MacDowell Colony are provided a place to work undisturbed within a community of other creative artists. In addition to Copland and Bernstein, the composers who have been in residence include Amy Beach, Roy Harris, Mark Blitzstein, Douglas Moore, Otto Luening, David Diamond, Lukas Foss, Louise Talma, Ned Rorem, Barbara KoIb, and Richard Danielpour, to name but a few. The colony is arguably MacDowell's greatest legacy. The composer was in the throes of his final illness when it began in 1907. It was his widow, Marian MacDowell, who brought the place to life. For this reason, the colony has received scant attention from MacDowell scholars, who generally end their inquiries with the composer's death in 1908. British scholar Bridget Falconer-Salkeld attempts to remedy this unjust neglect with The MacDowell Colony: A Musical History of America's Premier Artists' Community. The MacDowell Colony offers a fascinating case study in the arts in twentiethcentury America. Its history illustrates the early struggle of American artists to forge a national cultural identity and the gradual emergence of the United States as a major artistic force. It is also a pre-feminist story of how one woman's devotion to her late husband sparked a movement that influenced the arts in small towns and big cites across the country. Marian MacDowell's network of loyal clubwomen formed the base of the colony's support during its formative years and provides insight into an overlooked but important aspect of philanthropy in America at the grassroots level. Regrettably, Falconer-Salkeld's study captures little of this. As the first published full-length treatment of the MacDowell Colony, it disappoints. A Scarecrow Press publication, this book is aimed at an academic audience. The first of its six chapters provides a context for the formation of the colony with an overview of earlier artists' communities that may have influenced its development. Cited as models are the Chautauqua Institution in New York, and art colonies in Dublin and Cornish, New Hampshire and Old Lyme, Connecticut-the latter known as the "American Barbizon" and founded at the home of Florence Griswold, Marian MacDowell's cousin. The following two chapters deal respectively with the origins of the MacDowell Colony and its founder, Marian MacDowell. The remaining chapters offer a chronological survey of the colony up to 2000 with an emphasis on the composers who worked there. The author makes several missteps in her study, and they are of two kinds. There are errors that can be verified as such by consulting other sources, such as the reference to Henry F. Gilbert as a "black composer" (p. 98), and the description of the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York as "the men's chorus that MacDowell had formed at Columbia and conducted for two years" (p. 33). Gilbert was an early colonist and known for his use of African American elements in his compositions, notably his Comedy Overture on Negro Themes of 1909. But no biographical source identifies him as African American, including Sherrill V. Martin's recent Henry F. Gilbert: A BioBibliography (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004). …


Biogenic amines are important messenger substances in the central nervous system and in peripheral organs of vertebrates and of invertebrates. The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is excellently suited to uncover the functions of biogenic amines in behaviour, because it has an extensive behavioural repertoire, with a number of biogenic amine receptors characterised in this insect.In the honeybee, the biogenic amines dopamine, octopamine, serotonin and tyramine modulate neuronal functions in various ways. Dopamine and serotonin are present in high concentrations in the bee brain, whereas octopamine and tyramine are less abundant. Octopamine is a key molecule for the control of honeybee behaviour. It generally has an arousing effect and leads to higher sensitivity for sensory inputs, better learning performance and increased foraging behaviour. Tyramine has been suggested to act antagonistically to octopamine, but only few experimental data are available for this amine. Dopamine and serotonin often have antagonistic or inhibitory effects as compared to octopamine.Biogenic amines bind to membrane receptors that primarily belong to the large gene-family of GTP-binding (G) protein coupled receptors. Receptor activation leads to transient changes in concentrations of intracellular second messengers such as cAMP, IP(3) and/or Ca(2+). Although several biogenic amine receptors from the honeybee have been cloned and characterised more recently, many genes still remain to be identified. The availability of the completely sequenced genome of Apis mellifera will contribute substantially to closing this gap.In this review, we will discuss the present knowledge on how biogenic amines and their receptor-mediated cellular responses modulate different behaviours of honeybees including learning processes and division of labour.


In this paper we show the global well-posedness of solutions to a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) model in porous media. Compared to the classical MHD equations, our system involves a nonlinear damping term in the momentum equations due to the "Brinkman-Forcheimer-extended-Darcy" law of flow in porous media.


We have reported previously that N alpha-cocoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester (CAE) strongly inactivates hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg; Sugimoto and Toyoshima, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 16:329--332, 1979). Replacement of the L-arginine moiety of CAE by L-lysine did not decrease the HBsAg-inactivating effect of CAE, whereas replacement by some neutral amino acids and L-ornithine decreased it. Esterification of the carboxyl group of N alpha-acyl-L-arginine enhanced its inactivating effect. When the ethyl ester of CAE was converted to an amide group, the effect was appreciably decreased. Modification of the carboxyl group was essential for the inactivation. The effectiveness of N alpha-acyl-L-arginine ethyl ester depends upon the length of the acyl group, with the optimum length for the inactivation of HBsAg being C12 to C14. In addition to CAE, N alpha-lauroyl-L-lysine ethyl ester and N alpha-cocoyl-L-arginine amide were found to be strong inactivators of HBsAg. Significant inactivating effects on HBsAg were not observed in many anionic detergents containing an amino acid. These results suggest that for strongly inactivating HBsAg, a compound should contain a special amino acid, such as L-arginine, and a long acyl group and exhibit a cationic property.


The new 5G paradigm seeks for a scalable architecture that is able to efficiently manage the increasing volume of traffic generated by smart devices to be processed in a distributed cloud infrastructure. To this end, coordinated management of the network and the cloud resources forming an end-to-end system is of great importance. Software defined networking and network function virtualization architectures are the key enablers for integrating network and cloud resources, enabling cross optimization on both sides. This optimization requires efficient resource allocation algorithms, which take into account computing and network resources. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end orchestration architecture for distributed cloud and network resources aligned with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute management and orchestration architecture. The proposed architecture includes the virtual infrastructure manager and planner (VIMaP) component to enable dynamic resource allocation for interconnected virtual instances in distributed cloud locations. A heuristic algorithm for dynamic virtual machine graphs resource allocation is included to validate the VIMaP architecture and exploit its functionalities. Moreover, the control orchestration protocol is included between the architecture components to offer end-to-end transport services. Finally, the proposed architecture is experimentally validated, and the heuristic algorithm performance is evaluated.


New method of observation and diagnosis of inverter-fed induction motor drives is developed and tested. Unsymmetrical conditions concerning the machine impedances or valves operation are reflected in the spectrum of the current space- phasor. We estimate the spectrum of the space-phasor with the help of the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) and we obtain its time-frequency representation with excellent time and frequency resolution. The proposed method is tested with nonstationary multiple- component signals occurring during the fault operation of inverter-fed drives and transmission lines. Copyright © 2002 IFAC


We calculate a power series expansion of the generalized oscillator strength for forbidden excitations by electron impact in Li-like Al, configuration 1s2 nl, in jj-coupling. In our method we use a configuration interaction expansion for the target wave function including configurations 1s2 nl with n ≤ 5. These results are believed to be the first such values for this system and will be important in plasma modelling.


New N-substituted 2-amino-9,9-dialkylfluorenes optionally bearing electron-withdrawing substituents such as nitro or cyano in position 7 can be synthesized starting from 2-halo-9,9-dialkylfluorenes by Pd-catalyzed substitution with amines. Chiral amino groups can be introduced by this method too. 2-N,N-Dimethylamino-7-nitro-9H-fluorene was obtained in a convenient way by reductive amination. The N-substituted 2-amino-7-nitro-9H-fluorenes are promising candidates for fluorescence probes for femtosecond solvation dynamics.


SUMMARY The objective of this investigation was to identify the channels and analyze the incorporation of the marketing margins of different participants in the productive chain of sheep meat in the municipality of Capulhuac, State of Mexico, during the period 2009-2010. The marketing channel most widely used by the participants of this market was identified, and absolute and relative profit margins were calculated through their equivalent values of the costs and profits of each participating actor. Of the 31 sheep farms or producers interviewed, 58.3 % carried out the sale of live sheep at farm. Considering the absolute margin of marketing in the final price to the consumer per kg of raw meat, the producer obtained 2 USD/kg (40 %) and the intermediaries 3 USD/kg (60 %). Profit in selling cooked final product (barbacoa typical dish), was obtained 4.5 USD/kg (25.7 %) for the producers and 13 USD/kg (74.3 %) for intermediaries. Evidence was found that the most common marketing channel was producer, intermediary, barbacoa seller and final consumer, in which the barbacoa seller obtained the highest benefit-cost ratio.


1 Department of Educational Technology, Taiz University, Taiz, Yemen 2 Department of Educational Methods, Taiz University, Taiz, Yemen 3 Department of Educational, AMU, Aligarh, India *Corresponding Author's E-mail: email@example.com Computers are the most significant tools of information age, have increasingly been used in each stage of education system. The participants were two hundred and forty (240) pre-service teachers who have participated in this study. The implications discussed for ASCUAC and suggestions for pre-service teachers' opinions and attitudes. This paper has designed to study the adoption of the pre-service teachers of the basic class towards the computer usage in three dimensions of their abilities, skills and attitudes. The interaction between these dimensions is the key purpose of this study to integrate technology in existing educational approach and introduce computer technology as an important tool to support new ways of teaching and learning. A model, which explains the effect of CU, AC and ASCU on learning, is established and tested. Using AMOS 18 (Analysis of Moment Structures) program, it explains 55% of CU TOOLS, 77% of ASCU TECHNOLOGY and 55% of AC, with good model fit. As a result, the effectiveness of attitude towards computer (AC) on computer usage (CU) is stronger than other factors in this study.


Background The diagnosis of dermatomyositis (DM) is often challenging as skin or muscle biopsy findings can be non-specific and the characteristic rash is quite heterogeneous in presentation. For example, DM skin lesions often have a distribution similar to that of psoriasis and both diseases share activation of some common inflammatory pathways. In some cases, psoriatic lesions have been reported to occur in patients with DM, although it remains unclear if these lesions represent a coincidental occurrence of psoriasis and DM in the same patient or instead represent an atypical cutaneous manifestation of DM (1,2). Objectives This clinical scenario was used to conduct the current proof-of-concept study to determine if molecular profiling could be used to aid the clinical diagnosis of DM in a patient in which traditional histopathology yielded inconclusive results. Methods A tissue sample was obtained from a clinical and histopathologic psoriatic-appearing lesion occurring in a patient with known DM. Using oligonucleotide microarrays, its molecular features were compared to lesional skin biopsies obtained from 34 confirmed DM and 33 psoriasis patients. Results We first identified the pathways enriched by differential transcripts which differentiate psoriasis from DM. We then demonstrated that the psoriasiform lesion displayed molecular features more similar to DM than psoriasis using both unsupervised hierarchical clustering and principal components analysis. Conclusions This case study suggests that lesions that appear clinically and histologically similar to psoriasis may instead represent an atypical manifestation of DM. Furthermore, this also highlights the clinical utility of molecular profiling in enhancing diagnosis in autoimmune skin diseases. References Pavlovic, M Zecevic RD, Zolotarevski L. Psoriasis in a patient with dermatomyositis. Vojnosanit Pregl 2004; 61(5):557-9. Kim NN, Lio PA, Morgan GA, Jarvis JN, Pachman LM. Double Trouble: Therapeutic Challenges in Patients With Both Juvenile Dermatomyositis and Psoriasis. Arch Dermatol 2011. Disclosure of Interest K. Sarin: None Declared, L. Chung: None Declared, J. Kim: None Declared, B. Higgs Shareholder of: Astra Zeneca, Employee of: MedImmune, B. Jallal Shareholder of: Astra Zeneca, Employee of: MedImmune, Y. Yao Shareholder of: Astra Zeneca, Employee of: MedImmune, D. Fiorentino: None Declared


The recent dramatic medical and technological advances have meant that many children, who would have died previously of their chronic illnesses, now survive and live longer with their families. The purpose of this undertaking was to evaluate whether the implementation of home-based pediatric respite care reduced stress and improved the quality of life for families caring for children with chronic illnesses. Utilization of respite services was associated with a statistically significant (p < .05) reduction in somatic complaints by primary caregivers. There was also a trend in the data suggestive of an association between respite utilization and a subsequent decrease in the number of hospitalization days required by children (p < .07). Public health policy implications of the intervention are discussed.