This study describes Islamic law and its scope. This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive research type. Data analysis using descriptive analysis. The process is carried out since the data, so that when in the field, researchers have started the data analysis process until the end of the research. This research concludes that etymologically Islamic law is all kinds of provisions or provisions regarding something in which the provisions have been regulated and stipulated by Islam. The scope of Islamic law is divided into two, namely 1) law relating to matters of worship, and 2) law relating to social matters. In addition, there is a study of the principles of Islamic law. The value of the divine value is implemented into a number of basic principles or as a more concrete one in a number of fields of Islamic law. As well as the objectives of Islamic law are not limited in terms of material alone, but far in the future pay attention to all aspects, material, immaterial, individuals, society, and humanity in general. The last one regarding the sources of Islamic law. The sources of Islamic law are Al-Qur'an, Al-haditht, and Ar-ra'yu (reasoning).


Tissue levels of all-trans retinoic acid (RA) are maintained through coordinated regulation of biosynthesis and breakdown. The major pathway for all-trans RA inactivation is initiated by 4-hydroxylation. A novel cytochrome P-450 (CYP26) that catalyzes 4-hydroxylation of all-trans RA has recently been cloned. We have investigated regulation and properties of RA 4-hydroxylase in immortalized human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. In the absence of added retinoid, RA 4-hydroxylase (CYP26) mRNA and protein were minimally detected. Addition of all-trans RA rapidly induced RA 4-hydroxylase mRNA (within 2 h) and activity (within 6 h). Induction of both mRNA and activity was transient, returning to baseline within 48 h, and completely dependent on mRNA synthesis (i.e., blocked by actinomycin D). The synthetic retinoid CD367, which specifically activates nuclear RA receptors, also rapidly induced RA 4-hydroxylase activity. This induction, however, unlike that of all-trans RA, was long-lived (>48 h). This difference was attributable to lack of metabolic inactivation of CD367 in HaCaT cells. CD2665, which inhibits RA receptor-dependent gene transcription, blocked retinoid induction of RA 4-hydroxylase, indicating that it is mediated by RA receptors. Addition of excess unlabeled substrates specific for 10 distinct mammalian P-450 subfamilies did not compete with all-trans RA for RA 4-hydroxylase activity. RA 4-hydroxylase did not hydroxylate 9-cis RA or 13-cis RA. Inhibition of RA 4-hydroxylase activity by ketoconazole potentiated activation of RA receptors by all-trans RA. In summary, RA 4-hydroxylase is a unique, highly specific cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme, whose expression is regulated by its natural substrate, all-trans RA, through activation of RA receptors. RA 4-hydroxylase functions to limit the levels, and thereby the biologic activity of all-trans RA in HaCaT cells.


Erectile dysfunction is a part of broader sexual dysfunction which also includes decreases libido and premature ejaculation. The Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS) found that 52% of men between 40 and 70 years old reported having some form of Erectile Dysfunction (ED).1 Medical conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), and psychological conditions, such as depression and anxiety, also contribute to sexual dysfunction in middle-aged elderly men. Neurological disorders such as cerebral diseases, spinal cord injuries and peripheral neuropathies contribute to the ED in some patients. Hormonal disorders such as hypogonadism, vascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular diseases also causes ED. Drugs implicated as a cause of ED include hydrochlorothiazides and beta-blocking agents

Keywords: Administered in the context of an IRB-approved experimental clinical research protocol.


The strain-relief and the structural properties of GaSb films with thin InAs, AlSb, and GaSb buffer layers grown on GaAs (001) substrates at low temperature (LT) by molecular beam epitaxy were investigated using atomic force microscopy, transmission election microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The strain arising from depositing the thin buffer layer onto the GaAs substrate was relieved by a periodic array of 90◦ misfit dislocations with a Burgers vector of 1/2a<110> for the AlSb/GaAs and the GaSb/GaAs systems, but by both 60◦ and 90◦ misfit dislocations for the InAs/GaAs system. The 90◦ misfit dislocation arrays at the AlSb/GaAs and GaSb/GaAs interface had average spacing of 4.80 nm and 5.59 nm, respectively. The mean roughnesses and the full widths at half maximum of the rocking curves of the GaSb films on the thin AlSb and GaSb buffer layers were found, respectively, to be less than 1 nm and about three times lower than the corresponding values for the system with an InAs buffer layer. These results clearly demonstrate that the presence of a thin, low-temperature AlSb or GaSb buffer layer is very useful for improving the quality of GaSb crystals grown on GaAs substrates.


Valproic acid (VPA) is a known teratogen. In the present study, the effects of VPA and seven VPA derivatives with different teratogenic potencies (isobutyl-, 5-methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, pentyl- and hexyl-4-yn-VPA) were investigated in L929 cells in vitro. Evaluated end-points included changes in cell proliferation, growth, cell cycle distribution, morphology, speed, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) and Erk1/2 phosphorylation, and histone H3 acetylation. Changes in proliferation, growth, speed, Erk1/2 and GSK-3β-Tyr216 phosphorylation, and H3 acetylation were significantly associated with the teratogenic potencies of the VPA derivatives. However, in contrast to changes in Erk1/2 phosphorylation and H3 acetylation, significant changes in GSK-3β phosphorylation could only be obtained in response to prolonged incubation at high drug concentration. There was an association between changes in H3 acetylation and GSK-3β-Tyr216 phosphorylation, whereas none of these end-points were associated with changes in Erk1/2 phosphorylation. These results suggest that the teratogenic potencies of VPA and VPA derivatives are related to effects on both Erk1/2 and histone deacetylase activities, whereas changes in GSK-3β activity are possibly a secondary effect.


Thin-film transistors(TFTs) with silicon zinc tin oxide(SZTO) channel layer are fabricated by solution-process. The threshold voltage (Vth) shifted toward positive directly with increasing Si contents in SZTO system. Because the Si has a lower standard electrode potential (SEP) than Sn, Zn, thus degenerate the oxygen vacancy (VO). As a result, the Si act as carrier suppressor and oxygen binder in the SZTO as well as a Vth controller.


BACKGROUND: Cervical stabilization exercises and local vibration may improve proprioception and balance and prevent musculoskeletal problems. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of local vibration and cervical stabilization exercises on balance, cervical joint position sense, and muscle performance in healthy participants. METHODS: Forty-eight healthy male participants without neck pain were included. The participants were randomly divided into three groups: a home exercise program lasting eight weeks to the cervical stabilization group; 60 s of vibration to the neck muscles of the local vibration group and a control group. Balance, joint position sense, and muscle performance were evaluated twice in all subjects, before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Joint position sense error values were decreased in both the local vibration and cervical stabilization groups. Balance was improved (p< 0.001) in the local vibration group while improvement in muscle performance parameters was only seen in the cervical stabilization group (p< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The methods used in the present study may be used for improving the proprioceptive and vestibular components of balance in individuals with musculoskeletal problems such as cervical disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, or neck pain. However, given the limitations, much more research is needed to firmly establish these recommendations.


This paper proposes an original development method for low cost fuzzy control systems dedicated to a class of servosystems. The controlled plants in these systems can be characterized by second-order dynamics with integral type. The controller part in these systems is represented by attractive two-degree-of-freedom PI-fuzzy controllers. The method is based on using the linear case results expressed in terms of the extended symmetrical optimum method and of iterative feedback tuning algorithms, and by the transfer of these results to the fuzzy case. Real-time experimental results corresponding to a nonlinear servosystem validate the proposed development method


This study examines whether the quality of community health in Taiwan has improved after the establishment of the National Health Insurance (NHI); to identify what the related factors are that affect the quality, and to find the possible ways to improve key drivers of healthcare quality. Data were collected from the National Health Insurance Annual Statistics Information Database and the Taipei Health Information Indices Database in the form of unbalanced panel of 153 hospital-years from 1989 to 2002 in 13 Taipei public hospitals within different districts. In addition, panel data analysis with fixed effects model was conducted to identify what factors affected the quality of healthcare before and after the advent of the NHI. After the NHI, quality of care improved insignificantly. The elderly, market competition, new technology, average length of stay (LOS), scale, physician density and nurse to patient ratio were all major factors affecting quality. Moreover, lower doctor density, longer LOS and increased in the number of elderly led to deterioration in the quality of care. The government could improve quality of elder-care by encouraging the re-building of three-generation family values. Policymakers should also permit public hospitals to institute the incentive programs for their professional staffs. In addition, quality could be improved by having hospital managers who enhance efficiency by decreasing the LOS.


This paper presents a simplified methodology for tr eating collisions of ships with lock gates. The goa l is to obtain a good approximation of the law relati ng the resistanceof the gate and the penetration � of the striking vessel. To do so, we assume that th e initial kinetic energy of the ship is dissipated by deforming the structure. As a first step, deformati ons are assumed to take place in localized regions. However, for larger indentations, a global bending mode is postulated on the entire gate. The first pa rt of the article is devoted to a brief presentation o f the basic law relatingandunder the hypothesis of a local deforming mode. In the second part, we s hortly expose the way for dealing with the global bending mode. Finally, the last section presents a comparison between numerical results obtained by finite element analyses and those derived by our si mplified methodology. A quite good accordance is found between the two approaches.


Networked Cyber-Physical Systems (NCPSs) present many challenges since they require a tight combination with the physical world as well as a balance between autonomous operation and coordination among heterogeneous nodes. These fundamental challenges range from how NCPSs are architected, implemented, composed, and programmed to how they can be validated. In this paper, we describe a new paradigm for programming an NCPS that enables users to specify their needs and nodes to contribute capabilities and resources. This new paradigm is based on the partially ordered knowledge-sharing model that makes explicit the abstract structure of a computation in space and time. Based on this model, we propose an application framework that provides a uniform abstraction for a wide range of NCPS applications, especially those concerned with distributed sensing, optimization, and control. The proposed framework provides a generic service to represent, manipulate, and share knowledge across the network under minimal assumptions on connectivity. Our framework is tested on a new distributed version of an evolutionary optimization algorithm that runs on a computing cluster and is also used to solve a dynamic distributed optimization problem in a simulated NCPS that uses mobile robots as controllable data mules.


Improving the stability of electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) through materials design has received less attention than improving their catalytic activity. We explored the effect of Mn addition to a cobalt oxide for stabilizing the catalyst by comparing Na-containing CoOx and (Co0.7Mn0.3)Ox films electrodeposited in alkaline solution. The obtained disordered films were classified as layered oxides using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The CoOx films showed a constant decrease in the catalytic activity during cycling, confirmed by oxygen detection, while that of (Co0.7Mn0.3)Ox slightly increased as measured by electrochemical metrics. These trends were rationalized based on XAS analysis of the metal oxidation states, which were Co2.8+ and Mn3.7+ near the surface after cycling. Thus, adding Mn to CoOx successfully stabilized the catalyst material and its activity during OER cycling. The development of stabilization approaches is essential to extend the durability of OER catalysts.


Eutrophication is the growth of nutrients in a body of water caused by an increase in organic nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus (Hoefnagels, 2014). Our lab tested the effects of these organic nutrients on levels of dissolved oxygen. We questioned if the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus is directly proportionate to the amount of dissolved oxygen. We tested this by completing two different experiments that showed the algae growth and levels of dissolved oxygen. Our experiment showed that dissolved oxygen decreases in bodies of water with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. One alternative explanation is that the yeast used in our experiment was made with tap water and not deionized water, thus skewing our results and making them unclear. The implications of our research could aid in the restoration of ecosystems affected by eutrophication.


Introduction Vitamin D is essential for bone and skeletal health. The major natural source of Vitamin D is from skin exposure to sunlight. Current evidence suggests that there isn't enough ambient ultraviolet sunlight from October to April in UK (UK). Similarly, there are reports of rickets re-emerging in parts of UK. There is no internationally agreed consensus regarding cut off value denoting Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. Variable practice exits in treating symptomatic and asymptomatic children with Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. Aim To evaluate our current practice in investigating and managing children with subnormal Vitamin D levels (<50 nmol/l). Method We carried out a retrospective data review on all patients <17 years of age who had vitamin D levels checked in a District General Hospital setting. Data was collected from 2008–2012 and analysed using Microsoft excel. Results Vitamin D levels were checked on 136 occasions in 89 patients (60% male). 41% of the values were above 50 nmol/l while 20% were <20 nmol/l. ~3/4 values of <20 nmol/l were from children of Indian and Pakistani origin. 80% of patients with values <50 were treated with oral Vitamin D supplementation. Treatment dose varied from 400–10000 IU/day to 20000–40000 IU/week (ergocalciferol or cholecalciferol). Conclusion Our data reiterates lack of unified guidance and variable practice amongst clinicians managing Vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency. Careful attention is required when managing South Asian children with chronic illnesses. There is urgent need for multicentre/national research and unified guideline for prevention and treatment of Vitamin D deficiency in children.


Load balance is critical for performance in large parallel applications. An imbalance on today's fastest supercomputers can force hundreds of thousands of cores to idle, and on future exascale machines this cost will increase by over a factor of a thousand. Improving load balance requires a detailed understanding of the amount of computational load per process and an application's simulated domain, but no existing metrics sufficiently account for both factors. Current load balance mechanisms are often integrated into applications and make implicit assumptions about the load. Some strategies place the burden of providing accurate load information, including the decision on when to balance, on the application. Existing application-independent mechanisms simply measure the application load without any knowledge of application elements, which limits them to identifying imbalance without correcting it.
 Our novel load model couples abstract application information with scalable measurements to derive accurate and actionable load metrics. Using these metrics, we develop a cost model for correcting load imbalance. Our model enables comparisons of the effectiveness of load balancing algorithms in any specific imbalance scenario. Our model correctly selects the algorithm that achieves the lowest runtime in up to 96% of the cases, and can achieve a 19% gain over selecting a single balancing algorithm for all cases.


Off road terrain poses a continual challenge to military movement. To meet this challenge, a robotic mule is designed to be a personal mobility device that can carry a soldier or that a soldier can carry. This paper will discuss the design process of such novel robotic mule, including overall structure, cargo/soldier platform, driving system, power system, and stress analysis and simulation. This robotic mule provides a new approach for army soldiers or soldiers' equipment to move across field effortlessly and efficiently. The movement of the robot can be guided by GPS system or follow a soldier who carries emitter with sensor. The robot is designed to operate in nature terrain, which is standard nature trail in a boreal forest and may have a few roots and rocks but free from climbing obstacles.
 The robotic mechanism is suitable for one-man lift, with weight not to exceed 20 kg. The robot is capable of moving through a standard door width 80 cm while fully loaded. The system can support 100 kg payload. It also provides soldier following capability and be able to perform with or without the operator on board. The system controls balance of the vehicle, while avoiding obstacles, and negotiating narrow urban or off-road terrain. The speed on flat terrain is 5–7 m/s with a range of 30 km.
 The robot mule consists of a robust chassis platform, a driving system, a power system, a chair system for soldier, and GPS and vision system for autonomous control. For chassis platform, its structure is designed to be both light and sturdy. Stress analysis of the structure is applied to verify the safety of carrying objective payload. The width of the chassis platform is designed to access standard handicap door. For driving system, considering both terrain and weight limits, a four-wheel driving system is designed to overcome nature terrain which may have a few roots and rocks. Next, based on calculation of traction need and travel range, motor and lithium battery kit are selected to maintain target speed on flat terrain with target mileage. Power for extra functional features needed, such as sensors for navigation and surrounding detection etc. is also considered in calculation of battery capacity. Cargo/soldier platform is designed to provide proper space for carrying the soldier and/or equipment. Security fixtures are designed and added to the cargo/soldier platform which avoid swaying and falling of equipment. Also, ergonomics research is conducted to make a comfortable and hazards free platform for soldiers. Moreover, two handles are designed and will be mounted on each side of the robot mule, which makes the robot be lifted easily by a soldier and helps guard cargo payload in place.


Analysis of the Oil & Gas market segment showed that potential MS5002E customers could benefit from firing the gas turbine with distillate oil as a back-up fuel, mainly to provide power when the fuel gas is not available (e.g. when the plant itself is being commissioned). To address this customer need, the design of a dual fuel system for such mission should target simplicity, reliability and minimize the additional cost with respect to the single gas version. To achieve these targets, the development of the dual fuel system for the MS5002E leveraged the efforts made by GE for the design of a liquid fuel system for Frame 9F-1 series with no need of atomization air. Moreover, the emission capability during liquid fuel operation was enhanced allowing the mixing of water and fuel before injection in the combustion chamber and using of improved injection technology, thus improving the efficiency of water injection with a significant reduction in the required water flow rates; the importance of this achievement is related to both the increasingly stringent regulation on this subject and the often poor availability of water in the Oil & Gas market segment. The system is capable of continuous operation without water injection for applications where emissions are not critical; in these cases a small amount of demineralized water is employed occasionally for fuel line cooling and flushing, thus helping to guarantee constant performances of the injectors, and to maintain liquid fuel start-up capability over time.This paper presents the expected performance, in terms of ignition capability, emissions, operability and expected hardware durability on LF/water-fuel emulsion operation, based on a single can rig test campaign. The new liquid fuel cartridges were tested from ignition to base load at ISO and extreme simulated ambient conditions, both with and without water injection, showing promising performance in terms of combustor operability and emissions. All the combustor components were instrumented with thermocouples to assess variations in the hardware thermal levels with respect to the single gas conditions, and identify possible issues related to the transient and steady-state liquid fuel operation. Further development and testing will be carried out in the next phases of the development, and the performance will be confirmed by a dedicated engine test at the first commercial opportunity.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


After growing InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells, we prepared two different Ge cells by etching down to the GaAs buffer layer (sample A) and the AlGaAs layer (sample B). Then, the photovoltaic properties of these two Ge cells were investigated under various light concentrations in order to find the factors affecting the overall performance of the triple-junction solar cells. Under concentrated light, the open-circuit voltage (VOC), fill factor and conversion efficiency were higher for sample A than for sample B. The external quantum efficiency was shown to have a slightly higher value for sample A. Both the tunnel junction layer and the top contact resistance increased the series resistance, which also provided defects acting as leakage path. A comparison to previous works suggests that the conversion efficiency of Ge bottom, if present, is degraded marginally after the growth of the full structure of triple-junction solar cells.


The present study demonstrates the free vibration behavior of composite laminated shells reinforced by both randomly oriented single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and functionally graded fibers. The shell structures with different principal radii of curvature are considered, such as cylindrical, spherical, elliptical–paraboloid shell, hyperbolic–paraboloid shell, and plate. The volume fraction of the fibers has a linear variation along the shell thickness from layer to layer, while the volume fraction of CNTs is constant in all shell layers and uniformly distributed. The fiber-reinforced elements are distributed with three functions which are V-distribution, O-distribution, and X-distribution in addition to the uniform distribution. A numerical analysis was carried out systematically to validate the proposed solution. A new analytical solution is presented based on the Galerkin approach for shells and is exploited to illustrate the influence of some factors on the free vibration behavior of CNTs/fibe-reinforced composite (CNTs/F-RC) laminated shells, including the distributions and volume fractions, various boundary conditions, and geometrical properties of the reinforcement materials. The proposed solution is shown to be an effective theoretical tool to analyze the free vibration response of shells.


Salt Lake City, UT. Background: Oncogenic Ras promotes aerobic glycolysis and glutaminolysis to supply central carbon metabolism. Ras-transformed cells also upregulate autophagy and internalization of extracellular proteins and lipids to fuel their enhanced metabolic needs. Ras-mediated metabolic reprogramming generates sufficient ATP and macromolecule precursors to sustain rapid growth and proliferation. Thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) is a potent inhibitor of glucose uptake and aerobic glycolysis. It also promotes β-oxidation, apoptosis, and mediates cell cycle arrest. Consistent with these anti-proliferative functions, TXNIP is strongly downregulated in a variety of human cancers. Further, low TXNIP expression predicts poor clinical outcomes in breast cancer patients. TXNIP transcription and translation are tightly regulated in response to various intracellular and extracellular cues. Our lab previously discovered that TXNIP is acutely downregulated during the G0/G1 transition. Activation of the PI3K and MAPK pathways downregulate TXNIP transcription and translation, respectively. Interestingly, constitutively active Ras G12V also suppresses TXNIP transcription and translation. We hypothesize that TXNIP coordinates cell growth by functioning as a metabolic checkpoint. In transformed cells, persistent engagement of growth factor signaling pathways suppresses TXNIP to allow metabolic reprogramming for unchecked cell growth. Understanding the mechanism(s) by which TXNIP expression is inhibited by oncogenic signaling will shed light on novel therapeutic targets for Ras-driven cancers. Results: In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which constitutively active Ras G12V (Ras henceforth) suppresses TXNIP expression in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Our results demonstrated that Ras is a potent suppressor of TXNIP mRNA and protein levels. By expressing TXNIP under a constitutive promoter, we discovered that Ras downregulates TXNIP protein level independent of its mRNA downregulation. Further, that repression resulted from inhibition of protein synthesis, rather than increased protein turnover. Polysome profiling experiments revealed that Ras inhibits translation elongation of TXNIP mRNA. Consistent with this result, the TXNIP coding region (CDS) was sufficient for Ras to stall translation elongation. Ras did not suppress TXNIP translation when it was encoded by a message with optimized codon usage. This finding suggests that poor codon fitness of the TXNIP CDS is required for its translational inhibition by Ras. Conclusions: Our studies established that oncogenic Ras represses TXNIP expression by inhibiting translation elongation of the TXNIP mRNA. Given the prevalence of Ras activation and TXNIP downregulation in cancers, our findings suggest a novel route by which Ras-driven cancers rewire their metabolism to support their aggressive growth. Because Ras activation upregulates global translation, our experiments suggest that the translation elongation machinery discriminates among mRNAs based on codon usage. Specifically, in non-transformed cells, the translation machinery can translate a spectrum of mRNAs with different codon adaptiveness. By contrast, Ras transformation places an increased demand on the translational machinery, resulting in a bias towards mRNAs with optimal codon usage over mRNAs like TXNIP with relatively poor codon usage. Citation Format: Zhizhou Ye, Donald E. Ayer. Oncogenic Ras reprograms metabolism by suppressing TXNIP translation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Translational Control of Cancer: A New Frontier in Cancer Biology and Therapy; 2016 Oct 27-30; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(6 Suppl):Abstract nr B48.


OBJECTIVE
In this naturalistic study, we investigated the rate, time course, and predictors of a diagnostic switch from unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) to bipolar disorder type I or II during a 5-year follow-up.

METHOD
The Vantaa Depression Study included at baseline 269 psychiatric outpatients (82.9%) and inpatients (17.1%) with DSM-IV MDD, diagnosed using structured and semi-structured interviews and followed up at 6 months, 18 months, and 5 years between February 1, 1997 and April 30, 2004. Information on 248 MDD patients (92.2%) was available for analyses of the risk of diagnostic switch. Cox proportional hazards models were used.

RESULTS
Twenty-two subjects (8.9%) with previous unipolar MDD switched to bipolar disorder type II and 7 (2.8%) to type I. Median time for switch to bipolar type I was significantly shorter than to type II. In Cox proportional hazards analyses, severity of MDD (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.15, p = .036), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (HR = 5.00, 95% CI = 2.04 to 12.5, p < .001), social phobia (HR = 2.33, 95% CI = 1.00 to 5.26, p = .050), and large number of cluster B personality disorder symptoms (HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.20, p = .022) predicted switch.

CONCLUSION
Among outpatients with MDD in secondary level psychiatric settings, diagnostic switch to bipolar disorder usually refers to type II rather than type I. The few switching to bipolar type I do so relatively early. Predictors for diagnostic switch include not only features of mood disorder, such as severity, but may also include some features of psychiatric comorbidity, such as concurrent social phobia, OCD, and symptoms of cluster B personality disorders.


Direct numerical simulations were performed to investigate the physics of a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer flow subjected to a spanwise oscillating electromagnetic force. The electromagnetic force was applied beneath a finite length of the flat plate. A fully implicit fractional step method was employed to simulate the flow. The mean and turbulent flow properties were obtained to analyze the spatial evolution of the near-wall vortical structure. It was found that the skin friction drag is significantly reduced for an oscillation period of T + = 100. Imposition of electromagnetic forcing leads to a decrease in turbulence production, which in turn causes a reduction in the turbulent kinetic energy. Instantaneous flow visualization techniques were used to observe the responses of the streamwise vortices and streak structures. The visualization results show that imposition of the spanwise oscillation suppresses and weakens the streak structures. Downstream of the region where the electromagnetic force is applied the flow eventually relaxes back to a two-dimensional equilibrium boundary layer.


For distributed generation (DG) network, it is important to estimate the real-time states. The information-centric networking (ICN) is established to take charge of the communication of DG network. However, the assumption of ideal communication between sensors and the estimation center cannot be guaranteed due to the communication constraints of ICN with the increasing DG network. A conventional algorithm, which reduces the communication burden in ICN, is to drop the observation of each smart grid in a random way. However, the accuracy of this algorithm recession decays rapidly with the increasing drop rate. To guarantee an appropriate estimation accuracy when the drop rate increases, this paper introduces the event-trigger strategy into the estimation algorithm. An event-trigger extended Kalman filter (ET-EKF) is established in this paper to adapt the nonlinearity of DG system. ET-EKF reduces the communication burden and achieves an appropriate estimation accuracy at the same time. Finally, its feasibility and performance are demonstrated using the standard IEEE 39-bus system with phasor measurement units (PMUs).


The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of Daucus carota seeds on cognitive functions, total serum cholesterol levels and brain cholinesterase activity in mice. The ethanolic extract of Daucus carota seeds (DCE) was administered orally in three doses (100, 200, 400 mg/kg) for seven successive days to different groups of young and aged mice. Elevated plus maze and passive avoidance apparatus served as the exteroceptive behavioral models for testing memory. Diazepam-, scopolamine- and ageing-induced amnesia served as the interoceptive behavioral models. DCE (200, 400 mg/kg, p.o.) showed significant improvement in memory scores of young and aged mice. The extent of memory improvement evoked by DCE was 23% at the dose of 200 mg/kg and 35% at the dose of 400 mg/kg in young mice using elevated plus maze. Similarly, significant improvements in memory scores were observed using passive avoidance apparatus and aged mice. Furthermore, DCE reversed the amnesia induced by scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg, i.p.) and diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.). Daucus carota extract (200, 400 mg/kg, p.o.) reduced significantly the brain acetylcholinesterase activity and cholesterol levels in young and aged mice. The extent of inhibition of brain cholinesterase activity evoked by DCE at the dose of 400 mg/kg was 22% in young and 19% in aged mice. There was a remarkable reduction in total cholesterol level as well, to the extent of 23% in young and 21% in aged animals with this dose of DCE. Therefore, DCE may prove to be a useful remedy for the management of cognitive dysfunctions on account of its multifarious beneficial effects such as, memory improving property, cholesterol lowering property and anticholinesterase activity.


Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of curcumin mouthwash in preventing and relieving CCRT-induced severe oral mucositis Methods: We conducted a blinded, randomized controlled trial in patients with head and neck cancer receiving definite CCRT with 3-weekly cisplatin. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive curcumin mouthwash (MW) or normal saline solution (NSS) MW. Results: Thirty patients were enrolled in this study. Ten patients in the curcumin MW group and 13 patients in the NSS MW group were analyzed. The incidence of severe oral mucositis (grade 3–4 defined by the WHO grading scale) was reduced in the curcumin MW group at weeks 4, 7, and 10. However, it was not statistically different. The severity of oral mucositis was significantly reduced in the curcumin MW group at week 4 (mean = 0.09 vs 0.32, p = 0.016). There was no significant toxicities or safety concerns for curcumin MW. Conclusions: The incidence and severity of oral mucositis trend to decreased in curcumin MW group compared with the NSS MW group. These results indicated the feasibility and acceptability for curcumin MW in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients undergoing CCRT


We have used a Distributed Time Sequence Routing protocol (DTSR); the DTSR is used to locate the correct relay node and sink node for data transmission. In our wireless network is considered in to neighbor's node in the network. Using the node data will be sending in to source to destination. To reduce the energy cost, nodes are active only during data transmission and the intersection of node creates a larger merged node. Then we recognize a particular set of adhoc network applications so as to are flexible to this scalability limit. We are also improving the DTSR roaming with both network size and node density. The Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange is one of the more popular and interesting methods of key distribution. It is a public-key cryptographic system whose sole purpose is for distributing keys, whereby it is used to exchange a single piece of information, and where the value obtained is normally used as a session key for a private-key scheme It enables that adhoc nodes can communicate each other securely. The key distribution to adhoc nodes is done by means of two layer process. This paper proposes a key distribution scheme, based on intrusion detection method for using a data transmission from source to destination on the network. It based high level security and more energy efficient data transmission on their network.


Using multiple‐receiver arrays, the techniques of spaced antennas and spatial domain interferometry have been widely utilized in mesosphere‐stratosphere‐troposphere (MST) VHF and meteor radars. As these techniques are applied, the phase imbalance between the receiving channels will cause a biased result if it is not considered in the use of phase angles of the radar returns received in different receiving channels. In view of this, many methods have been employed for the phase calibration of receiving channels. In this paper, we propose one more method/procedure for the calibration, in which the commercial airplane flying routinely is used as a radar target. We measure the zenith and azimuth angles of the airplane with a video camera and estimate the range and height of the airplane from observation using the frequency domain interferometry (FDI) technique. Consequently, the track of the airplane in the vicinity of the radar site can be determined. The phase difference between the two radar echoes received by a pair of receiving channels is then predicted in accordance with the track of the airplane. Comparing the predicted phase difference with that observed, the phase imbalance between a pair of receiving channels could be obtained. Tens of cases show consistent results and so verify the reliability of the method. Also shown is the drift of system phase imbalance from season to season, which might be caused by the temperature dependence of antenna system components.


Stability of generic arcs of hyperbolic vector fields having a bifurcation due to the creation of a quasi-transversal intersection orbit is studied under the assumption that The main novelty is the treatment that we give to the case where this quasi-transversal orbit is in the intersection of the unstable manifold of some orbit of a non-trivial basic set: we prove its stability using some special neighbourhood structure that resembles Thurston's `train tracks'. Following closely the ideas of Palis and Smale, our approach also provides a direct geometric proof of the stability of hyperbolic flows satisfying the transversality condition, a fact proved in all dimensions by Robinson. This original geometric approach has played a key role in the study of bifurcation and stability of parametrized families of vector fields as described by several authors.


Weirs and traps were used to monitor the movement of two strains of stocked brown trout, Salmo trutta L. Within 24 h of stocking, 15% (n = 13) of a Danish strain and 21% (n = 19) of a hybrid strain moved at least 100 m from their release site. In the following 5- 6 days, no further movement was found for Danish fish, but hybrid fish continued to move, totaling 32% (n = 29) of the fish stocked. During this same period, 36 wild brown trout (» 3.5% of the population) were captured, moving over the weirs. Two weeks later, and one week after a flood, 70% (n = 59) of the Danish strain were recovered within their release sites and 89% (n = 76) were recovered during an electric fishing survey within the 3.5-km-long experimental area. In contrast, 43% (n = 31) of the hybrid strain were recaptured in their release sites and 49% (n = 45) within the experimental area. The total recapture of wild adult fish was only 16% (n = 41). The flooding event was insignificant in comparison with strain- specific behaviours in determining patterns of movement and residency.


When does a venture capital firm withdraw from an investment project prior to its completion? This study offers a real options view on this decision by examining the contingent effects of portfolio configuration. We explore how project withdrawal can be influenced by two distinct dimensions of portfolio configuration, portfolio focus in a strategic domain and portfolio diversity across multiple domains. The empirical analysis shows that while portfolio focus weakens the negative effect of industry-level uncertainty on a venture capitalist's propensity to withdraw from a project, portfolio diversity strengthens the effect of uncertainty. This study informs current research on the boundary of real options theory and sheds light on the behavior of venture capitalists in financing entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Lupulone, a β-acid derived from hop extracts has been shown to exhibit cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. In this study we investigated the functional role of different modes of cell death that mediate anticancer effect of lupulone derivatives in prostate cancer cells. ELISA, immunoblotting and siRNA approaches were utilised to study cell death, expression of proteins of interest and their functional activities. We found that the anticancer effect of lupulone derivatives on prostate cancer cells is associated with induction of apoptosis and autophagy as determined by increases of DNA fragmentation and LC3I/ LC3II conversion respectively. Inhibition of apoptosis using a pan-caspase inhibitor resulted in increased levels of autophagy. Following screening of proteins associated with autophagy we found that Atg4β expression was increased in prostate cancer cells after treatment with lupulone. Transfection of cells with siRNA against Atg4β resulted in increased levels of apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. Treatment of prostate cancer cells with lupulone derivatives initiated two modes of cell death: apoptosis as a killing pathway and autophagy as a protection against cell death. Further studies are required to investigate the regulation of Atg4β activity in lupulone derivatives-induced negative crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy.


The author discusses the various uses of organic acids in the preparation and maintenance of stainless steels. Included is a review of the fundamental properties of organic acids, and a discussion of the methods of use inacid and alkaline cleaning, electropolishing, and the application of oxalate coatings. Emphasis is placed on providing a state-of-the-art survey of these current and potential uses of organic acids.


Reflexive verbs in Modern Hebrew show specific morphological marking: only one of the seven verbal templates in the language can be used for reflexives. Yet this morphological marking also appears on anticausative verbs, which have different syntactic and semantic properties. I provide an analysis of reflexivity in Hebrew which does not make reference to dedicated reflexive morphosyntax. By combining independently needed functional heads, the proposal explains what in the syntax underlies this morphology and how different kinds of verbs end up with identical morphophonological properties. To this end, I consider the lexical semantics of individual lexical roots as well as the syntactic configurations in which roots and arguments are embedded. The resulting theory is one in which lexical roots trigger specific interpretations of the syntax at the interfaces.


A lattice-stiffening transition is observed near 230 K in corrugated 'chain like' gadolinium structures formed on Mo(112) and W(112). This transition is evident from the change in the effective Debye temperature. Below the transition temperature of 230 K the gadolinium overlayer lattice has much higher effective Debye temperature than that observed for higher temperatures (for the quasi-one-dimensional Gd sub-monolayer structures or for the higher coverage overlayers). From model studies, lateral dipole–dipole and indirect interactions as well as the interaction between the adatoms and the substrate play an important role in this transition.


Objectives Autoimmune diseases (AD) may be associated with coeliac disease (CD), but specific risk factors have been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the spectrum of AD and its specific risk factors associated in a series of adult coeliac patients. Materials and Methods We performed a single-center case-control study including adult newly diagnosed CD patients. To evaluate the risk factors of the association between AD and CD, 341 coeliac patients included were categorized on the basis of AD presence: 91 cases with at least one AD and 250 controls without AD were compared for clinical, serological, and histological features. Eighty-seven cases were age-gender-matched with 87 controls. Results Among 341 CD patients, 26.6% of CD patients had at least one AD. Endocrine and dermatological diseases were the most prevalent AD encountered: autoimmune thyroiditis was present in 48.4% of cases, psoriasis in 17.6%, and type I diabetes and dermatitis herpetiformis in 11%, respectively. At logistic regression, factors associated with AD were a positive 1st-degree family history of AD (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.93–7), a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2 at CD diagnosis (OR 2.95%, CI 1.1–3.8), and long standing presentation signs/symptoms before CD diagnosis (>10 years) (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1–3.7). Analysis on age-gender-matched patients confirmed these results. Conclusions CD patients with family history of AD, overweight at CD diagnosis, and a delay of CD diagnosis had an increased risk of having another AD. The benefit of CD screening in these specific subsets of patients with AD awaits further investigation.


Based on the massive influx of refugees in Europe during 2015 and 2016 the article summarizes the development for Germany. It reconstructs and explains the so-called miracle of September 2015 of a warm welcoming. Then it argues that the European Union developed a nice Common European Asylum System (ceas), but that it revealed its weaknesses and finally broke down in light of the refugee movements of 2015. The main flaws of ceas are analysed. It is argued that it was mainly civil society and their organisational networks that 'closed the gap' between a nice regulative framework and the restrictive policy of member states that is characterised as 'organised non-responsibility'. Finally, future challenges are discussed.


Introduction:Cardiovascular (CV) morbidity is a major problem in patients suffering from depression. Greater CV mortality is found in cardiac patients with depression than without depression. Depressive disorder can cause altered autonomic nerve function. This study design to assess autonomic nerve function activity by heart rate variability analysis in patients with major depressive disorder and its correlation with duration of disease.
Materials and Methods: This case study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka in 2011. 60 patients of both sexes with major depressive disorder (MDD) aged from 20-50 years were included in the study group (Group B). The patients were selected from out and inpatient Department of Psychiatry in Bangabandhu Sheik Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). Group B were divided into B-1 consisting of 30 drug naive MDD patients & B-2 consisting of 30 medicated MDD patients. For comparison age and sex matched 30 apparently healthy subjects (Group A) were also studied. The HRV parameters were recorded by 4 active channels, Polyrite-D machine. For statistical analysis ANOVA, independent sample t-test, chi-square test and Pearson's correlation coefficient test were performed by using SPSS for windows version-16 as applicable.
Results: Mean resting pulse rate, mean heart rate, systolic blood pressure were significantly higher in drug naive and medicated MDD patients in comparison with that of healthy control. Mean R-R interval, Max/Min R-R interval, SDNN, RMSSD, PNN50%, NN50% were significantly lower in this groups of patients. Correlation analysis showed negative correlations of SDNN, RMSSD, PNN50%, NN50% with disease duration which was statistically significant only for SDNN.
Conclusion: Sympathovagal imbalance may occur in both drug naive and medicated MDD patients which is associated with higher sympathetic and lower vagal modulation of the heart rate. In addition, parasympathetic nerve function parameters show negative relationship with the duration of disease.
Medicine Today 2020 Vol.32(2): 76-80


While Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are starting to become more popular and used for many applications, developing these applications is still not a trivial task due to many technical challenges such as limited hardware capabilities, communication, and energy resources; high heterogeneity; security; and quality of service (QoS) issues. Recently Service-Oriented Middleware (SOM) has become a preferred platform for developing WSN applications over the more traditional development platforms to help address these challenges. SOM logically views WSN as a service provider for user applications. The SOM provides abstractions for the complex underlying WSN infrastructure through a set of services needed by the WSN applications. These services can be data aggregation, adaptation, security, self-organization, reliability, and management services. This paper surveys the current SOM solutions for WSN. The paper discusses the trends and challenges of designing and developing these solutions for WSN.


The concept of a large intelligent surface (LIS) has recently emerged as a promising wireless communication paradigm that can exploit the entire surface of man-made structures for transmitting and receiving information. An LIS is expected to go beyond massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, insofar as the desired channel can be modeled as a perfect line-of-sight. To understand the fundamental performance benefits, it is imperative to analyze its achievable data rate, under practical LIS environments and limitations. In this paper, an asymptotic analysis of the uplink data rate in an LIS-based large antenna-array system is presented. In particular, the asymptotic LIS rate is derived in a practical wireless environment where the estimated channel on LIS is subject to estimation errors, interference channels are spatially correlated Rician fading channels, and the LIS experiences hardware impairments. Moreover, the occurrence of the channel hardening effect is analyzed and the performance bound is asymptotically derived for the considered LIS system. The analytical asymptotic results are then shown to be in close agreement with the exact mutual information as the number of antennas and devices increase without bounds. Moreover, the derived ergodic rates show that hardware impairments, noise, and interference from estimation errors and the non-line-of-sight path become negligible as the number of antennas increases. Simulation results show that an LIS can achieve a performance that is comparable to conventional massive MIMO with improved reliability and a significantly reduced area for antenna deployment.


Hypervitaminosis A induces the following changes in the rat parotid gland: smaller size acini with lower cells and a smaller number of cytoplasmic granules, decreased acidophilia, and smaller nuclei. The striated ducts show smaller, disorganized cells with smaller nuclei, as well as increased secretion in their lumina. These data were confirmed by morphometric techniques.


In the preceding note ~ it has been shown that salamander larva~ which are fed exclusively on calf's thymus gland develop tetanic convulsions. Several facts were mentioned supporting the idea that this phenomenon is identical with the tetany observed in mammals after parathyroidectomy; it was also made probable by our experiments that the tetanic convulsions, produced in the salamander larvae, were due to the action of a specific substance contained in the thymus, inasmuch as the thymus feeding did not become effective until the primordial thymus glands of the larvae had reached a stage in which they assume some of the structures of true thymus glands. Instead of assuming that the thymus gland secretes a toxin causing tetany, it might be argued that the effects of thymus feeding were due to the absence from the thymus ot some substances which are necessary to make up a complete diet for the salamander larvae, for in the experiments reported in our previous paper the larvae were fed exclusively on thymus. In other words, it might be argued that the tetany produced in our experiments was in reality a deficiency phenomenon. While formerly it was generally assumed that the thymus belongs to the glands with internal secretion, doubts have recently arisen in this regard. After it had apparently been demonstrated by some authors that the thymus contains substances which stimulate the growth of tadpoles of frogs and toads 2 in a specific way, Swingle a has


BACKGROUND
Lacrimal drainage dysfunction is a common and problematic consequence of any pathologic process that interferes with the physiology or continuity of the lacrimal drainage apparatus. The literature widely documents several reliable, safe, and consistently well-tolerated techniques of nasolacrimal intubation for the repair of lacrimal system dysfunction; however, the role and the timing of such intubation in primary surgery involving the regional anatomy of the lacrimal system remain controversial. The authors evaluated the role of lacrimal intubation as a therapeutic and prophylactic procedure in complex primary surgery for trauma, tumor, and chronic infection of the lacrimal drainage system.

METHODS
Sixty-one cases of either unilateral or bilateral silicone intubation of the lacrimal drainage system in 54 patients were analyzed retrospectively with respect to diagnosis, indication for intubation (therapeutic or prophylactic), and clinical outcome. Final long-term patency of the system after tube removal was assessed by the absence of epiphora and positive Jones primary dye test.

RESULTS
Lacrimal intubation as part of the primary repair of facial trauma, tumor resection, and relief of lacrimal system obstruction resulted in a patent, functional lacrimal drainage system in all 61 cases, with no associated morbidity. The risks of diagnostic manipulation at the time of surgery were avoided.

CONCLUSIONS
This series demonstrates that prophylactic intubation of the lacrimal system in any trauma or tumor resection near or around the region in addition to those that directly involve these systems should be considered, as the risks of silicone intubation in such cases are relatively negligible compared with the morbidity and nuisance associated with postoperative epiphora and/or recurrent dacryocystitis. Concomitant nasolacrimal intubation in conjunction with the repair of complex midfacial fractures or tumor extirpation is a safe and effective means of ensuring the establishment of a patent, functional drainage system in the absence of direct lacrimal system involvement.


Electric-powered wheelchairs have been used as a convenient transport device for elderly and disabled. Recently, a front drive type electric wheelchair that is easy for a disabled person to climb on from a bed has been focused on. However, front-drive-type wheelchairs are hard to run straight and difficult to operate because their over-steering characteristic is strong owing to free casters. If the wheelchair can be driven by an easy control stick operation, it will be a comfortable function for disabled persons. In our previous study, we proposed a front-drive-type wheelchair control method which realizes comfortable functions, i.e. driving with easy stick operation like the traditional rear-drive-type wheelchair. The proposed control system uses ideal model of electric wheelchairs. By using our proposed method, the maneuverability can be improved for realizing easy stick operation. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed method by simulations and experiments on a slope with electric-powered front-drive-type wheelchair. In particular, straight-ahead stability on slope is analyzed by human driving.


Automatic speaker verification (ASV) systems, which determine whether two speeches are from the same speaker, mainly focus on verification accuracy while ignoring inference speed. However, in real applications, both inference speed and verification accuracy are essential. This study proposes cross-sequential re-parameterization (CS-Rep), a novel topology re-parameterization strategy for multi-type networks, to increase the inference speed and verification accuracy of models. CS-Rep solves the problem that existing re-parameterization methods are not suitable for typical ASV backbones. When a model applies CS-Rep, the training-period network utilizes a multi-branch topology to capture speaker information, whereas the inference-period model converts to a time-delay neural network (TDNN)-like plain backbone with stacked TDNN layers to achieve the fast inference speed. Based on CS-Rep, an improved TDNN with friendly test and deployment called Rep-TDNN is proposed. Compared with the state-of-the-art model ECAPA-TDNN, Rep-TDNN increases the actual inference speed by about 50% and reduces the EER by 10%. The code and trained models are available at https://github.com/zrtlemontree/CS-Rep.


Biofat is a hexane extract containing several bioactive compounds with anacardic acid as the major compound. This study aimed to examine the effect of anacardic acid on rumen fermentation, especially methane and its degradation in the in vitro rumen fermentation. The study was arranged in a completely randomized block design. The treatments were control (substrate or complete feed), biofat (substrate + 0.75 uL/mL biofat), and anacardic acid (substrate + 0.75 uL/mL anacardic acid). Measured variables were total gas production, methane, pH, concentration of ammonia (NH3), dry matter degrability (DMD), organic matter degrability (OMD), and neutral detergent fiber degrability (NDFD) in the rumen. The chromatogram GC-MS analysis results indicated that the anacardic acid isolation process of the biofat produced nearly pure isolate (99.44%), and significantly decreased the production of methane by 51.21% and 39.62%, respectively. Anacardic acid degradation pattern in the in vitro rumen test showed a shifting of retention factor (Rf) value after anacardic acid being incubated with the degradation of anacardic acid occurred after 24 h of fermentation. In conclusion, anacardic acid isolated from biofat has a dominant role to reduce the in vitro methane production. Anacardic acid is very potential to be used as a methane reducing agent.


Respiratory viral infections, including parainfluenza virus (PIV), are a significant cause of illness and death worldwide, especially among young children and the elderly. Understanding the immune response to these viruses is important for reducing pathology and developing vaccines. As a first line of defense, Natural Killer (NK) cells provide critical host protection against viruses. Their presence in the lung, a key site of pathogen entry, suggests an important role for these cells in respiratory viral infection. Sendai virus (SeV), a natural mouse pathogen, is closely related to human PIV, and causes respiratory infection similar to that seen in humans. No studies have directly assessed NK cells in host protection during SeV infection. Our research shows that NK cells are recruited into the lung airways by day 2 post infection (p.i.), and continue to accumulate in the lungs. NK-depleted mice have higher viral titers in the lungs on days 3 and 5 p.i. NK cells upregulate the activating receptor NKG2D during infection, and in the absence of NK cells, a higher percentage of CD8 T cells expresses NKG2D. NKG2D antibody blockade results in higher viral titers on day 4 p.i. Our data show that NK cells play a protective role and are an important cell population during PIV infection. These studies will deepen our understanding of NK cell biology, and may also help in the design of new methods to treat, and possibly prevent, these diseases.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: BPH affects tens of millions of men across the world. Most procedures require either general or regional anesthesia or a transurethral approach. Herein, we present the 3 & 6 months results of NCT04760483 is a phase I prospective, single center, interventional pilot study evaluating transperineal laser ablation (TPLA) of BPH tissues, carried in Office setting under local anesthesia. A detailed step by step video depiction of this procedure is available at the AUA video library. The objectives call for safety, feasibility, and impact in pertinent outcomes measures, such as Uroflowmetry, IPSS, Hematuria, Erectile function, and ejaculation METHODS: The study contemplated accrual of 20 men between 50 and 80 years with prostate volumes between 30 and 120 cc, IPSS scores >9, peak flows between 5 and 15 cc/s and void residuals under <250 ml. Any patient neurological conditions, history of any surgical intervention or urinary retention were excluded. IPSS assessments, Flow studies and prostate volume measures were conducted at 3 months. Herein we present the results. Bayesian analysis for continuous measurements were performed and non-parametric differences were evaluated using chi2 tests. RESULTS: Patients enrolled between December 2020 and February of 2021. The median (IQR) for age and BMI was 68 (58,73) and 29 (27,31), respectively. These parameters for room time, ablation time, watts and total joules were 29 (23,32), 9 minutes (7,12), 6 (5,7) watts and 3,400 (2,600, 3600) joules, respectively. 8(40%) were discharged with a Foley due to elevated residuals. 16 patients had erections and ejaculations before and 3 months after TPLA. 17/20 (85%) had significant improvement in their urinary profile after TPLA (See TABLE for details). One of the initial responders suffered from COVID- 19 infection and developed a CVA that hindered his urinary function. CONCLUSIONS: TPLA in the office setting is feasible and safe. Three month outcomes showed subjective and objective sustained improvement in over 80% of patients for at least 6 months. Furthermore, erections or ejaculations were not affected. This novel and promising approach demands further evaluation in phase II-III trials. (Figure Presented).


In this paper, the effects of repair welding and grinding, which are currently the main components used in the maintenance of crossings, on the performance of crossings are analyzed. It has been observed that sometimes the welding and grinding activities that directly affect the geometry of the crossings and/or material properties can have negative effects on the performance and ultimately on the service life of the crossings. In this paper, the effect of the changes of geometry has been studied experimentally, while the effect of the changes in the material properties has been analyzed using a numerical model. When grinding the shape of the crossing nose, the resulting profile can deviate from the original one. To analyze the geometry-related effects of welding and grinding, the geometry of crossings (cross-sectional profiles) as well as the corresponding dynamic accelerations due to passing trains are measured before and after the welding and grinding activities. Based on the comparison of the measured accelerations, the performance of the measured crossings has been assessed. Also, a welding repair that is not properly performed can lead to undesirable changes in the material properties of the rails, resulting in defects in rails. The material-related effects of the welding and grinding are studied using the three-dimensional explicit finite element model wherein a wheelset moves over a railway crossing. To understand the microstructure of the welding defect and provide an input for the numerical model, the results of ultrasonic and microscopic analyses of some welded crossings are presented first. Then, a number of the numerical simulations of the crossing with the welding defect are performed to investigate the failure mechanism of the crossing. Furthermore, assessment using the fatigue model (coupled with the finite element model) that accounts for the ratcheting behavior of material by calculating a number of the load cycles to the crack initiation is performed. Finally, conclusions on the effects of changes in geometry and material of the crossings due to repair welding and grinding are given.


This paper reviews the response of the European stock markets to the Brexit referendum. We analyze the correlation of market indices, stock volatility and the special role of stocks from the financial sector. While the impact of the vote was very similar for the stock markets in France, Germany and Spain, in Italy volatility among financial stocks intensified permanently.


About 56,000 conodont elements are referred to 25 species and 16 genera. One new species, Rhipidognathus rowlandensis, is described. The conodonts came from 16 sections in rocks of Late Maysville and Richmond age in the Cincinnati area. Three faunas are recognized. A northern fauna dominated by Phragmodus undatus and Plectodina furcata and a southern fauna distinguished by species of Plectodina, Zygognathus, and Rhipidognathus were present throughout the late Maysville and Richmond time. In late Richmond time a third fauna characterized by Belodina and Panderodus invaded from the northwest.


Beta site testing in the HIS industry is as important as test driving a new car or test marketing a new consumer product. The end-user or manufacturer wants to make sure the product or service does everything it is supposed to do. And no hospital wants to purchase an information system that hasn't been put to the test.


It has been shown that the apparent advantage of some quantum machine learning algorithms may be efficiently replicated using classical algorithms with suitable data access -- a process known as dequantization. Existing works on dequantization compare quantum algorithms which take copies of an n-qubit quantum state $|x\rangle = \sum_{i} x_i |i\rangle$ as input to classical algorithms which have sample and query (SQ) access to the vector $x$. In this note, we prove that classical algorithms with SQ access can accomplish some learning tasks exponentially faster than quantum algorithms with quantum state inputs. Because classical algorithms are a subset of quantum algorithms, this demonstrates that SQ access can sometimes be significantly more powerful than quantum state inputs. Our findings suggest that the absence of exponential quantum advantage in some learning tasks may be due to SQ access being too powerful relative to quantum state inputs. If we compare quantum algorithms with quantum state inputs to classical algorithms with access to measurement data on quantum states, the landscape of quantum advantage can be dramatically different. We remark that when the quantum states are constructed from exponential-size classical data, comparing SQ access and quantum state inputs is appropriate since both require exponential time to prepare.


Entomopathogenic fungi can cause substantial mortality in harmful insects. Before killing the insect, these pathogens start by negatively affecting the biological parameters of the host. Prior to our study, the information about how fungal exposure affects the biological parameters of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans was still elusive. Therefore, we aimed to assess the infection of S. calcitrans with some Metarhizium anisopliae strains, and their impact on feeding, fecundity, fertility and other life-history traits of this fly. Among the 11 M. anisopliae strains screened, we identified ICIPE 30 as the most virulent strain against S. calcitrans. We observed that the infectivity of this strain was sex and age-dependent. Infected male S. calcitrans died earlier than their counterpart females. Older infected S. calcitrans died faster than infected young ones. Also, male and female S. calcitrans successfully transmitted ICIPE 30 conidia to their mates. We demonstrated that infection by ICIPE 30 extended the feeding time of S. calcitrans and consequently reduced the feeding probability of the fly and the amount of blood taken. Using a dual test oviposition bioassay, we determined that uninfected gravid female S. calcitrans avoided laying eggs on substrates amended with ICIPE 30 conidia. We showed that these conidia could lower the hatchability of the eggs deposited by gravid females. Using, a no-choice test, we showed that gravid female S. calcitrans infected with ICIPE 30 laid fewer eggs than uninfected females and those eggs hatched less. Using 11 strains of M. anisopliae and four high concentrations of ICIPE 30 conidia, we verified that S. calcitrans larvae were not susceptible to fungal infection. Further, we showed that though these larvae were tolerant to fungal infection, there was a significant effect on their fitness, with contaminated larvae having a small bodyweight coupled with longer developmental time as compared to uncontaminated larvae. Our study provides detailed information on how fungal infection affects the biology of S. calcitrans and the potential of using M. anisopliae ICIPE 30 as a biopesticide to reduce the fly population. Such knowledge can assist in developing fungal-based control strategies against this harmful fly.


This study is aimed to further characterize on a neurochemical, histological and morphometric ground the human Locus K, a newly identified region in the human nucleus cuneatus that shares neurochemical features with protopathic second order sensory nuclei (Del Fiacco et al., 2013; Serra et al., 2013). Human brainstem sections were observed by means of ABC immunohistochemistry for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), substance P (SP) and transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 receptor (TRPV1), Kluver-Barrera, Black Gold kit II and Nissl staining followed by computerized analysis of cell size and density. As for CGRP and SP, at both pre- and postnatal age, immunoreactivity to TRPV1 occurs in Locus K with a distribution alike that present in the spinal trigeminal nucleus, caudal part. Morphometric analysis shows that, in adult tissue, the mean diameter and density of Nissl stained neurons in the Locus K are consistent with those of the caudal spinal trigeminal and solitary nuclei, and different from those in the gracile, cuneate and external cuneate nuclei. Kluver-Barrera and Black Gold kit II staining shows that myelinated fibres, abundant in the main cuneate, gracile and trigeminal magnocellular nuclei, are scarce in both the Locus K and trigeminal substantia gelatinosa. Immunohistochemical and cyto- and myeloarchitectural analysis uphold the parallel neurochemical and structural arrangement for Locus K and protopathic nuclei in the human medulla oblongata, and support the concept that Locus K represents a special component of the human dorsal column nuclei. Work funded by Fondazione Banco di Sardegna.


OBJECTIVE
Because dry powder inhalers (DPI) aerosolize agents by means of inspiration of patients themselves, inspiratory resistance of DPI is an important factor for increasing inhalation efficiency. Therefore, we measured inspiratory resistance of DPI of agents for asthma control.

METHODS
Using Flow/Volume Simulator, when setting flow rates at 6, 30, 60, 90, and 120L/min, we read off suction pressures and find inspiratory resistances by calculation (=suction pressure/flow rate) at each flow rate.

RESULTS
In all DPI, inspiratory resistance increases with the increasing flow rate. To maintain flow rate of 60L/min, suction pressure of around 20-cmH2O for Diskus(®) and Ellipta(®), between 35- and 45-cmH2O for Turbuhaler (®), and about 60-cmH2O for Twisthaler(®) were needed.

CONCLUSION
It is suggested that we should instruct patients to inhaler DPI based on inspiratory resistance of the DPI.


This paper proposes a new integrated navigation system for a mobile robot in indoor environments. This system consists of five frameworks which are classified by function. This architecture can make the navigation system scalable and flexible. The robot can recover from exceptional situations, such as environmental changes, failure of entering the narrow path, and path occupation by moving objects, using the exception recovery framework. The environmental change can be dealt with using the probabilistic approach, and the problems with the narrow path and path occupation are solved using the ray casting algorithm and the Bayesian update rule. The proposed navigation system was successfully applied to several robots and operated in various environments. Experimental results showed good performance in that the exception recovery framework significantly increased the success rate of navigation. The system architecture proposed in this paper can reduce the time for developing robot applications through its reusability and changeability.


Mann D.G., Sato S., Rovira L. and Trobajo R. 2013. Paedogamy and auxosporulation in Nitzschia sect. Lanceolatae (Bacillariophyta). Phycologia 52: 204–220. DOI: 10.2216/12-077.1 Paedogamy (fusion of gametes produced within the same gametangium following meiosis) has rarely been reported in diatoms, with fewer than 10 confirmed examples. One of these, reported by L. Geitler, was in a diatom from Illmitz, Lake Neusiedl (Austria), identified as 'Nitzschia frustulum var. perpusilla'. We observed uniparental auxosporulation in two Nitzschia clones isolated from the lower Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain), morphologically similar to Geitler's material and belonging to the N. inconspicua species complex. We established that the auxospores were formed paedogamously by Feulgen staining of the nuclei and time-lapse microscopy of living cells. However, reinvestigation of Geitler's original cytological preparations revealed differences between the Illmitz and Ebro material with respect to the length of the initial cells, the structure of the perizonium, and the timing of degeneration of superfluous haploid nuclei during gametogenesis, indicating a genetic and possibly a taxonomic separation. Scanning electron microscopic studies of Ebro auxospores revealed a novel form of longitudinal perizonium with bilateral asymmetry, and also scaly incunabula surrounding the unexpanded zygote, which contrast with the strip incunabula of another paedogamous Nitzschia species, N. fonticola. Molecular phylogenies, based on rbcL and partial LSU rDNA sequences, and evaluation of trees constrained to make the paedogamous species monophyletic, indicate that paedogamy probably evolved at least twice independently in Nitzschia sect. Lanceolatae, in the N. inconspicua and N. fonticola lineages.


Current trends in polymer fiber production for nonwoven material applications focus on increasing production rates and decreasing the fiber thicknesses. The quality of the polymer fibers during the fiber spinning process is influenced by the processing parameters, such as the spinning speed, throughput, and the polymer material. Irregularities in the crystallization process during the extrusion of the fibers can lead to stress concentrations and defects in the fibers that could cause failure of fibers and potential failure of the nonwoven material that is manufactured from those fibers. The ability to recognize these irregularities in fibers using a non-destructive measurement method would reduce the downtimes for production lines as well as provide in-situ quantitative data that could be used for optimization of the production process parameters. In this study, we implemented a high-speed polarization imaging technique that is capable of non-destructive measurement of the internal stress fields as well as detection of defects within a post-fabricated fiber. This imaging technique has been combined with a motion tracking algorithm for accurate alignment of the images corresponding to the same segments of the fiber. The results show that the technique is capable of detecting stress concentration regions in fabricated fibers in static and dynamic testing conditions. The sensitivity of the system also allows to track the changes in the distribution of the internal stress fields in static and dynamic loading. Future studies will apply the technique to the fiber spinning process.


A familiär relation links the densities that result for the intersection of a convex body and straight lines under uniform isotropic randomness with those that result under weighted randomness. An extension of this relation to the intersection of more general domains is utilized to obtain the variance of the n-dimensional measure of the intersection of two bodies under uniform isotropic randomness. The formula for the variance contains the point-pairdistance distributions for the two domains — or the closely related geometric reduction factors. The result is applied to derive the variance of the intersection of a Boolean scheme, i.e. a stationary, isotropic Poisson process of domains, with a fixed sampling region. RANDOM INTERSECTION OF GEOMETRIC OBJECTS; VARIANCE OF OVERLAP; LATTICE PROBLEM; POISSON PROCESS; BOOLEAN SCHEME; POINT-PAIR-DISTANCE DISTRIBUTION


We describe a rigorous implementation of the Lagarias and Odlyzko Analytic Method to evaluate the prime counting function and its use to compute unconditionally the number of primes less than 10.


Objectives Readmissions are an increasing area of focus for quality improvement initiatives. Widely variable estimates exist on preventability and impact of multipronged readmission interventions. Given the rotating nature of attending physicians in academic centers, physicians often are unaware of readmissions. We present a before-and-after (uncontrolled) trial evaluating timely feedback of readmissions to hospitalist physicians. Methods A daily list of patients (inpatient, observation, procedure, or emergency department) who are registered as receiving care within University of North Carolina hospitals was filtered to include only inpatients within the last 30 days and cared for by a faculty member from the hospital medicine program, and readmissions were tracked. A hospitalist physician performed an in-depth review of readmissions using a readmission diagnostic worksheet developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement STate Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations Initiative. Physicians were surveyed on their perception of readmissions in general and their preventability. Outcomes of interest were 30-day readmission rates, physician perspectives and estimates of preventability, patient factors from the STate Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations tool, and length of stay. Results Compared with the previous 18 months, the readmission rate was reduced modestly during the 6 months of our intervention (12% to 10%, t test + 0.071). The average length of stay increased from 4.73 days during the prior 18 months to 5.01 for the 4 months since the intervention (t test 0.1). Based on the attending physician survey, 13% of attending physicians believed that fewer than 10% of readmissions were preventable; this increased to 30% after 6 months of timely notification and chart reviews. At baseline, the top three contributors to readmissions were believed to be patient understanding, medication nonadherence, and substance abuse/addiction. After 6 months of the intervention, the top three contributors were believed to be substance abuse/addiction, medication nonadherence, and lack of primary care. Conclusions Our intervention of real-time feedback regarding readmissions and enforced chart review led to a modest reduction in readmission rates without significant changes in length of stay. Physicians continued to believe that a readmission event was multifactorial and largely not preventable. Real-time notification did increase physician involvement in prevention initiatives, in particular with high-use patients.


Fourteen cases of pyoderma gangrenosum were seen over a period of 24 years at the Hull Royal Infirmary Dermatology Department. Several associated conditions were found. Seven cases were associated with rheumatoid arthritis of which five were sero‐positive, including one with Felty's syndrome. One case was associated with both ulcerative colitis and psoriasis; one with polycythemia rubra vera; two patients had diverticular disease including one who also had rheumatoid arthritis; one had positive syphilis serology. In three cases there was no significant associated disease identified. Ten out of the fourteen cases were women, indicating a female preponderance by a ratio of about 2F:1M; a figure similar to that stated by Seitzinger.1 The age of presentation ranged from 30 to 80 years.


AbstractFrom a vision of language as representation, both translation and legal studies have undergone significant changes in recent years which have allowed them to question core concepts like neutrality and universality. Increasing attention has been paid to the influence of ideology, position, gender, race, hegemony and marginalization in the understanding, reading and rendering of a text. This paper focuses on some of the problems and ethical dilemmas inherent to and often hidden in legal translation, drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and capital and on his understanding of legal texts as signs of authority aimed at being believed and obeyed. It contributes to the articulation of the tenets of a new concept of responsibility which arises from an awareness of the ideological intricacies of meaning and the influence of power relations in the understanding of texts.


PT Padma Soode Indonesia. is a company that engaged in precision metal
stamping, plastic injection and precision assembly activities part became a sub
assembly/final assembly. Currently Padma Soode Indonesia PT. is facing a
problem of quality. Incompatibility product is high enough where the
discrepancies of products causing product failure. The failure of a product ideally
detected on line products but the products haven't been fully detected. The failure
of the product after product used by a consumer, it will bring up an action claim.
The current repairs done only company analyze the cause of the failure and
then do the repair for problems that occur. Repairs that are done are still the
same so corrective failure can happen. Therefore, required a sustainable
improvement plan.
This type of claim be stuck on the printer motor occur due to some failure
mode process so that the repair process done with the redesign process. Please
note the priority factors of improvement against the failure of a process with use
analysis FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) to eliminate potential failure.
In doing the repair quality, seen with the calculation of the value of the RPN (Risk
Piority Number). The value of the RPN is based on a factor of severity,
occurrence, and detection. Note the value of the RPN membrane stator of 210, NG
Burry of 45 CM and Welding of 30. The draft repeated the production process
may reduce the value of the RPN each failure mode in the form of the addition
process appearance check and washing at the end bracket assy process. In
addition, the repair is carried out with the addition of the supporting tools such as
indicators on each heater, turn the basket so that the components to each other
and not turn into 2 micron filter. Improvements to produce the value estimation
based on the opinions of the experts. Improvements on an ongoing basis is done
by looking at the factors which have not been examined.
Keywords: Quality Improvement, FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis),
seven tools, reliability


Background The isolated heart model is widely used for the assessment of coronary vascular response under various experimental conditions. As medium perfusate influences oxygenation conditions, coronary vascular response and myocardial consumption performance may differ between isolated hearts perfused with from with Krebs-Henseleit solution or Krebs-Henseleit mixed with red blood cells (KH-RBC). Methods Coronary vascular response to endothelium-dependent and independent vasodilators as well as myocardial performance and oxygen consumption to isoproterenol infusion were compared in isolated rabbit hearts perfused with Krebs-Henseleit or KH-RBC. Krebs-Henseleit perfusate was equilibrated with 95% oxygen and 5% carbon dioxide, KH-RBC (haemoglobin 8.0 ± 1.1 g.dl−1) with 20% oxygen, 5% carbon dioxide, and 75% nitrogen. The perfusion pressure was kept constant so that coronary blood flow (CBF) varied with coronary resistance. Data are mean ± SD. Results Bradykinin induced a greater increase in CBF in KH-RBC-perfused hearts than in Krebs-Henseleit-perfused hearts (263 ± 78 versus 134 ± 35% of baseline, P < 0.001). Sodium nitroprusside induced a greater increase in CBF in KH-RBC-perfused than in Krebs-Henseleit-perfused hearts (257 ± 70 versus 174 ± 31% of baseline, P < 0.001). The increases in myocardial performance and in oxygen consumption induced by isoproterenol were greater with KH-RBC-perfused hearts than in Krebs-Henseleit-perfused hearts. A greater myoglobin release was observed in Krebs-Henseleit-perfused hearts. Conclusion Endothelium-dependent and independent coronary flow responses are increased in KH-RBC-perfused hearts. Moreover, metabolic control of CBF is altered in Krebs-Henseleit-perfused hearts. Such differences should be taken into account when pharmacologic responses of anaesthetic agents are studied.


Techniques have been developed to permit the response of the controls for DC transmission systems to adapt to large system changes. A gain scheduling approach tunes the control as an on-line function of the effective short-circuit ratio and contingency indicators. The method has been tested by digital simulation, based on EMTP, of a back-to-back DC system. It has been found to be robust and control performance has been enhanced. >


A global pandemic and two hurricanes in two weeks. That's enough disaster to daunt even the staunchest college officials. But the leadership team and staff at SOWELA Technical Community College met the challenges, building on a retention rate of 75.06% from spring to fall 2020, to achieve an 83.71% retention rate from fall 2020 to spring 2021, the highest of any community college in Louisiana.


Abstract. Inter-annual variability (IAV) of expected annual energy production (AEP) from proposed wind farms plays a key role in dictating project financing. IAV in pre-construction projected AEP and the difference in 50th and 90th percentile (P50 and P90) AEP derives in part from variability in wind climates. However, the magnitude of IAV in wind speeds at/close to wind turbine hub-heights is poorly constrained and maybe overestimated by the 6 % standard deviation of annual mean wind speeds that is widely applied within the wind energy industry. Thus there is a need for improved understanding of the long-term wind resource and the inter-annual variability therein in order to generate more robust predictions of the financial value of a wind energy project. Long-term simulations of wind speeds near typical wind turbine hub-heights over the eastern USA indicate median gross capacity factors (computed using 10-minute wind speeds close to wind turbine hub-heights and the power curve of the most common wind turbine deployed in the region) that are in good agreement with values derived from operational wind farms. The IAV of annual mean wind speeds at/near to typical wind turbine hub-heights in these simulations is lower than is implied by assuming a standard deviation of 6 %. Indeed, rather than in 9 in 10 years exhibiting AEP within 0.9 and 1.1 times the long-term mean AEP, results presented herein indicate that over 90 % of the area in the eastern USA that currently has operating wind turbines simulated AEP lies within 0.94 and 1.06 of the long-term average. Further, IAV of estimated AEP is not substantially larger than IAV in mean wind speeds. These results indicate it may be appropriate to reduce the IAV applied to pre-construction AEP estimates to account for variability in wind climates, which would decrease the cost of capital for wind farm developments.


This communication work reports the laboratory experiments with a nanolime product applied to the highly porous limestone currently used in Portuguese architectural heritage. The tests aimed at evaluating the short-term efficacy of the product to induce a mass consolidation effect. Other substrates were also tested for comparative purposes, namely a limestone with a different pore size distribution and a weak lime mortar. We concluded that the product has a low capability to impregnate these materials. In all cases, although at different levels, a selective migration of the product was verified, as well as an accumulation of the nanoparticles at the surface in contact with the colloidal suspension. The consolidating agent was not able to penetrate and no consolidation effect was detected in Anca stone. On the contrary, on the two other materials, some effect could be quantified, despite the low quantity of consolidant deposited in the pores. Besides the relevant information on the potential capability to consolidate those specific substrates, the work demonstrates the advantage of using drilling resistance to evaluate the consolidation action, not only on soft and homogeneous materials but also on heterogeneous ones. In this particular case, the impregnation kinetics determined with capillary absorption tests gives a misleading information of the real performance as a consolidant. Water transfer properties and the pore size distribution were slightly changed after consolidation and require further investigation.


Fruits constitute a major part of the diet in many parts of the world, highly recommended for the nutritional value derived from them. Fruit maturity is an important determinant of the quality as it affects the appearance, an aspect of quality considered by most consumers. Sugar content, colour, size and firmness are some of the quality indicators associated with maturity. While the ripening and maturity indicators are well documented for climacteric fruits, non-climacteric fruits such as berries lag behind. African nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.)  edible berries are among them. This study evaluated the quality parameters of the edible berries of four varieties of African nightshade and found out that they accumulate glucose and fructose as they ripen with glucose being the most abundant sugar. Sucrose is only present during the senescence stage. Size remained relatively constant within each variety while firmness decreased progressively after veraison. Black NS differed with the others in colour besides fructose and sucrose content at 29.35 and 388.40 mg/100g, respectively. Giant NS recorded the highest glucose content at 172.44 mg/100g when ripe. Conclusively, the African nightshade berries are characteristically similar to other non-climacteric fruits adopted as part of the normal diet and should be considered as a valuable addition to the diet.


Article info: Received: 12 July 2018 Accepted: 27 August 2018 Available Online: 15 September 2018 Checked for Plagiarism: Yes Peer reviewers approved by: Dr. Melika Andrew Language Editor: Prof. Dr. Muhammad Azam Kakar Editor who approved publication: Prof. Dr. Nanuli Doreulee


The Isentropic Light Piston Facility (ILPF) at Pyestock has been upgraded to include a single stage, high pressure turbine. All major non-dimensional parameters are accurately scaled during the 0.4s run time, enabling heat transfer and aerodynamic measurements to be made at engine representative conditions. The ILPF was previously an annular cascade facility. This paper describes the design and integration of the rotor module and the results of the commissioning tests. An important feature is a novel, patented, turbobrake which is shown to maintain the turbine at a constant speed during the run.Copyright © 1994 by ASME


RATIONALE
Lung transplantation (LT) is an established treatment for end-stage lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with α1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).

OBJECTIVES
We sought to compare the post-transplantation course of patients with AATD and AAT-replete COPD.

METHODS
Between June 1991 and January 2008, a total of 231 patients with AAT-replete COPD and 45 with AATD underwent LT at Cleveland Clinic. Data reviewed included baseline recipient, donor, and surgical data; all spirometry evaluations; acute cellular rejection (ACR) events; and survival data. Endpoints included temporal change in FEV1, severity of ACR, and survival. A longitudinal temporal decomposition model was used for analysis.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Comparison of overall rates of FEV1 decline in AATD and AAT-replete patients with COPD showed no significant differences (P > 0.09). However, although the single LT patients had similar trends in FEV1 in both groups, patients with AATD with double LT declined faster (P < 0.002) than the AAT-replete patients. No differences in the frequency or severity of ACR episodes were observed (P = 0.32). Furthermore, there was no difference in early or late mortality between patients with AATD and patients with AAT-replete COPD (P > 0.09).

CONCLUSIONS
Although overall the post-LT FEV1 slope, severity of ACR, and survival among patients with AATD is similar to that of AAT-replete patients with COPD, patients with AATD with double LT have a faster rate of FEV1 decline. These findings support the eligibility of patients with AATD for LT, and suggest the need for additional studies to better understand the difference between single and double LT in AATD.


Lethal phenotypes of human prostate cancer are characterized by progression to androgen independence, although the mechanisms behind this progression remain unclear. Arsenic is a potential human prostate carcinogen that may affect tumor progression. In this study, we used a prostate cancer cell model in which an immortalized, nontumorigenic human prostate epithelial cell line (RWPE-1) had been malignantly transformed by chronic low-level arsenic to help determine whether arsenic affects prostate tumor progression. Control and CAsE-PE (chronic-arsenic–exposed human prostate epithelial) cells were continuously maintained in a complete medium [keratinocyte serum-free medium (K-SFM) with bovine pituitary extract and epidermal growth factor] or in a steroid-depleted medium (K-SFM alone). The arsenic-transformed cells showed a more rapid proliferation rate in complete medium than did control cells and also showed sustained proliferation in steroid-reduced medium. Although both control and CAsE-PE cells showed similar levels of androgen receptor (AR), androgens were less effective in stimulating cell proliferation and AR-related gene expression in CAsE-PE cells. For instance, dihydrotestosterone caused a 4.5-fold increase in prostate-specific antigen transcript in control cells but only a 1.5-fold increase in CAsE-PE cells. CAsE-PE cells also showed relatively low levels of growth stimulation by nonandrogen steroids, such as estradiol. Thus, arsenic-induced malignant transformation is associated with acquired androgen independence in human prostate cells. This acquired androgen independence was apparently not due to AR up-regulation, increased activity, or altered ligand specificity. The precise manner in which arsenic altered CAsE-PE growth and progression is undefined but may involve a bypass of AR involving direct stimulation of downstream signaling pathways.


A systematic approach for the assignment of array type data structures to the layers of fixed memory hierarchies present in instruction set processors is presented. Memory Hierarchy Layer Assignment (MHLA) is required to ensure the efficient exploitation of the data re-use present in multimedia type algorithms. Exploitation of data re-use through storage of the most frequently accessed and re-used data elements in the smaller levels of a processor's physical memory hierarchy leads to significant execution time and power consumption savings. The proposed methodology for Memory Hierarchy Layer Assignment takes into consideration architectural features of the target processors such as the fixed physical data memory hierarchy and the hardware control mechanisms of some of the levels (caches) of the memory hierarchy. Experimental results prove that exploitation of data re-use combined with the proposed approach for Memory Hierarchy Layer Assignment leads to significant power consumption and performance gains.


This paper demonstrates high-efficiency organic near-infrared (NIR) photodetection activity by increasing the symmetry of photoinduced charge density based on planar cyclic donor–acceptor structures. The record-high photosensing capability (gain: 3 × 105 and EQE: 43% at 3 V) is realized under NIR 780 nm illumination upon using the single-component active layer chloroaluminum phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) with planar cyclic intramolecular donor–acceptor structures to create four-fold symmetry of photoinduced charge density. Our in situ measurement using bias-dependent magneto-photocurrent reveals that increasing the symmetry of photoinduced charge density through planar cyclic intramolecular donor–acceptor structures can significantly decrease the electron–hole binding energies, allowing the direct generation of free photogenerated carriers without any heterojunction structures. Particularly, with the four-fold symmetry of photoinduced charge density, the dissociation of electron–hole pairs can be completed at an extremely low critical bias (24.8 mV) in the ClAlPc molecules. Such low critical bias provides the underlying mechanism to directly generate free carriers in the single-component active layer under NIR illumination. Clearly, by using planar cyclic intramolecular donor–acceptor structures, symmetrically arranging photoinduced charge density presents a fundamental strategy to develop high-efficiency NIR sensing capabilities with single-component active layer design in organic molecules.